#1 Contender’s Match
Ariya Daivari vs. Akira Tozawa
Tozawa’s shoulder is heavily bandaged but he goes right after his opponent as the bell rings, firing off with rapid kicks and chops. He looks to fly but Daivari faked him out and took him down with a flying shoulder tackle, then began to stomp away at the injury. The slow methodical assault continued for several minutes. Every time Tozawa built up some momentum he got kicked in the shoulder and fell back down like a sack of potatoes. Daivari put him in an armbar then floated into a crossface, wrenching away at the shoulder. He almost got rolled up for three, then dropped Tozawa with a shoulder breaker to take control back immediately. Ariya went up to the top rope looking to put the match away but came up empty, giving Tozawa his first opening since the start of the match. The crowd fired up with “HA!” chants as he laid in chops and strikes, down to one good arm. A running knee strike connected for two, and Tozawa went up to the top rope to put his opponent away. Daivari crotched him and sent him down hard on the ropes, then came off with a beautiful frog splash for two-and-a-half. The Iranian challenger is pissed off and can’t believe that didn’t do the trick. He tried for a hammerlock lariat but Tozawa dumped him on his back and followed up with a running kick sending his opponent out to the floor. He built up a head of steam and connected with a tope suicida taking them both down, but wasted no time rolling Daivari back into the ring. Huge high elevation senton splash from the top rope connects! 1…2…3.
Winner: Akira Tozawa
