Kenchi was the first out for our penultimate match, getting a good reception from the Oxford fans. They seem to have taken to him after his impressive debut win over Jay Pride last month. Hardaway also got a good reception from the fans, more so when he grabbed a microphone and told us he’d accepted Scott Mayo’s offer.
In fact that announcement almost took the roof off The Regal. We may not have seen much of Hardaway or Jones but people can already tell that seeing them go at it next month is going to be something special.
But Hardaway had more pressing matters to attend to, namely the giant Japanese star stood opposite him. The two shook hands, adhering to the code of respect, and the match was soon underway.
Duelling chants of “Let’s Go Kenchi” and “Let’s go K-Hard” started to build as the two men traded blows early on in this match. It was Kenchi who struck the first big blow after taking Hardaway to the mat with a big lariat and following up with a seated senton. Hardaway is winded after that and I’m not surprised with all the weight of Yamamoto coming down on him like that!
But Hardaway fought himself back into the match with a roundhouse kick and went for a pin, but Yamamoto kicked out at one. A neck breaker got him another one count and a double arm DDT managed a two count. Yamamoto fought back, blocking another big Hardaway kick by catching his leg. With K-Hard trapped Yamamoto nailed a series of headbutts, finishing off with a massive headbutt that sent Hardaway crashing to the mat.
Kenchi kept hold of the leg and turned his opponent into a single leg Boston Crab. Hardaway was trying to get to the ropes, clawing at the canvas to try and drag himself along the floor. But the strength of Yamamoto meant Hardaway was going nowhere. K-Hard held on for a long time until Kenchi eventually released the hold.
Hardaway got back to his feet but Kenchi met him with a big boot that resulted in a two count. Yamamoto hit the Death Combo; Snapmare/Chop to the Neck/Running Knee/Seated Senton. Again he got a two count.
Hardaway again had to fight his way back into this match. Some big chops and kicks rocked Kenchi, a dropkick to the knee brought the big man down to size and Hardaway spotted the opportunity to pull off the KTFO~!, a boot to the top of Kenchi’s head followed by a spinning elbow to the side of the skull.
Yamamoto was down and Hardaway was out to capitalise. He headed to the top rope, facing out to the crowd as he jumped sideways onto the top rope and launched himself backwards. He was trying for the Lionstomp but Yamamoto rolled out of the way. Hardaway went for the Decapitation Lariat but Yamamoto stood firm and the move hardly made an impact! In fact Hardaway went down holding his arm!
K-Hard went back to the drawing board, again getting some good low kicks to the legs of the big man, trying to weaken him. A reverse DDT followed and Hardaway looked like he was ready to put away his opponent. As Yamamoto was up to a knee Hardaway spotted his chance. He got into a standing head scissors position and grabbed the arms of Yamamoto in a double underhook, he was looking for the Williams Driver!
Kenchi stood up, lifting Hardaway into the air and reversing the move. But instead of flipping him over in a back body drop, as so many do in this position, Yamamoto did it slowly and held on to Hardaway. He got an arm free and managed to move Hardaway into a firemans carry position. From there he moved him over one shoulder and before Hardaway could do anything about it Yamamoto nailed a version of the Giant Driver! That was one hell of a reversal and the crowd were eating this up, a “This is awesome” chant coming from one section of fans.
Yamamoto was slow to make the cover, all the attacks from Hardaway seemed to have slowed him down somewhat. And that delay helped Hardaway who kicked out at two.
Hardaway slowly got back to his feet and Yamamoto needed the ropes to help him back up, K-Hards kicks to the legs were obviously working. Yamamoto got behind Hardaway and grabbed him around the waist. He hoisted Hardaway off his feet and took him over with a dead lift German Suplex. The referee was standing in the wrong position and got hit by Hardaways flailing feet during the move and collapsed in a heap on the canvas, holding his head.
Just as K-Hard looked down and out there was a distraction for the crowd as Ole McDonald started walking down to the ring. For the second month running he was coming down to watch Kenchi Yamamoto, showing a blatant disregard for the Code of Respect.
Yamamoto was not happy, shouting abuse to McDonald in Japanese. McDonald told him to carry on with the match and to ignore him, that he meant him no harm. Yamamoto stood for a moment, looking at McDonald, before returning his attentions to his downed opponent.
As soon as Kenchi’s back was turned McDonald jumped up onto the ring apron, grabbed Yamamoto by the shoulder and spun him around. He then nailed the young Japanese star with a pair of brass knuckles! Yamamoto collapsed to the canvas as McDonald shouted down to him. “Rule Two: Trust no-one!” McDonald slinked away, a smile on his face. “I’m just helping the kid adjust.” He was heard to say as he made his way to the back.
The referee started to come round just after Ole had left the area and was confused to see Yamamoto and Hardaway both laid out on the canvas. He started a mandatory ten count and reached eight before Hardaway got back to his feet. It was on the stroke of ten that Yamamoto finally got back to a vertical base.
Credit to Hardaway for not taking advantage of the situation, he actually stood back and waited for Yamamoto to get up. I think he was as confused as the referee as to what happened. And, truth be told, he was a little hesitant to hook up with his opponent again. At least at first. Yamamoto’s a tough son of a bitch and he seemed to have shaken off the attack after a minute or two.
The two traded blows in the middle of the ring and Yamamoto was coming out on top of the exchange. He got Hardaway down to a knee but Hardaway slipped a hand under the legs of Kenchi as he was turning away and stood up, lifting the big man onto his shoulders into a Torture Rack position! From there Hardaway nailed the Angelina’s Crossing and covered for a three count!
Your winner, Kevin Hardaway!
So both Hardaway and Jones have ended up on the winning side of their matches tonight. Both are taking momentum into their War in Wolverhampton next month. I for one can’t wait to see those two clash.
As for Kenchi, he only just came up short tonight. Perhaps some part of this result was due to Ole McDonald. Scott Mayo cannot let this pass without something being done, if Hardaway and Jones get a match from things they said on Twitter then McDonald and Yamamoto HAVE to face off in the ring!