Pride S02E04 (7.22.15)

[Deleted]

The match started with a staredown as both men engaged in some brief trash talk. Butcher wasn’t pleased with Majima’s actions last week, leaving him high and dry after the tag team match. Majima wasn’t happy with Butcher’s actions during the match. But it was Butcher who struck first tonight, landing a huge forearm smash to the face of his opponent. Majima fired one right back as the two men went back and forth in the center of the ring.

Eventually, Butcher began to get the upper hand as he forced him opponent back against the ropes, firing off body shots left and right. A European uppercut had Shintaro Majima reeling before he was bounced head first off the top turnbuckle. An Irish whip sent the Japanese native from pillar to post before Butcher charged in after him, and delivered a boot to the chest. Followed by a snap suplex and Butcher went for the cover.

In the fourth minute, Majima began to fight back after countering an Irish whip with a running forearm smash! Butcher got knocked out through the ropes and all the way to the outside as Majima followed him. The Briton was bounced off the guard rails and the ring apron before Majima performed the Kurifu on the outside. A howl of pain was heard coming from Butcher as he landed on the thin mats. As the count out hit seven, both competitors re-entered the ring one way or another. Majima went for the cover, but he only got a two count.

The seventh minute rolled around as Majima went to work on the arms of his opponent. He dropped several knees down across the elbow and shoulder, applied an arm bar submission hold and just generally tried to take the striking power away from the former bare knuckle boxer. But Butcher didn’t give up from any of the submission holds. Butcher even began fighting back; while locked in an arm bar, Butcher worked his way back up to a vertical base. The submission hold transitioned into a wrist lock, but Majima cut off the fight back with his patented set of short-arm clotheslines, or Akuma-fu as he calls it. Followed by an Irish whip that sent Butcher running to the corner, as Majima charged in with a Yakuza kick, which missed!

Butcher dived out of the way in time and Majima found himself in a precarious position. Majima limped out of the corner, right into the waiting arms of Butcher who caught his opponent with an inverted atomic drop and a pop-up European uppercut before suplexing Majima down to the mat. With authority. A knee drop followed before Butcher mounted his opponent’s chest and unleashed a series of stiff punches to the face. The referee finally intervened, but not before Shintaro got busted open.

The twelfth minute approached as Butcher caught his rising opponent with an inverted chopblock. What followed can only be described as a mauling of the leg. Majima grabbed hold of the nearest rope to break the hold, before the referee finally dragged Butcher off his opponent. By now the Briton was thirsty for more blood. As he approached Majima, however, the Japanese native bundled Butcher out through the middle rope. He followed Butcher out and threw the Briton into the corner of the guard rail before charging in with his Noshinto knee strike. It appeared to do a fair amount of damage to Majima as well as Butcher, but the Briton was rolled back into the ring before Majima went for the pin. Another two count followed.

Majima stared at the referee in disbelief, but Butcher was soon on his feet again. As the match approached its fifteenth minute, both men found themselves in the middle of the ring trading blows again. Butcher with the forearm shots, Majima chopping at the chest. This time it’s Shintaro who gains the upper hand as the chops became more frequent and more vicious. The chest of Butcher got lit up before Majima went back against the ropes for some momentum; he came back with a lariat, but Butcher ducked underneath it. The Briton countered with an inverted atomic drop and another pop-up European uppercut before landing a toe kick and a brainbuster.

Finally, after taking a moment to catch his breath, Butcher draped his arm across the chest of his opponent and got a two count. This time it was Butcher’s turn to look to the referee in disbelief as he dragged Majima back to his feet. Butcher poised himself and went for the discus northern lariat, but Shintaro ducked underneath it and went against the ropes. He came back with his Kurimuzon Kasai lariat before hooking the leg for the three count.

Winner: Shintaro Majima