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Hiro was huffing and puffing away on the ground, his whole body stinging and hurting as Salem went back under the ring looking for more toys to keep the fight interesting. The Ethnic Enigma though, it was as if the months of fighting caught up with him all at once as he was falling deeper and deeper into a pit of pain as Salem continued to get a decade's worth of revenge. Hiro began to crawl towards Salem as he was under the ring, trying to get in close and perhaps prevent him from using whatever weapon he was pallning to produce...though, in the back of his head, Hiro knew that was perhaps expecting too much.

This was...not ideal. Salem had found the most violent weapon so far, a roll of barbed wire that he cracked Hiro in the face with! The Ethnic Enigma rolled from Salem screaming, covering his face as blood began to pool across his cheek and forehead. Hiro slammed his fist down on the ground over and over as the pain clearly got to him, barbed wire the last thing he'd thought he would have to deal with. Salem was going to take this as far as possible to put Hiro down, and for the moment, the Ethnic Enigma could do nothing but take the licks and try to look for an opening.

Hiro was now being treated like a dog -- perhaps not one that was all that loved, though. The barbed wire began to choke him, a brutal visual that caused more blood to leak from his face as the pressure and fear was causing him to boil. Salem started to pull him towards the announcers desk, Hiro pushing himself along in an attempt to help get himself to the announce table a little quicker. This was so unorthodox, so violent, and so asinine that it was almost psychotic that Salem even thought of doing something like this. He had a point to prove though, retribution to get. By the end of this, maybe he'd finally feel comfortable with Hiro again. It seemed to be no doubt that the fans would probably respect Hiro even further coming out...if he wasn't thrust right back into retirement by the destruction.

With both men at the table, Salem had pulled Hiro up, letting him slip from his collar in the process. Little trickles of blood started pouring from the holes in his neck and he coughed up over and over, the struggle to breathe which followed him since the bell rang so very prominent. It truly was like a nonstop choke via the scaley, muscular body of a copperhead -- and Salem was about to do something insane, perhaps something that would truly break Hiro in half...or was he? Hiro tried to thumb Salem in the eye to stop his momentum and drill him in the gut with a knee -- setting him up perfectly for Hiro to attempt to wrap his arms around him...thinking about a gutwrench powerbomb, perhaps?

Hiro wasn't proud of needing to play dirty, even if the rules of the match afforded him the luxury of doing so. He almost apologized to Salem for doing so, but perhaps an interaction like that would have to come after the match. The Ethnic Engima got his grip on Salem and was preparing to lift him up when suddenly...oh man. A low-blow, but it was one that shut the crowd down momentarily as they couldn't fathom how much pain Hiro was probably going through. He let go of Salem instantly and with eyes-wide-open he collapsed to the ground, no sounds escaping his agape mouth as he held on to his groin and began to tear up, the blood on his face mixing and stinging the wounds.

This was just too much.

This was just...not good. Like, Hiro could feel the life slipping from him at the moment, and if not given a decent few minutes to recover and build stamina back he was for sure done. Salem Croft, of course, was not going to be giving him those minutes. Instead, Salem would would again get down to the ground and coil around Hiro, locking him into a the guillotine hold while pushing barbed wire into his neck and chin. Hiro finally let out some screams, but with Salem beginning to rol around they were often muffled by the ground and Croft's arm. The Ethnic Enigma was on the precipice of defeat, and perhaps unconciousness as his opponent had dominated him throughout the match and was now quite literally locking him in a death grip!

This was it boys, this was war -- and it was one Hiro couldn't deal with anymore. He began to slam his hand on the ground over and over again begging to be let go with what little air he managed to suck in fueling the defeatest verbage. Hiro Shin-Mozas had not been made to submit in an incredibly long time, but here in Salem Says he just could no longer take the Copperhead's wrath. There were more tears that built up in his eyes, a few more screams as beyond the physical pain, the emotions amidst yet another loss, espeically via giving up, was a tough hit to take to the ego.

Except...the bell didn't ring, no matter how much Hiro would tap out. Perhaps thats why the pop from the crowd was minimal, they knew just as much that this match was not over yet.