Neither Curtis nor Rikidozan stood up.
15th September 1955
After the first match ended in a bloody and chaotic draw, the second match of the Hawaii Tag Team Championship was held at 6pm on August 1st at the Kazemachi Pool in Osaka, but Rikidozan and Curtis caused a shockwave in the finals, resulting in yet another draw.
(Tag match, 61 minutes)
Round One
Azumafuji defeats Curtis
Rock Drop, 27 minutes, 32 seconds
Round Two
Ortega defeats Azumafuji
Submission, 17 minutes
Round Three
Rikidozan draws with Curtis
Time limit draw
Both teams had been warned by the referee due to their experiences in Tokyo, so there were no flagrant foul play on the American side and the match was fair, giving fans plenty of laughs and thrills. Rikidozan started off by tormenting Curtis with a series of hammer throws, then hit Ortega, who had tagged in, with two or three hammer throws, before applying an armlock. However, Ortega escaped and launched a fierce counterattack. Rikidozan made a rare attempt to escape by pulling Ortega's hair, but the Japanese side was clearly in the lead. Azumafuji then pinned Curtis with a rock drop after a throw to secure his first win.
In the second match, Ortega pushed Azumafuji away and drove him into the corner, where Curtis, who had tagged in, tied the score with a submission.
When the final began, there was a little over six minutes left. Both Rikidozan and Curtis were aiming for the title, so they fought desperately, but it was difficult to get a decisive result. About a minute passed, when Rikidozan, who had said "this is dangerous, so we have to be careful even when practicing," threw Curtis with a surprise Ura-nage* throw. This caused Curtis to hit the back of his head, causing a concussion, and he fell unconscious. If Rikidozan had pinned him at this point there would have been no complaints, but Rikidozan was also concussed, and every time Azumafuji shouted for a pinfall, he would unsteadily get up, but would immediately fall down again, and no matter what he did he was unable to complete the pin. Before long, Ortega and Azumafuji entered the ring and tried to check each other's moves, and eventually Ortega pushed the groggy Rikidozan to his limits, causing Azumafuji to punch Ortega again, resulting in a melee that finally ended with the time being up. Although Curtis regained his composure, he was unable to walk on his own and had to be carried out on a stretcher, and in another unexpected and unusual turn of events, the titan of the Hawaiian and Central American tag match was swept away.
Notes
Ura-nage: An Ura-nage (also called Ura Nage or uranage) is a specific Judo throw that translates to "back throw" and involves a large lifting action to throw an opponent backward, not the "side slam" often associated with the term in pro wrestling.
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