The past couple of years have been very good to Dean Ambrose and Tomohiro Ishii, both of whom paid their fair share of dues before finding the spotlight (especially Ishii, who has been wrestling since the 90s). In the case of both men, what has made them stars is just how far they're willing to go to in any given fight -- they're totally comfortable taking punishment, and they love dishing it out. Dean Ambrose might be surprised when, in the early goings of the match, a hard lariat barely phases Ishii, but that wouldn't stop Ambrose from trying another... and another. Ishii would be pleased with the fighting spirit of "The Lunatic Fringe," and would encourage him to keep delivering hard blows (until he decided to retaliate with his own, of course). As each man got the measure of his opponent -- and realized just how much it would take to put him down for good -- the offense would get more reckless, with Ishii and Ambrose likely taking years off their own careers in the attempt to subdue one another. In the end, the man who couldn't take any more punishment would collapse, leaving the other the victor of a bout that may just last all night long.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
