Pro Wrestling RAIDEN - KING OF THE MONSTERS (Night Two)

[Strike]

Pro Wrestling RAIDEN Presents...
KING OF THE MONSTERS - Night Two
January 26, 2019
From KBS Hall in Kyoto, Japan





The gorgeous stained glass mural and the visage of the Pro Wrestling RAIDEN ring in its emerald green color are the still shot that we see for moments before it widens to showcase the "Super No Vacancy" crowd that has come out to Kyoto's KBS Hall, the crowd clapping and shouting out their support as another camera shot on the floor area focuses on the some of the fans who have come out to support from all walks of life as we then find ourselves with a shot from one of corners where a proper Japanese table is in place with monitors and the like while Patrick "Starfish" Carson and Dre Hamilton sit in their chairs and take their moment to acknowledge the viewing audience in question as the camera shot returns to the hard camera focused on the stained glass mural and ring...

Except on this night, it's not Rumchata Ayano who is standing front and center with the microphone in her hands while going through the line-up card for Night Two of KING OF THE MONSTERS show - the previous night's insanity was keeping her alongside Miko Ayano after the events of the main event and instead, it is none other than Japanese legend Tsubasa Iwasaki in a three-piece suit and with the cue card in hand. Tsubasa does the rundown of the Night Two card from top to bottom, covering the initial King of Fighters bout that would start us off, the variety of singles matches that would follow, the second KOF bout, the Falls Count Anywhere bout, the two singles matches and a particular pop happens for the special tag team match - especially due to the Artemis Kaiser & Great Hotaru team-up - and then, of course, the roar of approval for the big main event of Night Two in THE KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE with each of the names announced for it. Once Rumchata wraps up with all of the names, she does put an emphasis on explaining that its winner would move on to eventually be in the match which would decide the first ever Pro Wrestling RAIDEN World Champion for another enthusiastic level of cheers and applause from the crowd in Kyoto as we then moved on to the announcers at their desk:

Patrick Carson: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Night Two of KING OF THE MONSTERS and after a Night One that delivered on everything we were promised...

Dre Hamilton: ...and then some of the craziest motherfucking shit we've seent in our lives..

Patrick Carson: Night Two is finally here and with it, more match-ups for the King of Fighters tournament, various singles bouts including a Falls Count Anywhere between old rivals, THE GODDAMN BATEMAN has promised us he's arriving in a pale white horse, a special tag team match where The Great Hotaru'll be making a rare appearance to fight her own children...

Dre Hamilton: And then of course, the very thing this show has been named after...THE KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE! Thirty people plus some possible surprises, all competing for the right to be called THE KING OF THE MONSTERS and punch their ticket into the first-ever Pro Wrestling RAIDEN World Championship match later on this year.

Patrick Carson: We've got a lot to get through and so with that in mind, let's send it to an absolute legend filling in for Rumchata Ayano tonight, Mr. Tsubasa Iwasaki!

The bell rings and Tsubasa Iwasaki takes center stage, making the announcements that the opening match is about to start and ready to announce its competitors.

The King of Fighters First Round Match
Seattle's Most Wanted (Sophia Pike, Gary Gilray & Hunter Peterson)
vs.
The True Underground (Elijah Redmayne, Kitty Reynolds & Brendan Samuels)

Before we even begin, there is a VERY telling sign as the opening announcements are made and various black banners began to be held up by sashimono poles in the air from a majority of the people in the first two rows of KBS Hall - the banners reading the word "Beneath" in Japanese in white with red trimming around it - as Mastodon's "Curl of the Burl" began to play over the PA system. The crowd roared at the arrival of Elijah Redmayne, Kitty Reynolds, Brendan Samuels and BIG MASE, not even the language barrier being able to stop a "WE ARE BENEATH!" chant while the announcers go over the fact that while they'd given the name "Beneath" as their entry name, owner/promoter Chris Strike opted to call them "The True Underground" as a means of getting under the skin of Underground's owner/promoter in Bobby B. Barabbas...to which there didn't seem to be any opposition.

The arrival of the now officially recognized "Seattle's Most Wanted" didn't go as well received, however...as Gilray and Peterson antagonized the crowd around them while walking behind Sophia Pike, who carried the FFW Evolution Championship and the WWA Pacific Northwest Championship on each of her shoulders - with Dre Hamilton going on record by calling her #SophiaTwoBelts, soon-to-be #SophiaThreeBelts, given her eventual attempt at the SVW Defiance Championship at SVW's Red Alert event. Once entrances and introduction announcements were made by Tsubasa Iwasaki were made, the teams made their choices for the first, second and third entries and let the referees know as such before Hunter Peterson and Brendan Samuels made their way inside the ring...

[ROUND 1]
Hunter Peterson vs. Brendan Samuels

It is not unnoticed by Hunter Peterson that Brendan Samuels is coming into this one damaged due to recent events at Underground, a bedazzled eyepatch and subtle knee brace showing as much from Samuels. The two men lock-up in the center of the ring and Samuels promptly shows why he IS "The Wrestling" by basically grounding Peterson and proceeding to put him through torture on the mat with various holds and locks, having an answer for just about anything Hunter tried to do in order to escape them until Peterson finally got to the ropes. But after the initial salvo was fired from Samuels and then followed up onto with a pair of smooth, crisp snap suplexes that resulted in a two count, the tides turned when Peterson grabbed onto the referee by the scruff of his shirt while Brendan had him in a hammerlock and threw the ref right onto the one side that had the bejeweled eyepatch. Confused, Samuels let go of the hold and not even a warning from Kitty Reynolds on the outside was enough to prevent Brendan getting caught by a leg kick aimed at the back of Brendan's injured knee, followed by a spinning back kick from Hunter...who just laughed as he then dragged Brendan into the corner and began stomping away at him until the referee had to tell Hunter off for previous stint, covering one of his eyes and screaming "BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING!" at "The Navigator."

The pace picked up considerably as Hunter Peterson seemed completely healed up from his neck injury of one year ago, using a combination of striking as well as springboard flips into crossbodies or even a headscissors attempt that sent Brendan to the outside, where Hunter followed up with a tope con giro onto him. However, Peterson's own hubris cost him as his taunting of Samuels after nailing The Double (STO Backbreaker & Neckbreaker combo) led into a lackadaisical attempt at the King's Court (Discus big boot) for the knockout blow...a blow that was caught by Brendan and promptly turned into a dragon screw, which was then immediately transitioned into the Absolute Bearing (Crossface Chicken Wing Cross-Legged STF). The crowd in Kyoto acted in absolute, complete shock as Brendan cranked up the pressure and with it, Hunter Peterson had absolutely no other choice but to tap out.

But as Brendan Samuels let go of the hold, it did not take very long for Sophia Pike to slide into the ring with an annoyed expression on her face and promptly chop block Samuels on the back of his knee! The crowd booed accordingly as the referee promptly interjected himself in front of Sophia before she could try to stomp on him, yelling at her to get back to her corner while Gary Gilray pulled Hunter out of the ring. Sophia shook her head, raising her hands up as she backed into the corner while The True Underground's "Kraken" grimaced in pain...but refused to give Pike or anyone else the satisfaction of giving up, as he used the ropes to return to his feet and defiantly waved her on to come fight him, stating to the referee he was ready to do it.

WINNER: Brendan Samuels (by submission)

[ROUND 2]
Sophia Pike vs. Brendan Samuels

The bell rang and Pike immediately returned the focus of her attacks onto Brendan's injured knee, a game of cat-and-mouse initially played on the mat between the two as they circled around the mat with Sophia feigning a collar-to-elbow attempt and luring Samuels in for an ugly but effective dropkick right onto the injured kneecap. The "Emerald City Siren" methodically and viciously began to stomp at the back of it as well, using the initial minutes of the match to continuously target the knee and leg, even going as far as using the ringpost and the outside for a figure-four leglock with the ring post aiding her in the process. Eventually, it all led to Sophia Pike catching Brendan Samuels at a kneeling position with a superkick right to his jaw that dropped him to the mat and the referee began to make the count for a possible knockout...and the crowd gasped in complete shock as Brendan Samuels dragged himself forcefully back to a standing position by the nine count, beating the possibility of a knockout.

His face, however, kept its composure as he beckoned for Pike to come do her worst yet again and that only aggravated Sophia and her ego further, as she made a beeline for him and was then dropped in short notice by a belly-to-back suplex from "The Wrestling." Brendan didn't hesitate to bring Pike back up to her feet, taking her left arm and wrenching on it for good measure before nailing a pair of shoulder breakers onto the left shoulder in question with his good knee. The results did cause him to stumble and wince in pain, but the adrenaline was running high as Brendan ascended to the top rope and went for Poseidon's Trident...but the pointed double elbow drop saw nobody home as Pike got out of the way and promptly attempted to lock him in place for the Space Needle...but Brendan used his size and upper body strength to power out before Sophia could complete the seated Fujiwara armbar attempt by legitimately lifting her off the mat and dropping her with a back body drop. Moments later, Samuels had Pike in his clutches with the cross face chicken wing and as he went to lift her up for Mac Lir, Sophia's left leg swung wildly and caught him on the bad knee and the impact was enough to force Brendan to let go of his grasp and for Sophia Pike to be able to drag him near the ropes and use them in an aided dragon screw that sent "The Wrestling" clutching at his knee down to the mat...giving Pike ample opportunity to lock on Queen Anne's Revenge (Haas of Pain)!

Brendan screamed out in pain at the submission, the crowd cheering and chanting for him to keep fighting and get to the ropes while Sophia screamed at him to "TAP!" But even as Brendan used his size to drag himself across the mat, the torque that Pike had on his bad knee...and eventually, he begrudgingly tapped out in order to prevent any further damage.

WINNER: Sophia Pike (by submission)

[ROUND 3]
Sophia Pike vs. Kitty Reynolds

It was a full-fledged "Battle of the Sirens" in this round, as color commentator Dre Hamilton was more than happy to point out as Kitty Reynolds entered the ring shortly after Brendan Samuels was helped to the outside by some of the young boys and his fellow Beneath/True Underground stablemate in "BIG MASE" Mason Mannion. Right off the bat, this began with both women coming for one another with a series of holds exchanged and reversed, each one of them trying to outdo the other...something that escalated further by Reynolds smacking the taste out of Pike's mouth with a vicious forearm after landing on her feet from a backdrop attempt and with it, Kitty attempted to lock in a Muta lock, only to then see Sophia reverse out of it and attempt to catch Kitty in an arm trap triangle from her ground position, only for Reynolds to then lift her up off the mat and attempt to powerbomb Sophia into the turnbuckles. Pike, however, had other plans as she slipped out of Kitty's grasp, rolled her into a sunset flip and attempted to place her into a scorpion deathlock, in which Reynolds retorted by rolling Sophia into a small package and instead of keeping the pin like in any normal match, Kitty opted instead to roll out and promptly turn Sophia on her belly and attempt a seated Fujiwara of her own from which the "Emerald City Siren" was quick to slip out of as her and the "Modern Day Siren" took a moment after that exchange to stare down one another, the crowd applauding the series of holds and near finisher steals that had just happened.

The two women promptly began to exchange blows, European uppercuts and palm strikes between each respectively traded although Sophia catches Kitty's right arm mid-swing for the palm strike and reverses it into a double knee armbreaker from which Pike displays her mat prowess by taking the right arm, bringing it into an arm wringer, which is then followed by an elbow strike to the arm...but Reynolds responds by leaping back and nailing Sophia with a sudden Pelé Kick to the skull, breaking the hold and allowing the "Modern Day Siren" to regain her bearings as Sophia Pike stumbles back from the ropes, allowing Reynolds to connect with a drop toe hold which is then transitioned into the Muta lock! Sophia is in a precarious position for a few moments, screaming out in pain as Kitty has the hold fully in but gradually, Pike works her way to the ropes and grasps it, forcing the submission to be broken...but not after Reynolds holds onto it until the referee gets to a four count.

As Sophia finds herself rolling to the outside of the ring, Kitty is quick to pursue, catching her with a few strikes before attempting to go for the Boing! (Running Bulldog), to which Sophia manages to catch Kitty and uses the momentum to shove her right onto the steel post, to which Kitty collides with shoulder-first. The opening causes Pike to show just the hint of a smirk as Kitty's grasping onto the shoulder in question...only to scream out in pain as Sophia proceeds to drag her back to her feet while wringing on the right arm and shoulder before irish whipping her right onto the barricade shoulder-first. The action does eventually return back to the ring and Sophia Pike is basically on the attack onto the arm in question, adding a shoulder breaker much like the one Brendan had done onto her in the previous round to aggravate the arm of Kitty Reynolds and soon enough, a hammerlock DDT came out after fending a desperation attempt from Reynolds to break free with strikes...

Much to Pike's annoyance, Kitty Reynolds willed herself back to her feet by the eight count.

Much to Pike's shock, the moment in which she advanced to grab Reynolds' arm, Kitty opted to simply bite her right in the arm instead. The crowd gasped, Sophia screamed out as Reynolds sunk her teeth in, Dre Hamilton freaked out on commentary about the fact she KNEW Kitty Reynolds was a crazy bitch all along and that bite was then transitioned into a uranage backbreaker from Reynolds, which was then followed suit by the Inside Outside (Diving hurricanrana)! Pike stayed on the mat for a few moments, checking her arm first and then taking an extra breather to compose herself before standing up at the count of eight...and her expression had nothing short of unbridled rage as she saw Reynolds go for another Inside Outside. But this time, Sophia caught her in mid-air and from it, she eventually placed Kitty onto her shoulders and while Reynolds attempted to fight off from the sudden powerslam position in which she was, Sophia Pike wrapped her arms around Kitty Reynolds exactly where she needed to do it...

And dropped her with the Emerald City Flowsion!

The bell promptly sounded...and Sophia's expression turned into a smirk...which then immediately shifted into a full-fledged scowl as Tsubasa Iwasaki made the announcement that the ten-minute time limit had been reached and thus, this round was considered a draw!

It basically took the entirety of the RAIDEN young boys getting into the ring and getting their asses respectively kicked by an irate Sophia Pike to forcefully remove her from the squared circle while the members of the True Underground aided Reynolds themselves. Per the rules of the tournament, it meant both women were eliminated from the equation and that the winner would be decided in this fourth round between the last competitors on each of the teams.

TIME LIMIT DRAW (10:00)

[ROUND 4]
Gary Gilray vs. Elijah Redmayne

The two behemoths of their respective teams stepped up to the plate, Gary Gilray having the height advantage but that didn't intimidate Elijah Redmayne one bit even as Gilray's antics kicked into full effect by commenting on how much better Elijah would look if he decided to cut some of his hair and beard to stop looking less like a hobo mix of Kurt Cobain and William Bateman plus the fact that a mani-pedi would do him absolute wonders...all of it which earn Gilray a short-arm elbow strike for his troubles that rocks the taller man as the leader of The Beneath/True Underground does take the fight to Gary with ample strikes and sheer athleticism allowing him to get around the power of Gilray during the opening minutes, capped off by a thunderous lariat backbreaker that causes Gilray to finally go down and forces him to actually take a breather on the mat before standing up and getting back in a fighting position by the count of eight.

"The One They Spoke Of" opted to go take a breather on the outside instead of trying to fight head-on...and Elijah Redmayne did not hesitate to pursue him, as both men did run around the ring with Gilray sliding back in first and Elijah following suit. However, Redmayne caught by a running big boot attempt by Gilray and proceeded to try and finish it all off with an attempt at a wrist-clutch...only for Gilray to be within close enough vicinity to lick him right across the cheek and proceed to laugh hysterically. After being deemed arguably crazier than Kitty Reynolds on commentary and getting a surprisingly neutral reaction from Redmayne, well...it still did open the window for Gilray to escape Elijah's clutches and a throat thrust soon followed, with Gary using a flurry of punches, a belly-to-back suplex and then, a gargantuan swinging side slam to send Redmayne down to the mat. However, Gary doesn't wait for a single, solitary moment for Elijah to get himself back up as he's on top of him, mounting him with punches and as Elijah tries to escape them, "The One They Spoke Of" opts to place Redmayne in a hammerlock, leaning his elbow into the crook between Elijah's shoulder and neck... Before laughing his head off, screaming as he begins to drive repeating elbows into it, finishing up with one final jumping elbow smash right in the joint between their shoulder and neck, the Wing of Hermes having been unleashed!

Elijah Redmayne finally gets some breathing room and with a good amount of ring awareness to his name, he rolls out at the count of five to the outside and lands on his feet, grasping at his shoulder before returning to the apron...in which he's promptly kicked out of by a running boot from Gilray. Gilray doesn't hesitate to make his way to the outside, launching Redmayne right at Mason Mannion with every ill-intent on Earth as the two men collide and fall on the floor. The crowd boos his antics as he is taunting the rest of the True Underground members to take a swing at him with the bum knee and arm between Brendan Samuels and Kitty Reynolds - who don't hesitate to jaw back at him, standing their ground - before laughing like a hyena as he retreats back to the squared circle.

What he doesn't see, however, is Elijah Redmayne blindsiding him with a massive Wheel In the Sky (Claymore), as Gilray's own taunting and jawing at the True Underground had provided a window for Redmayne to catch him off-guard and slide into the ring moments prior to Gilray doing so. However, Gilray proves his own jaw is up to par as he struggles but gets to his feet at the count of nine...only to then get brought into a fireman's carry, the crowd anticipating the Tigerdactyl Genocide from Redmayne and just as he proceeds to lift Gilray for the package tombstone piledriver portion of it...

The lights go out in the KBS Hall.

The crowd screams out, shock and gasps throughout the Kyoto crowd as all they can hear are the sounds inside of the ring, as someone crashes onto the mat...and then there is another pair of crashing sounds, each one far uglier than the first one. The lights remain out for a few moments, power having seemingly been lost throughout the arena itself before the lights finally come back on.

Both Gary Gilray and Elijah Redmayne are laid out on the mat.

The referee doesn't quite know what to make of this, although the crowd is certainly looking in one particular direction near the stained glass as the visage of another, very nice behemoth can be seen. Mason, Brendan and Kitty promptly begin to give chase without a second thought, as Ramsay Bodach simply slips away into the confines of KBS Hall as the True Underground gives pursuit. Inside of the ring, the referee is making the ten count for both men and it's Gary Gilray who is somehow managing to get himself back up while Redmayne is still laid out on the mat. The ten count is reached just as Gilray emerges in a fully vertical, standing position while Elijah's struggling back to his feet and the boos escalate at this point as the bell rings and Gilray is announced as the winner of this round by KO.

WINNER: Gary Gilray (by KO)

Seattle's Most Wanted are more than happy to take this one, as the three gradually have their arms raised and eventually leave their surroundings while Elijah Redmayne has finally reached a seated position inside of the ring, his expression never shifting, remaining neutral as he stood up to his feet and was applauded for his efforts as the "Beneath" banners emerged once again alongside the chants. Elijah simply nodded his thanks, slowly exiting the ring and the realization that there were those in Kyoto who were able to See...

And those who could, they would Find Them...

Beneath.

ADVANCING TO THE ROUND OF 16: Seattle's Most Wanted

[Strike]

Singles Match
Adrianna Wilde vs. Diederik van Dael

...Before anyone asks? Yes, we were treated to the full nine plus minute Diederik van Dael entrance. The crowd in Kyoto reacted about as well as expected, ebbs and flows and the like - although what they didn't expect was a heated exchange mid-dance between van Dael and play-by-play commentator Patrick Carson, who got piefaced in the process of it all and had to be held back by color commentator Dre Hamilton from this escalating any further. That said, the air inside of the squared circle seemed to get chillier as Adrianna Wilde made her way to the ring with a look in her eyes that indicated she was settling for nothing short than absolute victory against one of her former students - the announcers emphasizing that she's still Chris Strike's second-in-command at his wrestling school and basically is as much of an important part of the training process that people like Gillie Barnes, DVD, Oliver Wilson, Team S.U.P.E.R.K.I.C.K. and others have gone through.

So hilariously enough, DVD made the incredibly obnoxious decision of slinging out more insults and put-downs at Adrianna Wilde before they decide to lock-up at the center of the ring, in which the next three minutes were a full-fledged showcase of Adrianna Wilde basically outmaneuvering and outclassing good ol' van Dael with hold after hold, transition after transition and a particular case of "full-fledged fuckery" - as guest commentator Jinzai called it - as Wilde had Diederik in a headlock so tight that she basically spent the equivalent of 30 seconds giving DVD a noogie before basically punching him down to the mat after getting some laughs from the crowd and a two count in the aftermath.

But as Wilde did attempt to catch him with a running senton, she is actually caught, deadlifted and then lawndarted into the turnbuckle by Diederik van Dael with great prejudice. "The Flyingest Flying Dutchman" proceeds to use this to turn the tides by using his immense power to throw his former trainer around like an actual rag doll, including a sequence of belly-to-back suplexes followed by a running senton and him proving, yet again, that Deadlifts Are Sexy (deadlift German suplex with bridge) for a close two count. But an ill-dreaded, ego driven cannonball attempt from the second rope - in which he audibly screams the word "CANNONBALL," because of course he would - goes awry...well, Adrianna Wilde finds herself back on her feet and in the most wonderful position possible.

...She proceeds to lock Diederik van Dael on the Paradise Lock to the absolute astonishment and roar of the crowd in Kyoto, watching van Dael basically scream in agony and desperation to free himself. His attempts are futile and after about ten seconds of making a scene, Adrianna rushed from one corner and proceeded to nail the prone DVD with a thunderous penalty kick that breaks the Paradise Lock by force before she ascends to the top rope and flies off of it with a double foot stomp.

Onto Diederik van Dael's face.

The three count is academic from there, as Wilde shoots her fallen opponent a nasty glare in the process after having her arm raised and watching as he rolls away, being helped to the back while Patrick Carson makes it a point to stand up from his chair on the announcer's side and to point and laugh accordingly as the man of many nicknames is helped to the back. Adrianna takes in a deep breath and she bows to all four corners of the ring in thanks to the Kyoto crowd cheering her on before returning backstage herself.

WINNER: Adrianna Wilde



Singles Match
Jinzai vs. "Nightmare Star" Junya Fujimiya

This was already a massive clusterfuck from the get-go as Jinzai looked less than amused at the man who currently held the Divine Blessing in DIVINE Pro, Junya Fujimiya (and whose antics also caused all financial backing to be pulled from the company until Fujimiya's time with said Divine Blessing - a clause that allows him to make all decisions regarding the company's matches - is done). Both men jawed back and forth at one another in their native Japanese language and it wasn't long before men escalated things as Fujimiya smacked Jinzai across the face first, a snide comment being made shortly after about Jinzai's ineptitude within the Underground's "Cult Classic" tournament...only for Jinzai to promptly connect with a series of hard strikes, followed by a spinning back fist, and capped off with a tiger knee strike - unleashing the Roze Blitz right off the bat onto the "Nightmare Star" before attempting to elevate him up for a vertical drop brainbuster, in which Fujimiya countered with knees to Jinzai's skull before landing behind him, measuring him up and connecting with the YOUR FAILURE (Roundhouse Kick to the head), sending the so-called "Sūpā Saiya-jin Roze" stumbling backwards and actually through the middle and top rope, landing on the outside. Fujimiya's smile widened at this particular revelation as he followed suit by sliding out of the ring and to the floor below, the announcers in astonishment at how fast-paced and heavy-hitting this bout between the two men had started with the signature moves already being exchanged.

To say that it escalated would be...kind of an understatement. Because the two of these men decided somewhere along the lines of once they were outside to simply go "fuck it," the brawl between them escalating accordingly as the referee is proceeding with his count on the outside as Fujimiya blasts Jinzai with a wide arrange of kicks prior to Jin finally getting smart and ducking under one, letting Junya kick the steel post right behind him before catching him with a rolling elbow to the face that sends him stumbling. The brawl itself continues amongst the crowd, as spectators promptly begin to scatter and in the process, Jinzai ends up throwing Fujimiya right into a group of people on the second row who don't get out of their seats on time. But as the count reaches "eighteen" and Jinzai goes to make his way to the apron, he suddenly cannot move and he looks down to see a pair of hands grabbing his right ankle and pulling on it...enough to hold him back until the count of "twenty" and for the referee to call for the bell. It's not long after in which Jinzai is then pulled down to the floor before any anger or shock reaction can come, as he is suddenly mauled with stomps and kicks from four members of the audience that just took the brunt of a flying Junya Fujimiya...and all four of them are wearing drama, Greek theater like masks with each having a sign of the Zodiac on their forehead.

The RAIDEN young boys quickly arrive to break the scene, only to find themselves also getting the proverbial shit stomped out of them in the aftermath...all while Junya Fujimiya sneers on the background, muttering something about this being his kind of scene before he takes his leave just as security rushes from the back in order to break up the brawl in question as the four mysterious figures in the drama masks also fight their way through the security and escape through the crowd into the outside of KBS Hall...and the theme of it all? Confusion.

And a very angry Jinzai who looks on after being helped back to his feet...

RESULT: Double Countout

[Strike]

The King of Fighters First Round Match
The Daughters of Janus (Zoey Adler, Athena Adler & Minerva Janus)
vs.
What's Your Fantasy (Vivi Robichaud, Angelina Fantastica & Cece Sullivan)

This one escalated quickly after entrances and prior to the bell ringing on the basis that Zoey Adler decided to grab a microphone and proceeded to craftily insult her opposition, the people in Kyoto and reminded everyone that her and her wife were CHAMPIONS - Minerva's ok too, I guess - and that their only reason for being here had to do with wanting more eventual championship gold...even if it meant having to put up with the company owned by the dude landing BOBBY B BAYBAY's sloppy seconds.

The crowd in Kyoto was less than pleased once Zoey was done with her tirade and they were even more annoyed when she opted to sit out the first round, as Minerva Janus took to the ring and from the "What's Your Fantasy" trio came the artist formerly known as Venus, Cece Sullivan.

[ROUND 1]
Cece Sullivan vs. Minerva Janus

The beginning of this bout played to full benefit of the more technically sound Sullivan, whose holds and chain wrestling were still up to snuff as she was able to handle Minerva around the mat and kept her grounded, her focus targeting the Janus Daughter's neck with certain holds, transitions and chain wrestling over the first two minutes -  which included a highlight of a gnarly Cradle DDT being followed up by a full surfboard submission to which Cece held onto more so to do damage rather than get the submission right off the bat. Minerva attempted to fight Cece off after that submission was released and Sullivan had grasp of her, but an ill-attempted springboard from Minerva saw her get caught with a superkick flush in mid-air and it was only by getting one of her arms in the way - seen via the magic of instant replay - that Janus was able to return to her feet by the count of nine. To which Cece Sullivan responded by simply bringing her to the mat and expertly locking in the Canadian Maple Leaf, her husband's patented submission move and forcing Minerva to exert her fiber of herself to make it to the ropes.

However, Cece's own hubris came back to bite her in the aftermath, as she took the extra few moments to play up to the crowd that it's "CECE SZN, BIIIIITCHHHHHHH" alongside telling Zoey Adler and Athena Adler just how fucking horrible they are on the outside - so horrible that not even HENNY would bang them (#SUPERMODELSONLY) - well, that was all eventually cut short by an impromptu, nasty looking reverse hurricanrana from Minerva out of desperation that caught Sullivan completely off-guard. It nearly knocked her out although Cece was able to use the ropes to lift herself up in the nick of time before a ten count could be reached...only to then stumble to near the center of the ring, just as Minerva came crashing down on her with a springboard moonsault. The window was open for Minerva Janus and she didn't hesitate to follow suit with speed being her greatest ally, striking hard and fast with a repertoire of high-flying moves, running strikes off irish whip reversals and a rather eye-popping somersault legdrop promptly followed by the Kito Clutch (Full Nelson Camel Clutch).

Cece clawed her way to the ropes on her belly, enduring the hold and showcasing tremendous strength in the process while managing to bring her head under the bottom rope to force Minerva to break away from the submission...which Minerva refused until a three count from the referee, breaking it off and then dragging Sullivan back towards the center of the ring. Janus went for the Kito Clutch once again but Sullivan manages to turn on her back and with a monkey flip, she throws Minerva right off her clutches...but Minerva Janus lands on her feet. The crowd gasps as Cece's unaware, getting herself back up to one knee...AND SHE'S STRUCK IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD WITH SHINING WISDOM (SHINING WIZARD)!!!!

The referee promptly got in position and initially, he began making the count...then he noticed that Cece Sullivan was not moving at all. Promptly, he called for the bell and Minerva Janus leaned into the corner, gradually sinking down to a seated position...simply muttering to herself in the process.

WINNER: Minerva Janus (by TKO)

As Angelina Fantastica's expression shifted while watching her best friend in Cece Sullivan being helped out of the ring and to the back. The fact that Zoey Adler was mockingly acting like a knocked out Sullivan on the other side of the ring and antagonizing things to another level was practically one escalation too many, as Fantastica bolted to jump on the apron and springboarded into the ring...

[ROUND 2
Angelina Fantastica vs. Minerva Janus

Minerva didn't stand up from her corner, as Athena was now on the outside yelling at her own sister and reaching out towards her...and the yelling became a warning from one twin to the other, as Angelina Fantastica wasn't waiting a single second for the bell to ring while rushing towards the corner like a bat out of hell, nailing Minerva in full with the Glimpse of Heaven (Running hip to face of seated opponent in corner) before Athena could snap her out of the trance. Fantastica didn't even particularly care whether the bell had rang or not, as she mounted Minerva and rained down with punches on her face before rolling backwards as Minerva screamed out, clawing at Angelina's face before rolling to the outside. Athena and Zoey promptly checked in on her, both women beginning to help Minerva back to her feet...only to then get a full dose of Fantastica as she landed on all three of them with a Sasuke Special. Angelina promptly threw Minerva back inside of the ring and this time, she waited as Minerva did instinctively return to her feet with the help of the ropes - no longer in some sort of trance like before.

Once the referee acknowledged she was ready to fight, the bell was rung for Round 2...and Minerva Janus suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a leaping superkick from Fantastica, causing her to stumble and land throat-first on the second rope. That promptly set up Fantastica to nail the Fantast-Kick (Tiger feint kick), before springboarding onto the top rope and flying off into the air, the crowd in Kyoto gasping as she nailed every bit of a modified version of the Avenging Angel (Corkscrew shooting star press)! Still driven by sheer rage at what was done to her friend, Angelina chose to up the ante...via means of multiple elbow strikes to the side of Minerva's head while holding her in a crucifix position and enough blows caused the referee to step in once he realized that Janus was not being able to defend herself. He called for the bell and with it, the score was even between both teams.

WINNER: Angelina Fantastica (by TKO)

[ROUND 3]
Angelina Fantastica vs. Athena Adler

Athena made her entrance into the ring promptly after her sister was removed from it and her match against Angelina started on a similar note with Fantastica being the aggressor and getting to the point where she had Athena in the corner, mounting the turnbuckle and raining down with punches on the top of Adler's head when Athena then managed to finally grab Fantastica by the legs and attempted to go for a powerbomb...only for Angelina to fight off the attempt and it eventually be a cause for Fantastica to proceed with a hurricanrana reversal that took them both over the top rope and that spilled to the outside. The referee promptly went to the outside to check on the both of them, as both women did show signs of being OK as they stood up under their own power albeit gingerly with blows between them quickly being exchanged. The tide of the moment did turn, however, after a Fantastica superkick that dazed Adler was followed by up by Angelina leaping off the apron with another hurricanrana attempt...except this time, Adler had a full grip of her and proceeded to run her back-first into the steel post. As Fantastica screamed in agony while Zoey cheered her "babygirl" on, Athena Adler proceeded to smash Fantastica's back against the steel post two more times before dropping her on the ground below and then tossing her back into the ring, telling the referee to start counting as she made her way to the neutral corner.

Fantastica gritted her teeth through it after the considered knockdown, dragging herself to her feet while holding her back by the count of eight but by then, Adler was right back on the attack as vicious strikes, a pendulum backbreaker and a Russian leg sweep were some of the highlights of Athena's furious assault. And yet, each time that Athena told the referee to count Angelina down for the knockout, Fantastica kept getting back up. Looking to put the swift ending to it, Athena didn't even give Angelina the chance to stand up after a fourth time being down, nailing her with the Gemini Sweep (Leg sweep kick) before slowly dragged Angelina to her feet afterwards. Athena smirked, cradling Fantastica's head and telling her that she would be asleep soon, much like what Minerva did to her friend. Athena put Fantastica in place for the Fall of Janus but Fantastica suddenly proceeded to back body drop Adler behind her in a desperate bid to stay within this match. She gritted her teeth afterward, her left hand promptly returning to hold her back but it did not stop Fantastica from catching Athena with vicious chops using only her right hand, forcing one of the Daughters of Janus back into the turnbuckle from which Fantastica irish whipped her onto the opposing turnbuckle prior to taking off and hitting Athena with the Staten Island Expressway (Back handspring elbow to opponent in corner)...and getting a knockdown from it, even though Athena is up at the count of six.

Only to get spiked on her head by Angelina Fantastica coming at her with a handspring that's then beautifully transitioned into a Tornado DDT using the ropes.

But Angelina isn't quite done yet, as she makes her way onto the apron and then ascends the top rope. Once she balances herself, there's a moment of hesitation as she briefly holds her back before leaping off for the Avenging Angel...and Fantastica hits nothing but mat as Athena rolls out of the way in the nick of time. The Angel City Arch (Elevated Boston Crab) is locked in shortly after by Adler and she cranks in the hold, seemingly throwing as much energy into it as Fantastica is in trying to crawl her way towards the ropes and refusing to give up. However, Athena shifts her position just as Angelina is inches from the ropes, bringing her knee across Fantastica's back and blocking her path to the ropes in the process and thus, forcing Angelina to begrudgingly tap out.

WINNER: Athena Adler (by submission)

[ROUND 4]
Vivi Robichaud vs. Athena Adler

The "Voodoo Priestess" stepped up to the plate with a wicked grin across her lips even though she was the only person left in her team as she watched Athena Adler practically worn from the fight that Angelina Fantastica had just given her. Once the bell rang, Vivi sprung on the attack with a series of arm drags onto an oncoming Athena followed by an outright right hand to the face, closed fist and all, that eventually sent her rolling to the outside. As Vivi tried to make her way to the outside, Zoey Adler hopped on the apron and got onto Vivienne's face about trying to wreck her babygirl's gorgeous face with vile shit like closed-fist punches that were against the rules...to which Vivienne reminded her that this was a FIGHTING tournament. The crowd in Kyoto gasped, however, at what was going on in the ring...something that unfortunately (for them) had been caught by Vivi Robichaud as she turned around to ignore Zoey.

Minerva Janus had just gotten inside the ring and was rolling Athena to the outside, the twin swap being completed during the course of the distraction. Vivi shook her head as she stared in pure contempt at Zoey and then at Minerva in the ring. "Not today, white people," were her simple and to the point words as she saw Minerva come for her and then proceeded to reverse it with a back body drop that sent Minerva over the ropes. Athena got back into the ring and she was tossed out onto her sister through the middle rope and Vivi promptly followed suit by running the ropes and then leaping down onto both of the Janus Daughters with a suicide somersault senton. She gradually brought Athena back into the ring, rolling her in and with an open window, Vivi watched as Adler gradually stood up and went for the Creole Surprise...in which somehow Athena had the wherewithal to drop backwards with an electric chair drop onto the mat, as Robichaud was caught by surprise by it.

Athena took the opportunity to mount Vivi and lay in some shots with forearms and even the odd elbow, managing to land a few blows and one particular elbow scratching around Vivi's eyebrow and causing blood to begin leaking out. However, Athena found herself caught by surprise as Vivienne worked her way into a closed guard, hooking her hands around the back of Adler's head and pulling her in, breaking any semblance of posture and impressing the entirety of KBS Hall. The commentators mention the fact that she has had some experience with this sort of skill set, given that Simon Raines - who is a MMA-focused pro wrestler - has been her sparring partner for a long time. Vivi shows some of those unpolished but effective Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills by proceeding to elbow Athena Adler fiercely on the top of her head, pushing her head to the left side after landing a pair of elbows to then catch Adler with a return elbow as Athena attempted to move back to the center. The two continue to struggle for position, with eventually Vivi working into a bottom position half-guard as Athena tries to roll forward in order to get herself somehow out of the guard and back into a position in which she can stand up and not be stuck on the mat.

Vivi Robichaud keeps her leg hooked around Athena Adler as she rolls over and manages to lock in the sneakiest guillotine choke that one may have ever seen in their entire life, the crowd roaring in applause for the move and excitement surging as they all realize the same thing that Athena Adler just did...they're in the center of the ring and there's nowhere to go.

Once the pressure cranks up enough to where she cannot breathe, Athena Adler taps out on the mat, as the score is even and we head to another Round 5 decisive bout in the tournament.

WINNER: Vivi Robichaud (by submission)

[ROUND 5]
Vivi Robichaud vs. Zoey Adler

Much like Angelina Fantastica did much earlier, Zoey Adler doesn't wait for a moment until the bell rings and proceeds to forcefully remove Vivi from the submission on her wife, stomping away at her head and deliberately beginning to target the cut on Robichaud's eyebrow that Athena had left with one of the elbows from moments ago. The blood began to gush out a lot more as Zoey opened the wound with a few stomps before being finally stopped by the referee, who outright threatened to call this off and DQ her entirely if she continued. Adler raised her hands, taking slow steps backwards although the initial intensity of the attack gave way to a blood-curdling grin as she watched the blood drip out of the "Voodoo Priestess" as she held her right hand over the wound while feeling around the ring area for the ropes with her left hand. She did gradually stand, the referee promptly checking on her condition and checking on the cut itself - a conversation happening between the two as Robichaud was determined to go on with the match, regardless of the blood coming out of her. A few words were exchanged, the referee finally resigning and allowing it to happen but warning that if the cut got any bigger or if he detected she couldn't defend herself at any moment, he was stopping the match altogether.

Finally, the bell rang...and Zoey once more flew out of the corner with a running dropkick catching Vivi right at the knees, causing her to collide face-first onto the mat and with it, the emerald-green mat was stained with blood once more as Adler got onto the rear mount and from that position, she began to rain down with forearms to the back of Vivi's head, with an eventual elbow strike added to the side of the head that was gushing blood to further escalate the flow of blood coming out of the "Voodoo Priestess." But the punishment didn't end there, as Adler dragged Vivi back to her feet and used the next minute to practically hit her with strikes until backing Robichaud into the corner. A tree of woe eventually followed and with it, a running corner dropkick right at Vivi's face that sent her to the mat and Zoey allowed the referee to step in and start the count for the knockdown.

Vivi Robichaud brings herself back to a standing position at the count of eight. There is another conversation with the referee. That conversation is rudely interrupted by Zoey Adler, who shoves the referee aside and simply grabs onto Vivi's head, smashing it against the turnbuckle quite a few times before dishing out punches, one after the other, all eventually capped off by a discus punch to which drops Vivi to the ground. As the count for another knockdown begins, Zoey shakes her right hand around, blowing onto it twice as the crowd in Kyoto boos the cocky antics while she's telling the referee to stop counting and that the "weird, voodoo bitch ain't getting the fuck up from th--"

Vivienne Robichaud is somehow back on her feet when the referee gets to nine.

That...does not amuse Zoey Adler. At all. Adler doesn't hesitate for a single moment to grab Vivi Robichaud by the hair, flipping her the bird with her free left hand prior to placing Vivi in a reverse headlock but as she attempts to go for the Rise of Janus, Robichaud elbows her in the gut multiple times as desperation begins to course through her while fighting off of Zoey's grip. Once that grip is broken, Vivi puts her hands up and begins to just nail quick strikes, going high and low and keeping Zoey guessing wrong on where to guard every time. As Adler tries to close in the distance, the bloody Vivi manages to duck under a clothesline attempt from Zoey and the Creole Surprise (Leapfrog from behind opponent into one-handed facecrusher) then follows. Not giving Adler any chance to breathe, Vivi runs to the ropes and comes off of them with a second rope springboard moonsault bodyblock for good measure before backing into a neutral corner while Zoey's now being counted for a knockdown by the referee. The visage of a now bloodied up "Voodoo Priestess" stares Zoey Adler with nothing short of intensity, frustration and probably hatred too as Zoey gets up by the count of seven. A loud gasp is heard from the entirety of Kyoto as Vivi Robichaud darts from her corner, taking Zoey and even herself out with The Reminder (Clothesline From Hell) landing flush!

Both women are slow to initially get up and Vivi has to practically use both Zoey and the ropes behind her to aid in this endeavor but both women do make it up to their feet to the applause of the crowd before the count of ten could be reached by the referee. Words are exchanged as both Vivi and Zoey are in close proximity, none of those words are pleasant, a slap across the face from Zoey soon follows, Vivi opts to retort with a backhand across Zoey's face before running to the ropes, bouncing back and using the momentum to hook Zoey's head before springing into the air...but before Hurricane Vivienne can be connected in full effect, Zoey Adler somehow has managed to stop Vivi mid-rotation and has her deadlifted in the air at this point. Zoey charges to the nearest corner, crashing onto it with Vivi going back-first into it prior to Zoey gradually setting her up in a seated position on the top rope. The crowd is on their feet at this point, watching carefully with some words and shouts of warning for Vivi and Zoey as Adler ascends to the top rope...and with a grin, she grabs onto Robichaud's head before leaping off the top rope.

Adler ends up going on a one-way trip to the mat on her avalanche attempt at her family's patented Glorymaker, as Vivi manages to hold on to the top rope. Seeing a chance and with the crowd chanting her name, Vivi looks up at the sky for a moment before nodding and taking a Leap of Faith off the top rope just as Zoey Adler stands up to her feet.

...But the somersault from Vivi Robichaud and what was to come afterward is shot down in its entirety by a Glorymaker (Diamond Cutter)!

The referee promptly checks on Vivi Robichaud, starting the knockdown count after the thunderous move but when he notices that Vivi isn't moving an inch and that the mat is being stained with blood, he promptly calls for the bell as the frustration sets within the crowd in Kyoto and the boos begin to rain as "Highwayman" by The Highwaymen begins to play over the PA system.

WINNER: Zoey Adler (by TKO)

Athena Adler is the first one to get into the ring, greeting her wife warmly as the two embrace, interlocking fingers as Minerva joins them in the ring as well while the referee raises their hands in the aftermath before they leave - satisfied grins on their faces that they'll be advancing into the next round. The three women take their leave and that leaves Vivi Robichaud to be helped by the young boys around ringside back to a standing position...

From which she receives a standing ovation from the Kyoto crowd for her display of fighting spirit.

Vivi, however, still looks frustrated regardless as she tosses away the towel one of the young boys had placed on her head to help clean up some of the blood and shoves at least two of them aside before rolling under the bottom rope and stumbling her way, painfully, towards the exit beyond the curtains.

ADVANCING TO THE ROUND OF 16: The Daughters of Janus

[Strike]

Falls Count Anywhere Match
Anna Giovanna vs. Mallory Bennett

It's not very often where matches between two people start with one of them grabbing a pair of tall boys that they brought along hidden in their gear, giving one out to their opponent and simply toasting things to start off rather than a handshake of any kind. Well, it was exactly how Mallory Bennett decided to start things off against her old rival in Anna Giovanna as after some initial convincing (and crowd support, admittedly), they opened their cans, toasted accordingly with beer flying and proceeded to take a large gulp from it.

Mallory Bennett then suddenly kicked Anna Giovanna in the gut and caught her off-guard with a stunner that spewed beer everywhere, landing the Malicious One a two and a half count that most people thought it was a three for some ungodly reason. That didn't go without its proper payback moments later when Mallory Bennett attempted to rush a dazed Anna Giovanna near the corner for a leaping body splash, only to get caught with a rolling elbow that sent her to the mat and was a two and a half count as well. Both women didn't hesitate to escalate from there after Anna returned Mallory to her feet by her hair, the brawl between taking place within the ring and eventually spilling onto the outside, as the "Falls Count Anywhere" aspect was to put to play at hand. Boxing blows, chairs, the two women throwing each other into rows of chairs and making the crowd scramble for their lives...you name it, they did it. The eventual escalation of this came into effect when Anna Giovanna retrieved a table from under the ring and actually hit Bennett with a leg-hook Saito suplex onto it...only for the table to not give way and remain unbroken. That caused Giovanna to scratch her head, attempt to go for a moonsault from the turnbuckle onto the table on the outside...only for Bennett to get out of dodge and for Anna to crash onto it, bouncing off of the unbroken thing and screaming out in agony in the process of it.

They fought through their respective pains, with Bennett capitalizing on the "I think my ribs are broken" Anna with a pair of Malicious Intents (Bicycle kick), one after the other...and somehow, only getting a two and three-quarters count. It wasn't long after that in which Mal grabbed Anna by the hair, sat her up and opened her mouth forcefully...grinning wickedly as she then spat on it prior to smacking her back across the face to the floor. Bennett hopped onto the apron, promptly jumping off of it with a Malcontent (Cannonball Senton) attempt, only to hit nothing but floor when Giovanna rolled out of the way. Regaining her composure, Anna measured up Mallory and connected with a series of combination boxing blows followed by a Smash uppercut (Three-quarter uppercut) to Bennett's ribs, doubling her over and down to a knee as Giovanna then grabbed to Bennett by the hair, pulling back on it. Mallory didn't a miss a beat, saying something inaudible to anyone but Anna, whose face went red for a moment as she reeled her fist back to swing...but instead, she opted to give the "Malicious One" something else by spitting right onto her open mouth before connecting with the KO Punch!

Exhaling and still looking flustered, Anna Giovanna proceeded to put Mallory Bennett onto the wooden table that'd been set in place from before and looked under the ring for more weaponry, pulling out a folding chair from it and bringing it along as she climbed up to the apron and then ascended to the turnbuckles again. The crowd gasped in awe as she somehow managed to pull off a split-legged moonsault with the chair on hand towards the outside...only for Bennett to move out of the way at the last second, as Anna hit the table and this time, it actually broke in half to the gasps of the audience in Kyoto. Mallory looked wide-eyed at what just transpired but she didn't hesitate to pick up the pieces, her experience as the FFW Ultraviolence Champion in full effect as for good measure, she brought Anna back to a vertical stance in a display of sheer strength, proceeded to pop her up in the air and connect with a Malotov Cocktail (Pop-Up Powerbomb) onto the apron! The cover was academic from there and Mallory smiled from ear-to-ear, even a trickle of blood down her bottom lip from the KO Punch still lingering. She shooed away the young boys who tried to help Anna Giovanna up to her feet, opting to drag her long-time rival back to her feet herself and bringing her along backstage, saying something about "you owe me drinks, bitch, you ain't going nowhere" as they both left to applause from a crowd that appreciated the hard work they'd put in.

WINNER: Mallory Bennett



Singles Match
Ryuji Kinjo vs. Shane Atwater

Strength vs. Technique was the name of the game here, even as both men were showcasing battle scars from their encounters in Night One with Kinjo having to be the clean-up hitter for his team in the KOF Tournament's 1st Round and Atwater having the war he did against Lady Magdalena going to a draw due a Double KO. While Ryuji showcased his ability to power out of initial holds from Atwater during the initial exchange but Atwater's technique turns up an extra notch as he transitions on the ground into a series of holds that nearly lead into The Crucible - with Kinjo promptly getting a foot on the ropes to break it up before Shane can even finish locking it in. That forces the break, the two competitors stand and there's a nod of acknowledgment between the two alongside applause from the Kyoto crowd.

An exchange between European uppercuts from Shane and fierce forearms from Ryuji soon followed before Shane caught a particular forearm and transitioned it into a hammerlock from which Shane held onto, twisting hard onto the arm in the process...and eventually after a few elbows weren't enough to get Atwater's grip to relinquish, Kinjo found the nearest turnbuckle and grabbed the ropes. Atwater didn't hesitate as he simply smacked away Kinjo's hand and arm from the rope and then smashed him shoulder-first into the turnbuckle...proceeding to do it a second time around before turning Ryuji around and smacking him with a knife-edged chop...from which Ryuji didn't wince, simply beckoning for him to try again. Shane proceeded to forgo that and an European uppercut came through...but Kinjo absorbed the blow, yelling at Shane to bring it on. Shane smacked him with another European uppercut and irish whipped Ryuji to the opposite turnbuckle. But as Atwater went for a running European uppercut, Kinjo dodged it and let Shane smack against the turnbuckle, quickly getting the drop on him with an atomic drop in the aftermath, followed up by a series of knife-edged chops from Kinjo himself in the corner to Atwater. An irish whip to the opposite turnbuckle and a hard shoulder tackle later was then closed out by an impressive overhead belly-to-belly suplex that awes the crowd on the display of sheer strength from DIVINE's "Shining Lion."

Ryuji took the next few minutes to stick to his strengths - figurative and literal, in his case. A plethora of more suplexes soon followed although Atwater showed resilience as he kicked out of a few of those, including a picture perfect German suplex that was bridged by Kinjo. But in its aftermath, Shane began to fight his way back to a vertical base with blows, running the ropes shortly after dazing Ryuji with blows to his stomach and an European uppercut that created some separation. But on the return, Kinjo caught him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for another close two count. From there, Ryuji proceeded to place Atwater in a bearhug, putting his strength into it and squeezing Atwater for dear life as much as he could...but going for a submission proved dire, as Atwater eventually worked his way out of the bearhug and into a northern lights suplex that lands him a near three count. From there, the return proceeds to see Atwater work his magic with The Whale & The Wasp (Rolling fisherman's suplexes to sitout spinebuster) followed by quickly transitioning into an inverted cloverleaf variation of Atwater calls The Package (Lightning Lock). The hold is held strongly as Ryuji struggles, having never been put into this sort of position before as Atwater wrenches away at him...but with his right arm free, he proceeds to do the only thing he can do and that's punching his way out of the hold, no hesitation on a particular closed right fist finding Atwater's jaw and the impact forcing the former SVW Champion to relinquish the hold.

The ending came through swiftly as Atwater stalked Kinjo and attempted to elevate him for Parabola but Ryuji slipped away from his grasp, landing behind Shane and proceeding him to turn him around, kicking him across the stomach and elevating him in the crucifix powerbomb position, looking for the Shining Lion Bomb but Atwater fought and struggled in his position, his two feet eventually finding the ropes. Shane Atwater promptly used the top rope to flip back onto his feet and immediately catch Ryuji Kinjo off-guard with a bridging double arm suplex from that position but before the referee could slide in for the count, Atwater promptly switched positions and the crowd gasped as they realized what he'd just quickly done after bringing Ryuji Kinjo onto a seated position.

Within seconds, Shane Atwater had the Kobayashi Maru (A-Dise Lock) applied. Not out of desperation, but out of sheer and utter frustration after being nearly on the edge of defeat for the second night in a row. It didn't take long after that for Ryuji Kinjo to realize the position in which he was in and to tap out. As the bell rang, Atwater promptly let go of the hold and relief seemed to appear on his face as the referee raised his arm, his hands making a small fist pump as there would not be two nights in a row where he'd be denied of victory. He nodded towards Ryuji Kinjo as he was being helped up to his feet, getting a nod back before uttering three simple words to DIVINE's Shining Lion:

"Be seeing y—"

...And that's when Gary Gilray comes in with a large boot to the head.

Atwater is down. Gilray, still damaged from the earlier KOF tournament bout, doesn't hesitate to lay the boots into him until Kinjo himself intervened, shoving Gary away and telling him to bring it on if he wanted to play at being tough guy. Gilray just smirked, slowly backing away and the smirk widened once Shane Atwater caught his glimpse.

Their story wasn't over yet.

WINNER: Shane Atwater

[Strike]

Singles Match
William Bateman vs. Nariko Inazuma
Written by Cori

William Bateman is an asshole. He's also SUPER extra, as he literally did arrive at ringside on a pale white horse, exactly as he told everyone on Twitter that he would do.

Now that that has been gotten out of way. This match happened to be one of the most uncomfortable things to watch.

From the moment the bell rang, Bateman was on Nariko. Scratch that, in MID-bell ring, stiffed Nariko in the abdomen with a kick before he lifted her up and spiked her with an Outshined (Cross legged, sheer drop brainbuster onto a knee). The referee began yelling at Bateman that the match hadn't even begun yet. The Pretty Boy Assassin after telling the referee how to do his damn job proceeded to take his sweet time picking Nariko apart piece by piece by piece. He grabbed her wrist, tied it around the ropes with his wrist and proceeded to kick her upside the head again and again, and again and again and again. Stiff, teeing off kicks in the face of the Inazuma until the referee began telling Bateman that he couldn't use the ropes. Bateman would ask who said, before dragging Nariko's arm, the armdrag into the cross armbreaker. Bateman however loosens the hold every few moments actually, kicking Nariko as hard in the face as he possibly can before letting go of the hold and simply putting a boot on her chest for the pin.

As expected, Nariko kicks out of that, and the Pretty Boy Assassin sighs and reaches down, before he grabbed Nariko by the head for some scenic route style Kawada Kicks. You know, just enjoying the ambiance that is himself on the road to collecting yet another one for himself. He kept kicking, before finally getting away only to turn right back and wrapping his arms around Nariko's waist while she laid on the mat, hitting her a deadlift release german suplex. Nariko got driven on the back of her neck and writhed as Bateman began jogging in place, putting two fingers on his neck to get his pulse. William Bateman seemed entirely annoyed that the beating that he was giving Inazuma hadn't even got him in a cardio fat burning zone (not that he needed it) and because of his disgust at Nariko failing to get his heart rate up, he proceeded to punish her with lift of a tiger suplex. He didn't immediately let loose however, walking around with Nariko in his grip, letting her hang upside down for a few moment to think about what she had done (or hadn't). He finally tosses her aside and then drops down on top of her and hooking the leg.

There's the two count and Bateman breaks it on purpose before Nariko has the chance to do it. He looks down at her and asks if she's actually going to fight him or just be a wrestling dummy he can throw around for ten minutes. The Pretty Boy Assassin actually gets out of the ring, prepared to sign some things for the Japanese crowd before he concludes that he doesn't want to destroy their economy by letting things as valuable as random crap with his signature on it escape into the financial ether. He rolls back into the as Nariko stumbles up and had gotten behind him. She would attempt to hit a spiked hurricanrana, but he would swing his hips and shoulders, forcing her back to hit on his shoulders before hitting her with an electric chair drop. The Pretty Boy Assassin would literally drag Nariko in the center of the ring before sitting behind Inazuma and waiting for her to get up.

Just so he could show her how to properly hit a spiked hurricanrana. He would proceed to hit Californication (spiked hurricanrana). He asks her if she's ever going to fight back. Once again to make his point he checks his pulse.

He ought not have done that.

Nariko proceeds to chop the Pretty Boy Assassin to hell. One loud, extinguishing chop before unleashing a machine gun rat-tat-tat-tat of them, beating him across the chest and working him into the corner before Inazuma springboards into a corner dropkick into the head of THE GODDAMN BATEMAN sending him rolling out of the ring to check his mouth, blinking as though he's not quite processing what just happened there. When he's turned back Nariko is already leaping onto the ropes, turning her back to him and... Feinting a springboard moonsault. He walks out of the way smugly. Only for Inazuma to hit the damn thing for real with the moonsault, crashing on top of Bateman! He goes down but Nariko does all she can to hold onto this minor grasp of control, running towards Bateman as he sits up and hitting him with a basement DDT on the ground. He snaps up and rolled into the ring, clutching the back of his head. Nariko climbed high, standing on the top rope. She leapt high and went for a frog splash but the Pretty Boy Assassin rolls out of the way as Inazuma got monstrous air but also made a monstrously bad landing.

Bateman proceeds to force Nariko up only to send her back down to the ground with an enzuigiri as though he couldn't quite decide if he was going to lay her out or put some mat work into her. With her down, Bateman spends the next few minutes working her over. He goes for a single leg boston crab, wrenching it in. He tells the referee that he feels like Thai food, and wants him to get him some Thai food. The referee while Nariko is trying to reach for the ropes informed William Bateman that he was not his assistant, to which Bateman informed the referee that he never would be with that attitude. Can we mention yet that Nariko is beating the mat in pain and yet still dragging herself with every fiber of her being to the ropes? She finally hooks an arm on the ropes, the Pretty Boy Assassin commenting that he's not getting paid enough for what's basically boiling down to wrestling training. He gets up and notes Nariko slumped in the corner and struggling to get up. He takes off and looked for a running enzuigiri in the corner but Inazuma was suddenly up and pushed herself off the ropes, slid into a kick in Bateman's knee that sent him through the corner and headbutting the pole.

When Bateman pulled away with a bloodied forehead, Nariko began her counterattack.

Roundhouse kick to the head, DDT to the head, springboard quebrada, a spiked hurricanrana complete with Nariko thanking William for the lesson...and also telling him something akin to the lines of "fuck you and the horse you rode in on!" Inazuma threw it all and then some down on The Pretty Boy Assassin. Bateman attempted to get some degree of control back when he kicked Inazuma's leg out from under her before forcing her up into what was about to be a dragon screw, but she countered with a dropkick to his leg that turned him into flopping between the second and third rope. A tiger feint kick comes but Bateman catches her by the legs and hefts her up in his arms... Only for Nariko to pull a The Obama Roll (victory roll) out of the sudden back and forth.

The three count comes so close you could have tasted it.

Bateman looked as though his life flashed before his eyes, blood slightly smeared over his forehead. From here the Pretty Boy Assassin gets a running kick to the chest, followed by a series of kicks that follow. When Nariko attempts another kick however, Bateman pulls her in after jerking her to the mat and forces her on her stomach before he slaps on a Muta Lock for good measure. He keeps it applied as Nariko suffers under the grip, struggling and trying to reach for the ropes, but the Pretty Boy Assassin continues to punish her as she reaches upward, trying to free herself. She keeps struggling, still trying to get free but THE GODDAMN BATEMAN keeps the hold applied longer until it looks for a moment as Nariko is fading. He finally rolls away, deciding that he would like to end her in a way more befitting his greatness. He concluded this after hitting her with a jumping stomp to the chest. She moved however at the last moment before leg sweeping Bateman! Bateman gets double stomped in the chest by Nariko before she heads to the ropes, climbing up for that Corkscrew 630 Senton. We would never get to find out how that would have ended however at Bateman shoves the ref into the ropes, making Nariko straddle them in pain. The Pretty Boy Assassin gets up, pulls Nariko on his shoulders and hits The Kill (Psycho Driver). One absolutely sickening impact later from out of the corner and Bateman goes for the pin.

One. Two. Three.

He takes it and staggers up, grinning. Bateman checks his pulse again however and comments that he really should invest in a new Fitbit before rolling out of the ring. Afterward however Nariko is given a pleasant reaction as she staggers to her feet in pain, wincing to stand on both legs.

WINNER: William Bateman

[Strike]

Special Tag Team Match
Artemis Kaiser & The Great Hotaru vs. Sugata Hotaru & Mai Hotaru

On this one, legendary pro wrestler and SVW Hall of Famer Lyn Dallins joins the fray for commentary as they all watch the grandeur of the entrances for both the "God of Anger" and the legendary Great Hotaru were arguably worth their price of admission, as the two were showered by sakura petals from two rows of young joshis who trained under The Great Hotaru as they made their way to the ring. The Hotaru siblings, on the other hand, got nothing but grief from the Kyoto crowd with Mai not hesitating to shout obscenities at them in her actual native language while Sugata's eyes narrowed at the sight of his own mother, laser-focused on nothing more than the wrestling to come. So, it definitely did come as a surprise when Mai Hotaru offered to start things up...so long as her beloved mother wanted to start it off as well. "HO-TA-RU" chants began towards The Great Hotaru who did nod and took a step forward as Mai eagerly egged her on as the bell rang as the two women came nose-to-nose, mother and daughter fiercely locking into a collar-to-elbow tie-up while cursing at one another in their native language.

But the entirety of KBS Hall gasped in awe and complete shock as for the next minute, they watched the unthinkable happen:

Mai Hotaru out-wrestling her own mother on the mat for an entire minute.

Even the Great Hotaru herself couldn't help but to be impressed after the pair of dropkicks that Mai used to cap off her initial rally. She nodded, a grin forming on her face as she stuck her hand out.

Artemis Kaiser tagged in.

Mai Hotaru PROMPTLY scurried off to her corner as if her life depended on it, tagging Sugata in.

An annoyed "tsh!" sound emanated from the "God of Anger" as she had to settle for the little brother, all while Sugata Hotaru opted to keep his approach as simple as possible by kicking Artemis right in the gut as she went to try and lock-up with him. An irish whip to the ropes and a flapjack soon follows, as Sugata is stomping and hitting any possible part of Artemis that is taped up from the war that she went through with Aurora just two nights prior at Hammerstein Ballroom. After having her grounded for another minute or two and then brought back up, Sugata irish whipped Artemis into his team's corner and as he began to stomp on her in the turnbuckle, he tagged in Mai Hotaru. She happily began to continue the stomping stampede on Artemis Kaiser, taunting her accordingly as she did so before tagging in Sugata again as the two siblings brought Artemis up to her feet and irish whipped her off the ropes, catching her with a double back body drop before Sugata proceeds to grab Mai and practically launch her into the air, as she lands on Artemis with an assisted shooting star press to the roar and awe of the crowd, as Sugata follows suit with a standing corkscrew moonsault of his own before going for the cover, from which The Great Hotaru springs out from her corner and kicks Sugata across the head to break up the count before it even reaches two.

Sugata's eyes are widened as he stands up and this time, it's him staring down his own mother and rather than holds, they actually come to blows for a few moments as the referee tries to restore some semblance of order before Great Hotaru manages to escape a wild clothesline attempt from her own son, kicking him swiftly with a roundhouse that sends him stumbling backwards...and right into an Uraken from Artemis, the spinning backfist taking him down. The tables finally turn as now it's Artemis and The Great Hotaru that show themselves working as a cohesive unit over the next few minutes with quick tags between the two and even a pair of double team moves involving Great Hotaru catching her son with a high kick in which Artemis then uses the momentum to elevate and put Sugata down with a hammerlock suplex, the announcers putting over the fact that while both women have worn tag team gold in the past, they are better known for working better solo...thus making this whole thing that much more impressive as Artemis pins Sugata, but gets only a two and a half count.

The tide changes once again when Artemis runs to the ropes and leaps forward, aiming for the Falcon Punch in which Sugata ducks out of the way at the last second. But on the return, as Artemis bounces off the ropes, she feels a kick to her back in which stops her in her tracks. Mai Hotaru blinks, her eyes growing wide as the "God of Anger" realizes exactly what she just tried to pull here. On instinct, Artemis grabs Mai by the hair and she begins to swing away with fists, indeed, punching Mai Hotaru right in the face numerous times before running to the ropes and catching Mai with the Falcon Punch (Superwoman Punch), sending her out of the apron and crashing to the floor below as she looks to be completely knocked out to the crowd's approval. But Sugata Hotaru does use the distraction as a moment to catch Artemis with a Getsuga Tenshō (Leaping reverse hurricanrana) that sends them both to the mat and with it, the crowd in Kyoto begins to clap along as the two wrestlers begin to struggle to their particular corners...with Sugata cursing the fact that Mai is nowhere near their corner. Gritting his teeth, he uses the time to stand back up to his feet with the ropes and turnbuckle on his corner and it is then where the sound of a tag is heard on the other end.

The Great Hotaru comes soon crashing onto her son Sugata with a running dropkick that would have taken a normal person's head off. Quick leg kicks and precise strikes soon follow before Great Hotaru connects with an open palm slap to her son's face. She ducks an attempted punch in return and connects with a palm strike to his ribs, alternating between the two of them and picking up speed with each blow before Sugata lowers his head to dodge a palm slap coming at his head...which is a feint, as Great Hotaru catches Sugata on the side of his chin with a kesagiri chop and shows off a great deal of strength by then picking him up and nailing Sugata with a Sambo suplex prior to transitioning into a dragon sleeper. Sugata begins to struggle, realizing the position in which he is in as he tries to make it to the ropes but as he grabs the ropes on the left side of the ring, Artemis Kaiser swiftly kicks the hand away from the rope before the referee can force the hold to be broken...thus, giving The Great Hotaru enough time to pull Sugata back far enough from them.

He looks about ready to tap out when Mai Hotaru finally leaps in, breaking the hold by stomping away at her own mother...to which The Great Hotaru simply endures the blows, slowly standing up and her annoyance growing with each attempt from her "foolish daughter" as the two gradually stand face-to-face. Mai attempts to slap her across the face, but the slap is caught by Great Hotaru who then shoves her aside before leaping up at a running Sugata, catching him with a thunderous jumping knee to the face! Lyn Dallins freaks out on commentary, calling it the OG version of his "King's Decree" jumping knee finisher that made him famous and calling it by its original name: "Dragon's Dogma!"

Seeing as she's completely out of options here, Mai Hotaru blinks and fear shows in her eyes as she sees Sugata is completely laid out. She is slowly backing away from the ring but there isn't much in terms of options, as Artemis Kaiser proceeds to unleash The Second Crusade (Ripcord into an Elbow Smash) onto Mai's head as The Great Hotaru proceeds to pin her daughter's shoulders to the mat and the three count is academic from there. The celebrations are to be had as Artemis and Great Hotaru have their arms raised and the two soon exit the ring with a quick discussion between them about something involving training or something akin to that as Sugata and Mai are eventually helped out to the back by a pair of young lions while the rest of them begin to scramble all over the ringside area and even start pulling things out from under the ring as we begin the proceedings for what is to come...

WINNER: Artemis Kaiser & The Great Hotaru

[Strike]

Main Event - THE KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE
Aries Armadaist, Kevin Hardaway, Tom Pendergrass, Gary Gilray, PROJECT MUSCLE, Taiga Moroboshi, Fraser Flanagan, Albino Goji, MECHA APE, Justin Brooks, Dragón Diabólico, Michael Norcia, Ramsay Bodach, Chas Baker, GOTHRA, Lena Verhulst, Kendrick Lewis, Blaise Fader, El Monstruo, Chie Todonori, "THE BIG DOG" Persephone Waters, The DEATHSTEAKS Cow, Conor Blackburn, Stephanie Stefano, Irina Onegin, Rex Evans, Montag, BIFU, DeMarcus Gresham, GRENDEL and more...


Patrick Carson: Once again, a big thank you to Lyn Dallins, who just left the booth a few moments ago calling our co-main event but now...this is the moment that everyone has been waiting for over the past two nights. Hell, probably since the idea was put out there to begin with.

Dre Hamilton: A 30-plus person Rumble style match with all sorts of shit inside and outside of the ring looking like a bunch of damn cities and monuments. We've had a ton of people working hard to make this happen and damn, these young boys work fast in setting it all up.

Patrick Carson: They've definitely had some practice over the course of the week as the arena was set-up, Dre. That said, everything looks about ready so let us not waste any more time here...

Dre Hamilton: KING OF THE MONSTERS, BABY!!!!

The cameras return to ringside and we now see that the entirety of KBS Hall has been turned into a practical and proper stage for a match called "KING OF THE MONSTERS" as inside of the ring near the corners and even on all areas of the outside, there are buildings of all different shapes and sizes set-up around them and there are even some of them that are built after famous landmarks such as the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, To-ji Temple and many others. The crowd gasps as the lights begin to swirl around ringside and then settles on one center spotlight inside the ring as tonight's ring announcer in famous Japanese legend Tsubasa Iwasaki has the microphone in hand and the bell rings:

Tsubasa Iwasaki: This is tonight's main event...your KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE MATCH!

A beat, after gasps and applause soon follow from Tsubasa.

Tsubasa Iwasaki: Two competitors will start the match...every ninety seconds, a new entrant will appear. There are no count-outs, no disqualifications, no over-the-top-rope eliminations. The only ways to eliminate a competitor are via pinfall, submission...or DESTRUCTION!

Another gasp at the very last word in question.

Patrick Carson: ...He means knockouts by this, folks.

Dre Hamilton: OK but he gets it. DESTRUCTION sounds waaaaaay cooler in this environment.

Tsubasa Iwasaki: Now...introducing entrant number one!

The lights return to normal inside of KBS Hall as "Bastard's Way" by Far From Finished starts playing and with it, out runs Fraser Flanagan in his trunks and a t-shirt saying "LUCHA POTATO MONSTER" with a picture of a potato in a very intimidating pose with its tiny arms raised up. Fraser slaps hands and he's singing along to the song at the top of his lungs.

Tsubasa Iwasaki: From Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland...weighing in at 122.47 kg...FRASEEEERRRR FLAAAAANAAAAAGAAAAAAN!!!!!!!

Fraser has a big grin on his face after the introduction, as he encourages the crowd in Kyoto to join him in singing the song, regardless of whether they even know how to as he tries to start a mosh pit in the crowd only to be promptly stopped by the young lions (damn near takes one of them out in said mosh pit starting attempt) on the outside who have express instructions to just direct him towards the ring and whatnot. Fraser finally gets to the ring and throws his fist in the air, banging his head to the music until it plays out.

Patrick Carson: Fraser Flanagan drawing number one and in any sort of Rumble bout, that's gonna mean you have to go the distance if you want the win but hey, he's tough.

Dre Hamilton: He's stupid, Fish. Sure, there's a toughness that goes with that and then there's fact that he's been more able to take his beatings in the past, but he's gonna have to put on the performance of a lifetime if he wants to do it again.

Fraser finally settles in the corner after his music plays, as Tsubasa looks at his cue card, gives Flanagan a look and then proceeds to read from it:

Tsubasa Iwasaki: And introducing entrant number two...

There was a moment of silence before...

...

...

♪ I AIN'T LIKE YOU! ♪

The crowd in Kyoto went absolutely ballistic with shocked gasps and even cheers out of sheer surprise as from behind the curtain, the massive behemoth and former two-time Underground Champion comes forward, as Fraser Flanagan's eyes widen and if he weren't already white as all hell, he'd be as pale as a ghost right now...

Patrick Carson: HOOOOOOOOLY SHIT!

Dre Hamilton: GRENDEL IS HERE, FRASER FLANAGAN IS DEAD ON ARRIVAL!!!!

He sets off down the ramp, ignoring the crowd on hand as he approaches the ring, climbing the apron, before stepping over the top rope, pushing it down slightly to do so. In the ring, GRENDEL makes his way to the center of the ring, and slowly turns his head to look at Fraser Flanagan...

Tsubasa Iwasaki: From...Nowhere! Weighing in at 136.1 kg...HE. IS. GREEEEEEENDEEEEEEELLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He utters a few simple words to the Big Ginger across from him, enough to where it seems to snap Fraser out of his initial trance of fear and replaces it with something else in his eyes: determination. "Ain't Like You" by Blood for Blood fades from the PA system and it's not long after that in which Tsubasa takes his leave from the ring and that we see a referee sliding into the ring and another referee standing on the outside as the bell rings and the crowd in Kyoto applauds the start of this match while the announcers do take this time to bring up the fact that the last time these two met inside of a ring, Fraser Flanagan had basically done the unthinkable by beating GRENDEL clean as a whistle.

There isn't any time to breathe here as GRENDEL promptly emerged out of the corner and much like in their first bout, he almost clotheslined Fraser Flanagan out of his boots! GRENDEL hasn't forgotten the loss and while he did offer some praise back then, none of that praise would be present during this fight as GRENDEL mounted Flanagan and rained away with punches onto him prior to picking Fraser up onto his shoulders and taking a good look around the surroundings while seeing a tall set of buildings near one of the corners. GRENDEL charged right towards them but Fraser managed to slip right out of the grasp and lands behind GRENDEL, beginning to take the fight right back to the big man himself with vicious chops that do cause GRENDEL to wince and even take a step back...before GRENDEL shakes his head as if to say "not good enough" before a sharp big boot just catches Flanagan right in the face and sends him right down to the mat. While not his usual, running variation, it does the trick for a near two count as Flanagan manages to kick out and with it, GRENDEL simply opts to grab Fraser by the throat from the ground and begins to drag him up to his feet while choking the practical life out of him.

However, once GRENDEL has Flanagan up on his feet, the Irishman begins to fight back with sharp elbows aimed at the side of GRENDEL's head to break his grip and once he does, Fraser shows some proficiency with a Russian leg sweep followed up into an awkward backwards roll from which Flanagan then manages to nail GRENDEL on the ground with a jumping knee drop, which gets a one count before GRENDEL powers out of the pinfall attempt with a slightly more annoyed look on his face. Fraser isn't deterred by this as he beckons GRENDEL to get back up and the two men begin to trade blows back-and-forth with the viewing audience approving of it all and encouraging their exchange to keep going until GRENDEL drops Fraser with a sharp uppercut under the jaw that staggers the big man before he clotheslines him over the top rope.

And it is on that cue in which we see a timer on a projector screen and on the stream feed counting down:

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #3: Chie Todonori

Chie had no hesitations whatsoever to run her way right to the ring and getting inside, looking up and down over at GRENDEL as if absolutely thrilled about the fact that she could step on up to a monstrous human being. She is very quick to bring the fight to GRENDEL as she puts her guard up, avoiding a wide swing from the big man who did not hesitate to treat her like any other competitor. Todonori nails away at GRENDEL with leg kicks, avoiding another punch from him before slipping behind GRENDEL and attempting to lift him up, the crowd in Kyoto promptly jumping out of their seats as she gritted her teeth and attempted to do it...but GRENDEL did not leave his feet. In fact, he was very quick to break her grasp and in a display of absolute strength, he lifted Todonori up in the air in a military press. GRENDEL held her high and even proceeded to do a few bench presses in the process with Chie herself before looking towards the outside where Fraser Flanagan was standing up.

GRENDEL proceeded to basically throw her right onto Fraser Flanagan's waiting arms, sending the both of them back down to the floor. He "yeeted" her, according to Dre Hamilton.

GRENDEL slowly did make his way to the outside as he grabbed onto Todonori and proceeded to press slam her up again, tossing her through the middle and top ropes to get her back into the ring but was suddenly caught by surprise as Fraser managed to grab him from behind and send him running face-first into the steel post on the outside. The so-called "Lucha Potato" looked at his surroundings once again, quickly scurrying off to find the nearest tall building surface that he could pick out and reaching out for it...before stopping himself. "WHAT IF THERE'S LITTLE STICK FIGURE PEOPLE IN THERE?!" was a question legitimately asked out loud, met by a few chortles of laughter from those in KBS Hall who spoke English...and of course, the announcers questioning how does Fraser Flanagan even function.

Fraser's sudden existential crisis came to a screeching halt as he once again found himself staring at a very angry GRENDEL from a few feet away. GRENDEL charged, Flanagan stepped forward to meet him and then proceeded to somehow use his momentum to send GRENDEL over his shoulder with a back body drop...right on top of the stack of buildings, crumbling them to ruin! Fraser turned out, realizing what he'd just done...and he promptly placed his hands on his head, aghast as he slowly found himself walking backwards...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #4: Kendrick Lewis

It did not take the big man taking over the Midwest independent scene (and "RUNNING THIS SHIT" in Pro Wrestling RAIDEN, as he's told people quite a few times in previous shows) to burst through the curtain and make a beeline for Flanagan on the outside of the ring, practically taking his head off with a clothesline on the floor. But as he sent Fraser to the inside of the ring and got onto the ring, Chie Todonori was ready to greet him in proper fashion with a combo of kicks right into Lewis' chest, powerful enough to back him up into one of the corners. Todonori promptly unleashed a furious barrage of strikes before rolling backwards, hitting a running splash onto Kendrick before bringing the crowd in Kyoto to their feet as she dodged a Fraser Flanagan clothesline while running towards the opposite turnbuckle and what she did next was utterly unprecedented as she grabbed onto "The Beast of Belfast."

Chie Todonori proved that there was a way...by picking up all two hundred and seventy pounds of Fraser Flanagan and scoop slammed him right on the mat, the crowd in Kyoto emerging to their feet in thunderous applause.

Todonori let out a very loud scream, showcasing her fighting spirit in full gear...only to then nearly get her head nearly booted out of existence by a running and very angry GRENDEL! Kendrick Lewis tried his luck next, both him and GRENDEL exchanging blows but as Kendrick came through looking for another clothesline after an irish whip attempted that had been reversed, he was caught with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker!

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #5: Taiga Moroboshi

♪ YOU WA SHOCK! ♪

"Ai wo Torimodose!!" by Crystal King plays and the chorus of heavy boos makes it clear that Taiga Moroboshi - the big man who believes that he embodies true Strong Style - isn't a particular figure they're looking to see win this KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE. He makes his way into the ring to confront GRENDEL, much like he did a year and a half ago in the Underground's first-ever Gauntlet match and despite that he gives up a foot in height and about sixty pounds in weight, Taiga isn't hesitant to call out GRENDEL the same way as he did the first time by making a gesture at the monstrous form in front of him and then out to the fans before bringing that hand back for an insanely hard chop across GRENDEL's chest! The sound echoes around the arena as he winds up and does it again, and again, before he moves in close to attempt his Sidewinder Suplex and much to the astonishment of the crowd manages to get GRENDEL up off his feet...but GRENDEL fights off of it with a pair of elbows to Moroboshi's skull before powering free from the hell, promptly looking for an Iron Claw onto Taiga Moroboshi and for a moment, GRENDEL appears to have it on lock...

But the man who believes he embodies Strong Style has a different idea this time, as he breaks free of the Iron Claw submission through sheer strength without his feet leaving the mat in any way, as he proceeds to then lift GRENDEL up for an attempted torture rack..with GRENDEL fighting off the attempt and landing behind Taiga Moroboshi.

It is right there and then where GRENDEL gets blindsided by a running pounce from Kendrick Lewis that sent the big man high-up in the air and crashing back down, to which GRENDEL ended up rolling on to the outside of the ring within moments after crashing down on the mat. The big man from Kansas City steps in front of Taiga Moroboshi, who proceeds to lay onto Kendrick with a massive knife-edged chop after Lewis stuck out his chest. Kendrick winces, but he doesn't give up his ground, prompting Moroboshi to hit him with another. At this point, Kendrick simply shoves him backwards and then sticks his right hand up, screaming the words "COME ON MOTHERFUCKER, SHOW ME POWER!!!!!"

A gasp is then followed by the Kyoto crowd gladly encouraging this as Kendrick Lewis and Taiga Moroboshi find themselves right onto the center of the ring and in a sheer, blatant test of strength as both men try to overpower the other with both Taiga and Kendrick having moments where one gains the advantage before the other takes over, a cruel stalemate between the two...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #6: Dragón Diabólico

"Dragónborn" by Jeremy Soule begins to play, the crowd clapping along as the song builds while Doktor Logan Adversary appears through the curtain first as Dragón Diabólico joins him soon after. The two men exchange words (all while Logan shows full commitment to DRAGON SATAN'S THEME MUSIC by pumping his fist with the opening shouts, still) before the Doktor acknowledges Dragón's desire to go do it on his own and once Logan disappears through the curtain, Dragón Diabólico promptly makes his way to ringside and finds himself quickly ascending to the turnbuckle in which he promptly jumps off of to hit Fraser Flanagan with a missile dropkick before interrupting the test of strength that was now being won by Moroboshi by doing the one thing that Dragón is infamous for doing.

Punching people in the face.

Which he did to both men in said test of strength.

What Dragón didn't expect was to be turned around by Chie Todonori and then BLASTED with the Japanese Bullet Train (Standing lariat), sending him reeling back to the ropes and as he bounced back, Todonori decided that it was long overdue for her to show her own strength as she managed to pick up the man Doktor Logan Adversary lovingly calls "DRAGON SATAN" and bring him down into a belly-to-belly suplex that gets her a two and a half count from the referee who'd been dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging around the entire early mess of this match-up. But as Chie returns to her feet, she finds herself brought into a double underhook position and then she was suddenly spiked onto her head by Fraser Flanagan with the Blarney Stoned! It was then and there when he saw GRENDEL, making a beeline for him...

Only to get elevated into the air and absolutely demolished with the Extinction Event (Pop-Up Release Powerbomb)!

The clock would not strike twice at midnight for Fraser Flanagan this time, as GRENDEL proceeded to pin him and the count came through: One...two...three!

ELIMINATED: Fraser Flanagan (by pinfall)

As GRENDEL stood up from the pinfall, he simply shook his head at Flanagan as if to tell him that he needs to evolve even further compared to their last meeting...before finding himself kicked in the gut by Moroboshi. He irish whips GRENDEL off the ropes and catches him on the rebound with a swinging neckbreaker as the countdown is on once more, all while Kendrick Lewis is fighting off both Chie Todonori and Dragón Diabólico.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #7: PROJECT MUSCLE

The entrance of PROJECT MUSCLE via "MUSCULAR OVERLORD" by Kyosuke Toyama appeared to put everyone on notice as one of DIVINE's most imposing, swole beings on the Earth made his way towards the ring with every intention to prove that he truly is the KING OF THE MONSTERS and it wasn't long before he was handing out leaping clotheslines to anything that stood in front of him and while GRENDEL absorbed a pair of those, daring DIVINE's big man to show him something more...PROJECT MUSCLE obliged by feinting a clothesline and with deceptive agility, getting behind GRENDEL and connecting with a bridging German suplex that was broke up by Taiga Moroboshi out of sheer and complete spite. Moroboshi brought MUSCLE back to his feet and with a quick pair of chops, he threw PROJECT into an irish whip on the direction of Kendrick Lewis, who caught MUSCLE with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex that sent PROJECT MUSCLE onto one of the turnbuckles and demolishing a small set of buildings near that area on the impact.

Sensing a common trend, Kendrick Lewis grabbed onto Dragón Diabólico by his mask and a headbutt later to keep him at bay, Lewis now irish whipped Dragón right onto a waiting Taiga Moroboshi, who caught Dragón in his arms and proceeded to begin squeezing him up in a bearhug from which Dragón quickly began to try and fight out of but in which the pain was further added as Kendrick Lewis teed off on Dragón's upper back with open palm chops and closed fists - the announcers making notice of this unlikely alliance between the two to maybe start clearing out the field...but the bear hug and even the alliance in question took a small break as Chie Todonori suddenly jumped up from the top rope onto the pair of them with a front dropkick catching both Moroboshi and Lewis' jaws, the big men being rocked backwards and Lewis finding himself on the wrong end of town as PROJECT MUSCLE heaved him up in the air as if he were a toy (a near three hundred pound one) and nailed him with the BEAST UNLEASHED (Pop Up European Uppercut). As for Taiga Moroboshi, this time around, GRENDEL is the one who finds his dazed self being grabbed by the throat by Underworld's resident monster and then thrown across the ring and through one of the small collection of buildings on the other side with the Whiskey Jack (Overhead Choke Suplex)!

Promptly, both Dragón, Chie and PROJECT MUSCLE are quick to combine forces as all three of them proceed to tee off on GRENDEL with striking blows to the back, punches and the like as their combined efforts are enough to bring GRENDEL down to a knee...which only seems to up the intensity and quickness of those blows. However, GRENDEL bursts back up, throwing his arms out and sending Chie Todonori backwards while PROJECT MUSCLE and Dragón Diabólico stumble a pair of steps back with their guards up. GRENDEL proceeds to grab MUSCLE right by the throat in the aftermath...and then does the same to Dragón when he tries to advance. Both men begin to fight back with elbows to the side of GRENDEL's head, breaking the hold and with a nod, both men proceed with a double suplex on GRENDEL as the follow-up before they find themselves staring each other down once they stand...

The crowd in Kyoto seems to be anticipating this one outright but their attention is caught once more by the timer...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #8: Rex Evans

Rex Evans came running right out of the curtains and with an absolute beeline made to the center of the ring, promptly beginning to trade strikes with both Dragón and MUSCLE, dropping Dragón with a leg sweep after dodging a kick and then proceeding to lay on the leg kicks onto PROJECT MUSCLE...who did not wince and did not budge at all. MUSCLE, instead, opted to simply roar right onto Rex's face as if beckoning him to take his best shot...in which Rex Evans did, practically cold cocking him across the jaw with a right hand that caused MUSCLE to stumble back. Chie Todonori promptly came at Rex Evans with a series of strikes as the two fighters promptly squared up and after blocking a leg kick from Chie, Evans promptly took Todonori down to the mat with a STO and the two struggled for position, Evans using his own mixed martial arts background to gain top position before laying out hammer fists and elbows at Todonori's direction as Chie placed her guard up while attempting to protect herself...

This, however, left Rex Evans fully exposed as Taiga Moroboshi grabbed onto him and took Evans out of the top guard position, elevating him right into a Sidewinder Suplex that dropped Rex down to the mat! Taiga turned around, seeing Kendrick Lewis charging in his direction and he tripped the big man up with a drop toe hold but before he could even turn around, PROJECT MUSCLE charged at his direction and caught him flush with the B.S.E. (Spear into Spinning Side Slam) and in the immediate aftermath, Dragón Diabólico rolls Taiga Moroboshi back to a standing position and then proceeds to put down Moroboshi with the Power of the Dragón (Cross-armed iconoclasm)! Dragón promptly covered him and with that, he got the three count as the second elimination of the KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE occurred.

ELIMINATED: Taiga Moroboshi (by pinfall)

Once again, we find ourselves with another tense staredown in between both Dragón Diabólico and PROJECT MUSCLE as perhaps it is time in which both men will finally col-- nope, nope, that's ruined by Kendrick Lewis running into the scene and beginning to blast both men with club-like blows to their backs alongside some knees for good measure before irish whipping Dragón into the ropes before elevating him from his running position into the air and attempting to catch him in some sort of suplex...from which Dragón escapes and lands behind Kendrick Lewis. He promptly hooks him and slowly, he begins to lift the big man from Kansas City off his feet as he's looking for the Dragón Suplex...and Chie Todonori is happy to assist in the endeavor as she nails Lewis with the Japanese Bullet Train (Standing lariat) to aid Dragón into nailing said Dragón Suplex, to which he bridges for the cover, with Chie promptly diving onto Kendrick's shoulders to hold them down...and the one, two, three ensues to boot!

ELIMINATED: Kendrick Lewis (by pinfall)

Lewis is immediately helped out and held back by the rest of the RAIDEN young boys from attempting to do any further damage out of just being utterly upset at the circumstances - as Kendrick nails a few of them with nasty-looking punches before finally being escorted out...all while the screen shows the countdown once more:

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #9: DeMarcus Gresham

While we see the ring again fill up with action, as GRENDEL and Rex Evans are now trading blows while Chie, MUSCLE and Dragón exchange blows amongst one another - a thunderous shoulder tackle from PROJECT onto a running Todonori flipping her inside out - the lights dim...

"They say form follows function....And if you just function properly then things will form themselves"

"Form Follows Function" by Lupe Fiasco begins to play and at that moment a spotlight hits the stage with DeMarcus Gresham there standing with his back to the crowd so the 'Gifted' along is black jacket is clear for all to see. He stands there for a moment allowing the single spotlight to engulf him...but with his back turned, he unfortunately cannot. But as DeMarcus proceeds to turn around, he ends up getting a big boot from a still very irate Kendrick Lewis - who grabs on to the "Gifted One" by his black jacket and proceeds to wail on him with punches and kicks, this sudden fight on the outside being attempted to be broken up by the young boys who reside on the outside for this sort of thing only for them to get repelled and punched away by Kendrick Lewis as well...who is not satisfied until he's taken a chair from underneath the ring, bashing the "Gifted One" across the back with it various times until that chair dents before he lifted DeMarcus Gresham in an incredible display of strength on the outside and brought him through a set of miniature buildings on the outside - including the replica To-ji Temple - with a thunderous Jackhammer! Kendrick shakes his head, looking over the carnage he's caused before grabbing onto Gresham once again and tossing him onto the ring as if he were nothing but a carcass before walking off...

The announcers put over the fact that this was the first pinfall loss of any kind that Kendrick Lewis has taken in RAIDEN and perhaps one of the few in his entire young career and thus, the sudden outburst and sore loser esque attitude. That goes interrupted, however, as GRENDEL has Rex Evans by the throat after dodging a Brute Punch (Superman punch) attempt from the "Avatar of Brutality" and then proceeding to level him with a chokeslam that somehow only gets a two and a half count. But GRENDEL doesn't stop there, looking over the fallen DeMarcus Gresham and deciding that someone that "gifted" should have been a little more "evolved" by granting him his own personal gift...in the form of an Extinction Event (Pop-Up Release Powerbomb)!

A pinfall cover and moments later, just as quickly as he arrived, DeMarcus Gresham is surprisingly out.

ELIMINATED: DeMarcus Gresham (by pinfall)

Dragón Diabólico promptly is on the attack before GRENDEL can even get up, stomping at him while PROJECT MUSCLE has Chie Todonori on his shoulders, elevating her up in the air but Chie continuing to fight a possible DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS attempt by punching at his head as hard as she can...but it eventually not being enough as with a loud roar, PROJECT MUSCLE sits out right into the DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS (Elevated Sitout Powerbomb) and holds on it, the three count soon following as Chie Todonori's valiant effort is ended in this KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE!

ELIMINATED: Chie Todonori (by pinfall)

MUSCLE's attention turns to Rex Evans, who's getting up gingerly to his feet while still feeling the effects from the previous chokeslam he just took and as PROJECT MUSCLE charges at his direction, Rex holds on to the top rope and uses PROJECT's own momentum against him, sending the behemoth over the ropes and to the outside.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #10: Justin Brooks

There is a loud roar of approval for the absolute living legend and one of Japan's favorite gaijins from the early 2000's as Justin Brooks steps through the curtains as his old "March of Death" theme plays over the PA system and he basks in the Kyoto crowd welcoming him as he walks towards the ring with an absolute purpose, stepping over the ropes...and promptly delivering a right hand to GRENDEL that sends the Underground's behemoth a step backwards. Another set of rights and lefts from Brooks has GRENDEL on the ropes and the "Monster of the Bay" proceeded to irish whip GRENDEL and catch him on the rebound with a running shoulder block, followed by another after the big man got up to his feet and after ducking a lariat attempt from GRENDEL, he caught the big man with a massive spinebuster that finally brought him down to the mat! Dragón Diabólico was not shy about taking on Justin Brooks shortly after that, as he opened up on the big man with a pair of open palm chops that did have Justin reeling before Dragón then caught him with a rolling elbow that sent Brooks back against the ropes...but Justin Brooks proceeded to return the favor with a thunderous spear onto Dragón Diabólico, damn near cutting "DRAGON SATAN" in half with it during the process.

Brooks then found himself shortly after squaring up against Rex Evans, who motioned for Justin to bring it on as Brooks attempted to go for a takedown on Evans but Rex defended it, staying on his feet and proceeding to lock Brooks into a Muay Thai clutch from which Rex began to work his way through and land a couple of knee shots right onto Justin's body alongside a nasty-looking elbow to the side of the head that allowed Evans to set up and connect with the Dissociation (Cross-legged Samoan Driver), which got him a close two count in the process. Evans quickly brought Brooks back up to a standing position and attempted to go for a STO from the standing position, but Justin fought back with elbows to the side of his head before catching Rex Evans into a sleeper hold...which was then promptly transitioned into a sleeper suplex that sent Evans right down onto his head on the mat, the impact being enough to cause Rex to roll out of the ring.

But the crowd's gasps came through once more after the realization that PROJECT MUSCLE had returned to the ring and at the realization of the two men now standing. Both MUSCLE and Justin Brooks stepped up to the center of the ring with Dre Hamilton screaming out "KAIJU FIIIIIIIIGHTTTTTTTTTTT" loud enough that even some of the audience members could pick up on it.

Both PROJECT MUSCLE and Justin Brooks traded back-and-forth blows, neither man budging from their respective spots on the mat as they challenged one another to hit as hard as humanly possible. This exchange continued for quite a few attempts, each one slowly draining away at the two of them but neither beast refusing to give way to the other. A simultaneous pair of headbutts between the two finally caused them to buckle before PROJECT MUSCLE let out a roar that echoed across KBS Hall prior to nearly taking Justin Brooks' head off, MUSCLE's roar being heard all the way "To The Cheapseats" (Roaring Lariat)!

It is just as all men are down on the mat with Rex Evans slowly rolling back inside of the ring while Dragón Diabólico stood up that our countdown began once more...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

[Strike]

Entrant #11: Tom Pendergrass

"Mr. 502" is the next man to step up to the plate in the KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE as he takes his time entering the ring and surveying the scene, finding himself taking those who get in front of him right into "Gutwrench County," as he begins to hand out gutwrench suplexes to Rex Evans, Dragón Diabólico, Justin Brooks and even PROJECT MUSCLE in freakish mat speed - his transitions between each man from the mat being nothing short of a sheer, almost vulgar display of power for the former collegiate wrestler and MMA fighter. However, in the process of an attempt to gutwrench suplex GRENDEL into the canvas, the big man didn't budge from his spot in the mat, a few double axe hammer blows to Pendergrass' back finally causing him to break off the gutwrench and allowing GRENDEL to catch him in a display of power with a vertical suplex down to the mat. GRENDEL proceeded to follow suit by lifting Tom Pendergrass right up by his throat and back to his feet with an impressive display of strength but the equally behemoth-esque power of "Mr. 502" is put on display as he breaks away from GRENDEL's grasp as he attempted to go for the Whiskey Jack and then slips behind GRENDEL, the crowd wincing at the sheer impact as he manages to somehow get GRENDEL up in the air with a half-nelson that's turned into a backbreaker which is then followed up by Tom holding on to GRENDEL and transitioning into a gutwrench hold, which was then lifted into a backbreaker...and yet, that only somehow gets a two and a half count as GRENDEL puts his shoulder up in the nick of time.

Tom stands up...and promptly finds himself on the sharp end of an European uppercut from Justin Brooks, which sends Pendergrass back against the ropes. Brooks promptly irish whips him off into one of the opposite turnbuckles as Tom ends up further crumbling one of the small set of buildings that's already been damaged earlier until hitting the turnbuckle. Brooks charges at the turnbuckle and Tom ends up eating a running clothesline...but he does not go down by any means here. As Brooks goes for his second attempt, Dragón Diabólico intercepts him by using the big man's momentum to show his own brand of pure DRAGON SATAN STRENGTH as he lifts Justin Brooks and connects with a running powerslam...while at the same time, Rex Evans is the one who charges the turnbuckle with Tom Pendergrass instead with a shoulder thrust onto him...and then repeats said shoulder thrusts a few times until Pendergrass finally has enough sense and strength to step up and shove Rex backwards...only for PROJECT MUSCLE to then come roaring and crashing against Tom and the turnbuckle with a running body splash! Before Tom could fall back to the mat, PROJECT MUSCLE and Dragón Diabólico very quickly got an arm around Tom Pendergrass' waist and legs and dropped him with a double flapjack in an impromptu double team maneuver - the announcers mentioning they had once teamed in the past at a joint DIVINE and HELL show.

The fight broke out all over the place once again when GRENDEL found himself on the end of a Rex Evans kick to the chest that brought him back down as Rex proceeded to move into a ground and pound offense while Dragón Diabólico and PROJECT MUSCLE both found themselves holding their ground against Justin Brooks when we are once more treated to the screen coming up with numbers and the countdown...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #12: Chas Baker

For those in Japan completely unfamiliar with Chas Baker...well, consider this a first-time experience like none other, for his greeting to the Kyoto crowd as "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel played over the PA system was Chas Baker kicking his way through the curtain first, cursing at the crowd and calling them "A SLACK JAWED BUNCH OF DICKPIGS" before throwing his hands in the air in triumph alongside calling everyone in the ring a bunch of rubes who were about to be "BOARDED UP LIKE ALL THESE DUMB FUCKING GEISHAS IN THIS PISSHOLE AND SHIT."

Riveting, to say the least.

Baker promptly attempted the sneakiest of attacks as he ran to the ring, ripping up one particular building from its original place on the outside and bringing it along as he slid in and proceeded to crack it across the back and neck of the first person that he saw with their back turned to him.

That person just so happened to be PROJECT MUSCLE.

PROJECT MUSCLE proceeded to simply lift Chas Baker in the air as if he were nothing but a puppy, amidst Chas screaming and cursing at MUSCLE and the mistake being prompt enough to cause PROJECT MUSCLE to truly and utterly get IN THEM GUTS (Gorilla Press dropped into Double Knee Gutbuster), as Chas Baker promptly rolled in sheer agony to the outside of the ring! In the meantime, GRENDEL has fought his way out of Rex Evans' ground-and-pound offense and has the "Avatar of Brutality" off his feet, connecting with a Canadian backbreaker in the process while Dragón Diabólico has Justin Brooks in place for Rising Heat but Brooks fights his way out of the pumphandle set-up and manages to bring Dragón right up into a Fireman's carry, the crowd emerging and applauding as he nailed DRAGON SATAN with the Hook n' Ladder (Fireman's Carry into a Thunder Driver)! However, as Brooks seems ready to drop into the cover, his eyes widen in shock as he sees himself being lifted up from a seated position and scooped up into PROJECT MUSCLE's shoulders...as he proceeds to run Justin Brooks neck-first into the nearest set of turnbuckles before breaking out onto another run...

ONLY TO GET HIS HEAD NEARLY BOOTED OFF HIS MASSIVE SHOULDERS BY A RUNNING BIG BOOT FROM GRENDEL!

MUSCLE drops Brooks off his shoulders and GRENDEL simply steps over DIVINE's monster, opting to pick up the "Monster of the Bay" instead...and showing him Some Kind Of Hate (Karelin Lift to Kneeling Piledriver) in the process! GRENDEL places both hands around Brooks' chest and the pinfall is counted promptly...and the boos ensue from the crowd in Kyoto as one of their favorites is eliminated in the early going.

ELIMINATED: Justin Brooks (by pinfall)

GRENDEL doesn't have a whole lot of time to collect his bearings as Tom Pendergrass promptly grabs him from behind as he has stood up and drops him with an Olympic Slam, immediately rolling into a pinfall that's only broken up by Chas Baker being hip tossed into the cover by Rex Evans as a reversal to a running attack of some sort as the countdown once again starts...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #13: Aries Armadaist

The genius behind DEATHSTEAKS, "HOSS KONG" himself was upon us and his attire being a legitimate King Kong costume with a DEATHSTEAKS tie around his neck was both extra as fuck and par for the course as he carried around two large building replicas in each hand as he stomped his way to the ring and as he got closer to the ring, the other competitors took notice of it and quick...with Dragón getting the first taste of a building replica to the face on the very moment Aries got up on the apron. As he made his way inside, it was Tom Pendergrass' turn to get the other building replica smashed and dismantled across his head before Armadaist proceeded to catch him with a headbutt right to the chest. "Major Captain Lord Aries Armadaist Esquire MD" was not fucking around at all as he started handing out left hand jabs to Rex Evans, ducking a punch and proceeding to nail him with a headbutt to the chest before catching the still grounded GRENDEL with a running, big boi kind of senton! Armadaist found himself walking backwards, admiring his handiwork at hand when he suddenly felt himself running onto somebody. Or something.

Aries Armadaist promptly turned around, attempting to headbutt it in the chest...only for PROJECT MUSCLE to stand there, absorbing the impact and just looking down at Aries Armadaist with nothing more than contempt, remembering very well the events of their match months ago at RAIDEN's "Big Trouble in Little China."

Aries Armadaist, once again, gradually looked up at PROJECT MUSCLE and screamed: "LOOK ASSHOLE, IT'S BEEN MONTHS BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

PROJECT MUSCLE didn't look amused this time around, grabbing Aries Armadaist with both hands and lifting him up in the air in a gorilla press as if he were a child...looking to the outside of the ring as he saw Chas Baker recovering on the outside of the ring.

It was then and there when PROJECT MUSCLE proceeded to literally yeet the so-called "Hoss Kong" from the ring to the outside and right onto Chas Baker, both men promptly screaming obscenities in pain at their surroundings and one another after that nasty collision - with Aries getting the absolute worst of it.

PROJECT MUSCLE shouted something out in Japanese at Aries and Chas on the outside before turning around and finding himself face-to-face with Tom Pendergrass, who proceeds to showcase his own measure of sheer, pure strength by crashing into the mat with PROJECT MUSCLE via belly-to-belly suplex. The man known as "The Cardinal City Golden Child" stood up, letting out a loud yell as he saw Dragón Diabólico getting up to his feet before he took off to the ropes and broke out on a run, looking for The Pounceeee-- but he gets cut off mid-run by Rex Evans connecting with the Brute Punch (Superman punch)...from which Pendergrass stumbled back and right into the grasp of DRAGON SATAN, as he proceeded to nail him Rising Heat (Pumphandle Piledriver)!

The cover came shortly thereafter...and somehow, Tom Pendergrass managed to get his shoulder up in the nick of time. As the scene in the ring settles with all of the current competitors still being laid out around ringside or just returning to their feet, there is one thing that happens as the countdown begins once again.

GRENDEL sits up, hatred emanating from his very being as he picks up Rex Evans by the throat and proceeds to chokeslam him!

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #14: Blaise Fader

The arrival of Blaise Fader and the absolute look she gave to the standing GRENDEL from the moment she emerged from the curtains told the entirety of Kyoto that the fight was coming and Blaise didn't hesitate to make her way to the ring and square up against the monstrous, taller GRENDEL and begin taking the fight to him with punches and kicks, attempting an irish whip on GRENDEL but seeing that reversed but not hesitating to come back on the return with a lariat onto GRENDEL...in which the Underground's anomaly simply absorbs, standing front and center as if daring Fader to give it another effort. She complies accordingly, running to the ropes but this time around, nailing GRENDEL with the Exocet (Yakuza Kick), which sends GRENDEL a pair of steps back. Seeing this, Blaise grits her teeth from the get-go as she grabs a hold of GRENDEL and showcases her own brand of sheer strength as she manages to get the big man off his feet while attempting to go for a Saito suplex...but GRENDEL fights out of it with a sharp elbow to the back of Blaise's head before he places her into an Iron Claw submission.

The referee promptly takes his position near her, asking if Blaise wants to submit...to which she outright denies, attempting to fight her way out of his grasp. It's at that point where both Armadaist and Baker spring into the fold, both men promptly smashing GRENDEL with a pair of steel chairs across the back, which is enough to stun the big man in question and force him to break the hold. Amongst all of the goddamn bickering between the two men (who will be partners in the King of Fighters tournament), both of them do continue to take their turns bashing GRENDEL across the sides with the steel chair to keep him at bay...with Aries taking his own chair to smash an oncoming PROJECT MUSCLE across the head while Baker hits the edge of the chair against Tom Pendergrass' stomach and then across his back before his and Aries' focus returns to GRENDEL, who has been brought down to one knee by their assault but he's still gradually getting back up, the same intense level of hatred blazing through him.

Aries calls out to "smash his fucking brains in" while Chas yells something about "TIME FOR THIS RUBE TO FUCKING DIE" as they bash their chairs once against the mat and they both swing at the same time, aiming for GRENDEL's ribs...and both men connect with it at the same time! But GRENDEL outright refuses to go down, stumbling backwards...turning around and RIGHT INTO THE UNSTOPPABLE (SPEAR) FROM REX EVANS! As GRENDEL is finally taken down to the mat, Blaise Fader comes rushing in like an absolute bulldozer with a running senton onto GRENDEL and the crowd gasps even further as they see Dragón Diabólico come out from practically nowhere (or to be exact, the top rope) and right onto GRENDEL with the Dragón's Flight (Shooting Star Press)!

As DRAGON SATAN promptly hooks both of GRENDEL's legs, Chas Baker, Aries Armadaist, Blaise Fader, Rex Evans and even Tom Pendergrass realize what had just happened and they do the smart thing...as they all promptly jump into the cover on top of Dragón and their three count is secured as GRENDEL is finally taken down!

ELIMINATED: GRENDEL (by pinfall)

A brawl does soon break out in the aftermath of that fall once again after Baker and Armadaist practically  roll GRENDEL out of the ring as soon as possible as to not promptly die by his hand...as Fader and Evans proceed to brawl against those two while Dragón has Tom Pendergrass picked up and is attempting to set him up for the Dragón Suplex before Tom fights out of his grasp, only to then walk into a PROJECT MUSCLE scoop slam as the screen within KBS Hall begins to show the countdown once more.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #15: The DEATHSTEAKS Cow

We are treated to "Eat Steak" by Reverend Horton Heat blasting over the PA system as the lovely mascot of the DEATHSTEAKS brand - The DEATHSTEAKS Cow - appears on the scene...and it is literally a very fat, bloated cow that is moving on its hind feet. It happily waves and poses to the crowd in Kyoto, who do cheer it vehemently for some reason as it wears a collar with a decorative bell - #DEATHSTEAKSDeJapón engraved on it - as the camera makes sure to pan over to Aries Armadaist's reaction as he looks to the literal walking meat on the outside with a "what in the actual FUCK" reaction...y'know, seconds before he gets smacked across the face with a shoot kick from Blaise Fader due to not paying attention to his surroundings. The DEATHSTEAKS Cow proceeds to actually take its time getting to the ring, choosing to hand out samples of what the announcers are calling "DEATHSTEAKS Jerky" alongside other memorabilia that it's pulling out from...well, some things are better left unsaid.

Meanwhile, in the ring, PROJECT MUSCLE is proceeding to clean house after back body dropping Chas Baker over the top rope and to the outside, handing out Roaring Lariats (LITERALLY) to Tom Pendergrass, Rex Evans, Dragón Diabólico and then Blaise Fader before he proceeds to pick up Rex Evans off the mat in a pure deadlift, throwing Rex right onto his shoulders and then proceeding to give the "Avatar of Brutality" a taste of THE FATE OF THE WHEEL (Airspin into Send Off F5)! MUSCLE promptly covers Rex Evans and while Rex does manage to kick out, he does so a second too late and the elimination occurs!

ELIMINATED: Rex Evans (by pinfall)

Shortly after Rex Evans gets a round of applause on his way out for the fights he's given this Kyoto crowd over the course of two nights, the DEATHSTEAKS Cow finally finds itself inside of the ring and it actually catches Blaise Fader across the head with a jumping enziguri after Blaise attempts to run over Aries Armadaist in the corner! Aries sees what his DEATHSTEAKS mascot(?) just did for him, his eyes widened in both confusion and...admiration? It's weird. Anyway, the DEATHSTEAKS Cow proceeds to actually clean house as it clotheslines Dragón over the top rope, catches Tom Pendergrass with an atomic drop in which it actually ends up being followed by Aries Armadaist with a cobra clutch backbreaker. PROJECT MUSCLE and the DEATHSTEAKS Cow begin to brawl accordingly, with MUSCLE gaining the advantage and proceeding to give Kyoto the proper theatrics before connecting with the DETONATE ON IMPACT (Explosive Right Hand, with theatrics), as the DEATHSTEAKS Cow quite literally flies into the air after impact and dramatically drops down into the mat for laughs.

But as PROJECT MUSCLE lets out another roar and flexes all over the DEATHSTEAKS live meat...he ends up turning around after hearing a pair of stomps onto the mat and proceeds to be nailed by the Dick Kick from Aries Armadaist! As MUSCLE held on to his groin for good measure, Chas Baker emerged back inside of the ring, shuffling and skipping around like an absolute obnoxious douchebag before superkicking PROJECT MUSCLE right on the chin, sending him stumbling onto the DEATHSTEAKS COW and a headbutt onto MUSCLE's chest from the cow, which then sends PROJECT back towards Armadaist...who proceeded to kick MUSCLE right in the dick AGAIN for good measure before screaming at Chas to go to the top rope while "Hoss Kong" placed PROJECT MUSCLE in a piledriver position...and both him and Chas proceeded to connect with a spike piledriver, as Baker screamed hysterically about how the "Baker's Special" was a fucking game over, man! All of that while the countdown begins...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #16: "THE BIG DOG" Persephone Waters

The entrance of "THE BIG DOG" Persephone Waters isn't what most would expect, as she enters not from the curtains area but actually comes through the crowd while on a cellphone, screaming at a "COACH HAL" and talking about things such as basketball operations, the Providence Swarm and she literally decides to pull a seat on top of a somewhat attractive Japanese man in a business suit and proceeds to continue having the conversation on her cellphone while watching all of the action currently ongoing in the ring while screaming "NO I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT JAKE STRODE'S MINUTES, WHAT DO YOU MEAN DAMERON SHOULD START THIS WEEK'S GAMES?!?!"

Meanwhile, in the ring, Chas Baker proceeds to run around the ring, posing and throwing his hands up in victory as Aries Armadaist pins PROJECT MUSCLE...and yet, somehow, MUSCLE manages to get the shoulder up just before the arm comes down for the three. At this point, Aries promptly gets off the cover and shoves the running Baker to the mat, SCREAMING at him regarding why he didn't help with the cover. Both men begin to shout insults at one another, getting in each other's faces in the process. The DEATHSTEAKS Cow does try to get itself in between the two and play at bovine peacemaker...but it gets piefaced by Chas Baker, who proceeds to scream about the fact that maybe if Aries Armadaist was a good enough hoss that this would have been a three count.

Both men would have started brawling if not for the DEATHSTEAKS Cow promptly turning Chas Baker around...and kicking him right in the dick!

The scene before us is a brief stare down between Aries Armadaist and his chain restaurant's mascot, as the DEATHSTEAKS Cow slowly opens its arms as if to tell Aries that it is on his side and that it will all be OK. Armadaist nods...and gradually, the two embrace to an absolute gasp of surprise and then cheers from the Kyoto crowd, the chants of "DEATH-STEAKS!" emanating from within KBS Hall as the DEATHSTEAKS Cow squeezes onto the hug for dear life with one hand while the other hand grabs on to one of its teats, as it suddenly begins to squeeze some sort of milk from it out of sheer excitement towards Aries' chest and face.

That sends "Hoss Kong" reeling backwards in surprise, breaking up the hug as he begins to scream out as to "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO ME?! WHY ARE YOU SQUIRTING OUT MILK YOU CRAZY FUCKING MEAT LOCKER" as Aries proceeds to examine the liquid that was just squirted upon him with his fingers, his eyes widening as he suddenly asks "WHY IS IT STICKY?!?!?!"

The DEATHSTEAKS Cow stands its ground, squirting its teats up in the air as more of the liquid comes out, before a laugh emanates from its bovine self as it then reaches up to the back of its neck...unceremoniously removing its own head to the horror of the crowd, which is then followed by shock as they realize who exactly is behind this bovine disguise:

"The time has come...and so have moi!"

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Kamijo is here!

...And Aries Armadaist screams in pure, unadulterated horror and rage echoing across space, time and all sorts of galaxies and alternate timelines as the rest of the field inside of the ring are simply either near the ropes sitting up or down on the mat, simply observing this entire mess as if it just turned into a Twitter thread gone wrong in real time.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #17: Gary Gilray

While battered and beaten up from his earlier match in the card, "The One They Spoke Of" did not hesitate to make his way closer to the ring as the spectacle inside unfolded, as he actually carried a massive bag of popcorn with him and hurried along, screaming at the audience to excuse him as he came here "for the comments...and the Vine...whatever, he's still screaming" before taking a seat on the apron and observing as Aries Armadaist is still screaming out loud before finally attempting to aim for Kamijo's head with the P.O.K.E. (Knockout punch), but Kamijo ducks under the attempt and promptly grabs Armadaist by the testicles, applying the Genital Claw and squeezing for dear life as the referee blinks for a few moments...and then proceeds to finally ask Aries if he wants to quit.

The response is a resounding "YOU SON OF A BITCH BASTARD FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU ASFDGFHGJHGSDFGHISGHJHKHJGFDSYTDDFFH" while getting his most sensitive bits squeezed not-so-nicely by the man behind the Cult of #Kamijism. Kamijo twists on the hold and gets another set of screams from Aries, when Chas Baker finally steps back up and attempts to bash Prince Kamijo with a superkick...which is caught by Kamijo's free hand, as he pulls Baker into the Genital Claw with the other hand! The other competitors simply wince at the proceedings, as Dragón Diabólico is the one who finally does something other than watching as he proceeds to smack the unsuspecting Gary Gilray on the apron across the head, forcing him to drop his large bag of popcorn before dragging him to the ring while "THE BIG DOG" finally comes out from the crowd and into the ring proceedings, her and Blaise Fader squaring up while Tom Pendergrass and PROJECT MUSCLE do battle on another corner of the ring.

Both Chas and Aries finally do proceed to work their way out of Kamijo's expert grip after enough elbows and strikes to the very tall, chiseled and magnificent figure before they pick him up respectively and attempt to connect with a double suplex...from which Kamijo lands on his feet behind them, a "tsk tsk" escaping him as he proceeds to spew out "white mist" all over Chas Baker's face using the set of teats from the ridiculous bovine costume he'd donned before literally spewing white mist from his mouth onto Aries' face. As both men drop to the mat, clawing and trying to wipe away at their faces while rolling out of the ring, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Kamijo cannot help but to remark as to how "#Beauuutiful" they look with a little bit of "the Moi" in their faces.

However, Prince Kamijo doesn't quite expect himself to be suddenly on the receiving end of a random bag of popcorn being thrown at his face from Persephone Waters - who'd somehow escaped to the outside during her brawl with Blaise Fader not going as planned and proceeded to do just that. Kamijo looked amused for a mere moment, but that was before Fader turned him around and went to punch his face. On instinct, Kamijo covered his #Beauuutiful face...but Blaise showed her smarts by feinting the punch and catching him with a knee across the gut before showing her hoss-esque strength by lifting the six-foot-five man and dropping him with Fade-Away (Package Fallaway Powerbomb) for a near three count in which Kamijo managed to kick out in the nick of time. Of course, Kamijo had to do it again after Persephone Waters suddenly came at him like a spider monkey via springboard headbutt RIGHT ON THE DICK! ...The fact Kamijo survived that one alone spoke volumes of his endurance in various places, but that sort of commentary was one that Dre Hamilton chose not to pursue at the desk, for once.

The countdown was on once more...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #18: Kevin Hardaway

Kevin Hardaway stepped out of the curtains and overlooked the scene for a moment, the crowd gasping loudly as they saw what he was carrying across his shoulder: a replica M20 "Super Bazooka," right out of the "Destroy All Monsters" movie. Their gasps turned into panicked screams as the "Voice Of Violence" and "The Lesser Half of #RubyWay" proceeded to take aim using said bazooka right at the ring while walking towards it. Gary Gilray was the first one to take notice of this, an audible "OH YOU HAVE GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING M-" escaping him as he dove for cover as Hardaway pulled the trigger...

And proceeded to rain down hellfire and brimstone with tennis balls shooting at a rapid speed onto the KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE participants inside of the ring in the process. None were spared of this particular, unusual level of punishment as some took the blows head-on and it took a couple of shots to finally send them down (PROJECT MUSCLE, Dragón Diabólico, Tom Pendergrass, Blaise Fader) while some were full-fledged one-hitter quitter type knockouts (Chas Baker, Gary Gilray). The particular onslaught of shots continued all over the ringside area for another twenty seconds until Hardaway saw no more balls coming out of the bazooka, even as he squeezed the trigger continuously. Kevin banged on top of the replica bazooka, muttering something about "there's gotta be a few more shots left, something's stuck" as Aries Armadaist - still with some white stuff all over his face - literally charging at him like a mad man. Hardaway opted to throw the bazooka at Aries' direction, who caught it...and then caught a shotgun dropkick to the knees for his troubles before Hardaway got himself back inside of the ring...

ONLY TO DAMN NEAR GET HIS SOUL TAKEN OUT OF HIS BODY BY "THE POOOOOUNNNNNCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" BY TOM PENDERGRASS, SENDING HIM ACROSS THE RING AND WITH HANGTIME TO SPARE UNTIL HE HIT THE MAT!

Tom Pendergrass looked absolutely living at this point, scooping up Gary Gilray and hitting him with an impressive spinebuster in the process before following suit by grabbing Persephone Waters, who screamed something about "HASHTAG NABA GENERAL MANAGERS TEAMWORK?!" before Pendergrass yelled back "NAH, FUCK A GBADAMOSI AMADI" before dropping her with the Red & Black Dragon Bomb (Gutwrench Hold, lifted into a Sitout Crucifix Powerbomb)! The pinfall would have soon followed, if not for Pendergrass feeling something smash him across the back of his head, dropping him to the mat. A light-skinned man on crutches was now seen in the ring, the RAIDEN young boys quickly scrambling into the ring and removing the man in question, the crowd in pure confusion while the announcers explain that the man in question is not even a wrestler of any kind, he's just some basketball player named Chris Morton who has had some sort of personal beef with Tom Pendergrass for a while now due to rival teams and some REALLY BAD mixtapes beef. Regardless, Chas Baker sees an opportunity and he not-so-gracefully flies off the second rope with an elbow drop onto Pendergrass as he holds on to the pinfall for dear life...and somehow gets the three count!

ELIMINATED: Tom Pendergrass (by pinfall)

Chas Baker promptly goes for the cover on "THE BIG DOG," but she manages to get the shoulder up just in time as Baker curses the heavens for not allowing him two eliminations in a row. He attempts instead to kick Blaise Fader in the shin and to lift her up into a suplex esque attempt...and while the first part succeeds, he cannot do the latter and in return, Fader proceeds to drill him with a pair of shinbreakers before she turns Chas into the Godiva Lock (Seated Stretch Muffler)!

As Chas Baker begins to scream in agonizing pain, we go once more to the countdown at hand as the next competitor is near...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #19: Albino Goji

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNK~!"

That loud noise alone combined with Blaise Fader's Godiva Lock is plenty enough to get Chas Baker to tap out on the mat and his elimination to be complete, as "Black Fire Upon Us" by Dethklok plays over the PA system and Chas Baker rolls away, hobbling for his life as Aries Armadaist has a confused look on his face while watching his future partner flee through the Kyoto crowd.

ELIMINATED: Chas Baker (by submission)

A cardboard replica of Tokyo is slowly pulled upright much like a pop-up book near the curtains, the guitars properly riffing is what brings out the "Great White Reptile" Albino Goji himself, his strides quick and enthused and what can only be described as a maniacal grin tugging at his lips beneath his mask. Throwing his head back, he lets out a booming rendition of his infamous "REEEEEEEEEOOOORRRNNNKK~!" before a plume of fire issues forth from his mask--and that destructive might is turned to the city at his feet, stomping it to paper ruins and setting small portions of it on fire as the crowd in Kyoto roots for this on the fact that it's Tokyo getting the business and not them! It is only when there is nothing left to destroy that Albino Gojira is making his way down the ramp, slapping the hands of any fan that wants to reach for him.

But as Goji is making his entrance, the ring is still filled with other humans who are worried about their own ongoing fights rather than the kaiju behemoth that is fifty stories tall (seven-foot-one) and weighs a METRIC FUCKTON (two hundred and sixth pounds, but who's counting). Demónico and Fader are now engaged in battle, Prince Kamijo is actually getting tossed around by PROJECT MUSCLE, Persephone is coming down on the outside onto Kevin Hardaway and Gary Gilray with a corkscrew moonsault from the top rope and it is none other than Aries Armadaist that is the first to meet Albino Goji on the outside, as "Hoss Kong" pulls the "Great White Reptile" into a hockey-esque brawl as both men begin to lay out the lumber with punches while screaming very loud, very English obscenities at one another in the process for a few moments while the Kyoto crowd is completely and utterly encouraging this behavior.

Their brawl spews onto the inside of the ring itself and as other competitors attempt to break it up, both Aries and Goji proceed to clean house - Aries via headbutts and dick kicks, Goji with massive lariats and tossing people over his head with back body drops and the like, this particular bit continuing until the ring is cleared out and it's just the two of them inside of it. Both men promptly return to the outside, each of them stomping around in a particular set of buildings remaining and then hurling them inside of the ring as Goji has the Tokyo Tower replica on hand while Aries has the Empire State Building replica. Aries proceeds to scream at Goji that he's the "HOSS KONG AND TRUE FUCKING MONSTER" around these parts and Goji retorts that Aries is a "REEEEEEEEEOOOORRRNNNKK'ING WHITE BITCH" as both men return to the ring, each man climbing aboard one of the near turnbuckles in a pure, dick measuring kind of contest as they put their replicas in each top rope and pose accordingly...Aries Armadaist beating his chest like King Kong and screaming out while holding on to the Empire State Building replica, while Albino Goji lets out another "REEEEEEEEEOOOORRRNNNKK~!" before smacking the crap out of the Tokyo Tower out of the ring and onto the viewing audience because FUCK THAT TOWER.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #20: GOTHRA

"Mothra's Song" by Yuji Koseki begins to emanate from the PA system as Aries and Goji's attentions turn as out of the curtain, four girls slowly begin to escort out none other than the winged emo wonder known as GOTHRA to the ring area as Albino Goji loudly remarks "GODDAMMIT, WHY DOES THIS BITCH HAVE TO RUIN FUCKING EVERYTHING?!?!" It is at this moment that PROJECT MUSCLE and Blaise Fader proceed to scoop up Albino Goji and Aries Armadaist respectively on their shoulders, the two of them dropping the two kaiju-costume wearing men with simultaneous electric chair drops as GOTHRA does end up getting caught by surprised by a flying BIG DOG, as Waters comes at her with a springboard dragonrana suicida...who somehow manages to handspring her way out of the landing before fluttering her way into the steel steps and leaping off of them onto an oncoming Kevin Hardaway with a back elbow followed by a kip-up before greeting Gary Gilray with a drop toehold that sends Gilray onto the wooden steps face-first!

But the impressive feat comes from inside of the ring as Dragón Diabólico demonstrates his full might and THE TRUE POWER OF MOTHER. FUCKING. SCIENCE. by deadlifting the METRIC FUCKTON that is Albino Goji off the mat into a vicious Northern Lights suplex that nearly ends up getting him the three count and his fourth elimination of the evening. But it is as Dragón returns to a vertical stance in which he's caught with a Thesz Press from Blaise Fader, who proceeds to nail him with closed-fist punches in its aftermath before she makes her way to the apron and then comes down onto him in pure, dramatic fashion to Kyoto's anticipation with the Pip Pip Cheer-Hilo (Slingshot Somersault Senton...well, sort of)! Blaise proceeds to then get caught by PROJECT MUSCLE, who throws her up into the air and catches her with the BEAST UNLEASHED (Pop Up European Uppercut)...and as MUSCLE turns around, we suddenly see the footage cut out for a few brief moments, only the sound of somebody hitting the mat hard being heard.

...And once it's back, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Kamijo is soaking in an absolute standing ovation as the announcers call what just happened "The Greatest Move In Wrestling History!" Everyone questions if what they just saw was an actual thing or some mirage...and TAFKA Prince Kamijo is just absorbing the applause, taking an absolute bow...and it is at that particular moment in which he is fucked, as Albino Goji opts to do what any upstanding kaiju would do in a situation where your opponent has left his guard this wide open:

He somehow sends out a fucking fireball right at Prince Kamijo's face, connecting in full!

Kamijo screams out in agony and that is enough time for "THE BIG DOG" Persephone Waters to suddenly come out from the depths of nowhere, positioning and connecting with Code: BIG DOG (Yoshi Tonic) onto Kamijo...AND GETTING THE THREE COUNT!

ELIMINATED: The DEATHSTEAKS Cow The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Kamijo (by pinfall)

"YOU JUST GOT HASHTAG BIG DOGGED!" Persephone screams out after the count is made! And the countdown suddenly appears once more...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

[Strike]

Entrant #21: Michael Norcia

"Bury Me In Smoke" by Down blaring through the entire PA system is enough to cause everyone within the ring to look back at the ramp and take absolute notice as the "Neck Breaking Beast" emerges from a curtain of smoke that suddenly emanates around the curtains, slowly marching towards the ring and noticeably, both of his hands have on his chainmail gloves as Aries Armadaist curses his luck while recovering on the inside while GOTHRA gets herself inside of the ring. Norcia simply opts to circle around the ring but without any semblance of fear, Kevin Hardaway goes to meet him in the outside instead as he begins to brawl with him while avoiding any punches from Michael in the process before a faint from Norcia's left hand leads to a right uppercut from the chainmail glove connecting with Hardaway's jaw, sending him right back down to the floor below. Norcia steps up on the apron and makes his way through the ropes, his target immediately being that of PROJECT MUSCLE as he closes in on DIVINE's behemoth with a one-two combination to his sternum that drops MUSCLE to a knee, in which Norcia uses to promptly connect with a Double Arm DDT! The might of DRAGON SATAN ate a meaty lariat from the man with the "Hand of God" shortly thereafter and even a springboard, flying GOTHRA was caught mid-air and then brought back down to Earth with a massive exploder suplex onto the stack of buildings that Aries and Goji had previously thrown into the ring!

But speaking of the "Great White Reptile," he is actually the one that quells the momentum out of Norcia by bringing him up off his feet and connecting with a pop-up Samoan drop onto the "Neck Breaking Beast!" While Goji does pop up and is about ready to spew more fire into the air with another mighty roar...well, Persephone Waters to head in his general direction, kicking away at his legs as much as she can before rolling backwards and then proceeding to turn around with a handspring gamengiri that catches Goji across the right shoulder...and Albino Goji doesn't look anywhere near amused as he goes to grab Waters but she slips underneath his legs and connects with a dropkick right onto his tailbone. That sends Albino a step or two forward...and right onto the grasp of Blaise Fader, who grits her teeth as she wraps her arms around his waist and goes around him prior to lifting him up with great might, nailing Goji with a German suplex...which, sadly, she can't quite manage to bridge. But as Goji holds on to his neck for absolute dear life after getting spiked, Armadaist quickly follows suit by placing Goji's head in between his legs and drops him into a sudden, dangerous looking piledriver!

Like an absolute vulture, Gary Gilray proceeds to capitalize on it by throwing Armadaist shoulder-first into the nearest steel post, booting Blaise Fader in the face and then proceeding to lick his hands, slapping Albino Goji right in the ass before mounting him, locking in the Prayer Position (Grounded top wrist-lock)! Goji lets out a few screams and a lot of curses, while Gilray opts to lean closer to his ear and whisper the kinds of things that would get anyone kicked out of primetime television - like himself! But as he cranked on the hold, his eyes widened as he saw the RAIDEN young boys on the outside all gathered near the curtain attempting to stop one man from making his way to the ring:

Shane Atwater.

Gilray was more than happy to scream out more shit talk at Atwater's direction, screaming about how he was going to make his giant lizard as "bitch-made" as Shane's entire existence.

...Unfortunately, that bit of shit-talking and lack of focus in his surroundings leaves him open for Michael Norcia to drop a very prone and unprotected Gary Gilray with the Hand of God (Knockout punch)!

The countdown for the next entrant begins from the moment fist meets jaw...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

The lights go out inside of KBS Hall...confusion settling in all over the ring.

♪ I push my fingers until my... Eyes...
It's the only thing that slowly stops the aaaaaacheeeeee,
But it's made of all the things I have to TAKEEEEEEEEEE...
JESUS IT NEVER ENDS, IT WORKS ITS WAY INSIDEEEEEEEE
IF THE PAIN GOES ON... ♪

The lights return and at the center of the ring, Michael Norcia is now face-to-face with one particular devil he perhaps would have never expected to see inside the squared circle. The crowd in Kyoto recognized quite well that "The Master of Shadows" was now making his presence clear and they screamed out in anticipation - as did the announcers - as he stared up at Norcia, the two men almost nose-to-nose at this point and things were heating up!

Entrant #22: Syn

Syn made the first move, headbutting Michael Norcia across the jaw and promptly following suit on the attack with a series of European uppercuts until backing Norcia into a corner. Syn dodged an incoming right hand from Michael, responding with a sharp knee aimed to his sternum as he ran across the ring, dodging a spinning kick from GOTHRA at the center of the ring and nailing a prone Aries Armadaist in the opposite corner with a spinning wheel kick before returning at GOTHRA, who attempted to catch him with a Standing Spanish Fly...to which both her and Syn landed on their feet. The crowd gasped at the sudden athleticism while Syn responded by promptly turning GOTHRA into a Necklock Backbreaker! As Syn charged into the corner and nailed Norcia with a jumping European uppercut to keep him cornered, the fights continued to emerge elsewhere as Kevin Hardaway now had Dragón Diabólico brought down for a snapmare and connected with a running kick to his chest while Blaise Fader picked up Gary Gilray and with all of her might and strength, she connected with the Coventry Blitz (Argentine Powerbomb)...the pinfall soon following!

ELIMINATED: Gary Gilray (by pinfall)

At the same time as Fader was taking care of Gilray, PROJECT MUSCLE was floored by "THE BIG DOG" using a set of destroyed buildings to smash MUSCLE across the kneecaps to bring him down and she quickly brought him down to his knees, quickly ascended to the top rope and went for it all with the Persephone 2: The Return Of Jafar (Corkscrew 630 Senton)...only for PROJECT MUSCLE to wisely roll out of the way, as Sephy hit nothing but the mat back-first! MUSCLE followed promptly with DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS (Elevated Sitout Powerbomb) and promptly rolled out of dodge as he then saw Albino Goji spring up from the depths of nowhere with a cannonball right onto Persephone Waters...then followed by GOTHRA suddenly flying in, wings flapping and all with the Cosmos Seal (450 Splash into Double Foot Stomp)!

And she took the entirety of all of those things!

The referee promptly checked on Persephone after that, who was still somehow conscious and still declaring herself to be "THE BIG DOG," but nowhere near as animated and definitely not moving a single limb after being literally squashed by a METRIC FUCKTON! The ref looked around, sighed and called for the elimination as hand while waving in medical staff to help get "THE BIG DOG" out of the deep waters.

ELIMINATED: "THE BIG DOG" Persephone Waters (by destruction)

After the announcers declared that to take out a behemoth such as "THE BIG DOG" would take this sort of effort, Persephone's efforts were indeed applauded in full as she was helped out and Syn now had Norcia on the ropes, sitting Michael down on the top rope and catching him with an open palm uppercut before springboarding onto the top rope and proceeding to attempt a frankensteiner onto Norcia from his spot...but Norcia caught him! Michael simply shook his head, bringing Syn up in a crucifix powerbomb position and yelling out that "YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME!" before coming down with Syn for an Avalanche "To The Gallows" (Crucifx Powerbomb lift, dropped into an inverted ace crusher)...but the sheer impact is enough to where Michael Norcia can't immediately make the cover. PROJECT MUSCLE and Dragón Diabólico promptly moved out of harm's way and the two oncoming men in the nick of time, turning them around as fast as they could and both of them proceeding with pinfall covers...only for Norcia and Syn to pop their shoulders out at two and a half and two and three-quarters, respectively.

Meanwhile, Aries Armadaist and Kevin Hardaway are entangled in a brawl as Armadaist pulls out a replica building that somehow hasn't been destroyed yet and tries to bash it across Hardaway's head but he ducks under the swing, leaping backwards as Aries turns around and catching the "Hoss Kong" with a bicycle kick to the face before proceeding to cactus clothesline both Armadaist and himself over the top rope and onto the outside as the countdown begins...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #23: Irina Onegin

Pro Wrestling NEO's and most importantly, the Church of Oleska's "Graceful Assassin" took her time after emerging from the curtain to walk around the chaos and scenery around her...surveying the damages, surveying the battles that are ongoing and during her own research, she found herself quickly fending off Aries Armadaist - who was in her path - with a Tsubame Gaeshi Judo Throw with an extra stomp to his face added in the aftermath before continuing her own surveying of the ring. Onegin gradually climbed up the steel steps, the air seemingly getting heavier as she entered the ring without any particular beings attempting to thwart her attempts and once she was inside, Irina had a moment to carefully gauge her surroundings before her focus was forcefully brought onto Blaise Fader, who caught her with a pair of forearms before attempting to irish whip her from the ropes. Irina promptly reversed the attempt and in the return, rather than being caught and brought down with a spinebuster, Irina landed behind Blaise and within moments, she had her hooked and in place for a sidewinder suplex that echoed across the mat. Onegin rolled to one knee, a quick stride allowing her to close the distance on a recovering Syn as she grasped the old hardcore legend and promptly brought him back down to the mat with a Sumi Gaeshi, promptly rolling backwards with Syn still in her grasp and proceeding to deadlift all six-foot-three and two hundred and sixteen pounds of him off the mat. But as Irina looked for a suplex or throw of some kind, Syn slipped her grasp and landed behind her, the wily veteran promptly unleashing Knightfall (Ushigoroshi) onto her before his focus was forced back onto Michael Norcia, who kicked him across the stomach and irish whipped him into the ropes, catching Syn on the rebound with a vicious looking Uranage...from which Norcia gets a close two count.

Things continue to escalate as GOTHRA goes for a springboard variation of Rapid Wings (Spinning crescent kick) onto Albino Gojira but misses the mark as Goji...simply shakes his head while walking away from it after she takes off. "STUPID FUCKING BUG BITCH, YOU THINK I'M DUMB ENOUGH TO JUST STAND THERE AND TAKE TH-- OH SHIT!!!!"

That, my friends, was the sound of a giant kaiju before he gets elevated up high in the air by the combined might of DRAGON SATAN and PROJECT MUSCLE into a STO/Dragón Suplex combination, spiking Goji right onto his neck. And yet, to the confusion of a few people, GOTHRA breaks up the fall after Dragón bridged the suplex for a pin and her attack is immediate with a series of stomps on Dragón followed by a jumping jawbreaker that stuns PROJECT MUSCLE before she leaps in the air, wings flapping once before catching him with a gamengiri kick that sends him into the war path of a returning Kevin Hardaway, who damn near attempts to take MUSCLE's head off with a Decap Lariat (Running short-arm lariat)...but PROJECT MUSCLE does not leave his feet, stumbling back to the ropes! He charges at Hardaway, looking to return the favor with a Roaring Lariat, but K-Hard blocks it with both arms - screaming something akin to "FUCK, THAT HURT!" in its aftermath - before grabbing onto PROJECT MUSCLE in a suplex position, looking around him...and then using every bit of strength in his body to bring MUSCLE up in the air and throw him down into The End of Heartache (Vertical suplex into a backbreaker)! Hardaway, however, ends up grabbing on to both knees for a few seconds before he can get himself onto the cover while hooking PROJECT MUSCLE's leg...AND MUSCLE MANAGES TO SOMEHOW GET THE SHOULDER UP!!!!!

Hardaway doesn't have time for shock, as Aries Armadaist promptly comes through with a rolling thunder headbutt onto PROJECT MUSCLE and even that isn't enough to keep the big man pinned. But it is at this point where something else begins to happen on the other side of the ring, as GOTHRA has Michael Norcia hooked by his head and is running up the turnbuckles while looking for Dark Echo (Shiranui)...Norcia catches her mid-flight and legitimately tosses her like a lawn chair onto the outside of the ring and into the first row - the people literally scattering from their seats as they see the flying kaiju coming at them. And after that, Michael Norcia shakes his head as he turns around and outside of the still fallen PROJECT MUSCLE and GOTHRA, he begins to do the one thing he's been infamous for doing.

Dismantling anything and anyone that fucking moves with The Hand of God:

Irina Onegin, Syn, Dragón Diabólico, Blaise Fader, Kevin Hardaway, Aries Armadaist and finally, Albino Gojira.

All of them fall to the hand.

Norcia doesn't end it there, as he focuses on Albino Gojira for good measure and brings him up in a wrist-clutch...which is then transitioned into a second Hand of God with the chainmail glove, mounting him shortly after and proceeding to dish out rights and lefts onto his masked face and forcing the referee to outright step in to stop it and call for the elimination.

ELIMINATED: Albino Gojira (by destruction)

Norcia, on the other hand, doesn't stop...even as the countdown rolls on:

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

The lights go out in the entirety of KBS Hall once again, as Norcia seems to stand up and his voice is heard as "THIS ISN'T GONNA WORK A SECOND TIME!" But and as the lights turn back on, the scenery is much different.

In front of him...there is a crowd with the "Beneath" banners all across the first and second row up, as Brendan Samuels and the remainder of Beneath/The Real Underground stand at the curtains, looking over at his direction. The announcers go over the fact that Norcia and Brendan Samuels have had their issues as of recent in the Underground and that Norcia is tight with Bobby B. these days to boot...and then, the crowd in Kyoto begins to murmur as the rest of the competitors are slowly stirring and someone else is right behind the "Neck Breaking Beast."

Michael Norcia is turned around and he is met with a thunderous headbutt across his chin by the twentieth-fourth entrant in the KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE, crumbling Norcia down to the mat below while the figure in all black and golden helmet stumbles backwards...

Entrant #24: Montag

Underground's Montag, who has had his fair share of issues with Michael Norcia, doesn't stop there as he runs to the ropes, springboarding off the second rope and comes down onto Norcia's chest with a diving headbutt. Noticing that this is an opportunity, Montag then proceeds to slowly lift up Michael Norcia back to a standing position and even while completely dazed, Norcia does manage to throw a swift Hand of God aimed right at Montag's helmet, which sends the mysterious robot(?) stumbling backwards...

But it leaves Michael Norcia prone and right in the warpath of a charging PROJECT MUSCLE, who connects flush with the B.S.E (Spear into Spinning Side Slam)!

The cover is made, the pinfall is counted and The Real Underground make their exit shortly through the curtains - their work here being done as the banners soon thereafter disappear.

ELIMINATED: Michael Norcia (by pinfall)

MUSCLE pants, slowly lifting himself back to a standing position as he is the man who has been in this match the longest now, beckoning for the next person who's ready to come at him to make their move...watching as Montag stumbles forward, even as PROJECT MUSCLE falls to one knee in the process as the Kyoto crowd is chanting "MUS-CLE" in an attempt to continue reviving the hard-working beast who has been giving it his absolute all to them.

That is the exact moment in which Irina Onegin lives up to her very moniker, as PROJECT MUSCLE never sees The Graceful Dahlia coming!

The shotgun double knees to the back of the head send PROJECT MUSCLE promptly to the mat and from there, Irina transitions into a Kesa-gatame (Scarf hold) and from there, the referee checks on PROJECT MUSCLE...who is unresponsive to it. The submission added with the blow to the back of his head causes the referee to promptly call for the elimination, forcing Irina to let go of the submission promptly as the crowd boos accordingly at this elimination.

ELIMINATED: PROJECT MUSCLE (by submission)

It is shortly after letting go of the hold and finding herself in a striking match with Montag - to which she easily overwhelms him, that we go into the countdown for the next competitor once again:

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #25: MECHA APE

"FOR THE FUTURE~!"

MECHA APE didn't hesitate for a nanosecond to skip the pleasantries and screamings to book it to the center of the ring as Aries Armadaist was stomping on his fellow DRAGONZORD tag team partner in Dragón Diabólico, beginning to throw hands with "HOSS KONG" promptly while Blaise Fader caught Irina Onegin with a lariat from out of nowhere after she'd nearly kneed Montag's helmet into tiny little pieces (to somewhat of her own detriment). GOTHRA was still sprawled out on the outside and in the meantime, both Kevin Hardaway and Syn had the same ideas on opposite sides of the ring as they threw in various replica buildings and such that were still intact alongside a kendo stick each, steel chairs and in Syn's case, he pulled out a table for good measure, setting it up before grabbing GOTHRA and deliberately ripping away both of her wings in a pure, grotesque display prior to then before positioning her and nailing her in flush with The Killing Joke (Regal Cutter) onto the Japanese table...which bent and dented, but it most certainly did not break! The referee, however, did hear the noise that the impact made and after looking at the fact that GOTHRA was now sprawled onto the table and that her wings were nowhere near attached to her body...the call was made for the elimination.

ELIMINATED: GOTHRA (by destruction)

Syn was booed accordingly for his antics, but he looked particularly proud of his work as he shook his head at GOTHRA and took the table away, positioning it closer to the ring before he hopped back up in the apron...only for him to find himself wacked across the skull by a kendo stick from Kevin Hardaway, who promptly hung him from the second rope and dropped him with a hanging DDT...which somehow only managed to get a two and three-quarters count before Syn threw his shoulder up in the air to stay alive in this RUMBLE.

MECHA APE warded off Armadaist's attacks and was in control now, having "The World's Greatest Unprofessional Wrestler" right where he wanted him, as APE held him up in the air for a total of nearly twenty seconds before dropping him with a stalling vertical suplex, the impact being enough to where Aries once again rolls to the outside. At the same time, Blaise Fader attempted to put Irina Onegin down with the Coventry Blitz but Irina slipped out of the grasp of the Argentine backbreaker set-up, as Irina then found her way into the Jilted Anemone (Wrist-lock followed by STIFF side kick into the kidneys), dazing Fader enough to where a combination of strikes aimed right at Blaise's face followed before Irina capped it off with the Grim Muscari (Hip throw followed by a straight up punch to the temple)...in which somehow, someway, Blaise Fader kicks out in the nick of time...and just as the countdown for the next competitor began.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #26: Lena Verhulst

The bodyguard of one Gary Gilray...doesn't look anywhere near as enthused to be in this as she probably would have been if her employer was still in this match but nevertheless, she finds herself walking in like a woman on a mission as she enters the ring and then promptly proceeds to plant Irina with a running powerslam onto the leftover/crumbled and somewhat whole mess of miniature buildings stacks that had been thrown in moments ago. Kevin Hardaway does catch Lena Verhulst with a kendo stick to the ribs as she tries to get up, but as he goes for a second swing, Lena catches the kendo stick as the crowd gasps and then is utterly astounded as she proceeds to basically break it in half with one single hand before closing in the distance by turning Hardaway inside out with a lariat. However, it is at that point in which Lena finds herself on the rough end of a roundhouse kick/leg sweep combo from Dragón Diabólico and MECHA APE, as the tandem better known as DRAGONZORD seems to have an accord to work together like in days past until they can do honorable and righteous combat without interference. Both of their attentions turned to Blaise Fader, who did her best to try and fight them off with forearms and even a back elbow that caught Diabólico off-guard for a moment but MECHA APE's FUTURE WAR APE BOMBER (King Kong Lariat) put a screeching halt to Blaise's attempted returns...and from there, APE proceeded to pick her back up and told Dragón to "ASSUME THE NECESSARY POSITION AND PREPARE FOR LAUNCH" before irish whipping Blaise across the ropes and catching her as she came back with a back body drop... WHICH WAS CAUGHT BY DRAGÓN, DRIVING HER TO THE MAT WITH HIS DRAGÓN'S INFERNO - THE MECHA SATAN BOMB BEING COMPLETED!

MECHA APE added his own weight on the cover alongside DRAGON SATAN as the pinfall was counted and the DRAGONZORD tandem's teamwork managed to put one of the toughest contestants in this KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE down for the count!

ELIMINATED: Blaise Fader (by pinfall)

Before MECHA APE could celebrate, he found himself suddenly kicked right in the MECHA balls by Montag - the Handegg Special being fully delivered. After seeing this, Dragón catches him with a knee to the sternum and simply begins to punch him on the gut from there, the two men beginning to tee off on one another while Irina Onegin regained her bearings and found Kevin Hardaway scaling to the second rope, waiting on Lena Velhurst to get back to a standing position. She watched as Hardaway came down onto Lena with a double axe handle to the head and as Lena stumbled backwards, Irina followed suit by nailing Velhurst with a picture-perfect German suplex in which she bridged for a near fall while Hardaway dodged a Montag clothesline and proceeded to catch him with a Lights Out Brainbuster (Brainbuster onto the knee) that causes even K-Hard to buckle because yet again, his knee just had to hit something that's way harder than the usual flesh and bone...

As for Irina, she keeps a grip of Lena's waist and proceeds to roll over alongside her, managing to connect with another German suplex, bridging it...only to find that bridge and her entire sternum practically dismantled by a flying Syn within a second, as he crashes onto Onegin with his famous Descent into Madness (Swanton Bomb), the sheer impact of it causing a shocked, pained reaction in Irina's face to appear as she let go of the bridge and held on to her ribs while Syn academically made the cover and got the three count in the process!

ELIMINATED: Irina Onegin (by pinfall)

Syn returned to his feet, a wicked grin on his face as he looked at Irina and proceeded to advance on Lena Velhurst, when he was suddenly turned around and got the biggest Dick Kick anyone may have possibly given him in his life (yes, which would possibly also include his wife)! Aries Armadaist, having bided his time, proceeded to promptly bring Syn into the Holy Ghost Catcher (Gannosuke Clutch), the pinning predicament giving Aries enough leverage to get the pinfall and the elimination...as he proceeded to cackle like an absolute madman in its aftermath while Syn at first was shocked...then unamused...then proceeded to grab onto Aries Armadaist after breaking away from RAIDEN's young boys trying to get him out of the ring and giving Armadaist a parting gift with the Requiem (Evenflow DDT)!

ELIMINATED: Syn (by pinfall)

The countdown begin shortly after Syn was forcefully removed - aka punched his way out - from ringside.

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #27: BIFU

The Yasei-gun's BIFU did not hesitate to immediately remind the DRAGONZORD boys exactly as to the havoc in which his faction was causing in their company by specifically targeting the two with a pair of running lariats, gloating included in its aftermath as he cursed them in Japanese and the Kyoto responded with a "BIFU WA KAERE," telling the Yasei-gun member to plainly just go home, go away and not be anywhere near them. BIFU shouted obscenities in return at the crowd, grabbing one of the steel chairs that had been tossed into the ring and teeing off accordingly on Lena Velhurst...who was not amused after taking the first shot from it, standing up to her feet and grabbing the chair with her hands on BIFU's second attempted swing, ripping it from his hands and bashing him right on the gut with the edge of the chair...and yet, BIFU did not go down. Lena planted the chair on the ground, attempting to lift him off his feet...but BIFU didn't budge, opting to respond with a chop right onto Lena's chest that sent her reeling back to the nearest corner before lifting her up off the corner and proceeding to connect with a one-handed chokeslam for good measure. BIFU smirked, proceeding to reach down to pick Velhurst once again...

And that's when Kevin Hardaway came flying in like an absolute house of fire, making the brawl with the larger BIFU into a closed-quarters affair akin to a hockey fight, eating BIFU's punches to deal two of his own back before attempting to go for an STO...in which BIFU proceeded to block, lifting Hardaway off his feet in a military press slam and throwing him right onto both MECHA APE and Dragón Diabólico as the two men charged forward to try and get at the Yasei-gun member. It was right there and then when Montag stepped into the scene, the lights flashing all over his costume and even with a cracked helmet, a few simple words in Japanese could be heard out loud and through the PA system, the crowd in Kyoto gasping at the robot speaking their language...

Worse yet, deciding to call BIFU the equivalent of a "fat, balding douchebag" in his own native language.

Montag proceeded to quickly get out of the ring and an enraged BIFU began to give chase, the two men beginning a full-fledged cat-and-mouse chase around the entirety of KBS Hall while in the ring, Aries Armadaist was now back on his bullshit as he legitimately attempted to pin Velhurst, only getting a two count out of the process. He began to wait as she made her back to a standing position and the attempt was very much made for Aries to nail Beelze-Bomb (Thunder Fire Powerbomb) but Lena somehow found it within herself to fight off the attempt and in a hulking display of power, a desperation spinebuster from her sent the two of them to the mat!

It was within moments later where we ended catching a camera shot of Montag sliding across the ring with a panting BIFU following shortly behind and once BIFU got inside of the ring, he gave BIFU a taste of the Initial D (Sliding forearm smash)...but only managed to get a two count from it. Montag proceeded to try and lift up the larger BIFU...and that was when BIFU's strength was put on display as he lifted Montag off his feet suddenly with one arm...and DROPPED HIM ON HIS HEAD WITH THE ICHI DRIVER (ONE-HANDED TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER)!!!

A cover was made, there was a three count...and Montag was eliminated, just as the countdown began for the next entrant's appearance.

ELIMINATED: Montag (by pinfall)

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #28: El Monstruo

As "Some Kind Of Monster" starts to play over the PA system, El Monstruo charges through the curtains making his way straight down to the ring, without breaking pace. Monstruo leapt up to the apron, before stepping in over the top rope, marching to the middle of the ring, and roaring as he meets an adversary of wars past in MECHA APE with the most possible warm greeting he can muster:

A big boot to the head.

Dragón Diabólico doesn't back down from this fight, as both men begin to exchange blows in the center of the ring with DRAGON SATAN dishing out three of them for every one he takes from El Monstruo but his own fatigue and longevity in the match is beginning to show as Monstruo blocks a lariat attempt from Dragón and grabs him, running towards the corner and dropping DRAGON SATAN head-first onto the top turnbuckle with Snake Eyes before then running across the ropes and bulldozing him against that same turnbuckle with a corner running splash! He spots BIFU returning to his feet after disposing of Montag and El Monstruo decides to put on his own display of power as he grabs the Yasei-gun member as if he were a lightweight with both arms, bringing him down onto a backbreaker...and then holding on it, standing up and doing it a second time, then a third before tossing him overboard with the MONSTRUO TOSS (Fallaway Slam)!

As El Monstruo returns his focus to dealing with old rivals in DRAGON SATAN and MECHA APE, Kevin Hardaway grabs one of the other chairs leftover from when he and Syn threw items into the ring along with a stack of buildings...putting the latter on top of BIFU while then scaling up to the top rope with the chair on hand. A standing Lena Velhurst was seen then running the ropes, proceeding to jump onto BIFU and nailing him with a flying knee drop before K-Hard flew off the top rope with a chair-assisted elbow drop before both Hardaway and Velhurst covered the big man, soon joined by Aries Armadaist dogpiling on the cover as they get the three count with BIFU for the elimination!

ELIMINATED: BIFU (by pinfall)

Armadaist promptly tries to roll up Velhurst in the aftermath of all of this with a schoolboy that is DEFINITELY holding on to the yoga pants Lena has for dear life...but she does manage to kick out at two and three-quarters just based on sheer, core strength within every inch of her body. Aries screams out in frustration as to "WHAT THE FUCK IS IT GONNA TAKE TO PIN YOU PEOPLE?! DO YOU EVEN WRESTLE WITH THOSE FUCKING PANTS, THEY AREN'T EVEN FOR WRESTLING YOU DUMB B--"

That's the moment where Aries ends finding himself on the wrong end of a shotgun dropkick to the head by Kevin Hardaway. Hardaway proceeds to bounce off the ropes, watching as Monstruo has both Dragón and MECHA APE by their throats...and he proceeds to go for the obvious, chop blocking El Monstruo's leg and allowing the grip to be broken. Hardaway begins to direct traffic at this point, telling MECHA APE and Dragón Demónico that the sooner they can get rid of this behemoth, the easier it gets for them and together, the three men do attempt to bring up Monstruo for a triple team suplex of some kind...but El Monstruo fights off the grips, one by one and when Hardaway manages to chop block him again, he decides to go for it all this time as he runs the ropes and is looking for Dead Aim onto El Monstruo...only to see the attempt miss as Monstruo gets out of the way in the nick of time and as K-Hard turned around, El Monstruo lifted Kevin Hardaway off the mat and displayed him up high for the world to see before glancing towards the outside...

And then proceeding to toss Kevin Hardaway with the MONSTRUO MASH (Throwing Military Press Slam) off the ring and through the Japanese table on the outside, which buckles under the impact and breaks in half to the astonishment of the Kyoto crowd! The referee promptly scurries to the outside, checking in on Hardaway who...somehow is still managing to move his limbs, but is very much writhing in pain as we go to the countdown for entrant number twenty-nine...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #29: Conor Blackburn

Conor Blackburn's approach to all of this as he comes out from the curtain is an analytical approach as he takes his time approaching the ring, watching as Aries Armadaist ends up absorbing a full-fledged lariat from Lena Velhurst after an exchange of irish whip reversals before literally headbutting her across the chest multiple times and then, finally, sealing it all away with The P.O.K.E. - the Punch of Kill Everything basically being the knockout blow needed as Aries promptly gets onto the cover and the referee gets back into the ring from checking up on Kevin Hardaway and counts it...one, two, three!

ELIMINATED: Lena Velhurst (by pinfall)

Blackburn promptly watches as Armadaist brings his arms up, pounding his chest in full "Hoss Kong" fashion as he celebrates finally being able to pin the strong girl in question...and as he stands, Conor Blackburn slides into the ring and with the proficiency of a surgeon, he brings Aries into an arm-wrench short-arm clothesline from which Conor then transitions into a grounded double-wrist clutch, then followed by head stomps right onto Aries' head that do not stop by any and all means necessary as the referee proceeds to ask if Aries wants to give up at first.

...Then he realizes Conor's still stomping Aries across the head but not necessarily getting a response from "The Ape of Wrath" and the referee's own slow response to what is actually happening here seems to annoy Conor enough to where he stops the stomps and then shifts the scene, proceeding to lock Armadaist in a stepover armlock camel clutch! Aries' already faint responses from the earlier stomps are even weaker here and when you consider the time spent in this match...

Well, Aries probably would have tapped...or wouldn't have...we don't know for sure as El Monstruo had just finished drilling MECHA APE with a MONSTRUO TOSS (Fallaway Slam) with MECHA APE's body colliding with both Blackburn and Armadaist. Monstruo promptly kicks Aries aside and out of the ring, nailing Conor Blackburn with a knee to the face to get him out of his path before pinning APE...but only managed to get a two and a half count due to Monstruo's initial focus on destruction rather than the fall. Dragón Diabólico did use this particular moment to scale to the second-rope and actually comes down with a missile dropkick right onto Monstruo's shins and that seems to bring the behemoth down to a single knee. Seeing an opportunity at hand, Blackburn did break on a stride towards the kneeling Monstruo and caught him in the back of the neck with a diving knee drop to finally drop the man to the mat.

Conor's attack is focused on the neck, as he proceeds to stomp away at El Monstruo's thick neck and he only steps back from his attach when he sees MECHA APE coming off the ropes and connecting onto Monstruo with the FUTURE WAR APE SMASH (Running Body Splash) while DRAGON SATAN scales the top rope once again as the countdown for entrant thirty rolls along...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #30: Ramsay Bodach

The KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE just got really nice.

Ramsay Bodach - who already made an impact earlier in the show - didn't hesitate to join the fray of fellow monsters as he PROMPTLY went for Conor Blackburn, as both men began to slug it out with Ramsay's initial attack being overwhelming at first until Conor was able to counter one particular blow and transition into a cravate...which is then overpowered by Bodach, who then tries to chokeslam Conor...only for Blackburn to power out of Ramsay's grip altogether. While those two behemoths from the Underground keep trying to outpower and outmaneuver one another, Dragón Diabólico is perched in the top rope as MECHA APE proceeds to put every cybernetic bit of muscle and engineering to work as he lifts up El Monstruo off the mat and then off his feet into a powerbomb position, beginning to spin him around as Diabólico then proceeds to leap off the top rope with a dropkick landing right onto El Monstruo's chest as MECHA APE completes the MECHA BOMB (Spiral Bomb).

And yet...someway, somehow, El Monstruo manages to kick out of it before the three count is made.

Both members of DRAGONZORD look aghast, but DRAGON SATAN proceeds to lift himself back up with full-fledged determination to get this done once again...except he doesn't get another second to think of El Monstruo, as Ramsay Bodach catches Dragón with a thunderous spear after having had dealt with Blackburn through tossing him over the top rope moments prior after their set of reversals that nearly ended in a stalemate. MECHA APE promptly attempts to come to his partner's aid and he ends up getting turned right into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Ramsay Bodach! It is at this point in which Conor Blackburn climbs back into the ring...and where we see Kevin Hardaway somehow drag his own corpse after being put through a table back towards the apron.

Between the people at hand, Bodach brings MECHA APE up and nails him with a half-nelson backbreaker while staring down at Conor Blackburn. What he gets in response is MECHA APE literally screaming out "IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO ELLIPSIS YOU PRIMITIVE COMMA SMALL DICKED HASHTAG LITTLE BITCH?!"

"...That was not nice," said Ramsay, as he proceeded to place MECHA APE's head underneath his legs, hooking both arms...and that was when Dragón Diabólico stepped into the fold with a rolling elbow landing flush onto Ramsay Bodach's chin and forcing his grip to be broken on MECHA APE...but that does leave Dragón wide open as Conor Blackburn proceeds to turn the man known as DRAGON SATAN around and connect with a vicious, swinging fisherman's suplex in which Conor bridges for a pinfall...and Diabólico gets the shoulder up in the nick of time. Blackburn sits up after that, taking a good glance of the utterly exhausted Dragón Diabólico and coming to the conclusion that this was a much stronger man than he could have possibly expected...

...5...4...3...2...1...

[BZZT!]

Entrant #31: Stephanie Stefano

♪ HEAD LIKE A HOLE, BLACK AS YOUR SOUL
I'D RATHER DIE THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL ♪

As the announcers put over the fact that this was the final entrant in the KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE, Stephanie Stefano stepped into KBS Hall in full-fledged fanfare, a golden attire with her usual touches but the most important part being a pair of large shoulder pads sporting the three-headed form of King Ghidorah - much to the amazement and support of the crowd itself as she made her way to the ring, stopping near the steel steps to remove the shoulder pads in question while she watched Kevin Hardaway return to a standing position with the help of the ropes while screaming at a now standing El Monstruo that he wasn't done just yet. Monstruo promptly made his way towards the ropes and reached down to grab K-Hard, but the wily veteran proceeded to catch him off-guard with a drop toe hold that sent Monstruo throat-first into the second rope.

Stefano then watched as Ramsay Bodach and Conor Blackburn were back to brawling against one another, with Ramsay escaping out of a pumphandle slam attempt from Conor and connecting with a pendulum backbreaker. Stephanie...proceeded to side-eye that as she slid into the ring, literally popping up Kevin Hardaway in the air as he was mid-run towards attempting to take El Monstruo down and nailing him with a Uranage into a backbreaker.

Bodach's eyebrows raised, Stefano simply wiping her hands and the two jawing back and forth as to who exactly was the backbreaker master in between them. Bodach promptly removed El Monstruo from the ropes, Monstruo responding with a big forearm that sent Ramsay back to the ropes but Bodach returned with a big boot that caught Monstruo across the face and left him prey to a capture suplex, which Ramsay proceeded to transition onto a backbreaker. Not meaning to be outdone in any way, shape or form, Stefano simply snuck in behind Bodach and showing her own impressive years of weightlifting strength, brought him in an torture rack position before transitioning it into an Argentine backbreaker! As she sat up, the crowd in Kyoto applauded this display of backbreakers on hand as Stefano met eyes with none other than MECHA APE now.

A MECHA APE who was staring practically dumb-founded at Stephanie Stefano, jaw dropped.

He'd finally found a WHITE WOMAN with the ASS (THAT WON'T QUIT)!

Stefano caught on fairly quickly, a smirk on her face as she waved at him and that seemed to infatuate MECHA APE even further as he began to step forward...as Dragón Diabólico promptly intervened, grabbing his partner by the shoulders and asking what exactly was he playing at. The two members of DRAGONZORD began to argue, as MECHA APE spoke quickly and urgently, saying that the true objective was mere inches away from him and that he needed the WHITE WOMAN WITH THE ASS while Demónico tried to ward him off...only for Dragón to then promptly get shoved right onto MECHA APE, the DRAGONZORD members colliding as Stephanie Stefano rolled MECHA APE up...and got the three count from it!

ELIMINATED: MECHA APE (by pinfall)

There was certainly a bit of shock and awe as MECHA APE cursed the heavens above for allowing himself to get distracted by WHITE WOMEN WITH THE ASSES and the like, but he eventually took his leave while Dragón Diabólico didn't hesitate to level Stephanie Stefano with a combo of punches and kicks before lifting her in a beautiful Northern Lights suplex that got a two count. But as Dragón returned to his feet and punched Conor Blackburn into the corner, he attempted to irish whip Blackburn to the opposite turnbuckle...only for that to be reversed, as Conor used his own strength and technique to basically hurl Dragón into the opposite turnbuckles instead. Conor's plans to come at the turnbuckle with any sort of running attack, however, were fended off entirely by Kevin Hardaway's Decap Lariat! Feeding off the energy and momentum, Hardaway watched as Conor began to stir backup and brought him into a double underhook but as K-Hard looked for the Williams Driver, he found his grip being reversed out of by Conor, who proceeded to kick him as hard as humanly possible with a spinning back kick to the stomach. As Hardaway looked like he was about to throw up from the impact, that left him wide open for El Monstruo, who proceeded to pick him up and damn near make him actually hurl as MONSTRUOSIDAD (Dragon Sleeper/Giant Swing Combination) was in full effect.

The other competitors had to practically avoid El Monstruo basically using Kevin Hardaway as a swinging, battering ram but after enough rotations and no response from "The Voice of Violence," the referee made the conscious decision to call for the elimination as Hardaway was launched back down into the mat shortly after.

ELIMINATED: Kevin Hardaway (by submission)

But if there was one thing that was incredibly noticeable by all parties now left in the match in the fact that El Monstruo does look rather dizzy after so many rotations and like vultures, the few survivors descend upon it. A flying knee from Ramsay Bodach, a facebreaker knee smash from Stefano, a spinning back kick from Conor Blackburn and after taking in a deep breath, a Power of the Dragón (Cross-armed iconoclasm) finally put El Monstruo down for the count.

ELIMINATED: El Monstruo (by pinfall)

As the four wrestlers were seen within the ring all standing up, it was Dragón Diabólico who began to absorb the "DRA-GON" chants coming out of Kyoto as the ironman of the match itself, the crowd clearly picking who they wanted...although he was quickly overwhelmed by stomps and a nasty looking Canadian backbreaker from Stephanie Stefano while Conor and Ramsay rekindled their own rivalry by means of throwing absolute soupbones at one another on the other side of the ring. Steph's attentions turned to the brawl between the two larger men after the backbreaker on DRAGON SATAN, proceeding to pick her spot against the man who also had his share of backbreakers by going for what hurt both physically and mentally.

A sudden inverted headlock backbreaker followed suit by the Walk of Shame (Jumping Reverse Bulldog) seemed to nearly do the trick, as Stefano nearly got a three count from it if not for Ramsay getting the shoulder up. The trademark move itself did its fair share of hurting onto Stefano and in predator-like instincts, Conor Blackburn proceeds to take advantage of it as he catches Steph into a cravate hold in which he cranks on for a few moments before nailing her with a cravate suplex which was then followed by a stepover armlock camel clutch...in which Stephanie fought like hell but the struggle between the pressure on the submission and Stefano finally find the ropes to break the hold exerted enough strength to where Blackburn seemed satisfied from it as he stood up to his feet, watching as Dragón Diabólico was now getting rough housed by Ramsay Bodach and his own lexicon of power moves...which included getting tossed halfway across the ring like a ragdoll and near the pile of steel chairs from earlier.

Bodach promptly stalked DRAGON SATAN, grabbing him by the legs and proceeding to deadlift him in position for a powerbomb but mid-lift, a desperate Dragón reached back, grabbing one of the steel chairs that was dented from previous usage during the match and swung it at Bodach's skull with everything he could muster...and while "The Ghost of Blackthorn" was dazed, he refused to let go of Demónico altogether. Gritting his teeth, Ramsay let out a war cry from within him...and then felt cold steel collide against his back.

Conor Blackburn swung the chair across Ramsay Bodach's back a second time for good measure, the big man dropping his grip and giving Dragón Demonico enough of a window to turn it into a hurricanrana that spiked the gargantuan Ramsay! Demónico was then suddenly brought off the mat and then elevated by Blackburn onto the Aeternum Vale (Pop Up Gorilla Press Cutter), with Dragón landing on top of Bodach with its impact...and the referee noticing that due to it, Ramsay's shoulders were now pinned to the mat:

ONEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Conor, turns around, the referee's slap of the mat catching his attention.

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

In quick thinking, Blackburn places his weight on top of Diabólico's for the cover.

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND RAMSAY GETS THE SHOULDER UP IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD!

ELIMINATED: Ramsay Bodach (via pinfall)

The crowd cheers the sudden elimination and the fact that we're down to three people in the ring, as Blackburn proceeds to suddenly be pulled out of the cover and right onto a surprise atomic drop from Stephanie Stefano, who then proceeds to irish whip Conor into the ropes and on his return, she put her hands under Conor's arms and pops him up off the mat before leaping forward but Conor avoids the Debt Collector by basically extending his legs and catching Stephanie with a front dropkick instead. It doesn't take long for Conor to see another use for his environment as he picks up the steel chair he previously used, unfolding it and placing it on the center of the ring as he then picks up Stefano off the mat, using the steel chair itself to allow him to hit a draping DDT from which he promptly turns into a pin...

Only to have it broken up by a furious Ramsay Bodach, who begins to wail away at Conor Blackburn with a steel chair on the mat while fighting off the various young boys trying to hold him back from his assault. The steel chair shots continue, even as Conor tries to work his way back to a standing position while using his arms to protect himself from the blows...but finally, one particular blow catches him in the skull and puts Conor back down on the mat. It doesn't take long for Ramsay to set up his steel chair after a few shots, unfolding it and placing it next to the one that Conor had put in place...before then grabbing Blackburn by the throat with both hands back to a standing position before he then brings him into the air...using the chair as a means of nailing a far more brutal looking version of the Blackthorn Breaker, the hanging Vertical Suplex lifted and dropped into the unfolded steel chairs, which buckle accordingly due to the impact and weight!

Ramsay's finally taken away and forced out of the ring and in the chaos, Dragón Diabólico is using the ropes to stand back up to his feet while Stephanie Stefano crawls into the cover, hooking both of Conor Blackburn's legs for good measure:

ONEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELIMINATED: Conor Blackburn (via pinfall)

Stefano gradually returned to her feet and Diabólico was there to meet her, the two of them being face-to-face as a few words were exchanged and then, it was a matter of a simple, good old fashioned brawl breaking out between the two as neither competitor gave way to the other but due to being the fresher of the two, Stephanie Stefano did manage to elevate Dragón Diabólico up after reversing an initial irish whip attempt and connected with the Debt Collector (Pop-up lariat)! Steph proceeded to then stalk DRAGON SATAN as he crawled around the mat, using the ropes to try and return to his feet and once he was up to one knee, Stefano pulled Dragón away from the ropes and attempted to go for Witchmade (Lifting Side Slam) but mid-lift, Dragón managed to somehow turn it into a victory roll:

ONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE--- STEFANO GETS THE SHOULDER UP IN THE NICK OF TIME!

But Dragón Demónico was already on the run from the initial kickout, bouncing off the ropes and using the momentum in question to catch a seated Stefano with a cannonball splash that brought her back down into the mat with absolute force. Gritting his teeth and letting out a roar of his own, Dragón Diabólico proceeded to then deadlift the "Witch of Wall Street" off the mat by her arms, placing her within a full nelson and looking behind him...before ABSOLUTELY DISMANTLING HER WITH A DRAGÓN SUPLEX ONTO THE WRECKED STEEL CHAIRS FROM EARLIER, BRIDGING IT AS HARD AS HE COULD FOR THE PIN:

ONEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELIMINATED: Stephanie Stefano (via pinfall)

Dragón threw his arms up in the air, roaring in triumph as he looked up at the lights, breathing heavily as he motioned for the referee to help him up. The crowd in Kyoto, however, looked a bit confused as the announcement of the elimination had been made but no bell rang...

That confusion turned into a realization...and then it shifted into heavy boos from Kyoto as Dragón Demónico was turned around and kicked right in the dick!

Demónico crumbled to his knees and Aries Armadaist - who had been biding his time on the outside, hidden beneath the apron area and behind any camera angles since Conor Blackburn nearly did him in - proceeded to then piledrive DRAGON SATAN, spiking his head right into the mat before covering his shoulders, the count almost academic at this point:

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

The bell rang and with it, "It's Gonna Get Ugly" by Limecell played over the PA system as Aries Armadaist laughed hysterically, screaming how "HOSS KONG IS THE FUCKING KING OF THE MONSTERS, BITCH!" while having his arm raised and the announcement was made...

Tsubasa Iwasaki: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR WINNER OF THE 2019 KING OF THE MONSTERS RUMBLE...ARIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEESSSSSSS...ARMAAAAAADAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The boos from Kyoto did not subside by any means, as Aries Armadaist had his arm raised by the referee and he proceeded to pound his chest like the true HOSS that he is, ascending to the turnbuckle and celebrating accordingly.

Patrick Carson: ...What a fucking Rumble...and what a result. You've gotta be gutted for Dragón Diabólico, as this is a man that went the absolute fucking distance only to get undone by a man who basically bided his time until the right opportunity came along!

Dre Hamilton: The tale of DRAGON SATAN and his valiant effort will be told for ages, Fish...but at the end of the day, Aries Armadaist played it smart and because of that, he's going into April with a guaranteed entry into the RAIDEN World Championship match. We've found our first...and with the King of Fighters tournament, we're going to determine the other three competitors that will join him in that match.

Patrick Carson: But until that time comes, for Dre Hamilton, I am Patrick Carson...good night from Kyoto, we will see you very soon!

The RAIDEN credits appear as confetti now rains down within KBS Hall as Aries Armadaist poses in the top rope, a DEATHSTEAKS t-shirt now adorning his chest while he does so...

WINNER: Aries Armadaist