[Drako Damone] vs Hiro Shin-Mozas

[Drako Damone]

Drako has really enjoyed resetting the pace here. The champion's natural flair and flamboyance has morphed into outright arrogance....or maybe he was always arrogant and fans just liked him better when he wasn't beating up their faves?

Drako feels like Hiro is close enough to escape that he lets him go, pops up, and attempts to drop a knee across Hiro's head  

[HiroShinMozas]

Hiro was actually let go by Drako as he inched away, which was great for the sake of his breathing -- though in the back of his mind, he knew it was most certainly NOT a good thing in the long term, merely the immediate. He turned on to his side for a moment to allow himself some leverage, but within seconds Drako's body blocked out the lights as he came down and drilled his knee onto the side of Hiro's head! The Ethnic Enigma rolled onto his stomach and covered his head with his arms, his right foot tapping against the ground several times as the gasps of pain could be heard emanating from the mouth he had pushed against the mat. There would once again be a steady stream of boos for the World Heavyweight Champion who seemed to be pushing all the right buttons of this crowd.  

[Drako Damone]

The champion doesn't care about being booed. He's here to prove a point. Now, he's take that same knee and place it in Hiro's spine while reaching forward to pull his head back in a modified cobra clutch, once more looking to wear the former Legacy champion down  

[HiroShinMozas]

Drako's veteran ability to ignore the crowd was coming through big time as he got down on the ground with a harsh knee into his opponents back...putting him into a variation of the devastating Cobra Clutch. The move would work wonders for the Champ when it came to controlling a grounded Hiro, all he could do was yell out for the ref to know he wasn't quitting. The Ethnic Enigma kicked his legs in another attempted at ground surfing, trying to push himself with a little help from his hands. This move was harsh as hell -- it looked like a million bucks applied by the Damone and hurt like a stack of quarters to jaw the way it was being applied, and how it made it his back feel was notwithstanding in the descriptor department. Hiro complained under his breath in between painful grunts as he tried his best to pull himself to safety and get Drako off of him for the betterment of his chances at winning the match.  

[Drako Damone]

the champion fully intends to make Hiro work for every centimeter of ground he gains here. Only when he reaches the ropes does the champ consider releasing him, and even then, only after the ref's count reaches 4. Upon releasing him, he'd attempt a hard stomp to Hiro's spine just to drive the point home  

[HiroShinMozas]

Hiro getting to the ropes was one small victory that would hopefully be trumped by winning the match later...but unfortunately, he'd have a long way to go even still to accomplish that as Drako got up and stomped down hard on Hiro's spine. The source of why he was gone for all those years, the spine was a sensitive part of Hiro's body, and with a yelp his entire being floundered on the mat and under the bottom rope he was just grabbing, collapsing again to ringside as he had earlier in the match. He laid there with a hand on his back and his face in the elbow of his other arm -- the sounds of groaning escaping with each breath he took that expanded his back. There was suddenly a true cause for concern in this match -- and it was going to be a great test to see if Hiro really could keep going after having his achilles heel attacked in such a way.  

[Drako Damone]

the champion lets Hiro roll out of the ring, but he's noted the weakness he'd exploited. That would come in handy later. For now, however, the champion steps back to the center of the ring and extends his arms to the booing crowd.

"Is this y'all's hero?"

those boos grow louder as the champion smirks again while the referee begins the count out.

JR: This is different. The Drako of old would be setting up something on the outside, living up to his Soaring Dragon name, but instead the champion is just staying in the ring and pissing off the crowd.

King: Why go high risk when you can already tell Hiro is hurt? That old back injury made for a perfect target and just that little bit seems to have done the trick. Let the guy try to beat the count, then if he gets back in, keep working him over. It's simple JR  

[HiroShinMozas]

Even though he'd left the ring to recover, Hiro had found it difficult to deal with the fact that Drako was not giving chase. It was incredibly smart, had he gone after Hiro and followed him outside, that would give the Ethnic Enigma plenty of different ways to try and get momentum back on his side. The winds of change were being fully blocked by the ego of the world champion as he taunted his opponent and the crowd, though Hiro was if nothing else given a full opportunity to slowly get to his feet with the help of the barricade. The ref's count got to six by the time Hiro did finally stand again, his left arm slightly numb from the hit to his back. This was a reality Hiro was going to have to live with -- he was warned things like this would happen if he ever got back in the ring again, and they're weaknesses he had made peace with. Displaying caution with each step, Hiro had gotten back to the ring apron and grimaced as he pulled himself back up, looking to re-enter the ring slowly.  

[Drako Damone]

The Soaring Dragon let's Hiro get back in the ring unbothered. It's in his own interest for the moment to let things continue at this pace.

"Come on you're doing good let's try again."

Drako may be pushing it here but that's the point  

[HiroShinMozas]

Drako was slowly becoming Hiro's quagmire, a determined champion guarding the modern day from a piece of WWF:G's more recent history. The former Legacy Champion was beginning to feel like he was running on less than half a tank, his body creaking from the back as he re-entered the ring. There was a level of looking ashamed for Hiro, he may have done a handful of decent things in the match thus far but the overarching issue was his inability to stay on offense and taking far too much damage. He had no choice now: he had to start going for big moves or else he'd smash unprotected right into the wall he'd been careening towards since the bell first rang. The Ethnic Enigma would begin to close in on Drako, aiming a rather obvious superkick towards the champion. This was a ploy, however -- he had planned to have his superkick caught, hence the rather sloppy execution. If it was caught, he'd yank his leg back as hard as he could and then try once again to catch Drako with the superkick!  

[Drako Damone]

Drako catches the kick then finds himself pulled in. The downside to this maneuver is that there's less force behind the superkick that nails him, so while the Soaring Dragon staggers he doesn't hit the mat  

[HiroShinMozas]

The weird superkick attempt was good, not getting as much as impact as Hiro had imagined in his head but still catching Drako enough to stun him ever so slightly. Hiro's next move would be to finally do what he'd been trying to since the match started...it was a heel move, sure, not something that was common in the babyface realm, but Hiro had been using it for so much of his career as a set-up for the Japanese Cloverleaf that he couldn't just ignore it now! He would look to rush forward and clip Drako's left leg with a chopblock to the chin, hoping to send him flipping forward and to the mat!  

[Drako Damone]

the superkick may not have taken his head off, the way Drako's would have done to Hiro because he was simply better, but the effect worked in Hiro's favor anyway. The chopblock takes the champion to the mat the hard way, leaving him clutching his leg  

[HiroShinMozas]

Hiro got exactly the outcome he was hoping for the end -- Drako was down on the mat, and he got some leg offense in. The fans recognized Hiro's style, they knew once he started targeting the leg it was only a matter of time before he'd pull out the Japanese Cloverleaf! Hiro was gonna try to put one more bit of hurting on Drako's leg before locking it in though -- he'd look to grab that same left leg and make his way to Drako's head, looking to pull it back and extend it in one quick jerk to cause some pain! If successful, he'd walk back around to where he started and try to plant that leg with a KNEE-D-T, all of this a set up for what some would call VINTAGE Hiro!  

[Drako Damone]

Credit where credit is due, Hiro has some old school fundamentals in him. From his back, the Soaring Dragon couldn't defend from the additional jerk to his leg. As he rolls, almost sitting up, Hiro adds some additional pain with the Knee D-T, ensuring the champion won't be soaring in the immediate future