NOTE: This chapter always plays out the same, regardless of any player choice.
The ghost of Ittetsu Wakamoto visits Sumisu in a dream; worried about his mental state, he tells him to remember his reason for fighting and that some great men will come along to guide him (namely Andrey Fag and Dynamic Kid).
He then warns him about being led astray by women, and tells him to watch out for Dick (Slender), the man who killed him on the ring.
After retiring as a trainer, Wakamoto went back to the world of wrestling by entering the underground scene in the USA. He managed to subdue several American wrestlers with his Strong Style, but he ultimately met his end in the ring.
In order to deal with his grief, Sumisu goes on a trip on the Jungfrau, a mountain in the Barnese Alps located in western Switzerland.
Just as he is starting to heal, a woman suddenly appears in front of him.
He falls in love on the spot, but Reiko Saeba, a top model and sister to the wrestler Akira Saeba, is cold and dismissive.
Afterwards, Sumisu is approached by Andrey Fag, a fellow wrestler who had heard about him through Masayuki Sadake. He tries to dispel Sumisu’s nightmares by fighting him, but unfortunately, though he emerges victorious, Morio is still tormented. Fag tells Sumisu to go to England, where he’ll find another man who could help him.
In London, Hyde Park, Sumisu meets with a retired Dynamic Kid, one of the men who inspired him to become a Pro Wrestler. Kid tells him he must forge his heart as well as his body, in order to overcome his grief and all the challenges yet to come to become a true champion.
During the last few hours in London before returning home, Sumisu relaxes by the Thames. He then runs into Reiko again, who accuses him of being a stalker and makes fun of Pro Wrestling, claiming it’s all fake.
Sumisu claims he will fight and become a true champion to make the people accept Pro Wrestling as a true sport, and to make Reiko accept him as a man. Unbeknownst to Sumisu, this impresses her, but as she leaves, he is only more pained by her dismissal. Note that when the translation refers to Reiko leaving behind the scent of Poison, the Japanese text is specifically referring to the brand of perfume, hence why it’s capitalized.
Ittetsu Wakamoto is, as we established, based on Kotetsu Yamamoto. However, Yamamoto did not die in the ring: When the game released, he was still active as a trainer and commentator for NJPW.
Akira Saeba is based on Akira Maeda. In real life, he is an only child, meaning that Reiko is an original character created for the game. Also, it seems that the Saeba family in Champion Road is ethnically Japanese, while real-life Maeda is a Korean who was naturalized as a Japanese citizen.
Andrey Fag is based on Andy Hug, a Swiss karateka and kickboxer. He was known for his heel drop, known in the west as an axe kick, and he gained his nickname “The Blue-eyed Samurai” by standing toe-to-toe with Japanese martial artists on their home turf. Namely, he was twice champion in the Seidokaikan Karate World Cup, defeating runner-up Masaaki Satake in the 1993 edition. He then transitioned to K-1 kickboxing, where he achieved similar success.
Masayuki Sadake, whom Sumisu fought in the previous chapter, is based on Masaaki Satake. He fought and lost against Andy Hug in 1993, which is when his character in Champion Road would have become acquainted with Andrey Fag and told him about Sumisu.
Dynamic Kid is based on British wrestler Thomas Billington, nicknamed Dynamite Kid. He wrestled in NJPW in the late 70s and 80s, and then in AJPW in the 80s and early 90s, where he was hired by Giant Baba (Great Shiba) hence why he knows him in the game, though him being an acquaintance of Yamamoto is likely an invention of the game. I could not find any confirmation that Baba was wrestling the day his mother died, though this anecdote may be based on the fact that he had to go against his mother’s wishes to wrestle in the first place.
He is portrayed as being retired in this chapter; in real life, Dynamite Kid retired from wrestling in December 1991 after his Tag Team victory at the Nippon Budokan, due to his fledgling health because of years of steroid and cocaine abuse.
Of the wrestlers Sumisu mentions as his idols, Great Shiba is Giant Baba, Victory Musashi is Antonio Inoki, Carlos Krauser is Karl Gotch, R. J. Phaze is Lou Thesz (who does not appear in the campaign) and Mask de Panther is Tiger Mask.
Interestingly enough, Sumisu can actually face the original Tiger Mask in the UWH (UWF) branch of the story, under his Super Tiger persona (Great Panther in the game). His dismissal of Great Panther while holding deep respect for Mask de Panther seems to indicate that, in the world of Champion Road, the two are separate people.