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Avari's plan worked flawlessly, Hiro had been sent into the ropes and lost his grip on the younger competitor, but not his fighting spirit. The Ethnic Enigma grabbed onto the ropes to keep himself from moving and then leaped to the second, pulling one of his new "high-flying" techniques he'd been working on out of his bag 'o tricks -- he leaped back and tried to catch Avari with a springboard back elbow! He could feel Fusion hadn't moved that far away, so while it may only graze him, Hiro knew going for this move could be a big turning point early in the match.

Uh oh. This was completely unexpected, at least on Hiro's end -- Avari leaped up just as Hiro had, but won this exchange with a set of knees to the back of the Ethnic Enigma! Both men crashed to the ground but Hiro definitely got the worst of it, rolling to the side and yelping out as he grabbed at his back and kicked away at the mat, his whole body aching instantly. It was like all the healing he'd done the last few weeks was erased by one well placed move. The fans cheered loudly for the high impact spot, but perhaps they'd be regretting so if this lead to the match ending far too early!

Hiro suddenly found himself locked up by Avari, his head squeezed with authority. The younger man perhaps did Hiro a favor choosing not to pin him, but instead keep him grounded for now, it was easier on the lower back -- but it wasn't easier on that breathing, which was suffering with the wind just getting knocked out of the Ethnic Engima. Hiro would thrash around a little, trying to break free -- but all it did was make the hold tighter. Hiro's feet would begin to search for the ropes, trying to find them before too long.

Hiro was already benefitting from the rules in this match, he was almost instantly released by Avari and got the chance to get his breath back all thanks to touching the bottom rope for a mere second. The Ethnic Enigma would push to his hands and knees quickly, trying to will his legs back into action. He paid no attention to Avari as his hands pushed off the ground and got him back to a vertical base, stumbling back into the ropes. This was perfect for Avari though, who took off from across the ring and suddenly collided with a picture perfect lariat to the Cuban, sending him over the top rope and shoulder first onto the apron! The fans gasped, believing for a moment that the match was over -- but thankfully Hiro's arm had hooked around the top rope giving him the chance to drop on to the apron as opposed to the floor of lava at ringside. Hiro would grasp the bottom rope with the arm he landed on and hook his legs around it, holding for dear life.

There was little that could be done in the moment -- Avari was coming full speed at Hiro and connected with a baseball slide right to his midsection, jarring his feet lose from the ropes but not his arms! Hiro flexed his muscles as hard as he could, using them only to support his body as half of it was now off of the apron and his legs were teetering off in mid-air. If there was another hit to Hiro's arms he just might hit ringside and lose the match...but thankfully, he powered his legs right back to the apron and pulled himself back into the ring enough as Avari gathered himself back up from the sliding dropkick. The fans were beside themselves from such a gorgeous save by the Ethnic Enigma, perhaps just one of many great moments they were going to enjoy during this battle.

Hiro was incredibly lucky in the end, in more ways than one, that he hadn't been taken out right then and there -- had he, he may have missed the crowd going mental at his feat and also the look on Avari's face. As Hiro slowly began to work his way back up to his feet and join the younger Fusion, he locked eyes with him as if to say "This won't be easy, trust me." The Ethnic Enigma would then try to take charge again, ignoring the ever growing pain in his midsection and trying to get close enough to Avari to kick him in the gut and follow up the shot with a few forearm shots to the back.

As Avari was brought to his knee, the fans were brought further to their feet -- there was an inkling among many that this could be when Hiro would look for a Gut Wrench Powerbomb, but those few were getting a bit ahead of themselves. Hiro would instead reach down and try to bring Avari back up to a standing position and chop him wicked hard across the chest once more -- and if it connected, Hiro would leave himself open for a receipt. We saw this in the match with Jamie Bader, Hiro not being afraid to go chop-for-chop with the opponent until one couldn't take it anymore. What would Avari's response to this be?