Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament

The Kengan Association vs. Purgatory Tournament is a series of matches between two major players in the Japanese underground martial arts industry: the Kengan Association and Purgatory. It's held to determine which organization will absorb the other in their upcoming merger.

The tournament was originally intended to be a series of 13 matches to be held in a year's time. Toyoda Idemitsu proposed extending it to 50 matches, to be held in a month's time, but Nogi Hideki eventually negotiated it back to 13 matches, to be held in six months. For unknown reasons, on the Kengan Association's request, the tournament was postponed a further month.

Rules

The contest follows Purgatory's rules:

• Knock Down: If a gladiator fails to get back up before the count of 10 of the referee, they lose.
• Ring Out: If any part of a gladiator's body ends up outside the ring, the gladiator will lose the match.
• No Kill: If a gladiator causes his opponent to die, he will be disqualified.

Up until the ninth match, the tournament has one additional rule: there is no set order for the matches. One side sends their fighter into the ring for each match, with the other team sending their fighter in response. The team that picks first is supposed to swap every three matches. After a deal was struck between Chairman Nogi Hideki and Toyoda, this rule was eliminated.

Another rule of the tournament forbids the gladiator to hit a downed opponent while the referee is counting.

Special Rules

Some matches have an additional rule, only valid for those matches.

• Time: This rule was introduced in the fourth match. A spotlight, which becomes part of the match, will shrink its boundaries as time goes on. The fighter needs to push their opponent out the bounds within five minutes from the match's start to win. If the time's up and there's no clear winner, the match will be a no contest. The Knock-Down rule is not in effect for this match, and both teams were supposed to send their fighters simultaneously.

Tournament Rosters

Merger Tournament Team Rosters
Kengan Association	Purgatory
Kaolan Wongsawat	The Falcon
Wakatsuki Takeshi	Yumigahama Hikaru
Okubo Naoya	Nicolas Le Banner
Kanoh Agito	Lu Tian
Misasa	Liu Dongcheng
Akoya Seishu	Fei Wangfang
Gaoh Ryuki	Carlos Medel
Tokuno'o Tokumichi	Arashiyama Jurota
Lihito	Toa Mudo
Hayami Masaki	Alan Wu
Tokita Ohma	Rolón Donaire
Kure Raian	Naidan Mönkhbat
Julius Reinhold	Terashi

Matches

Kengan Association vs Purgatory
Kengan Association	Purgatory	Result
Kaolan Wongsawat "The Thai God of War"	Carlos Medel "El Dorado"	Carlos Medel wins by Ring Out Kengan Association 0 - 1 Purgatory
Lihito "The Superman"	The Falcon "The Roving Death"	The Falcon wins by Submission Kengan Association 0 - 2 Purgatory
Julius Reinhold "The Monster"	Toa Mudo "The Beast of Destruction"	Julius Reinhold wins by Knockout Kengan Association 1 - 2 Purgatory
Misasa "The Eighth Fang of Metsudo"	Yumigahama Hikaru "The Traitor Fang"	Misasa wins by Knockout Kengan Association 2 - 2 Purgatory
Gaoh Ryuki "The Dragon King"	Naidan Mönkhbat "The Hawk of Ordos"	Gaoh Ryuki loses by Disqualification Kengan Association 2 - 3 Purgatory
Kanoh Agito "The Fifth Fang of Metsudo"	Lu Tian "Three Demon Fists: Centipede"	Kanoh Agito wins by Knockout Kengan Association 3 - 3 Purgatory
Kure Raian "The Devil"	Alan Wu "The King of Slaughter"	Kure Raian loses by Disqualification Kengan Association 3 - 4 Purgatory
Hayami Masaki "The Killing Throw"	Arashiyama Jurota "The Gentle King"	Hayami Masaki wins by Knockout Kengan Association 4 - 4 Purgatory
Akoya Seishu "The Executioner"	Nicolas Le Banner "The Grim Reaper of Paris"	No Contest Kengan Association 4 - 4 Purgatory
Tokuno'o Tokumichi "Nitoku"	Liu Dongcheng "Three Demons Fists: Serpent"	Liu Dongcheng wins by Ring Out Kengan Association 4 - 5 Purgatory
Okubo Naoya "The King of Combat"	Terashi "The Silent Nightmare"	Okubo Naoya wins by Submission Kengan Association 5 - 5 Purgatory
Wakatsuki Takeshi "The Wild Tiger"	Fei Wangfang "Three Demon Fists: Toad"	Draw Kengan Association 5 - 5 Purgatory
Tokita Ohma "The Asura"	Rolón Donaire "The Monster of Manila"	Tokita Ohma wins by Knockout Kengan Association 6 - 5 Purgatory

Incidents

• Round Five: Naidan Mönkhbat provoked Gaoh Ryuki into killing him. Ryuki is disqualified.
• Round Seven: Kure Raian brutally killed Alan Wu. With the circumstances deliberated on, Raian is disqualified.
• Round Nine: The match between Akoya Seishu and Nicolas Le Banner is stopped by the referee, with Rolón Donaire intervening on her behalf. Round Nine is declared a No Contest.
• Round Twelve: Wakatsuki Takeshi and Fei Wangfang are rendered unconscious simultaneously. Round Twelve was declared a draw.

External Incidents

Around the tournaments, many parties had secret plans.

• Worm infiltrators like Naidan Mönkhbat and Lu Tian revealed their allegiance. Acording to Edward, this was to make the worm's existence public and move into the "phase two".
  • After the tournament, The Worm started to enact terrorist attacks around the world, further revealing themselves.
• The Other Niko made his student Fei Wangfang to make use of his Niko Style and defeat one of the top fighters of the Kengan Association, presumably knowing that he would use Divine Devil to its limits and gather the data he needed to evolve the Niko Style.
• Kiryu Setsuna had a talk with Gaoh Ryuki and convinced him to join his cause, after the tournament, both joined Akoya Seishu in hunting Worm agents.
• Wu Xing joined the Kure Clan to take down Edward Wu, both knowing he was going to be in the tournament. Wu Xing also deployed Narushima Joji and Kureishi Mitsuyo to take down Xia Ji and Mikazuchi Rei and Hatsumi Sen to take down Xia Ji's assistance.
  • In the aftermath, Kure Erioh sacrificed himself to help take down Edward, while Joji and Mitsuyo beaten Xia Ji to a pulp. However, the latter managed to escape.
• Hayami Katsumasa attempted another coup of the Kengan Association, but was killed by his son Hayami Masaki before anything could come of it.
• The true goal of the tournament was a secret to the public and even for many members of the respective organizations.
• After Purgatory's defeat, Nogi Hideki revealed he intended to make a new deal with Toyoda Idemitsu instead of absorbing Purgatory. No one else was aware of Nogi's true intentions.