BACKSTAGE
Everything is about to change.
A large conference room is the gathering place for the ENTIRE IWC roster. All athletes, be them partners or rivals, occupy row after row of chairs. They sit as close to the edge of their seats as possible and affix their focus to the huge monitor at the front of the room. The commentators sound equally as anxious as the wrestlers huddled in mass. The voices of Greyson Lovejoy, Frankie Paradise and Sparkles, the announcing trio, speak up in the background.
Greyson: It’s here ladies and gentlemen, the moment of change is upon us.
Sparkles: At Invictus we found out that the IWC will be splitting into two separate brands.
Frankie: And tonight, the rosters for those respective brands will be chosen.
Greyson: All part of IWC’s first ever Live Draft Special. It all starts RIGHT NOW!
IN-RING
We cut from a nervous roster to a casual Drew Bryant standing in the middle of the ring. The IWC President finds himself parked behind a podium, microphone extending up and towards his smiling lips.
Drew Bryant: Welcome everyone to the inaugural IWC DRAAAAAFT!
The crowd gives the Pavlovian response, salivating when prompted.
Drew: Last month my brother from another mother Orlando Cruze dropped a 20 megaton nuke on the world when he announced that this company as you know and love it was in for a major overhaul. I’m talking like a Michael Jackson facelift here people….a total reconstruction. We’re taking the IWC and we’re given it a shake, rattle and roll. The company is going to be split into two, count ‘em TWO separate brands. These brands will have their own exclusive bi-weekly shows, their own exclusive pay-per-views, and their own exclusive rosters. Tonight, we pick those rosters.
The fans are still so excited you’d think they were watching an Alexis Texas film.
Drew: These rosters will compete on the Uprising and Riot programs respectively. Throughout the night, through much wheeling, dealing, smoky back room shenanigans and other such ballyhoo, we will find out which show each of your beloved IWC stars end up on. As the figurehead of the Uprising brand, I will be drafting combatants for my roster, and Silas Mason….
Fans: HSSSSSSS…
Yes, the crowd DID just hiss at the name of Principle Owner Silas Mason.
Drew:…the universally ADORED Silas Mason….
Fans: HSSSSSS…
Drew can’t help but to laugh.
Drew:…the Times’ “Man of the Year” Silas Mason….
Fans: HSSSSS…
Drew: Yeah, THAT Silas Mason, he’ll be handling the drafts for the Riot brand.
Silas: And why is that?
The fans stop hissing and start vomiting at the sight of Silas Mason making his way down the ramp. Naturally Mason is NEVER alone, accompanied by the group he has managed to unparalleled success via every crooked and underhanded tactic imaginable. Silas World, represented by Marie Jones, Mrs. Budde, Lenore-Price Mason and B. Real surround their agent and the NEW Principle Owner, Silas Mason.
Silas: Why is ole’ Silas Mason making the draft picks for Riot? Go ahead and tell ‘em Drew. Enlighten the cave dwellers.
Insists Silas upon entering the ring. Once inside he directs his dangerous posse to surround Drew, who may want to turn the podium he’s stood behind into a protective shield.
Drew: I’ll give the devil his due. By virtue of his victory at Invictus in a tag team match against Karen McBride and Desmond Drake, Silas became the OFFICIAL Principle Owner of the IWC. Prior to tonight’s show Silas and I met to discuss what his role would be going into the draft split.
Silas: I’ll take it from here boy…
Silas shoos Drew away from the podium, forcing himself behind it. Naturally every opportunity to put himself over is going to be taken by Mr. Mason.
Silas: Drew, being the Silas Mason mark that he is, KNEW that I possessed the talents and skills to not only run my own agency, but to run my own brand. He saw how I took my group Silas World to the top, and so Drew pleaded with me to work that same magic on Riot.
As much as Drew would like to speak up and CORRECT Silas’ gross mishandling of the truth, all the majority owner can do is stand behind his business partner rolling his eyes.
Silas: Eventually, after so much cock suckin, I told Drew to get up off his knees, zip up my pants for me, and wipe his mouth. I then agreed to use my role as Principle Owner to run the Riot brand. So tonight I pick my roster for Riot…nah, ya know what, hell with that. From now on Riot won’t be called Riot, nuh-uh, it’s gonna be called ‘SILAS MASON presents Riot!” Has a much-MUCH better ring to it.
Somehow Silas has done the impossible, he’s managed to make the crowd hate him even more than an Adolf Hitler pot-luck with OJ Simpson and Bernie Madoff on the guest list.
Silas: Tonight I assemble the GREATEST roster that has ever been put together. Startin’ right now.
Drew: You’re right Silas.
It takes some balls for Drew to do what he does next, nudging Silas out of the way and out of the spotlight. Bryant steps behind the podium, taking the mic out from in front of Mason’s mouth.
Drew: Because it’s time to announce the number one draft pick for the Uprising brand….
Marie: Ooooh no you don’t.
Silas may not retaliate against Drew but Marie Jones will. She steps up on behalf of her agent, grabbing the collar of Drew’s jacket and pushing him back from the podium
Marie: If anyone is going to have the first draft pick, it’s going to be Silas. So go ahead and slink back off to the shadows Drew, the less light on that face of yours the better on everyone’s appetites.
Silas: Ya heard my crown jewel, Drew. She ain’t lyin when she says I deserve to have the very first pick in this ‘ere draft. And I already know who that pick is gonna be.
Silas reaches over the podium and pats Marie on her shoulder.
Silas: The woman who was SCREWED out of the World Championship at Invictus, the woman who I will make sure gets the opportunities she deserves on MY roster. As the brains behind Riot, she’ll be my muscle and my company’s champion. My first pick in the IWC draft is….
Brittany Lohan: I think we all know where this is headed.
Rage.
That word is nowhere near strong enough to describe Marie’s reaction to this interruption. The very woman who arguably cost Marie the World Championship at Invictus…the woman who arguably cost Marie the IWC Tag Team Titles….the woman who has been such a knife twisting in Marie’s kidneys…now makes her way to the stage. Brittany Lohan stands under the Cartel-tron and clutches a microphone, looking amused at the sight of Marie steaming like Mt. Vesuvius on the cusp of eruption.
Lohan: How dare you be so predictable Silas. Honestly, I thought better of you than that. I mean, while I was one of your clients, you constantly kept me on my toes. But now here you are being oh so unoriginal. Everyone, including that 90 year old lady with bad cataracts sitting way up there in the nose bleed section where the concession workers won’t even go, can SEE that Marie is going to be your first draft pick. Then you’ll go on to pull every trick out of your playbook to use your role as President of Riot to show favoritism to your client. Does that about sum it up?
Silas and Marie exchange a glance then a shrug, then a nod of their heads.
Lohan: Shame on you, shaaaaame on yoooou. That’s waaaaay too predictable, and honestly, predictably is BENEATH you Silas, just like Marie’s mouth when you’re feeling a little frisky.
Right now Marie’s mouth is being used to offer a grave warning to Lohan.
Lohan: Here I thought the two of you were all about the shock value. That’s why I pulled a little shocker of my own at Invictus when I came to that ring at Invictus, refereed Marie’s World Title match, and instead of counting the three for Marie, used the opportunity to send her a little message. Oh, and Marie, if you didn’t get that message, how about I repeat it for you?
A middle finger is raised and aimed directly at the infuriated Marie Jones in the ring. The very same gesture that Lohan made at Invictus to Marie during the World Title match is once again directed at the Ginger Warrior here on the live draft special. The reaction from Marie and the rest of Silas World is strikingly similar to their response just a few weeks prior. Marie rolls out of the ring and rushes right up the ramp, she and Brittany Lohan instantly coming to blows.
The response is beyond deafening at the sight of Lohan and Marie picking up right where they left off at Invictus, trading shots. It doesn’t take long for the rest of Silas World to put their two cents in the middle of this broken piggybank.
Lenore-Price Mason, Mrs. Budde and B. Real hustle up the ramp and begin to assault Lohan, who tries her best to fight back against these three on one odds. To make matters all the worse Silas Mason is standing behind his clients, spewing insults and vulgarities at their target. They manage to battle Brittany back through the curtains and to the guerilla position. Silas follows them along.
Drew: Well now….
Everyone redirects their focus back to Drew Bryant poised in the ring behind the podium.
Drew: I guess Silas’ departure means he’s relinquishing his claim on the first draft pick. Soooo why don’t I go ahead and take the liberties?
The crowd will give him no argument.
Drew: And Silas has helped me make up my mind on who it is I’ll be drafting to my brand. Therefore it is now my pleasure to announce the first draft pick to the Uprising Brand….MARIE JONES!
The building absolutely erupts with such jubilation. Everyone, even that woman with the bad cataracts eluded to earlier, realize that Drew’s pick has just shattered all of Silas’ and Marie’s Machiavellian plans. This is evidenced by the wide eyed and FURIOUS look that sits on the face of Marie Jones as she returns from her brawl in the back to the stage. Her body trembles like a tree limb hit with gale force winds.
We see Marie’s reaction but can only hear the commentators’ response.
Greyson WWWWWWOOOOWWW!!
Sparkles: HUGE!!
Frankie: That asshole! THAT ASSSSHOOOOLLE! Drew just fucked up ALL of Silas Mason’s plans!
Greyson: He just drafted Silas’ potential number one pick, Marie Jones.
Frankie: What a totes dick move!
Greyson: Marie Jones, the overall number one pick in the first ever IWC Draft, and she’s going to Uprising!
Marie still can’t believe it no matter how many times she repeats the announcement in her head. Though she knows it should be an honor to be the first pick it is quite unsettling to think that she will not be in a positon where her agent is her boss and where she can reap the benefits of that arrangement.
BACKSTAGE
Black eyes…
Two sets of them…
One pair belonging to Alana Starr….
The other pair belonging to Mika Kozlov…
They are moving through a backstage corridor.
The X-Class Title sits over Alana’s shoulder, and clown paint sits on the face of Mika Kozlov. The pair are currently flanked by their juggernauts, Krauzer stood behind Alana, and Borislav hot on the heels of Mika. All four bodies are narrowing the distance between the hall where they stand and the room where they’re headed. The commentators sound more than a little worried at the potential of the New Eden remnants causing chaos here at the draft special.
Frankie: NEW EDEN!
Greyson: Or what’s left of them at least.
Frankie: They’re here! New Eden is HERE!
Sparkles: And boy do they ever look somber after what happened to their group at Invictus.
Greyson: One has to think they’re in quite the mood now that their de-facto leader Aiken Frost was taken out by the depraved and dark Cindy Todd.
New Eden continues to proceed down the hall, trying to remain undaunted by past events. Unfortunately backstage correspondent Mark Comeau does not make that easy for them.
Comeau: Alana…Mika….can I get a word with the two of you?
The ladies come to a pause with their massive subordinates trying to swoop in around them and protect their respective charges. Alana and Mika hold Krauzer and Borislav at bay.
Alana: Make it quick.
Comeau: Just want to find out what you’re thoughts are on what happened to your teammate and leader Aiken Frost at Invictus? Last we saw him he was being hung from a barbwire noose by Cindy Todd from the top of the Hell in a Cell….
Mika: We need no reminder of what happened to our poor Aiken.
Mika says while snarling her teeth in the concerned correspondent’s direction.
Alana: Cindy Todd made a fatal error when she chose to debut here in the IWC by taking Aiken out of it. But we’ll get to her and we’ll get to Aiken later tonight. Right now what we’re about to see in that ring isn’t about Cindy and isn’t about Aiken, it’s about another member of New Eden, the woman who captured the World Championship at Invictus…
Mika: Our very own ‘Serenity.’
Alana: Prepare yourself Comeau, because coming up next you’re going to see your new World Champion for the very first time since she won the belt.
Mika: Get the kiddies ready for the most ‘seeereeeene’ moment in IWC’s history….hehehehehe.
Alana: Serenity is coming to that ring NEXT!
COMMERCIAL BREAK
VIDEO
MOMENTS AGO
A still frame image takes over the screen showing Silas World, comprised of Silas Mason, Marie Jones, Lenore-Price Mason, Mrs. Budde and B. Real in the ring. They encircle Majority Owner Drew Bryant, keeping him from making the first pick in the IWC draft. The commentators react to this footage, reminding everyone what happened seconds before going to break.
Sparkles: What a friggin start to the 2015 IWC Draft!
Greyson: Just before the break we heard that Silas Mason is now running the Riot brand and he wanted to kick start his run at the top by stealing the first draft pick for his roster from Uprising’s chief of operations, Drew Bryant.
Frankie: But then the Blue Eyed Yeti came along and ruined everything.
The video cuts to Brittany Lohan, former Silas World member, standing on the stage and flipping the bird to Marie. The response is a predictable one, Jones and company flipping out. They rush the ramp and charge into a brawl with Lohan. The fight is on and eventually spills to the back, drawing Silas away from the ring where Drew lingers behind, left to make the first pick in the draft….Silas’ own Marie Jones!
Greyson: And Drew made a SHOCKING announcement….Officially selecting Marie Jones as the first member of his roster, and the number one overall pick in the Draft.
BACKSTAGE
The ramifications of that draft pick, and Brittany Lohan’s assistance in making it happen are playing out backstage at this very moment. Silas World is making Lohan pay in a big way. Mrs. Budde, B. Real and Lenore-Price Mason are still brawling with Lohan in a very tight corridor. Somehow Lohan is able to knock the three back, being a dangerous animal when backed into a corner. But even animals will meet an end when their back is collapsed by a steel chair.
Marie Jones rushes in behind Brittany and cracks her right over the spine with the chair, dropping her to the ground in a heartbeat.
Marie: Do you have any idea what you’ve done!?!
Jones brings the chair down over Lohan’s upper back now, putting Brittany flat on her face. She doesn’t stay down for very long, because Marie and Mrs. Budde force Lohan up to her feet and then throw her along head first through a glass window!!
The window shatters into a thousand pieces around Lohan’s body as she flies through it and crashes to the ground on the opposite side. The commentators can’t stay silent when seeing Lohan’s toss through the glass.
Greyson: OOOH JESUS! OOOH FUCK!
Sparkles: They just-they just….
Frankie: Silas World just threw the Yeti right through that glass window!
Focus shifts from Lohan lying unconscious amongst thousands of shards of glass to the woman who put her through the window. Marie Jones’ face is trembling more now than when she heard her name announced as the first pick for Uprising.
Greyson: Marie has lost it! She has absolutely LOST IT!
Sparkles: Sparkles hopes that Drew Bryant does something about this now that Marie is part of HIS roster.
Greyson: Exactly, she’s not going to have Silas’ protection anymore.
IN-RING
Cameras cut from the plight of Brittany Lohan to a moment of pure elation for her sister, Serenity. The lyrics of her entrance music, ‘My World’ by Brand New Sin are playing over the speakers while the World Heavyweight Champion moves to the stage. Serenity steps out from the back adorned in a leather getup and big old maniacal smile. However, the most important part of her ensemble is the World Championship that sits right on her shoulder. Of course Serenity could walk out with a cure to cancer and she still wouldn’t get any cheers from the crowd. Everyone is treating Serenity like a malignant mass as she spreads from the stage to the ring, taking a mic into her hand.
Frankie: It’s da new Champ ya’ll!
Sparkles: Our beloved World Champion is in the hizzy-house.
Greyson: It just goes from bad to worse. First we see Brittany Lohan thrown through a plate glass window and now her sister is coming out here to rub her screw job victory at Invictus in all of our faces.
Frankie: Here we go. More of your conspiracy theory non-sense.
Greyson: It’s not non-sense. Katelyn Buehler had the World Championship won in the Fatal Four Way main event of Invictus, and then just before she swooped in to pick up the pin, Serenity rolled her up from behind to win the match.
Frankie: Yeah, she PINNED Katelyn, so explain to me how that’s a screw job.
Greyson: Because she had hold of Katelyn’s tights and had her feet all over the ropes, and that loss has led to a lot of self-doubt from Katelyn regarding her career.
Frankie: You’re definition of a screw-job bores me. I like my idea of a screw-job a lot more. Want to hear it?
Greyson: Good God no.
Once in the ring Serenity shows some remarkable self-restraint, composing herself rather than embracing the customary lunacy most commonly associated with the champion.
Serenity: Awwww…did big sis fall down and have an owie?
The crowd gags as Serenity references the misery that has just befallen her sister backstage.
Serenity: That’s what happens when you don’t play nice with others Brittany. Hopefully you’ll learn now that you shouldn’t be peeing in other people’s campfires. It’ll make their marshmallows taste awful.
Greyson: What the hell is she talking about?
Frankie: Who cares? Just sit back and drool.
Sparkles: Sparkles drools from his penis.
Serenity: Stop meddling Brittany. Just stay out of other people’s business and maybe, just maybe, you won’t end up going through plate glass windows. It’s a thought, wrap your mind around it. Enough about Brittany though, let’s focus on something that’s actually close to my heart.
The World Title is rubbed by the front of Serenity’s wrist.
Serenity: Cue the balloons…..
Per request of the champion ‘black’ balloons start to seep from the rafters and descend upon the crowd. Some bat the balloons around playfully, others swat them aside angrily.
Serenity: Let’s get some confetti going.
The crowd is drowned in a snowstorm of ‘black and white’ confetti.
Serenity: Cut to the cheesy inspirational music.
There it is, a SUPER lame theme playing in the background. It’s just low enough for Serenity to speak over it.
Serenity: That’s more like it. Alrighty, now everything is PUUUUURRRRR-FECT. The dais is set for the new World Champion’s coronation speech. And who is the World Champion?
Serenity looks confused before her eyes drift to the belt on her shoulder.
Serenity: Oh that’s right…..it’s ME!
The belt lowers into Serenity’s palm before lifting above her head.
Serenity: And to all those who doubted that it would be me standing in this ring tonight with the title…well….
Serenity blows a raspberry at the crowd.
Serenity: You all stink. You should have known better. I promised to change the status-quo headed into Invictus, and I just so happen to be the type of gal who sticks by their promises. I said there would be change, and I stand here before you tonight the embodiment of just that, change. The Taylor Chase era is finally at an end. I concluded not just her title reign, but her age of dominance. For so long she sat untouched at the top, not anymore. She’s been unseated and cast down from the heavens to wallow in the muck with the rest of the swine. So now things are finally going to be different around here. Taylor’s death grip on the title is over, and so too is the never ending story of Katelyn Buehler’s quest to be the one who ended it.
A sad puppy dog expression befalls Serenity’s face. Her black eyes droop as her lower lip pops out.
Serenity: I’m sorry Katelyn…I’m sorry lover. I know how much it meant to you to be the champion. I know you’ve been after redemption for over a year. You’ve been chasing Taylor and that title that has sat over her shoulder for too dag-on long. Ever since she pinned and humiliated you in a one on one match all you’ve talked about is cleaning up your act, getting your head on straight and devoting yourself to nothing else than being the World Champion. But then…well….I took all your plans…all those hopes and dreams of yours…all that redemption gobbledygook you’ve been droning on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about and in three seconds managed to ruin what you had dedicated over a year of your everything to.
Serenity puts a finger to her chin as if thinking back to something.
Serenity: Now…at long-long-loooong last, you know how I feel. Or more accurately, how YOU made me feel. Anticipation makes the payoff all the more sweeter. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited Katelyn, how long I’ve been savoring just this opportunity. Ever since you dangled the thought of happiness in front of me only to destroy my world, I’ve been waiting, I’ve been biding my time, picking the perfect spot. Finally at Invictus I saw it, I saw my moment and I took it. Hehehehe, you let Silas Mason ‘pin’ you to ruin my happiness, so I pinned you to ruin your happiness. We were going to spend our life together before you had your affair with Silas, but now, I’m going to spend the rest of my life making yours miserable. It started at Invictus when I took the object you prized even more than our relationship and it’ll continue regardless of rather you retire from the IWC or not. Because every night you sit at home pouting, you’ll flip the channel over to the IWC and see me…the woman you could have been with, holding the title you never could win.
BACKSTAGE
Katelyn Buehler should be crestfallen….
Katelyn Buehler should be broken hearted…
Katelyn Buehler should be shattered…
But Katelyn Buehler is stoic.
Mark Comeau: Ladies and gentlemen, I’m standing by with Katelyn Buehler….
Backstage correspondent Mark Comeau stands side by side with the 2015 Last Stand Rumble winner Katelyn Buehler. The shadows around her eyes have deepened but overall her emotional state is not transparent. She remains as stone faced as someone suffering a case of Greyscale, just looking dead eyed across the interview area at the man holding the mic to her lips.
Comeau: Katelyn, we’ve heard over Twitter that you’ve been having some doubts regarding your career after your loss to Serenity in the Fatal Four Way for the Championship at Invictus. And now, after the comments Serenity just made in the ring, one has to wonder where your head is at the moment. Are you still contemplating retirement?
There is little in the way of reply from the woman who is customarily eager to speak her mind.
Katelyn: I have to go…
Katelyn starts to walk past Comeau, who desperately tries to block her path.
Comeau: Where are you going? Katelyn…
Katelyn: I have to have a conversation with Drew….Drew Bryant.
Comeau: Why are you going to talk to the President? Tell me you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do? Katelyn…Katelyn!
No more…Katelyn won’t share another syllable with Comeau. She goes on walking and ignoring Comeau’s pleas.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
A silver briefcase comes into view, the camera settled on it for an awkwardly long duration of time. At last the lens begins to pull back and reveal the man who is standing beside it. Scott Cannon, the NEW number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship is presently stood over the chair mounted briefcase. He lifts it, unlatches it and peeks inside, smiling quite sinisterly over what he sees within. The commentators sell the intrigue.
Frankie: I’m starting to get a Pulp Fiction vibe here. What’s in that briefcase?
Greyson: Scott Cannon, the new number one contender for the championship obviously likes what he sees inside of that case.
Sparkles: Maybe we’ll find out what’s in the briefcase when we find out what show Scott Cannon is going to end up on.
Greyson: He and everyone else on the roster yet to discover which show they’ll be drafted to.
Sparkles: Is Scott gonna end up on Riot, or on Uprising?
Greyson: We might just find out this very second, because here comes the Riot Principle Owner, Silas Mason to make his first draft pick.
IN-RING
Cameras segue to the center of the squared circle, fixated on the man stood behind the podium. Silas Mason wears a confident, borderline smarmy grin on his face that has the crowd’s skin crawling. He leans towards the microphone jutting out of the podium, preparing to make the very first, and perhaps the most crucial pick for the Riot brand.
Silas Mason: Nice one Drew…real-real nice….using your first pick to draft my crown jewel right out from under me….I didn’t think ya had it in ya boy. Ya got me, ya got me real good. Or so ya think. Because in yer rush to keep me from draftin’ Baby Spice, ya created a hell of a lucrative opportunity for me. Let me show ya how this is done son…My first draft pick to the “Silas Mason Presents Riot’ brand….
In a brief cut away we get a shot of the entire IWC roster gathered backstage in the conference room, inching closer to the monitor at the front of the room. They watch the screen that shows Silas buttering up the world and leaving them in anticipation of his announcement. Cameras cut back to Silas in the ring at last making his announcement.
Silas:….is the World Heavyweight Champion, SERENITY!
Cameras segue back to all the IWC roster members gathered in the conference room who are reeling in shock. Some are clapping their hands and others are just chatting amongst themselves, discussing the impact of Silas’ draft pick. The commentators are doing the exact same thing, their voices overheard in the background.
Frankie: In just his first pick…his FIRST PICK…Silas Mason has just changed the whole dynamic of this draft.
Sparkles: The World Champion Serenity now exclusive to the Riot brand.
Greyson: What does this mean for Uprising? They don’t have a World Champion now!
Sparkles: Cut-throat move by Silas.
A fact Silas knows all too well, hence the grin that slithers across his face like a snake offering an apple to Eve.
BACKSTAGE
Drew Bryant: I sooo should have seen that one coming.
Now Drew Bryant not only finds himself on the bubble but backed against a wall. In one pick Silas Mason has ensured that the Majority Owner’s brand will be without a World Champion. Hence why Drew is pacing the room so anxiously with a cellphone glued to his ear. Even with his quickened pace and his tightened grasp on his phone, Drew isn’t anywhere near as tense as he should be.
Drew: I know Silas’ pick was HUGE, but he hasn’t beaten me yet. I think my pick is going to blow him away. I’ve still got Katelyn Bue…..
Katelyn: Think again.
A hand slaps down directly against Drew’s shoulder and motivates him to whip around into a defensive stance. He lowers his guard when he looks into the face of Katelyn Buehler and realizes she’s not here for a fight.
Drew: Katelyn Buehler, just the lady I wanted to see. I think you and I need to start discussing terms for a new contra…..
Katelyn: Here’s an idea, let’s not.
Drew now begins to wish that Katelyn WAS here for a fight.
Drew: What-what-what do you mean?
Katelyn: I hate to do business this way, to be THAT kind of person, but if you draft me to Uprising, I’m going to sit out the rest of my contract.
Buehler turns to leave but Drew isn’t about to let the conversation end on that note.
Drew: Erm, so you’re telling me that if I were to draft you….
Katelyn: It would be the waste of a draft pick. I either go to Riot, or I go home.
Drew: You’re that eager to work for Silas? I didn’t think the two of you had the best relationship.
Katelyn: No, I can tolerate Silas, though being on his show means I stay on the same brand as Serenity, and that I get the chance to end her World Title reign. Sorry Drew.
The door shuts behind Katelyn’s back as she exits the office, Drew not even making an attempt to stop her this time. He looks as crestfallen as Kristie Alley when she finds out that the local bakery has run out of glazed donuts. Though he’s phased he can’t afford to stay in that condition for long, lifting the phone he had lowered to his side back to his ear.
Drew: Alright, backup plan…
The commentators are overheard yet again in the background, expressing their concerns.
Greyson: Things looking kind of bleak for the Uprising brand at the moment.
Sparkles: The World Champion now exclusive to Riot.
Frankie: And Katelyn Buehler just flat out told Drew Bryant not to draft her, or is she ain’t wrestling no more.
Greyson: What’s Drew gonna do?
Sparkles: He’s on the bubble.
IN-RING
Upon returning to the middle of the ring we see Mark Comeau totally out of his element. The correspondent is no longer in his safety net. He’s not in some backstage corridor conducting a pre or post match interview, instead he’s in the middle of the squared circle, in the thick of the action. He’s less than eager to approach the podium while wrapping up the conversation he’s having on the cellphone raised to his ear.
Comeau: Are you sure about that?
He waits for the answer.
Comeau: Alright, you got it boss.
The phone is lowered and Mark’s voice rises.
Comeau: I’m here to make the next draft pick on behalf of Majority Owner Drew Bryant…..
We get another quick cut to the conference room backstage where the entire IWC roster are eager to learn the identity of the next draft pick. Cameras transition once again to the ring where Comeau makes the announcement they’ve been waiting on.
Comeau: With his second pick in the 2015 IWC Draft, the Uprising selects…..X-Class Champion ALANA STARR!
Once again there is a quick cut to the stuffed conference room that is suddenly exploding in elation. The excited commentators giddily respond to this draft choice in the background.
Greyson: Alana Starr is headed for Uprising.
Sparkles: God help all the others who are drafted to that brand.
In a quick cut we jump from the conference room where the roster just heard this shocking news to the ring that Mark Comeau is vacating. He gets about half way through the ropes before hearing the tunes of “Bad to the Bone.” All eyes jump to the stage where Scott Cannon is now standing, holding a briefcase but still managing to clap around it.
Greyson: Scott Cannon, Alana Starr’s tag team partner, headed our way.
Sparkles: We’re scheduled to hear from the new Number One Contender coming up next.
Frankie: And hopefully we can find out what the hell he’s got in that briefcase. If it’s Gwenyth Paltrow’s head I’m going to flip out.
All eyes remain fixated on the ever controversial and dangerously unpredictable Cannon headed up the steps towards the ring.
Greyson: We’ll find out what’s on Scott Cannon’s mind coming up after this commercial break here on our Live Draft Special. Don’t go anywhere.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Upon returning from commercial break we find Silas Mason casually leaning back on a sofa and chatting it up with Lenore-Price Mason seated beside him. She has a bundle of contracts in her hands, siphoning through them.
Silas: Gotta admit, Alana Starr, she’s quite a coo for Uprising.
Lenore: Yeah, but just wait until they hear who you’re going to draft next.
Silas: It’s gonna melt some faces.
When the door to Silas’ office opens, Lenore greets the entering guest by jumping to her feet and balling up her fists. She’s ready for a fight even if that’s not what Katelyn Buehler is intent on unleashing.
Katelyn: Relax.
Insists Buehler when seeing Lenore’s elevated knuckles and Silas protective stance behind his client’s back. He peeks at Katelyn from over Lenore’s shoulder.
Katelyn: I’m not here to fight, Silas
Silas: Is that so? Seems every chance ya get ya try to be physical with me.
Katelyn: Not tonight…and yuck, I totally get what you’re eluding to there.
Silas: Then tell us why you’re here and do it quick, I’m on the spot right now, gotta make my draft pick.
Katelyn: Well let me make this easier on you. You need a draft pick, I’m your huckleberry.
A silence passes with Silas just glaring stone faced at Katelyn. Before long his whole façade shatters and laughter ensues.
Silas: You think I’M going to draft YOU? Hahahahaha….ahahahaha….Good one Baby Brown, real-real good.
Silas states while using his gloved finger to wipe a tear from his eye.
Silas: Ya honestly think I’d WASTE a draft pick on you?
Katelyn: Have you forgotten that I won the Last Stand Rumble? That I was within an eyelash of winning the World Championship?
Silas: Nah. But I also haven’t forgotten that your elbow hit this jaw (points at his own chin) at Invictus. And even worse, that you are the absolute worse fuck I’ve ever had. If you’re that lousy in my bed, I can only imagine how lousy you’ll be on my roster. So no, I ain’t draftin ya. End of story.
Silas makes his way past Katelyn while Lenore lingers behind for a moment to laugh straight in Buehler’s face. As Silas World walks away Katelyn is left not in the state they thought they’d be leaving her in. She’s not upset, she’s not depressed, she’s not even phased, she’s just standing there with a plotting expression on her face, refusing to be undone.
VIDEO
INVICTUS
Some screen grabs are provided from the Invictus event, the biggest show of the calendar year for the IWC. The pictures pertain to the match between Johnny Kingdom and Scott Cannon. The voices of the commentators at Invictus can be overheard.
Greyson: Kingdom returning to in ring action for the first time in over a year to face Scott Cannon.
Sparkles: In what has been an epic match.
A screen grab shows Cannon hitting the Snake Eyes on Kingdom, but the roaring elbow only earns Scott a two count. We then see Johnny hitting Scott with multiple package piledrivers and a 450 splash only for his offensive barrage to net him a near-fall. Ultimately we see Kingdom going for the crossface only to cut to another photo of Cannon reversing into the crucifix pin to pick up the win.
Greyson: Cannon wins it!
Frankie: He’s the new number one contender for the World Title!
Another picture is glimpsed showing a sweaty, beaten down Cannon celebrating on the stage.
IN-RING
”Bad to the Bone” is still playing over the PA system and Scott Cannon is still standing in the ring. The moment his entrance theme cuts out Scott’s voice is cued up through the PA system.
Scott: So Invictus is finally behind us and it proved to be quite the memorable night.
Informs Cannon as he lifts a mic to his mouth and lowers a briefcase to his side.
Scott: Sure, we saw the Evolution Title change hands. We witnessed the crowning of a new World Heavyweight Champion. And these are all big milestone moments, don’t get me wrong, but maybe the biggest news coming out of Invictus, the biggest victory, was my own over Johnny Kingdom. Because at last…..dear lord in heaven….at long-long-LOOOONG last, my win over the aging icon established yours truly as the number one contender for the World Championship.
Scott takes a breath to let the crowd get out the obligatory airing of their grievances.
Scott: I take it me being number one contender doesn’t sit well with everyone?
That’s a ‘yes.’ The crowd confirming as much via their persistent heckles.
Scott: Sorry I can’t please all the people all the time, but maybe that will change when I finally do decide the time and place is right to challenge for the World Title. Wait? What’s that? Is that-is that the sound of the cogs turning ever so slowly in your heads? Are you a teensy bit confused? Figures. Doesn’t take much to leave you all fickle. You’re probably asking yourselves, what does Scott Canon mean when he implies that HE’LL be the one who decides the time and the place for his World Title shot? Okay, let me take you by your hands, pat you gently on your bumpy knuckles, and explain.
A deep breath is taken before Scott provides the exposition.
Scott: This draft split has shaken up more than just the roster. It’s left a lot of matters in a state of flux. Yes, we know I’m the number one contender, but what we don’t know is what brand I’m going to be on. There’s a very real possibility I’m going to be drafted to a show opposite Serenity and the World Title I earned the right to challenge for. So with all these questions abounding, I went to the head brass and sought some answers from the head brass. And what did my conversation with President Drew Bryant yield? A compromise. I pitched to him the idea that there be no statute of limitations on my number one contendership. So while all the finer details of the brand split are worked out and the rosters are finalized, I don’t have to worry about my contenders contract expiring.
This time Scott doesn’t pause for a breath, he pauses for a smile.
Scott: Sooo what does that mean exactly? Am I still not being clear enough for you? It means that I now hold a standing contract for the World Title that has no expiration date attached to it. In this briefcase…(holds the case he’s been lugging around aloft)…is a contract guaranteeing me a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at any time and any place of my choosing. I could use it on the first Riot, on the first Uprising, at the next pay-per-view, or even at next year’s Invictus, heck, maybe even TONIGHT.
The fans froth at the probability.
Scott: Naaaaah, I think I’ll hold onto it for a while.
The briefcase is pulled back to Scott’s chest, wrapping an arm around it.
Scott: I’m going to see how this draft shapes up, and then I’ll have a better idea when to put this contract to use. So really, I’m not all that worried about where I’ll end up after the draft is over, because one way or another I have my title shot set. Though, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind ending up on the same roster with a certain special lady, a woman very near and dear to me.
Kingdom: Alright Cannon….
The fans couldn’t scream louder if they sat on a tack.
The sight of Johnny Kingdom has enlivened them and elevated their voices to such heights it threatens to throw out their lungs. The Team Leader, the former World Champion, and the man who pushed Scott Cannon to his absolute limit, comes strolling down the ramp. Strangely enough Kingdom exudes a more reserved and subdued demeanor upon entering the ring. The commentators aren’t quite as calm.
Greyson: Johnny Kingdom back in the Manhattan Center. It’s still shocking every time I see this man in the ring, and he couldn’t have shocked us any more than at Invictus, when he stepped in that ring and put on a show stealing match with Scott Cannon.
Sparkles: A match that proved Johnny is every bit the legend that he claims to be.
Frankie: But a match he lost. Scott Cannon pinned Kingdom.
Upon entering the ring Kingdom tries to speak over the deafening roar from the fans.
Kingdom: Scott, I….
Scott: Whoa, hold on, if you’re out here because you take offence to all my gloating, then you might….
Kingdom: No-no-no-no, you got it all wrong Scott. All wrong. I’m not here to stop you from gloating. Just the opposite. I hate to admit it, but you beat me at Invictus. You pinned my shoulders to the mat and you got the three count. No way to dance around it, no way to spin it to my favor. I was defeated. So you have every right to stand out here and celebrate all night long if it tickles your fancy. I’m not going to stop you.
Scott: Well, that’s…..surprising.
Kingdom: Yeah, I don’t typically do ‘classy’ very well, but on the rare occasion I can swallow my pride and give credit where credit is due. You beat me, but even in defeat you reinvigorated something I thought I lost, my passion for this sport. So this might sound weird, but I’m here tonight to THANK YOU.
Scott: You’re right, that does sound strange, and coming from me, that says something.
Kingdom: Thanks Scott, for giving me a great match at Invictus, and rekindling that spark that had been extinguished in my gut a long time ago.
To the surprise of all, Scott in particular, a hand is extended, Johnny offering his palm for a shake.
Kingdom: Take it and shake it.
Scott’s eyes drift down from Johnny’s face to his open palm.
Kingdom: Go ahead.
Finally a grin cracks Scott’s face and he reaches out…reaches out in order to ball up his knuckles and punch Johnny right in the jaw. The blow sends Kingdom staggering back and falling against the ropes. He grabs at his face and rubs his chin while turning his eyes to the departing Cannon. Before Johnny can dare retaliate, Cannon is rolling out of the ring and walking to the back with briefcase in hand.
Frankie: Oh-ho-ho-ho, Cannon just punked Kingdom.
Sparkles: What a disrespectful act from our new number one contender.
Frankie: Kingdom had it coming.
Greyson: How do you figure THAT!?! Johnny came out to shake Scott’s hand.
Frankie: Kingdom just has one of those faces that needs to be punched.
Kingdom rubs his jaw and watches Scott keep on waltzing around the ramp. If the literal punch in the face wasn’t bad enough, now Kingdom suffers a figurative punch to the gut via the obnoxious tone of Silas Mason.
Silas: Well wasn’t that fun?
Cameras cut to Silas Mason moseying on out to the stage. He doesn’t make use of the podium and small dais set up in the ring to make his next draft pick, all he needs are his microphone and his confidence to reveal the identity of his newest roster member.
Silas: Enough drama from my former client and this part timer in the ring. Let’s get back to me and my next draft pick. Who’s it gonna be? Huh? Who is Silas gonna call up to the ‘A’ show? Well I been scratchin my head, thinkin’ on it for a spell, and it finally came to me. So with my next pick ‘Silas Mason Presents Riot’ selects….The Queen of the Ring Champion, Marina Valdivia!
A huge reaction is heard from the crowd as Silas makes yet another champion exclusive to his brand.
Frankie: Oooh yeah, oooh boy. Silas does it again.
Sparkles: He’s trying to get all the champions on his brand.
Greyson: With or without the title though, Marina Valdivia is a HUGE addition to Riot. I’m happy we’ll get to go on calling her matches.
Sparkles: Marina is such a highly versatile athlete, which she proved at Invictus when she retained the Queen of the Ring Title. Now she and her belt are exclusive to Riot.
Frankie: What’s Drew’s response gonna be to this?
BACKSTAGE
The crowd are still screaming their heads off in regards to Silas Mason’s draft pick, but Scott Cannon isn’t even cognizant of it. He has no interest in anything announced by his former agent, and puts as much distance between he and Silas as possible. Hence why Scott is marching down a backstage corridor in the opposite direction of the stage where Silas is stood.
Scott: Well-well….
Cannon comes to a halt when spotting a figure blocking his way. The camera whips around to reveal the individual in his path…Taylor Chase!
Taylor: We NEED to talk.
Informs Chase, the long desired unrequited obsession of Scott Cannon. The two approach one another exuding an almost tense demeanor.
Scott: Talk? About what? The last episode of Mad Men? I thought it was pretty entertaining but a little heavy on the dialo….
Taylor: You know what we need to talk about. Why won’t you let this be Scott?
Scott: Hmmmmm?
Taylor: We’re not meant for each other, and no matter what you do, or whatever sick approach you take to try and win me, it’s not going to happen. We are not going to be together.
Scott: Whoa-whoa-whoa, where is this all coming from?
Taylor: Everything you’ve done to try and win me over. And now, you’re trying to get on whatever brand I end up drafted to?
Scott: Oh-oh-oh wait a minute, time out. For once you don’t have your facts in order, Tay.
Taylor: Then correct me.
Scott: I may have wanted to win the number one contendership to face you for the title, take it and get you to come back to me, that part WAS true, but things have changed. You’re no longer the champ, but I’m STILL the number one contender, and winning that guaranteed title shot is important to me for a whole new list of reasons. Also, you’re way-WAY off base when it comes to who I was talking about when I mentioned a special lady I wanted to be on the same brand as
Taylor: Wait…..You mean to tell me….
Scott: You’re not the lady I was talking about.
Reveals Cannon while stepping around Taylor and moving down the hall. The confused Tay turns around to watch Scott leave but her focus isn’t on him, it’s on his words.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Backstage Correspondent Susie Moore is located in the offices of Majority Owner Drew Bryant, who is gab-gab-gabbing away on his cellphone. Susie desperately tries to get his attention.
Susie: Drew….Hey Drew, can I have a minute?
The phone lowers from Drew’s ear at last giving into Susie’s request.
Drew: What’s up Suzanne?
Susie: Well Big-Boss, looks like we got a problem.
Drew: Problem? What problem?
Susie: Well from where I’m standing, it looks like Silas Mason is winning the draft. At least in terms of picking champions to the Riot brand. He’s got the World Champ, and he’s got Marina Valdivia, the Queen of the Ring Champ, that’s big time.
Drew: That’s the thing about Silas. It’s never FRIENDLY competition with him. He’s out to cut your throat and leave you bleeding to death. That’s the mentality he’s brought into tonight’s draft.
Susie: Well what are you going to do about it? Oh, I have an idea. Make him a macaroni art card. That will win him over, and the two of you will be the best friends EVAH.
Drew: Thanks for the idea, but I got a different strategy in mind.
Susie’s eyes widen at the sight of Queen of the Ring Champion Marina Valdivia stepping up behind Drew. Following behind her is her agent Tabitha Silverstone. Drew turns to greet the duo.
Drew: Marina, glad you could join me.
Marina: When the boss summons you you show up, so yeah, think nothing of it.
Drew: Well I appreciate you being here nevertheless, we’ve got business to discuss.
IN-RING
Upon returning to the ring we find Mark Comeau once again standing in the center. The Backstage Correspondent is thrust into the spotlight right in the center of the squared circle, a position he’s getting more comfortable in. He stands behind the podium and on top of the dais, phone elevated to his ear, receiving a last second confirmation.
Comeau: Ladies and gentlemen, I am here once more on behalf of Majority Owner Drew Bryant to announce the next pick in the 2015 IWC Draft. The Uprising Brand has selected….CHRISTIAN SAVIOR!
The pop from the crowd is quite audible, everyone quite excited at the thought of Savior being a headline attraction for the Uprising Brand. The commentators are overhead selling the magnitude of this draft pick.
Sparkles: Man that’s huge…HUGE….Christian Savior, a multiple time former World Champion is headed to Uprising.
Greyson: Just think of the waves Christian is going to make as part of Uprising.
Frankie: Christian is going to make a heck of an impact on the….
”Circus for a Psycho” hits the PA system at this point leading to a piercing wail of disapproval. Everyone realizes who’s headed for the ring, the man who by the skin of his teeth managed to defeat Christian Savior at Invictus, William Mason. The No Limits Champion saunters through the curtains to the stage with his shoulder bearing the weight of his recently sanctioned title belt. He heads on down the ramp with a casualness customarily reserved for a man taking a stroll on a beach, not stepping into a wrestling ring.
Greyson: Naturally the moment Christian Savior’s name is announced his nemesis William Mason has to come out and ruin the moment.
Sparkles: My Willie doesn’t ruin nadda. Everything my Willie touches turns to gold.
Frankie: One has to wonder if this draft pick announcement is what brings William out here.
Mason brushes Comeau away from the podium and then situates himself behind it.
William: What? You weren’t expecting me?
No restraint is shown by the fans in booing Mason mercilessly.
Greyson: I don’t think these people appreciate either this interruption or the fact that William Mason sided with Tina Valentine and Kloe Masters at Invictus to form the Axis.
Sparkles: No telling what that group is going to bring to the IWC.
Mason adjusts the microphone extending from the podium to better capture his announcement.
William: It really shouldn’t surprise you to see me in the ring right now given the last draft pick announcement. Christian Savior headed to the Uprising Brand all but confirms which show I’ll be headed to. So let me take the burden off of Silas Mason’s shoulders. I might not like our Principle Owner, in fact, he’s the filth of the earth, but I refuse to be on the same show as Christian, so I’ll be headed to the Riot brand. Thanks for coming.
Mason exits the dais and then exits the ring before ultimately exiting the arena.
Greyson: The ego….Good lord in heaven the ego!
Sparkles: My Willie shouldn’t have to be on the same show as Christian, we all know Savior is a sore loser and would go after Mason if their on Uprising together.
Frankie: Smooth move on Mason’s part. It’s like he said, he hates Silas Mason, but he can’t run the risk of Christian shortening his career if the two end up on the same brand.
BACKSTAGE
The door to Silas Mason’s office opens and the Principle Owner makes his way into the hall. Silas is holding some notes bundled up in his hand as he prepares to head for the ring. Before he gets one step further however, he has to contend with Kloe Masters, who was waiting in the corridor.
Kloe: Salutations Silas.
Silas pauses and looks past the tip of his nose at Masters.
Silas: What ya want Baby Rose?
Kloe: A favor.
Silas: Not surprising.
Kloe: Awwww, I was hoping I didn’t make things TOO predictable.
Silas: The favor…
Kloe: Well, considering I DID help you become Principle Owner at Invictus, I think it’s only fair that you honor William’s request and draft him to the Riot brand. He just wants to avoid any complications between himself and that scoundrel Christian Savior.
Silas: Hmmm….I tell ya what Baby Rose, I have another draft pick in mind at the moment, but consider it done. I’ll draft Willie to ‘Silas Mason Presents Riot.’ Ya just make sure yer boy respects my authority and doesn’t take too personally what I did to the love of his life Kelcey Wallace.
Kloe: William is a businessman first and foremost, he’ll do what’s best for his career and for the Axis.
Silas: Good, now if that’s it for now, I got business to handle.
As Silas moves to the ring Kloe lingers behind smiling.
Kloe: Yes, that’s it…..for now.
IN-RING
The curtains open and Silas Mason emerges from the entrance tunnel. He soaks in the response from the crowd, which is like bathing in piss, then strolls along down the ramp. Eventually Mason reaches the squared circle and the podium. Already the commentators are expressing their well justified concerns.
Sparkles: Silas Mason on hand to make his next pick for the Riot brand.
Frankie: We all know there’s only one HUGE free agent remaining who hasn’t been drafted.
Greyson: There are plenty, but who are you eluding to?
Frankie: ME! I can single handedly carry the Riot brand, just like I carry the weight of the commentary on this show.
Greyson: Yeah, when you’re not posting inappropriate pictures of your nether regions on Facebook.
Sparkles: Why haven’t you ‘friended’ Sparkles yet?
Frankie: I’m on it.
Silas adjusts the mic then addresses the crowd who are not particularly kind to the Principle Owner.
Silas: Settle down now…
His request is only met with a greater expression of rage.
Silas: With my next pick in the draft, Silas Mason Presents Riot selects….Evolution Champion ANDRE JORDAN!
Cameras briefly segue to the conference room where the IWC roster is gathered. The camera’s primary focus is settled on Andre Jordan, who sits back in his chair adjusting the Evolution Title over his shoulder and grinning. Several people are clapping on his behalf, but not Dre, he just sits in composure grinning.
Greyson: Andre Jordan, Evolution Champion, former Tag Team Champion, the second longest surviving entrant in the Last Stand Rumble, he’s coming to Riot.
Frankie: Which means I’m still available to be drafted. Someone better pick me up soon or they’re making a big mistake.
Sparkles: Andre is another big pick for Silas, AND another champion.
Greyson: I’m seeing Silas’ strategy here, he’s monopolizing all of the champions.
Sparkles: With the exception of Alana Starr and her X-Class Title, Drew hasn’t really selected any champions.
BACKSTAGE
Yet again the camera is placed outside of the office of a figurehead, that figurehead being Drew Bryant. The door opens and Marina Valdivia makes her exit. Agent Tabitha Silverstone follows as the pair moves into the corridor, pauses and the Queen of the Ring Champion grins. The commentators can only speculate as to what that smile means.
Greyson: What’s up with that smirk on Marina Valdivia’s face?
Sparkles: What did the Queen of the Ring Champion and Drew Bryant discuss behind closed doors?
Frankie: Maybe they danced the horizontal tango.
Greyson: Marina’s not that kind of lady, Frankie. I have the feeling that whatever she and Drew discussed, pertains to that Queen of the Ring Title on her shoulder.
Sparkles: Well Drew better stop focusing on Marina and start concentrating on his next draft pick, he’s on the bubble.
Greyson: We’ll learn his next pick after the commercial break.
Frankie: It’s so totes gonna be Frankie.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Cameras catch up to Tina Valentine, Victoria Salinas and William Mason, the trio chatting in a corridor backstage.
Tina: I’m sure Kloe took care of everything.
William: I trust her….but I don’t trust Silas.
Victoria: Then isn’t it risky that you would WANT to end up on his brand?
William: It’s more risky being anywhere near that savage, Christian. Did you guys not see him try to end my career by spearing me off the announce table and through a barricade at Invictus? The guy should be in an institution, not in a wrestling ring.
Tina: The same can be said for half the roster. Like a certain Snow Queen…
William: You still sore over Selena Frost beating….
Tina: She did NOT beat me at Invictus. Last time I checked I NEVER tapped out to her Frost Bite. I was unconscious….unconscious thanks to a mother-fucking guitar getting smashed upside my skull.
William: Eeeeeassy. I’m sure if Sebastian Blake or his wife ever show up at another IWC event, we’ll make Blake regret getting involved in your match at Invictus.
Tina: They’ll MORE than pay. The two are lucky they ran back to Hollywood…fucking Hollywood.
Victoria: Have you guys seen Sebastian’s wife?
Tina: Why would I look at her for more than two seconds?
William: Sure I’ve seen her….
Victoria: I mean recently.
William: No….don’t think anybody has.
Victoria: I did. Or at least I think it was her. I saw someone walking around the parking lot earlier that looked like her….but she was…..off.
Tina: In what way?
Victoria: Well, she was talking to a r…..
Kloe: Alright William, I got everything taken care of.
Into view steps Kloe Masters, another member of the group known as the Axis. She hands Tina and William water bottles to quench their thirsts.
William: You talked to Silas?
Kloe: Yep, and he’s made assurances that you’ll be on the Riot brand, meaning no further dealings with Christian Savior.
William: Splendid.
Tina: And what about Blake?
Kloe: I’m sorry Tina, I hate to let you down in just the infancy of our alliance, but Sebastian Blake is NOT a member of the roster.
Tina: So you couldn’t get me a match against him?
Kloe: Not as of yet.
Tina: DAMMIT.
Victoria: Relax. You know Kloe will make this right.
Kloe: Of course I will. You got nothing to worry about Tina, you’ll have your vindication…..one way or another.
IN-RING
The ring is once again occupied by Drew Bryant, who doesn’t send an emissary to the podium to announce his next draft pick. The commentators are overheard in the background.
Frankie: The Boss out here to announce FRANKIE as his next pick.
Greyson: You probably shouldn’t set your expectation so high, Frankie.
Sparkles: Let’s find out who’s headed to Uprising.
Drew takes a deep breath, possibly realizing his next pick is going to be a controversial one.
Drew: You guys ready?
He looks towards the salivating fans.
Drew: The Uprising brand selects…..No Limits Champion WILLIAM MASON!
The show transitions to the backstage area where William Mason is spitting water from his mouth all over the wall. He doubles over with a look of pure unbridled shock in his eyes. Kloe Masters, Tina Valentine and Victoria Salinas can be seen cringing at his sides, realizing this pick does not bode very well for William.
Sparkles: OOOOOH CRAP.
Greyson: William Mason….he’s-he’s-he’s just been drafted to Uprising.
Frankie: But he specifically demanded NOT to be on the same show as Christian Savior.
Greyson: Mason is going to be soooo pissed.
Sparkles: Mason pissed? What about Sparkles? I’ll never get a chance to call anymore of my Willie’s matches! That’s it, Sparkles is depressed now.
Greyson: A very controversial pick just made by Drew Bryant.
BACKSTAGE
With the Queen of the Ring Championship shining over her shoulder Marina Valdivia comes into view, she is presently standing in front of a microphone toting Susie Moore. The pair stand alongside Marina’s agent Tabitha Silverstone, presently amassed beneath the IWC emblem in the interview area.
Susie: HOLY SPICY BURRITO, what a draft pick just made by Drew Bryant….
Marina: I’m not that surprised.
Susie: Re-re-really?
Marina: Yeah, because based on the conversation I just had with Drew, he obviously knows how to play this game, and is willing to do whatever it takes to win it.
Susie: Oh yeah, THAT’S why I asked to interview you. Care to shed any light on what you and Drew discussed in his office?
Marina smiles towards Tabitha, who fields the question on her client’s behalf.
Tabitha: We’re not at liberty to make that announcement just yet, but just know that our conversation with Drew yielded some pretty ‘interesting’ results. I think it’s safe to say that Drew is going to make a MAJOR revelation tonight regarding the Queen of the Ring Title.
Susie: Okay, well thanks….I guess.
Tabitha and Marina are off and walking, leaving Susie with even more questions than when she started this interview. She turns to walk in the opposite direction before stepping right into Johnny Kingdom.
Susie: Yikes.
Kingdom: Ah, sweet Susie Moore, just the gal I’ve been looking for.
Susie: Ya found me!
Kingdom: I got a little something to get off my chest.
Susie: A third nipple?
Kingdom: No….See, I’m still smarting after Scott Cannon decided earlier tonight it would be a better option to punch me in my jaw instead of shaking my hand. It wasn’t.
Susie: I take it there’s going to a retaliation?
Johnny smiles.
Kingdom: You know, you’re much smarter than people give you credit for.
Susie: Thanks. I would kind of have to be.
Kingdom: You just took the words right out of my mouth.
Susie: Yuck.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
William: I’m going to tear him apart.
A snarling William Mason is storming through the backstage corridor while Kloe Masters desperately tries to keep up with him. The commentators delve into William’s current frame of mind.
Greyson: One can only presume that William Mason is out to get his hands on Drew Bryant.
Sparkles: He is not taking kindly to the fact that he was drafted to Uprising at all.
Greyson: No disrespect to Uprising, William just doesn’t want to be anywhere near any show that Christian Savior is on.
Frankie: And we saw Christian drafted to Uprising earlier.
Sparkles: Speaking of the draft, we got another pick about to be made in the ring.
IN-RING
Back in the squared circle we have a podium set up with Lenore-Price Mason standing behind it.
Lenore: I’m here on behalf of Silas Mason to announce his next pick.
She looks at the notes handed to her by Silas before her trip to the ring.
Lenore: Silas Mason Presents Riot is pleased to announce that they have selected…..Tag Team Champion Kat Kelly!
The building absolutely erupts into a wave of total euphoria. Cameras cut to the conference room filled with the IWC roster and a loud rabble. Everyone is talking about this latest pick, primarily Kat Kelly and her tag team partner Lexy Chapel. Wicked Intent sit in the center of the room chuckling over Kat’s draft and pointing between the Tag Team Title belts situated over their shoulders. Meanwhile their legendary advisors, Trinity Street and Lucas Knight can be seen leaning over the back of their students’ chairs, whispering into their ears. We can’t hear what Lucas and Trinity are saying, but we can overhear the commentators.
Sparkles: Silas’ acquisition of champions continues.
Greyson: Kat Kelly, one of the brightest young talents in all of wrestling, will have a chance to further her career on the Riot brand.
Frankie: This makes me very-very-VERY happy. This bottle of lubricant I just bought won’t go to waste after-all.
Greyson: Can’t wait to see what Kat does here on Riot.
We go back to the ring just as Lenore-Price Mason is exiting it. Literally the second she starts to make her way up the ramp, Mark Comeau comes waltzing right past her, on his way to it.
Greyson: It looks like Drew Bryant already has his next draft pick in mind. He’s sending Comeau out here to announce it.
Sparkles: Sparkles wants an emissary too. Someone to handle all my important announcements.
Frankie: Frankie wants an emissary also, someone to handle all my important testicles.
Comeau handles only one thing at the moment, the announcement of the latest draft choice.
Comeau: Ladies and gentlemen….
Comeau steps behind the podium, clears his throat and then proceeds with the announcement.
Comeau: With the next pick in the 2015 Draft, the Uprising Brand selects……LEXY CHAPEL!
Back to the conference room cameras segue, capturing the other half of the Tag Team Champions, Lexy Chapel, and her less than appreciative response to the announcement just made. Her angry eyes are shooting towards the television at the front of the room and right now she wants to put her boot through it. Try as they may, neither Trinity or Lucas can calm her down. Her tag team partner’s response isn’t anymore favorable, Kat sitting there in a stunned silence.
Greyson: Man….MAN…what a shocker!
Sparkles: Has….has Wicked Intent just been broken up?
Greyson: I would guess so. Kat Kelly drafted to Riot, and Lexy Chapel drafted to Uprising.
Frankie: What does this mean for the Tag Team Titles? And for my bottle of lubricant?
The show shifts to the ring where Comeau is stepping away from the podium. He is about to leave the ring before being cut off by the man who has just rolled into it. William Mason, the No Limits Champion, comes stomping towards Comeau and is already seizing hold of the correspondent’s shirt.
William: Where’s Drew!?!
Comeau: I….
William: WHERE’S DREW!?!
Comeau: He wasn’t in his office?
William: NO!
Comeau: Then I have no idea where he is.
William: That doesn’t bode well for you then.
Greyson: An explosive William Mason has hold of Comeau.
Sparkles: My Willie is FURIOUS that Drew Bryant didn’t honor his request to let him be drafted to Riot.
Frankie: William had one request…ONE request, that he not be on the same show as Christian Savior, but Drew didn’t honor that.
Sparkles: And now Comeau is going to pay for Drew’s decision.
The grip on Comeau’s shirt tightens, William binding the correspondent in his clutches. William’s hand starts to inch its way up and towards Comeau’s throat, ready to silence him permanently. With Comeau’s fate looking bleak it’s a wonder that the fans could be cheering so loud, that is until we see what has them popping like pimples. Christian Savior has slid into the ring behind William and is now crouched at the knees. He has taken residency in the corner and is currently setting up to deliver the Bloodline Spear on an unsuspecting William.
Sparkles: Behind you Willie! BEHIND YOU!!
Greyson: Savior is gonna show Mason what he’s in store for on Uprising.
The intense Savior runs his hands through his hair and tries to keep his eyes from exploding right out of their sockets. They focus on Mason, who finally picks up on the fact that something is amiss. He lets go of Comeau and then spins around just as Christian comes hurling towards him with a spear intended for his ribs. William only has a split second to react, and in that fraction of time he manages to clear out of the way of the spear.
Greyson: Mason BARELY avoided suffering the Bloodline Spear!
Sparkles: There is a God.
Once out of the ring and out of harm’s way William begins to hurl insults at Christian. He fights his overwhelming impulse to return to the ring and fight Christian. Every ounce of him wants to brawl with Savior, but he is prevented from giving over to that urge thanks to Kloe Masters. She shows up just in time to pull Mason away from the ring where Christian is waiting. He stands on the middle rope at this point, glaring over the ropes at the departing No Limits Champion and Masters.
Savior: Be seeing you on Uprising.
BACKSTAGE
An elbow pad slowly slides down the arm of Johnny Kingdom. He stands in the locker-room gearing up. There is a note of confusion in the voices of the commentators as they speak in the background.
Frankie: Uuuuuuh, can someone explain to me what we’re seeing here?
Greyson: From the looks of it, Johnny Kingdom is getting in his ring-gear.
Frankie: But wwhhhyyy?
Greyson: I’m thinking he’s itching for a fight.
Sparkles: Is Kingdom about to come out here and wrestle?
Greyson: If you want to call it that. I have a feeling Johnny wants a war with Scott Cannon, and we’re going to see it tonight as part of our draft special.
Sparkles: Kingdom and Cannon are gonna brawl, and you’ll get a chance to see that fight after the break!
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Lexy: You’ve got two seconds…two seconds to tell us how you’re going to make this right.
Silas Mason is not accustomed to being the one in the hot seat, just the opposite actually, as he’s the one who keeps people on their heels. So it’s no wonder that he reacts the way he does when finding himself cornered in his office by the Tag Team Champions Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel.
Silas: And ya got even less time to get out of my face.
Ket takes Lexy by the arm and leads her back from the desk she was leaning over in order to convey her anger to Silas seated on the opposite side.
Silas: Now ya knew there was the risk of ya two gettin’ separated in the draft.
Kat: But we’re the Tag Team Champions.
Lexy: And I’ll be damned if we get striped of these belts we had to bust our asses to win. We aren’t about to let them just get handed to a bunch of plastic silicon sluts with silver spoons rammed in their asses.
Silas: Alright-alright, I’ll see what I can do. Truth be told, I would like to keep Wicked Intent together. So I’ll go to Drew and we’ll get this straightened out.
Lexy: You had better.
Kat: Don’t try our patience, Silas.
VIDEO
INVICTUS
A series of still frame photographs overtake the screen. There are a number of images pertaining to the dark horse match of the night pitting Mrs. Budde against Amanda Blayze. We can hear the voices of the commentators as they discuss this intense bout.
Greyson: Amanda Blayze versus Mrs. Budde with such huge stipulations on the line.
Sparkles: If Mrs. Budde wins then Amanda Blayze has to become a member of Silas World, who have victimized her for months.
Frankie: But if Blayze wins Silas World is out of her life forever.
The clips provided showcase the athleticism and violence in the match. We see Amanda hitting Mrs. Budde with a double knee drop to the chest while Budde was hanging from a tree of woe positon. There is also a clip of Mrs. Budde hitting a coast to coast dropkick on Blayze seated in the corner. The still frame photos now showcases Amanda locking Mrs. Budde in the ankle lock, trying to compromise the disciplinarian’s use of the Mafia kick. In the end we see B. Real, Mrs. Budde’s teacher’s pet, trying to bring a golden yard stick into the match and hand it to Budde. Unfortunately for Silas World, Blayze apprehends the yard stick. Just before she can use it she finds herself knocked out with Mrs. Budde’s mafia kick.
Greyson: DAMMIT!
Frankie: Amanda Blayze defeated here tonight, meaning she now has to become a member of Silas World.
Sparkles; More like Silas World’s bitch.
IN-RING
When the show returns to the ring the viewers are greeted with the image of Mrs. Budde, B. Real and a reluctant Amanda Blayze gathered behind it. All three members represent the group known as Silas World, but only Amanda is bedecked in apparel reflecting her allegiance with the stable.
Mrs. Budde: We’re here to make the next pick in the draft on our agent Silas Mason’s behalf.
Says Silas World’s disciplinarian and enforcer, who now begins rubbing at her throat before going any further.
Mrs. Budde: But you know what? I’m feeling awfully parched. Amanda….
Blayze is preemptively rolling her eyes.
Mrs. Budde: Go fetch me a cup of water.
After taking a deep breath Blayze walks slumped shouldered and lowered head towards the ropes.
Mrs. Budde: Oh-oh-oh….and make sure it’s light on ice.
Blayze pauses with one leg through the ropes, TRYING so hard to resist the temptation to haul around and kick Budde in the skull.
Mrs. Budde: Shaved ice….
Amanda is now on the apron, making it that far before being forced to face even further indignity.
B. Real: And put a lemon slice on that bitch.
Chimes in B. Real, speaking up from his teacher’s side. Mrs. Budde nods and resists the temptation to snicker. This will power is not shown by the commentators, who can’t help but to scold Mrs. Budde’s treatment of Blayze.
Greyson: So wrong…
Frankie: What?
Greyson: The way Silas World is treating Amanda Blayze.
Frankie: Hey, Blayze did this to herself. She agreed to the stipulation that if she lost to Mrs. Budde at Invictus, she would become Silas World’s bitch. She’s honoring that commitment.
Greyson: But this is pushing it to the extreme.
Sparkles: Mrs. Budde is only asking for a glass of water.
Mrs. Budde: Alright, on to the draft pick.
Espouses Budde after Blayze has walked to the back to fetch a cup of water with light shaved ice and a lemon slice.
Mrs. Budde: Silas Mason Presents Riot has selected with their next pick in the draft….MIKA KOZLOV!
Greyson: WOW! I mean…WOW!
Sparkles: Mika Kozlov is Riot bound.
Frankie: Man…Andre Jordan, Serenity, Marina Valdivia and now Mika Kozlov? Riot is making out like bandits tonight.
Sparkles: Uprising is going to be hard-pressed to make a bigger selection than the former World Champion.
Frankie: I’m actually kinda surprised Silas would pick Mika. Rumor has it she beat him half to death a while back.
BACKSTAGE
There is a quick transition to the interview area where the diamond demon herself is standing. Mika Kozlov and her jet black eyes are locked on the microphone held in Susie Moore’s hand, one elevated to the former champion’s painted face. Susie finds it hard to focus on this interview when hearing the snarling breaths of Borislav, as Mika’s muscle stands behind the correspondent’s back.
Susie: Mi-Mi-Mika….
Mika: Calm down mishka.
States the ever dangerous Russian, who reaches out and pats Susie on the head like she were a kitten.
Mika: You have nothing to fear. I would never hurt you, you make me laugh…hehehehe.
Susie: Erm…you do remember that you once beat me up and busted me open in the ring right?
Mika: Did I?
Susie: Yeah, it kind of left me scarred for life.
Mika: Oh, well, for me that was just another Monday night. Do you have questions you would like to ask me?
Susie: Yep, and as soon as the pee coming down my leg has dried, I’ll ask them.
Mika: You probably wish to know my feelings about being drafted to Riot, yes?
Susie: Let’s go with that.
Mika: Honestly, I am elated…I am HAPPY to be on Riot. It means my priyatel’ Serenity and I can cause all kinds of trouble together. With her as World Champion, and me as the fun loving pyromaniac, there is no telling how many lives we’ll change and bodies we’ll break. The ride is going to be ever so fun.
Susie: Can I ask you something else?
Mika: You may.
Susie: Thanks. At Invictus, we saw you cost your sister the World Championship. Why?
Mika: Hehehehe, why not? Taylor took my World Title, and if I can’t have it, then neither can she.
Susie: When are these issues between you and Taylor ever going to end?
Mika: When we both lay beneath the earth with maggots festering in our rotting skulls, THEN the years and years and years of battles between us will be over.
Susie: One final question. Aiken Frost. Being his favorite little demon, can you tell us what his condition is after Cindy Todd’s vicious attack at Invictus?
Mika: Aiken would not like me to divulge the intimate secrets of his recovery process. He will mend, and he will be back, that is all you need to know…..
Cindy: Hello Mika…
It takes courage, or just plain insanity, for Cindy Todd to walk right up to Mika. Already Borislav is readying himself to defend Kozlov from the deadly Todd, who’s black eyes are currently reflecting the change in Mika’s disposition.
Cindy: Keep your brute on a chain.
Mika pats Borislav on the shoulder, calling him off.
Cindy: You and I need to have a talk, Mika.
Mika: Say your peace
Cindy: Not in front of cameras dear. What I have to tell you needs to be said behind closed doors. Please join me.
Cindy begs while gesturing with her outstretched arm down the hall, directing Kozlov and Borislav away from the interview set. After a moment or two of thinking it over, Mika takes Cindy up on the offer.
IN-RING
The crowd is particularly expressive upon hearing the tunes of ‘Wake Up’ by the Lost Prophets hitting the PA system. Of course the crowd gets even louder when putting eyes on Johnny Kingdom. The former World Champion steps to the stage and listens to the deafening uproar. He then heads for the squared circle, past the masses clamoring behind the barricades reaching out for him. Even the commentators sound excited to see Kingdom yet again.
Greyson: We weren’t expecting to see any in ring action here tonight at this draft special, but apparently that’s not going to stop Johnny Kingdom from getting physical with Scott Cannon.
Sparkles: Earlier tonight Kingdom came to the ring and tried to do the honorable thing by shaking Scott’s hand, but instead Cannon gave him a punch right in the kisser.
Frankie: Johnny took it like a bitch and should keep on taking it like a bitch, or he’s gonna get totes mutilated by Cannon.
Kingdom doesn’t consider the ramifications of his actions, he’s out for gratification, and the only way he’ll be gratified is by driving Cannon’s skull into the canvas with the Exodus Finale. Before we get to that Johnny has one final comment to make.
Kingdom: I should have known better. When it comes to doing the honorable thing it always blows up in my face, or I guess in this case, ends up with a fist in my face.
Johnny rubs his jaw while protruding his lower lip in a mock pouting expression.
Kingdom: I understand taking any opportunity to get in a cheap shot, Scott, hell, I based the bulk of my in ring career around doing just that. But in the back of my head, I always knew that with each cheap shot came the inevitable consequence. Time to face some retaliation Cannon. So why don’t you come on out here and give this show what it needs, a little injection of violence.
Kingdom drops the mic and now sheds his t-shirt, throwing it aside in prep for a fight.
Frankie: Kingdom and Cannon about to get it on boys.
Johnny is ready for a fight, the fans are ready to see one, but apparently Cannon is not ready to partake in it. Instead it seems there’s another taker.
Mrs. R: The legend….the icon…the human monument….Johnny Kingdom….
Of all the people Kingdom had expected to encounter tonight, the dangerously deranged Mrs. R was not one of them. She is almost half way down the ramp before she could finish her last sentence.
Mrs. R: I take it this is SUPPOSED to be an honor?
Questions the raven haired lady who stops at the base of the ramp.
Mrs. R: No-no, this isn’t an honor, this is an opportunity.
She informs.
Mrs. R: When there is blood in the water, all kinds of carnivores are drawn to it, and you, Mr. Kingdom, are hemorrhaging.
Kingdom: Listen Elvira….
The crowd snickers.
Kingdom: You may be the Mistress of the Dark, and you might be able to introduce a bunch of really campy horror flicks, but what you can’t do is hold a candlestick to me.
Mrs. R: But I have no intention to. My monster Mordecai on the other hand, he’s a different story.
Kingdom: Is this the part where he runs in from behind and attacks me?
Mrs. R: No, this is the part where I warn you, Mr. Kingdom, warn you that the attack you mentioned, is coming.
Kingdom: And why has Lurch deigned me to be deserving of such an attack?
Mrs. R: I can sum up his motivation with one word…..weakness. You are WEAK. You are not the icon, the legend, the monument you once were. Your loss to Cannon at Invictus proved that, and the fact that you were susceptible to that punch on your jaw earlier tonight only reinforces it. You are weak, you are vulnerable, and you are frail.
Kingdom: Gee, thanks. I appreciate you didn’t sugar coat your opinion of me.
Mrs. R: Do my words hurt? Well Kingdom, when Mordecai strikes, his actions will be far-far more painful.
Kingdom: Alright then, send out Mordecai, send out Cannon….
Johnny looks down at his ring gear.
Kingdom: I’m ready for them.
This statement is received to laughter from Mrs. R.
Mrs. R: Judging from your performance at Invictus, I doubt you are. So consider yourself fortunate that neither Cannon, nor my monster are taking you up on your offer. At least not tonight. At the moment Mordecai is content with circling his prey before he devours you from beneath….
All the lights in the building suddenly go red, resembling the shade of blood. Kingdom can only shake his head as the lightning undergoes this radical transformation. To enhance an aura of fear and intimidation a set of eyes appear on the Cartel-tron, eyes belonging to Mordecai. They seem to be staring through the screen and into the depths of Kingdom’s heart, one that continues to beat before the monster potentially gets his hands around it.
BACKSTAGE
Silas: How many times I gotta tell ya, Drew and I are in the middle of business right now, so stop interrupting!
The office of Drew Bryant comes into view with backstage correspondent Mark Comeau standing outside of it. He desperately tries to get into the Majority Owner’s base of operations but Silas is blocking his path, standing in the doorway and facing the interviewer in the corridor.
Comeau: But I ummm…uhhh…I need to find out who Drew’s next pick is gonna be.
Silas: Drew might not even have another pick in this ‘ere draft by the time I’m through with ‘em. So wait ‘ere like a loyal little pooch till yer master comes out and tells ya how bad Silas Mason just ass fucked ‘em.
The door slams straight in Mark’s face, leaving the correspondent lingering in the hall…why? Because he has nowhere else to go. Comeau turns away from the door and sighs ever so longingly, just like Molly Ringwald when she thinks everyone forgot her birthday.
Comeau: This blows.
Taylor: Outta the way…outta the way…
Taylor Chase comes stepping down the hall and stepping around Mark on her way to Drew’s office.
Comeau: Um Taylor, you might not want to go in there.
Taylor: Why’s that?
Comeau: Drew’s entertaining company at the moment. Silas Mason…
Taylor: Is he? Well then I DEFINITELY want to go in there.
The door flies open and Taylor Chase makes her entrance, jumping right into the middle of the meeting between Silas and Drew, two men with her future in their hands.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Silas: Girl, ya got some set of brass ones on ya.
Even Silas Mason is surprised at the sheer audacity of the first two time World Champion in IWC history, Taylor Chase. She didn’t just come strolling right into the middle of Drew Bryant’s office without invitation, but she did so while the President was in a meeting with Silas. Both men are seated on sofas reeling from Taylor’s boldness, as Chase stands above the pair, laying down the law. She treats the two like a doctor’s hand slapping a baby’s backside after ripping them from a womb.
Taylor: Shut up Silas…I swear to God if you say one more word…one more God damned word it’ll be your last.
There are a lot of things Silas wants to say, but not a single syllable comes from his lips, knowing all too well that Taylor is not a woman who makes idle threats.
Drew: I know I’m going to regret asking, but is there something I can do for you, Taylor?
Taylor: Drew, with all due respect, I’m requesting that you not draft me to Uprising.
Silas, who was right in the middle of taking a sip of amber liquid, almost does a spit take over Taylor’s words. He now snickers as he looks in a disappointed Drew’s direction.
Taylor: I’m not trying to devalue Uprising, I know it’s going to be an incredible show, and before you get the wrong impression, I’m not making this request because I think Uprising is a ‘B’ show or anything.
Drew: I appreciate hearing you say that.
Taylor: But Drew, I have…HAVE to be on the same show as Mika Kozlov. My sister and I need closure, and if we’re separated to different brands, we’ll never get that.
Drew: I understand where you’re coming from Tay, no disrespect taken. If you would prefer to be drafted to Riot, I’ll honor your…..
Silas: Whoa….just hold on one cotton-pickin’ second, there’s just a great big flaw in yer plan there Baby Doll.
Taylor: And what’s that?
Silas: Ya seem to think I would actually want to draft ya to my show.
Taylor: I’m not surprised to hear you would let petty differences cost you millions of dollars in revenue and huge ratings boosts. Not drafting me wouldn’t be a smart business move, Silas, and here I thought you prided yourself on being a genius business man first and foremost.
Silas: Oh I am, and that’s exactly why I’m not draftin’ ya, cause Baby Doll, yer jus’ bad for business…Silas Mason business….So if Drew won’t draft ya, yer ass is outta work.
Taylor should be upset but she’s not. She should be vengeful, but she’s not. She should have Silas’ throat in her hands at the moment, but she doesn’t.
Taylor: You know what Silas, I’m not even going to dignify your comments with a response, at least not a verbal one. I’m not going to waste my breath on you, instead I think I’ll let my actions do my talking for me. Just know Silas, that what I do, is all on you.
Taylor exits the room, leaving Silas nonplussed by her warning. Drew on the other hand, is a bit more expressive of his concern.
Drew: Maybe you should reconsider your stance Silas. If I know anything about Taylor, it’s the fact that no threat she makes is to be taken lightly. Besides, even though you don’t like her, it doesn’t change the fact that she is the absolute best this business has to offer.
Silas: Yer wrong son. I don’t just dislike Baby Doll, I absolutely hate her fuckin’ guts. The only reason I would draft that bitch is just so I could use my role as ‘er boss to make ‘er as miserable as she made me while I was ‘er agent.
Drew: It’s that type of thinking that’s going to lead to your downfall Silas, mark my words. And if you think I’m going to let you just allow Taylor to walk out on the IWC, you’re out of your mind. I’ll draft her if you don’t….
Silas: Yeah, and she’ll end up doin’ exactly what she said she’d do. She’ll walk, and you’ll have wasted a draft pick. Somethin’ ya can’t afford to do now that I’ve drafted pretty much ALL the champions. Tell me how ya intend to run a show without a World Champion, or an Evolution Champion, or a Queen of the Ring Champion….
Drew: Yes-yes Silas, you do have me at quite a disadvantage….
Silas: Boy, I got you bent over the kitchen sink….
Drew: But I’ll tell you what I DO have. One half of the Tag Team Champions, and I’m guessing that’s what brought you here.
Silas: For once you got somethin’ right Drew. I’m ‘ere cause I drafted Kat Kelly thinkin she’d part of a package deal. I want BOTH members of Wicked Intent, and then ya went and drafted ‘er tag partner right out from under me.
Drew: Yes I did. I think Lexy Chapel will be a key fixture in this industry in the months ahead. Shame you didn’t think to draft her sooner.
Says Drew with a grin on his face and a noticeable wavering change in the tone of his voice.
Silas: Alright, I see what yer doin’ ‘ere, ya want to play hardball? Fine….how much?
Silas is already removing his checkbook from the interior chest pocket of his jacket.
Drew: You think I need or want your money? I wouldn’t touch your cash if it was printed on Kim Kardashian’s ass.
Silas: Fine then. What do ya want, Drew? What’s it gonna take to get Lexy and keep Wicked Intent on my brand?
Drew: Hmmmm, I’ll tell you what Silas, I’m willing to make a compromise.
Silas: Get on with it.
Drew: If you allow Lexy Chapel and Kat Kelly to defend their Tag Team Titles on BOTH brands….
Silas: Don’t be ridiculous….
Drew: I’m NOT finished….
Silas stews.
Drew: AND if you allow Marina Valdivia to defend her Queen of the Ring Title on Riot AND Uprising….
Silas: Your outta yer mind boy….
Drew: I’m STILL not finished.
Silas stirs.
Drew: AND you trade me your next pick in the draft….
Silas: You son of a….
Drew: I’ll give you Lexy Chapel.
Now Silas is squeezing his glass of liquor with such force it almost shatters in his palm.
Silas: You….drive….a…..hard….bargain…
Silas is speaking through his grinding teeth.
Silas: You got a deal.
Drew: Nice doing business with you.
Silas can’t get out of the room fast enough. Once Silas is gone, Drew picks up his phone and dials a number.
Drew: Comeau, go to the ring bud, the deal is done. You know what to do next.
IN-RING
The podium used throughout the night to make drafts is set up in the ring but there is no one putting it to use.
That changes when Mark Comeau comes hustling down the ramp, hanging up his cell-phone in the process.
At last the space behind the podium is occupied by the backstage correspondent who now operates as Drew Bryant’s surrogate.
Comeau: We’re going to shake things up a little guys and gals. I’m not just out here to announce one draft pick for the Uprising brand, but TWO. After some wheeling and dealing, Drew Bryant has traded Lexy Chapel to Riot for the next two picks in the drafts, as well as some unspecified perks.
The commentators embellish on those perks.
Greyson: That’s right, we just heard that the Queen of the Ring Title and the Tag Team Championships will no longer be exclusive to Riot, they’ll be defended on BOTH brands.
Frankie: I can’t believe Drew pulled that one off….
Sparkles: He had Silas’ number on that deal.
Frankie: All because Silas really wanted Wicked Intent together on his brand.
Greyson: And now Drew gets to make the next two picks in the draft as well. Major kudos to Drew.
Comeau prepares to reveal the fruits of Drew’s labors.
Comeau: With the next pick in the draft, the Uprising brand selects….CHRIS DAVIDS!
We get a quick transition from Comeau’s announcement to the conference room where the IWC roster is reacting to the latest draft news. Chris Davids stands up and nods at the camera with a grin on his face. His friends Adam Chase and Vanilla Skyy stand behind his back, hands on his shoulders, massaging them in celebration. The show returns to Comeau in the ring, who isn’t finished by a long shot
Comeau: And-and-AAAAND Uprising selects….DANNY DARKO!
Another quick cut to the conference room where Chris Davids has stopped celebrating, turning his head to stare at the man leaning casually against the wall some distance away. Danny Darko smirks rather menacingly in Chris’ direction.
Sparkles: Golly.
Greyson: Drew Bryant putting those two picks to very GOOD use.
Sparkles: He acquires the talents of not just Chris Davids, but Danny Darko as well.
Greyson: Drew has just picked up two of the craftiest veterans in the game and two guys the Uprising brand can definitely be built around.
Frankie: Yeah, but only if Davids and Darko can keep from killing one another. The guys took so many years off one another’s careers back at Invictus.
Greyson: One has to wonder if they’ll have any further interactions headed into Uprising, or if they’ll blaze diverging paths once on the same show together.
BACKSTAGE
Boots collide repeatedly with the body of B. Real, who TRIES his best to cover up in a feeble defense from the blows. Who has B. Real pinned to the ground right here in the catering area? Taylor Chase, that’s who.
She is not getting her fill on all the snacks arranged on the table behind her, no, she’s quenching her taste for revenge against Silas World. Unfortunately for B. Real, he just so happened to be the first Silas World member to cross Taylor’s path. She is presently tearing the young man to pieces. At last Mrs. Budde comes into view, dashing to her student’s aid. She charges in behind Taylor but Chase possesses reflexes that border on precognition. She spins around, catches Mrs. Budde coming and throws her by the back of the head into the catering table. Mrs. Budde’s momentum sends her spilling into a plate of donuts, rolling over them on her way down to the ground. Taylor returns her attention to B. Real, grabbing him by the bangs and lifting his head from the pavement.
Taylor: You like to consider yourself the messenger for Silas World, right? Then send Silas Maon a little message from me, would you?
If B. Real hadn’t suffered enough, now he is rolled to his elbows and subjected to a running knee right across the temple. A version of the TKO connects, possibly caving in B. Real’s cheek. Taylor turns back to survey the damage she’s done before heading off.
Mrs. Budde crawls out from under the table she was pitched into, brushing glazed donut crumbs off her shoulders as she moves to B. Real’s side. She checks on his condition and mumbles something in the departing Taylor’s direction.
A shadow is now cast over Mrs. Budde, who looks up spotting her new subject Amanda Blayze.
Mrs. Budde: Where were you!?!
Blayze grins.
Blayze: Here’s that water you wanted.
A glass filled with H20, light shaved ice, and a lemon slice is extended by Blayze to Mrs. Budde.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Skyy: Let’s try to look at the positives here.
As Vanilla Skyy, Chris Davids and Adam Chase move down the hall together the three attempt to remain optimistic.
Skyy: Look at it this way, Darko getting drafted to the same show as you (points at Chris) at least gives you an opportunity to get a little revenge against him for side lining Mya with that knee injury.
Davids: That’s true. Way to look on the bright side of things.
Skyy: There’s a first time for everything.
Davids: Of course if Danny so much as it looks funny in my direction tonight, we won’t wait until Uprising to write the next chapter in the Darko versus Davids story.
Skyy: I might have to add a chapter to that book myself.
Upon reaching the locker-room the group parts ways. Surprisingly Adam Chase follows alongside Chris, the two having a riveting conversation about the latest Justin Bieber celebrity roast. So Vanilla Skyy is on her own as she steps into the locker-room. Or at least she WAS on her own.
Scott: Hi gorgeous.
Scott Cannon is waiting inside of the locker-room, sitting on top of a briefcase.
Vanilla: Scott? What brings you to my layer?
Scott smirks.
Scott: Just wanted to congratulate you on being drafted to Uprising. Must be nice knowing you won’t have to work with Silas.
Vanilla: To be honest, I could care less which brand I ended up on, all that matters to me is that I get the opportunities I deserve.
Scott: I’m sure you will. A talent like yours is hard to keep down. You’ll rise to the top, and hopefully I’ll be there beside you on Uprising to watch your climb.
Vanilla: Why have you taken such a vested interest in my success?
Again Scott flashes a toothy smile.
Scott: Because you’ve shown me kindness.
Violet: Kindness?
Scott: You never once judged me, Skyy, and that…
Scott rises and puts Skyy’s fingers in his palm, drawing the back of her knuckles to his lips.
Scott:…means the world to me.
He confesses upon kissing her hand.
IN-RING
A red hot Silas Mason is located behind the podium that has been set up in the center of the squared circle. Clearly Silas does not take kindly to being bamboozled by Drew Bryant and losing a draft pick as a result.
Silas: Shut up….
Silas growls at the audience. His words only inspire further wrath from the fans.
Silas: Let’s get this over with…
Obviously the wind has been taken out of Silas’ sails, he feels like his knees have been cut out from under him. He looks downright nuclear. His words are not spoken with the same arrogance he displayed throughout the night. And the commentators pick up on that.
Frankie: Silas ain’t happy.
Sparkles: He doesn’t take kindly to being upstaged.
Frankie: Upstaged? Drew played Silas, and nobody…NOBODY plays Silas.
Greyson: Well Drew Bryant just did.
Frankie: And he’s gonna pay for it. Heed my warning or be doomed…DOOOOMED!
Greyson: Take it down a notch Frankie.
Although Silas would rather be anywhere else at the moment he unfortunately does not have the luxury of abandoning the ring, abandoning the podium, and abandoning his next draft pick.
Silas: I make my next pick for Riot out of sheer spite. I heard a certain somebody, a former client of mine, wants to go to Uprising to cozy up next to one of them pasty bitches popping up everywhere I look around this federation. That ain’t happening, cause I’m drafting him to Riot…My next pick is….SCOTT CANNON!
The fans are blown away by this decision given Silas’ tumultuous history with Cannon.
Greyson: Although Silas is making this choice simply out of, as he put it, ‘spite,’ this is a major acquisition for the Riot brand.
Sparkles: Scott Cannon will be calling Riot home for the foreseeable future.
Frankie: And he’ll have to contend with Silas as his boss.
Just as Silas is about to walk to the back he stops beside the ropes, glares over them and locks his eyes on the three figures who have just stomped to the stage. Mrs. Budde stands front and center, still picking donut debris out of her hair. She looks livid over what happened backstage just a few moments ago. An aching B. Real stands at one of her sides and a smiling Blayze stands on the other. Once Silas sees his clients, and their present states, he returns to the podium.
Silas: Before I leave, I’ve got one last thing to say….TAYLOR CHASE….Baby Doll, get yer ass to my office right now. We’re gonna have ourselves a talk. But don’t worry, I’m promising no violence….
Silas looks back up the ramp at Mrs. Budde, who is openly stating that she might be incapable of honoring that decree.
Silas: NO VIOLENCE!
A trembling Mrs. Budde takes a deep breath, getting her emotions under control.
Silas: What I have in mind for you, Baby Doll, will be a thousand times worse.
BACKSTAGE
Heart beats quicken at the sight of Taylor Chase surprisingly taking up Silas Mason’s offer. She moves down the corridor in the direction of his office, a place that has been an absolute beehive of activity throughout the night. Now it’s about to be the scene of yet another faithful encounter between two of IWC’s most ardent rivals. On instinct Taylor makes sure to pick up a steel folding chair on her way into Silas’ office, and is instantly grateful that she showed up for this meeting with weapon in hand.
Taylor: What are YOU doing here?
These are the first words spoken by the former 2 time World Champion the moment she passes over the threshold of Silas’ office. She finds herself greeted not by Silas, nor by a member of his agency, but by someone who hates the Principle Owner just as much as she does.
Katelyn: I was just about to ask you the exact same thing.
Katelyn Buehler and Taylor Chase, two of the greatest rivals in IWC history find themselves going vie a vie in the office of their common foe.
Katelyn: I was summoned by Silas….you?
Taylor: The same.
The two just find themselves glaring across the room at one another.
Katelyn: Well, this isn’t awkward at all.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Flash: The fact that the four of us have not been drafted is a slap…a slap right in the dick!
An outraged Flash Silver stands in a corridor backstage. Though he’s bedecked in a navy blue suit, his demeanor is nowhere near as professional as his apparel. His agent Infinity stands behind him bobbing her head to every word he directs at his captive audience. Leviticus, Eric Sailes and Tyson Galloway stand shoulder to shoulder, facing Flash and finding themselves unable to turn away.
Flash: I……WE should have been the top four picks in this draft over-all. I think this company needs to be reminded why our talents cannot be ignored. I say that we go to that ring and lay out the next person that gets drafted. It will send a message to the IWC that we are NOT to be overlooked. Agreed?
Leviticus, Eric and Tyson nod.
Flash: Good. May God have mercy on whoever gets picked next.
IN-RING
And we’re about to find out who that draft pick is now that Drew Bryant himself is standing in the middle of the ring behind the podium. The Majority Owner has a certain swagger about him now that he’s gotten one over on Silas Mason. We can overhear the commentators, but something is noticeably off about their voices.
Mackie: Time to turn the show over to the “A” team.
Cameras briefly segue to the commentator’s table where Mackie and Hunter, the NewAge broadcast crew has taken residency, replacing Greyson Lovejoy, Frankie Paradise and Sparkles.
Hunter: Hello everyone, Hunter and Mackie here filling the shoes of the Riot broadcast trio.
Mackie: God help me if I have to try and squeeze my feet into Sparkles’ sneakers. Those things are tinier than your dick Hunter.
Hunter: Wow, we’re on the air for all of two seconds and you’re already mentioning my penis.
Mackie: Someone has to do it, lord knows you’re wife hasn’t in years.
Hunter: Ouch! Well let’s focus on something that’s not me and the size of my endowments. Let’s get our attention to Drew, who is about to introduce the newest addition to the Uprising brand.
Drew: With my next pick, I draft to the Uprising Brand……Silas World’s MRS. BUDDE!
Fans all but slap their hands down on top of their heads and look on with eyes oh so wide as this stunning announcement has just been made.
Hunter: That is one hell of a pick if I do say so myself.
Mackie: Drew swooping in and taking one of Silas’ most precious clients.
Hunter: I bet Silas wishes he hadn’t made picks out of spite now…huh?
Drew smirks as the weight of his announcement can be felt all around the world. He gets only an inch removed from the podium before….
Mrs. Budde: Not a wise move Mr. Bryant.
Down the ramp marches Mrs. Budde, golden yard stick in hand. Neither B. Real nor Amanda Blayze follow her this time. She enters the ring and moves rather menacingly towards Bryant.
Mrs. Budde: I appreciate the draft to Uprising, as the brand sounds sorely lacking in discipline, but your choice is only going to further upset Silas. Your young, so you probably don’t realize that when you make Silas mad, you’re life expectancy decreases by about a decade.
Drew: Is that a threat?
Mrs. Budde: I….
Flash: Threats? We don’t deal in threats.
Down the ramp walks the UNAPPRECIATED ‘talents’ of the IWC. Flash Silver and his agent Infinity stand front and center with Leviticus, Eric Sailes and Tyson Galloway following behind him.
Hunter: Oh great, here comes the IWC’s version of the JOB Squad.
Flash is the first to enter the ring, but definitely not the last, his associates slipping in after him.
Flash: We don’t threaten….we ACT. I promised that there would be consequences if we were not drafted next, and Baby Teach, we’re about to…
Before another word could be produced Mrs. Budde permanently silences Flash via a shot from the golden yard stick right between the eyes. Flash takes a tumble to his rear-end, now splayed across the canvas in an unconscious heap. Mrs. Budde steps over her victim and looks to add a few more to her growing pile of broken bodies. She looks up towards the hesitant Sailes, Galloway and Leviticus. All three men take one look into Mrs. Budde’s eyes before instantly shaking their heads, blowing off Flash and vacating the ring.
Hunter: Hahahaha, none of these guys want any part of Mrs. Budde, and I can’t say as I blame them.
Mackie: She took out Flash Silver with the greatest of ease.
Even Drew hightails it from the ring. He backs up the ramp and watches as Mrs. Budde pulls an already broken Flash off the canvas then subjects his jaw to the Class Dismissed. The mafia kick shatters Flash’s face and puts him flat on his back. A wailing Infinity reaches into the ring, grabs her client by his ankle and drags his unconscious body out of the ring. Mrs. Budde has completely taken over the squared circle, turning it into her classroom. She now approaches the podium and occupies the space behind it.
Mrs. Budde: Alright, if I’m headed to Uprising FINE. Plenty of people on that show who need to be taught some tough lessons. I regret that I won’t get the opportunity to work under my agent Silas Mason as he takes Riot to whole new heights, but I’m looking forward to spreading Silas’ message to the Uprising roster. Speaking of Silas though, before I came out here he informed me who his next draft pick was going to be for the Riot brand. So I’m once again going to handle the honors of announcing it right here and right now.
Hunter: The draft just keeps moving.
Mackie: Only Mrs. Budde can totally brutalize someone then turn right around and act like it’s another day in the classroom.
Mrs. Budde: With Silas’ next pick, the Riot brand selects……AARON HARRISON!
We get another brief cut to the conference room where the IWC roster has amassed. Everyone may be clapping, but their eyes are also moving, searching the room for the whereabouts of Aaron Harrison. They, and the cameras, are unable to gauge Harrison’s reaction to his selection to the Riot brand, on account of the fact that he is nowhere to be found.
Mackie: Where is he?
Hunter: No sight of Aaron Harrison. You know, come to think of it, I don’t even remember seeing him arrive to the building tonight.
Mackie: Think he’s still pissed off over the events of Invictus?
Hunter: He’s crushed more like it. Tombstone promised they could save his fiancée Mika Kozlov, they could cure her, but they were unable to remove the dark stain on her soul.
Mackie: Because it’s just as Mika said, she IS the DARK.
BACKSTAGE
An angry, and that’s putting it mildly, Silas Mason is presently making his way down the hallway that inevitably takes him to his office. Clearly the man’s mood has soured quite a bit since it initially appeared he was winning the draft. Now he’s looking to take his anger out on anyone…ANYONE that should happen to cross his path.
Lexy: Congratulations Silas…
Right now Lexy Chapel and Kat Kelly are the last people that should be approaching Mason. But they do not shy away from crossing the Principle Owner.
Kat: You made a very smart move in doing whatever it takes to keep Wicked Intent together.
Silas: I’m not feeling that way right now.
Lexy: Awww. Well we’ve come up with a way of showing our appreciation for your sacrifice.
Silas: You had better make the loss of a draft pick worth my while.
Barks Silas while intentionally pushing THROUGH, instead of walking around, Kat and Lexy. He now nears his office and pauses outside of it. A deep breath is taken, Silas realizing what’s waiting for him on the other side, Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler. He puts on a smile, refusing to show even the slightest weakness when confronting his rivals. Finally he steps inside for what promises to be a very controversial encounter with two ladies long hell-bent on his destruction.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
It looks like Amanda Blayze has half a watermelon shoved in her mouth what with her smile being so broad. She looks across the room where she currently stands at B. Real, who is holding a bag of ice to his cheek, still suffering the effects of the TKO.
Mrs. Budde: What’s so funny?
Questions Budde when entering the dressing room and finding the grin on Amanda’s face. Blayze tries to hide her smile.
Blayze: Oh nothing. Just looks to me like this night hasn’t gone the way you and Silas had expected.
Mrs. Budde: Does it amuse you that I was drafted to a show not run by Silas?
Blayze: No…nooooo (she couldn’t say any less sincerely)….of course not. Now why would I get my sick jollies watching you suffer? I mean, you do own my contract.
Mrs. Budde: Yes…YES I DO. So wipe that smile off your face, because if you were holding out any hope that you and I would be split up in this draft, think again. Where I go, YOU go. If I’m headed to Uprising, you’re coming with me.
Blayze: But the draft…
Mrs. Budde: The draft doesn’t matter. It’s like I said, I OWN YOU.
BACKSTAGE
The situation is TENSE to say the least, which is to be expected when you have Silas Mason, Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler all three in the same room at the same time. Silas is parked behind his desk, casually leaning back in his chair while Taylor and Katelyn stand on opposite ends of the room looking anything but casual.
Katelyn: So what was the plan Silas? To call us both in here at the same time so we’d wipe one another out?
Taylor: I have to admit, it’s a tempting idea.
Silas: Nah Baby Brown, that ain’t happening, at least not in my office.
Taylor and Katelyn look intriqued.
Silas: I know both of ya want to be part of my brand so ya can settle the score with Mika (Kozlov) and Serenity, and nothin’ I say is gonna sway ya to just piss off. So here’s what I have in mind. Tonight, we put a contract on a pole and hang it above the ring. Then we put Katelyn Buehler and Taylor Chase in that ring, and whoever pulls the contract down off that pole becomes a member of my brand.
Taylor: And the loser?
Silas: Weeeelll, there’s a real nice gutter down the street just aching to embrace one of yer faces.
IN-RING
Drew Bryant stands in the center of the ring stepping up to the podium to make the next pick in what has already been a controversial draft.
Drew: It is my honor to welcome to the Uprising brand….RICKY VALERO
There is quite the reaction for the victor of the Ultimate Opportunity match at Invictus, a reaction from the crowd and the commentators alike.
Mackie: Yes-yes-yes….awesome-AWESOME pick by Drew Bryant. Ricky Valero coming to the Uprising brand.
Hunter: Valero is a great talent, I’ll give him that, but personality wise, he’s about as likeable as the ass end of a skunk.
Mackie: That wasn’t nice.
Hunter: It wasn’t meant to be.
Mackie: The guy proved what he brings to the table, Hunter, when in his debut he managed to defeat Danny Darko, and then at Invictus took the victory in the Ultimate Opportunity match.
Hunter: I’m not saying he’s not impressive. He’s a GREAT talent, just a lousy human being. You saw what happened at Invictus, how he pinned Mya Denton after she suffered a broken leg during the course of that match.
Valero: Congratulations Drew Bryant.
We hear Ricky Valero’s disembodied voice before cutting to his face flashing across the Cartel-tron. All eyes have focused on the big screen, including that of Majority Owner Drew Bryant.
Valero: What you just did was ensure a very bright and prosperous future for your brand. Signing me demonstrates that you truly have a mind for the future and an eye towards talent. I only wish I could be there this evening in order to congratulate you in person for your brilliant business acumen. Unfortunately other priorities keep me detained at the moment.
Mackie: Where IS Valero?
Hunter: Do we really want to know the answer to that question?
Valero: While I have this moment, I want to discuss the horrific injury that was inflicted on a beloved IWC superstar at Invictus. During the course of the Ultimate Opportunity match that I eventually won, the world witnessed a terrible, near CRIPPLING injury take place. Since that incident many have been inundating the IWC with get well cards, fruit baskets, and other such tokens of emotional support all to speed and ease the heeling process.
Hunter: Surprised that Valero is even addressing the injury that Danny Darko inflicted on Mya Denton’s knee during the course of that Ultimate Opportunity match.
Mackie: Addressing it? I thought he’d be bragging about it.
Valero: I just want to say how genuinely touched I am by this outcry, but don’t worry, I’ll survive. Even though I stubbed my toe at Invictus, and the consequences of that injury have kept me sidelined during this evening’s event, I will return stronger than ever…
The camera pulls back to reveal that Ricky has his foot propped up on a chair and wrapped in an excessively thick cast.
Valero: I will bounce back quick. Unlike Mya Denton, who simply ‘scrapes’ her knee and now all of a sudden claims her career might be over.
Hunter: SCRAPES HER KNEE!?!
Mackie: Stop yelling in my ear.
Hunter: Danny Darko damn near DESTROYED Mya’s knee and then Valero swooped in to pin her after the damage had been done. And listen to him, he’s complaining about stubbing his fucking toe? Look at the size of that cast. All that for a STUBBED TOE!?!
There is so much hate being lauded upon Valero, but he ignores it in favor of hearing his own voice.
Valero: My remarkable recuperative capabilities put any Marvel superhero to shame. So don’t you fret, I’ll be ready to go by the first edition of Uprising. Sadly the same cannot be said for Mya Denton. Who won’t be at Uprising, or Riot, or whatever brand she’s selected to, as unfortunately, she, much like a number of women in the world, are just…plain…brittle.
BACKSTAGE
Cameras cut to Ricky Valero’s teammates Danny Darko and Derek Marks. The pair are standing in the guerilla position chuckling over Valero’s words.
Marks: I do declare, it seems that Ricky has made quite the spectacle of Mya’s injury.
Darko: Deservedly so. Mya’s weakness is a constant character foible of hers. Just one of her many flaws. In fact, there’s only really one thing that’s good about Mya….
Marks: And what’s that?
Darko: Yours truly.
Marks: Couldn’t agree more. But might I be so bold as to ask for clarification?
Darko: Meaning?
Marks: Are you and Mya really….?
Darko: Hold on Derek.
Darko peers over his shoulder at the camera.
Darko: Let’s not divulge the truth just yet.
Marks: Didn’t she pretty much do that over social media?
Darko: True. But tonight, I have an interview set up so I can give official confirmation. The truth about Mya and I is finally going to be exposed.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Gavin Taylor: I’m starting to get nervous Lars.
The All-Star paces the hallway, working a trench into the ground beneath his feet. His bodyguard Lars Zane is watching Gavin bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball. He sits back in a chair with arms crossed over his chest, unsure what he should do to help calm his employer down.
Gavin: I mean, it’s looking more and more likely that I might end up getting drafted to Riot.
Lars: Why is that such a bad thing?
Gavin stops dead in his tracks and SLOWLY turns around to face Lars.
Gavin: Are you seriously asking me that question right now? Just look at who was drafted to Riot earlier tonight….
Lars: Andre Jord….
Gavin: HE who shall NOT be named.
Lars: Fair enough.
Gavin: I won’t be on the same show as that cheating, spotlight mongering THUG, and I’m just talking about Andre’s agent.
Lars: Tabith…..
Gavin: SHE who shall NOT be named.
Gavin goes on pacing, huffing and puffing with each step.
Gavin: They tried to embarrass me at Invictus, and they cheated to take my Evolution Championship after I put an entire year of my life into capturing it. I won’t let them go on sabotaging my career. And-and-and ANOTHER thing. I’m not working for Silas Mason. Ain’t no way, ain’t no how, ain’t gonna happen.
As Gavin goes on rambling Lars manages to find a small pillow that is sitting under the chair he’s parked in. He fluffs it up and sticks it behind his head, leaning his skull back against it in order to take a nap. Gavin doesn’t even notice, he just goes on rambling.
Gavin: I need a new landscape to compete on, brimming with possibilities, chalk full of potential. Drew Bryant strikes me as the type of owner who would appreciate my talents instead of undermining them. And….
Lars begins to snore loudly.
IN-RING
The show is cutting back to the ring and quick, giving us yet another glimpse of Silas Mason.
Silas: I got a draft pick to make, and this one, well, it’s a lil’ controversial.
Confesses Mason as he stands behind the podium and speaks into the microphone jutting out from the top of it.
Silas: Ya might start scratching yer heads over this one, and this time it’s not from head-lice. My next draft pick to Riot is….KAREN MCBRIDE!
The commentators are particularly expressive of their surprise.
Mackie: Karen McBride? KAREN EFFIN MCBRIDE!?!
Hunter: I’m surprised by this Mackie, really I am, look at my face, it’s the face of surprise.
Mackie: Thanks, but I try to avoid looking at your face as much as possible. This is a shocker though. Karen McBride is the very woman that Silas Mason took the Principle Ownership from. You would think he’d want her to be nowhere near the Riot brand.
Hunter: Yeah, you’d think he’d want her to take the same route as Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler, a face first plunge into the nearest gutter.
Only Silas Mason knows his motivation behind this move.
BACKSTAGE
Melanie: Where are you going?
The youngest of the McBride sisters is following after her sister Karen, who is headed down the hall in quite the state.
Melanie: Stop and talk to me…PLEASE!
Karen: I have no time to talk Melanie, I’m sorry, but I have to get to the ring before Silas has a chance to go back into hiding.
Melanie: What are you going to do if you catch Silas?
Karen: Whatever it takes to get back the Principle Ownership he and Blaire stole from me.
Melanie: How are you going to do that?
Karen: By kicking his ass for starters.
Drake: What do you think that’s going to accomplish?
One of the last people Karen wants to see at the moment is the pint sized former President, Desmond Drake, but there he is in the flesh. The midget stands at Karen’s hip level, looking up drearily into her intimidating glare.
Karen: You again? Haven’t you done enough to ruin my life?
Drake lets out a long and despondent sigh.
Drake: I’m sorry about Invictus. I was just trying to help.
Karen: By getting your face kicked in by Silas and then being pinned to cost me the Principle Ownership?
Drake: That wasn’t my intention. I wanted to get you your Principle Ownership back.
Karen: Why? Why are you even helping me? Have you forgotten that we hate each other?
Drake: I never hated you, I FEARED you. When I looked at you I saw someone with drive, ambition, and intelligence. Someone who could UNITE the roster. Someone everyone could respect. It scared me, because I knew you were going to take the spotlight off of me and rally the people against me. Now I realize that YOU’RE what this federation needs. The Riot brand NEEDS Karen McBride, and I want to make that happen.
Karen: I’m not buying it, Desmond. How do I know you’re not in cahoots with Silas? How do I know you didn’t just go out there at Invictus and agree to be my tag team partner JUST so he could pin you and cost me the Principle Ownership?
Drake: You know, that doesn’t even insult me. It just goes to show how far you’ve come to even suspect me of being capable of such a plot. And hey if I were the Dessie Drake of old, I probably would have jumped at the opportunity to collaborate in a scheme just like that. But I’m NOT the same man. I want to make things right Karen, starting with you, starting with giving this federation the Principle Owner it deserves.
Karen: How are you going to help me? How CAN you help me?
Drake: I’m working on it Karen. All I ask is that you give me one more opportunity, and if I fail you again, I’ll go that ring, put my hands behind my big ole’ head and let you kick it straight off my shoulders.
Karen: That sounds like a fair compromise.
IN-RING
There’s Drew Bryant again, right in the middle of the squared circle, stood behind the podium and ready to announce the name of his next pick. The commentating duo are just as eager as the fans to hear the next name bespoke by the Majority Owner.
Mackie: It’s time we find out who the next person is going to be to join us on the Uprising Brand.
Hunter: We’ve had some great picks throughout the night….Chris Davids, Vanilla Skyy, Danny Darko, Marie Jones, and so many more.
Mackie: Who’s coming over to the ‘A+’ show next?
We at last find out after Drew clears his throat and recites his draft pick.
Drew: Nicely done Silas, nicely done. You keep upping the ante with your draft picks, but I’m not about to fold. With my next pick in the draft, I select to the Uprising brand……TINA VALENTINE!
Hunter: YES!
Mackie: Awesome!
Hunter: Tina Valentine…the former Inner-City Duchess, she’s on her way to Uprising!
Mackie: That is a major…MAJOR pick. A game changing selection just made by Bryant.
Hunter: Tina, a former 2 time Queen of the Ring Champion, she’s really going to shake up Uprising.
Literally a second after making his selection Drew finds his departure from the ring impeded by an unexpected obstacle. Down the ramp strides Gavin Taylor and his bodyguard Lars Zane. Oddly enough Lars seems to be carrying a basket covered with a checkered clothe.
Hunter: What are Gavin Taylor and Lars doing out here?
Mackie: Heeeey Boo-Boo, let’s go get us a pic-a-nic basket.
Obviously Mackie is referring to the basket that Lars carries right into the ring. Drew glances between Gavin and Lars, more than a little vexed as to why this pair has opted to join him in the ring.
Gavin: Drew…
The time for speculation is over, Gavin grabbing a mic and making his motives transparent.
Gavin:….my good man, I bet you’re wondering why Lars and I are out here.
Drew: You got that right.
Gavin: Well I assure you I’m not here to express any grievances, or to piss and moan about not being drafted as of yet. Just the opposite. I actually wanted to congratulate you on doing such a FANTASTIC job thus far tonight. You’ve really loaded Uprising with a lot of terrific up and comers. But I just couldn’t help but to notice that it’s missing a little something. You got a veteran in William Mason. You got a disciplinarian with Mrs. Budde, you have a Duchess with Tina Valentine, but what you don’t have, what you really-REALLY need, is an ALL-STAR!
Drew rolls his eyes.
Gavin: Uprising NEEDS Gavin Taylor.
Drew: I’ll think about drafting you Gavin.
Gavin: No doubt you already have been, you’d have to be crazy not to. But just to show you the perks of having Gavin on your roster, I had Lars bring you some freshly baked muffins…
The clothe covering the picnic basket is pulled away from the steaming muffins inside. Lars smells them and then grins in satisfaction. The baked goods are forced onto Drew, shoved right into his chest.
Drew: Erm…thanks?
Gavin: Don’t mention it. These muffins are just the first of many treats you’ll receive when drafting an All-Star to Uprising.
BACKSTAGE
All attention now turns to a studio somewhere in the confines of the Manhattan Center. That’s where the viewers discover Danny Darko. He is presently seated in a stool with several stagehands gathered around him, clipping a tiny microphone to the lapel of his shirt and ensuring he’s camera ready. The commentators can be overheard in the background.
Mackie: Looks like we’re gonna hear from one of Uprising’s newest draft picks.
Hunter: Danny Darko has a public announcement to make, and apparently we’ll get it after this next commercial break.
Mackie: What is Darko going to say when he’s unfiltered?
Hunter: Find out in just a few minutes.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Upon returning from commercial break we see the face of Ethan Von Aaron. He is presently standing with his back to a wall and his eyes raised towards the ceiling. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, exuding all the characteristics of a man profoundly affected by something. The camera pulls back to reveal that he’s standing right beside a doorway leading into a room where his girlfriend Rachel Tatum Lee is talking to a member of Tombstone, the enigmatic Goddard.
Goddard: We in Tombstone did not remove the New Eden’s accursed effect on you only to watch you go on to destroy your career.
Rachel: I’m not…
Goddard: If ya continue this relationship with Ethan Von Aaron, he is only going to ruin you.
Rachel: I don’t believe that.
Goddard: He’s a petulant child who does not appreciate the gravity of his actions. If ya wish to be successful, if ya want a long and prosperous career, ya need to cut any ties to that son of a bitch.
Rachel: Ethan was there for me when I needed him. He saved me from Aiken and New Eden. Without him I wouldn’t be free right now. I’ll never give up on him.
The camera pulls away from the room and back to Ethan’s morose expression.
BACKSTAGE
As advertised we find Danny Darko still seated in the studio ready to conduct his interview. He adjusts the small microphone pinned to his lapel before he proceeds.
Darko: Are we live?
Once he gets the confirmation from whomever lingers behind the camera, Darko goes on.
Darko: Splendid.
Danny now flashes the most chilling of grins at the camera. Seriously, the smile is so haunting it would leave a puddle of piss in Freddy Krueger’s slacks.
Darko: Hello IWC fandom, you’re probably a tad bit vexed as to why I’ve requested a moment of your time. Don’t worry, I’ll make this short, I know your attention spans are limited. I just wanted to address the elephant in the room, all the flack I’ve been receiving since I decided to snap Mya Denton’s leg at Invictus.
Darko is hard-pressed to fight back his grin.
Darko: Everything is not as it appears. It’s so easy to chalk me up as some kind of sociopath and assume that I took pleasure in mutilating Mya. That’s not the case. Assaulting Mya at Invictus was necessitated. It was an act of BROTHERLY love.
No attempt is made to hide that smile on Darko’s features.
Darko: Yes-yes. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag. It may have been eluded to over social media, but I’m here now to officially confirm all suspicions. Mya Denton and I are brother and sister. I know…shocking….Where’s that dramatic soap opera sound effect when we need it?
Darko muses.
Darko: Cue the influx of angry DMs and insulting tweets on my twitter account. I can see your tweets now. “Why would you attack your own sister Danny?” Simple. The fact that we’re related doesn’t change the fact that Mya is weak. She was the weak-link in our group Pain & Pleasure. She was the albatross weighing my wife down and keeping Vanilla (Skyy) from reaching the immortal status I knew she was capable of achieving. Worst of all, Mya refused to accept her weakness. In fact, she did everything in her power to prove she was strong, and it constantly came to her detriment. She was shortening her life span every time she went to that ring to prove her worth. So by breaking her leg and possibly ending her career, I saved her life. All you people should be thanking me, and so should you, Mya.
The camera zooms in on Danny’s dark and plotting eyes.
Darko: You’re welcome.
IN-RING
Admit it, you missed Silas Mason….but don’t worry, he’s BACK.
Once again we find Silas present and accounted for in the middle of the ring, where he is weighing a number of potential draft pick options. The commentators discuss some of Silas’ potential choices.
Hunter: Who is going to be the latest edition to the Riot brand?
Mackie: Silas Mason has made a number of terrific choices throughout the night. He’s picked up the likes of Serenity, Wicked Intent, Andre Jordan and Aaron Harrison, but there’s still a wealth of talent waiting to be drafted.
Silas groans at the crowd’s pre-emptive reaction to his announcement.
Silas: I’m gonna make this short, because the draft pick I slect next is gonna shake Drew Bryant’s cage like it’s never been shaken before. With my next pick in the draft…ya’ll ready for this….I select…..No Holds Barred Champion RACHEL TATUM LEE!!
The reaction to this announcement is downright epic.
Hunter: DAYUM!
Mackie: The most dangerous woman in professional wrestling is headed to Riot.
Hunter: Silas is playing fire here though. Rachel is like trying to handle nitroglycerin.
Mackie: Yeah, you never know when she’s just going to explode, and who knows who she’ll take out in the process.
BACKSTAGE
Drew Bryant once again finds himself in the precarious predicament of being on the bubble. A giant poster board is set up in front of him featuring a number of headshots. Drew overlooks the photographs of various IWC superstars, primarily all those who have yet to be drafted. He reaches out and takes down a photograph of Kellen Jeffries nodding in its direction. If this headshake is any indication Drew has made his draft pick, now all that is left to do is announce it.
Gavin: Wow Drew….
The Majority Owner is surprised that Gavin Taylor has managed to sneak up on him. He turns around to face Gavin, who is presently overlooking the office that surrounds them.
Gavin: I love what you’ve done with the place. It’s got this whole Art Nouveau style. I’m diggin’ it.
Drew: I’m sure you do. What do you want Gavin?
Gavin: Me? Who said I wanted anything? Did you try the muffins? Aren’t they the bomb?
Drew: I’ve yet to try the muffins.
Gavin: You don’t know what you’re missing, their bluuuuueberrry.
Drew: I’ll ask again, what do you want Gavin?
Gavin: Hey, do you like the Knicks? I got season passes, court side seats and everything. You can sit right next to Spike Lee…
Drew: I’m not a big basketball fan, I’m sorry.
Gavin: What about football. I got Jets tickets.
Drew: Yuck!
Gavin: Okay, not a Jets fan, then what about….
Ethan: Ooooh Drew.
The office becomes all the more cramped when Ethan Von Aaron steps into it.
Ethan: Mind if we had ourselves a talk?
Ethan asks of Drew.
Gavin: I would mind, I would mind GREATLY.
Interjects Gavin, who puts a finger to Ethan’s chest.
Gavin: Drew and I were just having ourselves a private conversation, so why don’t you….
Drew: You don’t speak for me Gavin.
It becomes harder and harder for Gavin not to react bitterly.
Drew: Ethan….
He turns back to the slightly less annoying presence in his office.
Drew: You want to talk, let’s talk.
Ethan: Excellent…but ummm….don’t you have another draft pick you have to make?
Ethan points to the poster board behind Drew and the picture of Kellen Jeffries that was taken down off of it.
Drew: Actually I already made my pick. I’m just thinking three picks ahead now.
Responds Drew while lifting the photograph.
Drew: So we’ve got plenty of time to talk.
Gavin: What about me?
Ethan: What about you?
Gavin: I was here FIRST.
A disgruntled Gavin puts his boot down.
Gavin: Why don’t you go and celebrate your girlfriend’s draft pick instead of cutting into my time with Drew?
Ethan: It was actually Rachel’s draft to Riot that brings me here.
Drew: Then let’s discuss it….And Gavin, we’ll talk….
Gavin: WHEN!?!
Drew: Later.
Ethan absconds with the Majority Owner’s ear, leaving Gavin twisting in the wind.
IN-RING
Just as the show returns to the interior of the Manhattan Center we hear a familiar voice booming through the PA system.
Wilde: Splendid.
Good God almighty how the fans do react to the sight of Jessica Wilde and her giant masked subordinate Executioner. The duo are making their way down the ramp and drawing nearer to the ring, Wilde clasping a microphone and shouting through it in the process.
Wilde: I have such superb news for each of you.
Enlightens Wilde as she slips through the ropes that have been parted by Executioner.
Wilde: I am here to announce that after intense contract negotiations with Drew Bryant, that I have come to terms with the Uprising brand. Drew, in his ‘wisdom,’ has given me the pleasure of coming out to announce that I was his latest draft pick.
The commentators are a little surprised by this revelation.
Mackie: Jessica Wilde apparently the next pick for Uprising. But where’s Drew to make this official?
Hunter: I think he’s behind closed doors at the moment talking business with Ethan Von Aaron. Anyway, welcome aboard Wilde.
Though the past few weeks haven’t been very kind to Wilde, she still manages to speak with confidence.
Wilde: Mr. Bryant made a very wise decision in acquiring my talents. By bringing me to the Uprising brand, he has guaranteed the spreading of enlightenment to everyone on his roster. Executioner and I will bring a message to everyone under his employee, the message of the Sini…
It takes stereo superkicks on the button to shut Wilde’s mouth. The throngs of humanity are more than a little surprised at the sight of Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel knocking Wilde into next week. Executioner tries to interfere on Wilde’s behalf only to rush into duel superkicks as well.
Mackie: What the hell is going on here!?! Why are Lexy Chapel and Kat Kelly laying everyone out in the ring?
The damage is done, but there is no explanation behind it. Lexy and Kat exit the ring, leaving the bodies in their wake and a slew of unanswered questions.
BACKSTAGE
Rachel Tatum Lee is drinking a bottle of water while making her way down a flight of steps. Once she reaches the base she spots Ethan Von Aaron waiting for her.
Rachel: Where ya been?
Ethan: I’ve only been gone for like five minutes.
Rachel: Long enough to leave a girl wonderin’. Sides, in five minutes ain’t no tellin’ what kind of trouble ya can get yerself into.
Ethan: True. Trouble does come pretty naturally to me, and boy does it ever escalate quickly.
Rachel: Seriously though, where ya been?
Ethan: Nowhere important. Just took a walk, did some thinking. How are you feeling about your draft pick?
Rachel: Really don’t matter to me where I went. As long as I can continue doin’ what I do….(shifts the NHB Title to her shoulder before cracking knuckles)…I’ll be happy. And with you by my side as always, it’ll make this journey one fun ride.
Ethan: Yeah…..
Ethan says with a certain degree of insincerity. It’s impossible for Rachel not to pick up on it.
Rachel: Somethin’ wrong?
She reads Ethan’s body language a little closer.
Rachel: Where were ya?
Ethan: I was in Drew’s office….
Ethan at last realizes that there is no point lying to Rachel.
Rachel: Drew’s office? What did you…what did you do?
The answer is given with Ethan’s eyes never rising from the floor.
Ethan: What’s best for you and your career.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
The IWC Tag Team Champions march triumphantly into the guerilla position. With smiles on the faces of Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel the duo saunter away from the ring where they just laid out Uprising’s latest draft pick.
Silas: What was that!?!
The Champions smile when Silas Mason comes bearing down upon them. He is the embodiment of the crowd’s confusion.
Silas: Why the hell’d ya two attack Wilde?
Kat: Who?
Lexy: Oh…that…that….THING in the ring?
Silas: Yes, that thing in the ring.
Kat: Let’s take a second and correct him, Lexy.
Lexy: Yeah, cause Silas, we didn’t attack Wilde…we attacked Uprising’s last draft pick.
Silas: Care to explain why?
Kat: We told you that if you kept Wicked Intent together that we’d make it up to you. By laying out Uprising’s latest pick, we sent a message to anyone who is even thinking of signing a contract with Drew’s brand.
Lexy: They’ll all think twice now before they agree to sign with him.
The explanation puts a smirk on Silas’ face.
Silas: Ya know ladies, something tells me we’re gonna have ourselves a very productive workin’ relationship.
IN-RING
When cameras return to the ring they discover none other than Silas Mason’s client Lenore-Price Mason standing behind a podium. She assumes the duties of announcing Silas’ next selection.
Lenore: Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to make the next draft announcement on behalf of my agent Silas Mason. He has selected to compete exclusively on the Riot brand…. ‘Queen’ Julia Noel!
There is quite the reaction from the crowd resulting from this draft pick, and an equally as bizarre reaction from the backstage area. Marching down the ramp is none other than Henry Van Stanton. The commentators respond in much the same tone as the fans.
Mackie: Now what brings Henry Van Stanton our way?
Hunter: Last time we saw Henry invade the IWC he was leading an intervention against Queen Julia Noel.
Mackie: Yeah, by bringing in Glenn Braddock. Who apparently is Queen Julia’s ACTUAL uncle. Henry and Glenn are determined to bring Julia back to her former self and erase from her ledger all the bad things she’s done as a member of the Noel family.
Henry rolls into the ring, swiftly moves across it and then whispers into Lenore’s ear. She feigns intrigue but then shows legitimate surprise after Henry has finished his statement. Van Stanton does not linger behind, exiting the ring. Lenore watches him go before ultimately returning to the podium.
Lenore: Apparently I was mistaken, doesn’t happen very often. I have a correction regarding the NAME of the last draft pick to the Riot brand. Queen Julia Noel, from this day henceforth, would prefer to be called Julia BRADDOCK!
This announcement brings a big grin to Henry’s face as he continues along up the ramp.
Mackie: What does that mean?
Hunter: It seems Queen Julia Noel might be no more. Have Henry and Glenn Braddock succeeded in their efforts to liberate her from the Noel dynasty?
BACKSTAGE
Gavin: If this doesn’t win him over, I don’t know what will.
Balloons and a giant stuffed pink panda are held by Lars Zane. The bodyguard follows his client down the hall, Gavin Taylor leading him towards the office of Drew Bryant.
Lars: Maybe gifts aren’t the way to go.
Gavin: Meaning?
Lars: Bribes don’t seem to be swaying Drew. So perhaps, THREATS will.
Gavin: Oh? What did you have in mind?
Lars: If he doesn’t accept these presents and draft you, then let me have a loooong talk with the Boss.
Gavin: Let me think on it….
Andre: Are you sure that’s a smart move, Gavin? Thinking can be dangerous.
Gavin instantly goes as red as an apple in the hands of Elmo. But he is NOT tickled at the sight of Andre Jordan, nor the Evolution Title that sits over Dre’s shoulder.
Gavin: Yes, dangerous for you.
Lars: What do you want, Dre?
Questions the bodyguard while stepping in Andre’s direction.
Andre: You know you’d probably be much more intimidating if you weren’t holding that right now?
Dre points at the pink panda in Lar’s hands.
Gavin: Lars asked you a question.
Andre: I had this crazy idea, Gavin. I was doing some thinking of my own, with tonight possibly being the last time we ever compete on the same show, I was hoping that we could split on amicable terms.
Gavin: Amicable terms? You expect me to be amicable with you after you stole my championship?
Andre: Stole? I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I beat you in a match of the year candidate at Invictus, Gavin, in fittingly a match a year in the making. So regardless of your opinion of me, and everything we’ve went through this past year or so, after our match I STILL respect you.
Gavin sighs.
Andre: And I wanted to wish you luck headed into the future.
Gavin: Luck? Maybe a man like you needs luck. I’ve got brains, I’ve got charisma, and I’ve got talent. So my future is going to be prosperous.
Lars: Now back off, or I’ll put your ass in the dirt.
Threatens Lars, flailing the stuffed panda around in his hands. Andre rolls his eyes before stepping aside so that Gavin and Lars can pass.
BACKSTAGE
The show cuts back to the ring just in time to catch a glimpse of Drew Bryant sliding into the squared circle. He moseys on across the squared circle in the direction of the podium, exuding confidence with each step. Drew looks every bit like Mark McQwire, stepping up to the plate to hit another homerun.
Drew: I just had a brief chat with someone backstage who apparently is DYING to be part of the Uprising Brand, and who am I deny him his wish?
As Drew prepares to proceed with his announcement the curtains on the stage part with Gavin Taylor and Lars Zane stepping through them. A huge smile is drawn across Gavin’s face as the All-Star pauses on the stage. Clearly Gavin and Lars are of the belief that Gavin is the man Drew is eluding to.
Drew: So without further ado, it is my pleasure to announce that with my next pick, the Uprising brand selects…..ETHAN VON AARON!
This announcement leads to a total loss of pigment in Gavin Taylor’s skin. His whole body goes as white as Elmer’s glue. Lars has gone as red as a fire hydrant. He is trembling mad, especially as Gavin spins to face him and digs a finger into the bodyguard’s thick chest.
Gavin: Deal with this.
Lars: Yes sir.
Lars immediately heads down the ramp while Gavin heads towards the back. Drew was right about to exit the ring before finding Lars blocking his path. He slips through the ropes and turns himself into a human roadblock. He doesn’t allow Drew to take so much as another step.
Lars: You just made a BIG mistake kid.
Insists Lars while taking a bold step in Drew’s direction.
Drew: And what mistake was that?
Lars: You know damn well that you were SUPPOSED to draft Gavin….
Drew: I drafted who I felt was right for the Uprising brand.
Lars: Gavin is what’s right for Uprising. He’s a future World Champion. He’s an ALL-STAR for God sakes!
Drew: You’re right, he is all those things, but he’s also a HORSE’S ASS!
A frustrated Lars reacts without much in the way of foresight. He grabs Drew by the lapel of his jacket.
Lars: You’re gonna draft Gavin to Uprising! Understood?
Drew: If I’m going to draft Gavin I’ll do it when the timing is right. But his impatience, and your actions right now only demonstrate that he not the type of infection I want spreading through MY roster.
Lars is about to go further than simply GRABBING Drew but stops when Andre Jordan comes sliding into the ring behind him. The fans go nuts as Andre spins Lars around and comes to blows with the bodyguard. The two are decking it out while Drew is headed out. He rolls from the ring and wisely moves to the back, leaving Andre and Lars brawling in the middle of the squared circle.
Scratch that…
Drew: You know what Lars?
A microphone is raised to the President’s lips, shouting from ringside.
Drew: If you want to get physical….GET PHYSICAL with Andre. Consider yourselves booked against each other in a match, one that starts RIGHT NOW. Get a referee out here!
Although official Marcus Mayfield is not dressed in his typical striped jersey and black slacks, he responds to Drew’s call. He makes his way from the back, dressed in fashionable duds considering he was just here for the draft special, not to work. How he has his work cut out for him as he hustles to the ring, slides in and calls for the bell.
ANDRE JORDAN VS. LARS ZANE
A very physical encounter ensues between Zane and Andre, who show absolutely no signs of letting up or slowing down. Their wild brawl takes place in and around the ring. At one point Lars TRIES to throw Andre through the podium that is still set up in the middle of the ring, but Dre manages to jump right over it, showing his vertical leap capabilities. He then catches Lars with a belly to belly suplex over the top rope and to the outside of the ring. Andre then tries to vault over the cables into a crossbody but comes down right into a kick to the gut by Zane.
Lars takes over from there using his strength, heaving Dre up into a gorilla press before dumping him throat first along the top edge of the barricade. He then takes Dre by the legs and swings him from the mats shoulder first directly into the steel barrier. Lars eventually picks Dre up into a spinebuster position only to ram him spine first into the steel turnbuckle post. After slamming Dre against the corner Lars sends his opponent flipping over heard into a release t-bone suplex. Dre hits the thin protective mats with such force, putting a tremendous amount of strain on his lower back.
With neither athlete showing any desire to return to the ring Mayfield is left with no other recourse, counting them both out and ruling the match null and void. Despite the ringing of the bell in the background it doesn’t stop Dre and Lars from proceeding with their brawl.
Lars continues to have Dre on the defensive, dragging him up the ramp and hitting him with a vertical suplex upon it. Dre’s back smacks into the steel, almost bursting his kidneys like water balloons. Somehow he manages to get to the stage where Lars puts him in a full nelson. He drags Andre up to his feet and prepares to deliver a full nelson slam on the steel. Dre manages to push back though, shoving Lars along into the beams supporting the Cartel-tron. Lar’s grip is broken and now Andre is leaping into him with a stinger splash. He crashes into Lars, sandwiching him between Dre’s body and the steel support strut.
Andre follows this up with a SECOND big stinger splash, crushing Lars. A THIRD stinger splash hits Lars, driving him down to his seat. Andre drags Lars away from the strut and up to his feet before booting him to the gut, doubling him over and setting him up for the pedigree. But Lars manages to push Dre back and then staggers along towards the curtains, all but falling through them.
Lars evades further fisticuffs with Andre, who is standing his ground on the stage and now finding his hands occupied by the Evolution Championship. Referee Mayfield brings the belt up the ramp, hands it to Dre and he lifts the gold above his head. He looks out over the crowd, who are chanting his name.
BACKSTAGE
The chants of Andre Jordan’s name echo throughout the very corridor that Aaron Harrison has just stepped into. The reaction is quite overwhelming at the sight of Harrison entering the Manhattan Center. The commentators talk up Harrison’s surprising arrival.
Mackie: Well it’s about friggin time.
Hunter: Aaron Harrison has been conspicuous by his absence throughout much of the night, but he is finally arriving here to the Manhattan Center. Honestly, I don’t know if that’s a good, or a bad thing.
Mackie: The guy looks like an emotional wreck at the moment.
Hunter: For good reason. Invictus did not go the way he had hoped at all.
Mackie: It looks like we might be hearing from Harrison in just a few minutes as our Live Draft Special rolls along.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Once again we find ourselves directly outside of the office of Drew Bryant. The door leading to said office is propped open by the body of Franz. The former GOOD Stylist is presumably talking to Drew, who is tucked away in the sanctuary of his layer.
Franz: This is good yah. Froderick and Frank will be happy to hear we will all be part of Uprising. You make good choice yah.
Franz closes the door and steps out into the hallway. He only gets one step before coming to a DEAD stop. He looks taken aback when spotting Gavin Taylor standing in front of him with perhaps the most menacing of expressions on his face.
Franz: You need help?
Gavin: No….but you’re about to.
IN-RING
The podium remains in the middle of the squared circle with Silas Mason planted behind it. The microphone is elevated to his lips, lips that are producing quite the arrogant grin.
Silas: Ethan Von Aaron huh? Nice pick there Drew, but Ethan ain’t nothin’ compared to the man, and I use that term loosely, about to make his way to MY brand. So no more beatin around the bush. My next selection to the Riot brand…..LUKAS MONTGOMERY!
Voices ring out and fill the Manhattan Center, including that of the commentators.
Mackie: I hope Silas realizes what he’s getting himself into drafting Lukas Montgomery.
Hunter: The man is without a doubt an absolute sadist. Lukas is as unhinged as a broken door.
Mackie: We all saw the lengths he was willing to go in order to defeat his Blacklist teammate Aaron Harrison at Invictus. The two damn near murdered one another.
Hunter: It’s going to be interesting to see what Lukas does now that he’s all but branching out completely on his own.
The fact that the Blacklist alliance is beyond buried becomes all the more transparent when Aaron Harrison comes stepping to the stage. The second Silas spots Harrison and his place of residence, Silas wisely moves AROUND the ramp instead of walking up it. What makes Aaron’s presence all the more daunting is the fact that he has a steel barrel positioned directly beside him.
Mackie: First of all…WHY? Why is Aaron Harrison here? And second, what’s with the garbage can? Is he going for a Duke the Dumpster Drosee gimmick?
Hunter: You know simply making an obscure reference does not make what you’re saying any funnier.
Mackie: It does in my own head.
Hunter: Yeah, which is ever swelling. I don’t know WHY Harrison is here, or what the point of that barrel is. I’m hoping he goes Donkey Kong and crushes your skull with it, Mackie, really, I do.
A microphone is squeezed in one of Harrison’s hands, while a black fabric is gripped in the other. The most ardent believer in the Blacklist lifts the microphone to his lips, however no words emanate through them. His hollow eyes just stare down into the empty barrel…and keep on staring…and keep on staring. Not even the slightest trace of emotion is shown by Harrison, who lowers the mic from his mouth and let’s a deep breath creep into his lungs. Finally he drops the microphone to his stage and reaches into his pocket. At the same time the black fabric in his opposite hand is unraveling to reveal that it’s a t-shirt in his clutches, one that immortalizes the group known as the Blacklist. Not only is the team-name stenciled across the fabric, but so are the pictures of all three founding members. A likeness of Aaron Harrison, his former fiancée Mika Kozlov, and Lukas Montgomery are drawn across the stomach of the shirt.
Harrison raises the shirt a little closer to his face, his dark, sunken eyes on level with an image of Mika Kozlov’s face. Finally he removes his other hand from his pocket, extracting a lighter. The spark is lit and rises to the t-shirt, sending it up in flames. Before the fire reaches Harrison’s fingers he tosses the flaming shirt into the barrel. Harrison now looks through the blaze shooting up into the air, the fire melting away the shirt, the faces of Lukas Montgomery, Mika Kozlov and Aaron Harrison, and the words ‘The Blacklist.’
BACKSTAGE
Into view comes Mika Kozlov, who is standing in the backstage corridor engaging Cindy Todd in conversation. The ever vigilante Borislav stands behind Mika, listening intently to the words shared between these two dark entities. The commentators can only shutter at the thought of what these dangerous femmes can be discussing.
Mackie: Absolutely nothing good can come of this.
Hunter: We saw Cindy Todd debut at Invictus by taking out Aiken Frost, and now it seems she’s making moves to ingratiate herself to Aiken’s allies in New Eden.
Mackie: Well from what I’ve been informed, Cindy Todd is another member of this DARK force that Aiken prescribed to. So Mika OWES fealty to Cindy.
Hunter: God help us all if these two unite under a common umbrella.
Mackie: Let’s get back to the draft Hunter, cause Uprising has the next pick. We’ve got another roster member headed our way.
IN-RING
The world eagerly awaits the arrival of Drew Bryant.
The fans are ready.
The podium is ready.
The commentators are ready.
Or at least they all THOUGHT they were ready.
No one or nothing is prepared for what comes next.
Gavin: I’ve tried to do this the NICE way.
The words Gavin Taylor and ‘nice’ don’t fit well in the same sentence. His actions at the moment are going to be anything but kind. The curtains open and Gavin steps through them, followed by Lars and their captive Franz. The GOOD stylist is forced along down the ramp by this dangerous and conniving duo.
Gavin: I’ve TRIED to be professional about this.
Franz is rolled into the ring where he makes a valiant and last ditch effort to escape. Unfortunately Gavin doesn’t let him get very far, rushing into the ropes in front of Franz, ricocheting off then delivering the shining wizard to his prey’s face. Lars now enters the ring and puts his boot on the back of Franz’s head, pinning it down in place. All the while Gavin is rolling out of the ring and fetching a valuable item….a steel chair. He steps over Franz’s head, chair elevated precariously above the GOOD stylist’s already injured cranium.
Gavin: But now I see that there’s only one way to get my point through to you Drew….violence. Either draft me to Uprising, or I’m going to break the neck of…erm…uhhh…whoever this is. Draft me Drew, draft me!
The microphone is thrown aside and Gavin lifts the chair over the head of his potential victim.
Drew: Nice Gavin, real nice.
Shouts Bryant as he makes his way through the curtains and to the stage.
Drew: You know I’m not the type who is strong armed and I’m not one who’s bribed either. So you’re never going to FORCE or coerce me to draft you to my brand.
The chair remains elevated above Franz’s head, Gavin seconds from crushing the stylist’s skull.
Drew: But I WILL draft you, Gavin, and not because you threatened me or threatened members of my roster. I like seeing this side of you, Gavin, this determination, this drive, this FIRE. It’s nice to see you so motivated. That’s what I want on my brand, that’s what Uprising needs. So welcome aboard Gavin.
A smile forms on Taylor’s face as the chair descends to his side. All the while Drew is headed to the back only to stop with his foot hovering over the precipice. He pulls an about face, having just one last comment for Taylor.
Drew: Oh, and having you on my brand ensures that I can keep you on a very-very-VERY tight leash.
The boastful grin present on Taylor’s face rapidly transforms into a prominent frown.
BACKSTAGE
Backstage Correspondent Mark Comeau is no longer loitering outside of the offices of either Drew Bryant or Silas Mason. Instead he’s parked in the guerilla position, presumably in anticipation of catching the Majority Owner.
Comeau: Surprise-surprise-surprise….Gavin Taylor headed for the Uprising brand. Hopefully I can catch a word with Drew Bryant regarding….
Kellen: Is he here my child?
The concerned correspondent shifts focus to a robed Kellen Jeffries. The Man-God almost seems to float to Comeau’s side.
Comeau: Is who where? And umm, what’s with the get-up?
Kellen: The get-up?
Obviously Mark is eluding to the white robes that hang from Kellen’s body.
Kellen: I am wearing the traditional sacred garbs of the holy, my child. It tis you bedecked in unnatural and sinful apparel. Look at you, standing there in that revealing outfit…
Mark looks down at the three piece suit bound to his body.
Kellen: I can see your whole wrists, have you no modesty?
Comeau: Okay-okay-okay, what gives?
Kellen: I have no idea what you are eluding to my child?
Comeau: The robe. The holier than thou attitude. The antiquated speech. What are….
Kellen:…If I sound unusual to you, it is because my tongue is blessed with a heavenly influence. I am a celestial conduit…my body is the chosen vestibule of the Gods…I am a God amongst mortal men….I am a MAN-GOD.
Comeau: How many shots to the head have you taken lately?
Kellen: I assure you child, I have never been more attune to sanity. I do not blame you for being skeptical though my child, it is hard to believe in a power greater than one’s self. But I am that power, and one day soon you will believe in me.
Comeau: Believe in you? Fat chance bud.
Kellen: I see that you are not yet swayed by my words, so perhaps you would have an easier time accepting my truths from the mouth of another. It has become apparent to me that the unwashed deviants of this world worship only one thing, TELEVISION. So I have brought forth one of your cherished Hollywood icons to convince you that I am indeed a GOD who walks amongst man.
The Man-God slaps his hand down on Comeau’s shoulder.
Kellen: HE will be here soon.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
The World Title belt comes into view, glistening over the shoulder of newly anointed Champion Serenity. The camera pulls back from her belt to reveal the black shaded eyes embodying her commitment to New Eden. She stands directly in front of backstage correspondent Susie Moore in your standard interview area.
Susie: Hiii Serenity.
Serenity: Uh-huh.
Susie: Thanks for giving me just a moment to gauge your reaction to the match made later tonight pitting Katelyn Buehler one on one with Taylor Chase.
A laugh emanates from Serenity.
Serenity: Awww….I’m touched….really, I’m touched by this match.
Susie: Why is that?
Serenity: Because it just goes to show how desperately my Katie bear wants me.
Susie: I guess so.
Serenity: She only wants to climb up that pole tonight and grab the contract dangling from it to become a member of MY brand, the Riot brand, so she can get her hands on me. It makes me feel so popular.
Susie: Oh yeah, that’s the BIG stipulation on that match. The winner has to be the one who climbs a pole and takes hold of the Riot contract….
Serenity: And the loser will be without a contract to either Riot OR Uprising. They’ll be unemployed.
Susie: Do you really want to see Katelyn out of a job?
Serenity: Hmmmm. That would be awfully mean of me wouldn’t it? Nooo, I don’t want to see Katelyn forced into retirement by Silas. So how about I give Katie just a little more motivation to win tonight? If she can beat Taylor Chase, I’ll grant Katelyn a match, one on one against yours truly. That way, I can be the one who retires my former kitten.
Cindy: Serenity….
A set of black eyes move towards Serenity and Susie, belonging to the deadly Cindy Todd.
Cindy: I need a moment of your time my pet.
Serenity: You know you can have more than just a moment.
Cindy leads the World Champion off camera, leaving Susie behind with a her lower lip jutting out in a pouting expression.
Susie: Am I EVER going to be allowed to finish an interview?
IN-RING
Silas Mason stands in the center of the squared circle right behind the podium, redirecting the microphone to his lips.
Silas: Alright ya’ll, with my next pick in the draft, I select someone I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. Someone who can really keep this roster on it’s toes…or maybe it’s heels….I’m talkin bout….MORDECAI!
Here comes the obligatory response from the commentators.
Hunter: Holy cannoli, the monster Mordecai drafted to Riot.
Mackie: Thank God…..THANK GOD we won’t have to deal with him on Uprising. The guy is scarier than my mother’s mustache.
Hunter: Silas Mason brings an absolute monster to his brand. I hope he knows what he’s doing. He’s got Mika Kozlov, Lukas Montgomery, Aaron Harrison, and now Mordecai. He’s got a whole roster full of monsters.
Mackie: They’re going to tear the Riot brand apart…Wait, why am I complaining about this?
BACKSTAGE
Kellen Jeffries is located someplace….somewhere…his location mostly unidentifiable considering the lack of proper lighting. In fact, the only illumination in the tiny dwelling is that of a spotlight that seems to be shining down on the Man-God. He has his hands clasped together in prayer and his head humbly lowered to the point where his chin is almost tucked into his white robe.
Kellen: They lack faith. They lack belief. They lack conviction. But I pray thee that when he arrives that he will open their minds, and make them believe in the Man-God’s heavenly origins.
The camera turns from Kellen to the object he is praying towards, a large portrait of HIMSELF striking a bicep flex. One can almost hear the commentators cringing.
Hunter: What’s going on with Kellen Jeffries? And who is he waiting for?
Mackie: He’s a MAN-GOD, worship him, and do not question any of his actions.
Hunter: Well we got ANOTHER draft pick coming up next, let’s hit the ring and see who is coming to OUR brand, Mackie.
Mackie: Hopefully something with tits, so tired of staring at yours, Hunter.
IN-RING
The cameras return to the ring just as Drew Bryant is stepping up behind the podium, ready to announce the newest member of his Uprising Brand.
Drew: So who’s it going to be? Who is going to become an exclusive member of Uprising? Let’s find out…My next pick in the 2015 Draft…..DEAN DANIELS!
Clapping can be heard from the crowd and from the figure presently making her way out from the backstage area. Drew’s eyes whip around rather quick to Kloe Masters as she steps to the stage producing the most disingenuous clap imaginable.
Kloe: What a nice selection, Mr. Bryant….Very nice indeed.
The bemused Masters makes her way down the ramp.
Kloe: That is the first pick you’ve made this evening that I do NOT find questionable.
At last Kloe enters the ring with the Majority Owner.
Kloe: Dean is a versatile young blue chipper, a key proponent for the future of the IWC and a potential linchpin of the Uprising brand. Nicely done Drew, nicely done.
Somehow the clapping gets even more disingenuous.
Drew: Thanks….but I’m getting that strong vibe that you’re out here for more than just kissing my backside.
Kloe: Who says? Besides, you have a very nice backside I could pucker up to.
Drew: What do you want?
Kloe: Why must you assume that there is always an underlining motivation behind my cordiality? I was merely being kind to you. Is it so surprising that I only wanted to give you a pat on the back?
Drew: I think you’re far more prone to STABBING people in the back, rather than patting them on the back.
Kloe: That was harsh. Here I am coming out here to properly congratulate you on a solid draft pick, even after earlier tonight you had the audacity to draft my friend William Mason against his wishes, and how do you respond to my kindness, with insults. How very childish of you, Mr. Bryant. I’m almost offended enough to leave….almost. But I’m not about to walk away before reminding you that Mr. Mason, Mrs. Tina Valentine and I, will not tolerate insult.
Kloe’s finger shoots into the air and draws everyone’s focus to the Cartel-tron. Upon the screen we now see a shot of the backstage corridor where recently drafted competitor Dean Daniels finds himself valiantly fighting off a horde of hooded men. The very same three hoodie sporting individuals who have been making Dean’s life miserable for weeks continue that trend here tonight. They have Dean on the defensive, trying to swarm and overwhelm with him jabs and kicks.
Drew: What is this!?!
The cameras cut back to an emotional Drew in the middle of the ring. His comments are directed at Kloe.
Kloe: Just a teaser Mr. Bryant, a trailer for the coming events that the AXIS will release on your precious Uprising brand.
BACKSTAGE
When cameras cut back to Dean Daniels his state is equally as dire as the last time we saw him. He’s still fighting to the best of his abilities to fend off the three men who have overwhelmed him. Just as he starts to fight them back Dean is blindsided from behind. Tina Valentine rushes up behind Dean and drops him with a clothesline to the back of his neck. The blow doubles Dean over and now the Axis member has him by the back of his head. Tina charges Dean down the hallway and throws him head first right into the wall. His skull bounces off of it and his body twists to the ground. Tina then looks back at the three gawking hooded figures.
Tina: What are you waiting for? FINISH HIM!
Shouts Tina like a Mortal Kombat boss. The trio do as instructed, dashing towards the laid out Dean, subjecting his body to a series of stomps. This beat down only concludes when Dean’s new agent Tabitha Silverstone comes hustling into view. She does not come alone. Following behind her are Sebastian Knight, Andre Jordan and Marina Valdivia. The entirety of Silverstone Inc dash in the direction of the group subjecting one of Tabitha’s own to quite the messy beating. Upon first glimpse of the encroaching agent and her clients, the hooded men, along with Tina high tail it.
Tabitha is left to stoop beside Dean, checking on the condition of her withered and weary client.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Tina: That felt good…DAMN that felt good.
A still fired up Tina Valentine fills the corridor with her screams. Her friend Victoria Salinas stands beside Tina nodding her head and smiling, proud of Valentine’s actions before the commercial break.
Victoria: I hope you worked out some of your aggression.
Tina: Some…not ALL. I still feel the need to kick someone’s ass.
Victoria: Anyone in particular.
Tina: I’d love to get my hands on that idiot Matt Walst, or on that asshole Sebastian Blake. But right now, I’d settle for any Hollywood reject or media mogul. In fact, you know what, from this day hence-forth, I’m announcing that Tina Valentine is ANTI-Hollywood!
Victoria: Anti-Hollywood? What do you mean by that?
Tina: I mean, that it’s time I took the war to Hollywood. They cost me my match at Invictus, so turnabout is fair play. Maybe I’ll take a sledgehammer and smash all the stars on the Walk of Fame…or maybe I’ll set fire to Planet Hollywood, or-or-or….
IN-RING
As Tina’s tirade continues backstage cameras cut back to the ring as “Cocky” by Kid Rock plays over the PA system. These tunes are associated with the man presently climbing into the squared circle. “The Man-God” Kellen Jeffries slips through the ropes in his long white holy robes. The reaction he’s getting from the fans is anything but holy though. Even the commentators commit a little blasphemy.
Hunter: This goof Kellen Jeffries out here for God only knows what reason.
Mackie: So Kellen is the only one who knows then?
Hunter: Huh?
Mackie: Well, you said GOD only knows, and Kellen is the Man-God so….
Hunter: Don’t put words in my mouth, Mackie.
Mackie: I’ve heard of worse things being put in it.
Speaking of words, we hear a lot of them from Kellen. Someone, who should be fired later, has given him a microphone.
Kellen: Hello my poor-poor unfortunate children.
Kellen addresses the thousands of fans heckling him so.
Kellen: Look at you, turn and look into the faces of those seated around you. Each of you are crestfallen, sad and lost. Broken and berated. You are lost, shiftless. You think you can fill your emptiness with possessions, but money will not fix you, only faith can restore you. You must all embrace the power of belief…belief in the MAN-GOD!
Kellen looks with reverence up into the rafters of the Manhattan Center.
Kellen: I can help you, each of you. However you must first trust me, and I know I have not done much to earn that sacred trust. I understand it is hard to buy my words as sincere. I do not have the greatest or most pure of track records after all. So I have decided to invite another here tonight to speak on my behalf. He is a man of universal appeal. A man so trusted that even the staunchest cynic would be unable to deny him. He will help you see, he will help you believe in the Man-God. If it is Hollywood and television that you trust and worship, he will make the perfect vessel to sell my words. So would you all please welcome to the ring at this time, my honored guest, the speaker of my holy wisdom….STEVE URKEL!
The fans have quite the laugh at the sight of Jaleel White, yes, THAT Jaleel White making his way down the ramp. However, there are no glasses, there no suspenders, there are no chest high pants, Jaleel is totally void of anything commonly associate with his on screen persona of Steve Urkel.
Mackie: Oh my God, I am marking out right now!
Urkel….Jaleel….enters the ring with mic already in hand.
Kellen: Tell them my child…tell them how your faith in me was rewarded with a spiritual awakening…TELL THEM how I saved you.
Jaleel scratches nervously at the back of his head.
Jaleel: Um…dude, we never even met before today.
Kellen: Just TELL THEM….
Kellen tries to whisper low enough but his words are still picked up by the microphone.
Kellen: Say what you were paid to say. I shall withhold your food stamps for failure to comply.
Jaleel: Fine…FINE.
Redirects words to the audience.
Jaleel: When I was down, Kellen Jeffries saved me. He lifted me up and made everything right in my world again.
Kellen: Now tell them that you’ve repented your past, that you no longer harbor a lustful craving for your neighbor.
Jaleel: That was a character I played…
Kellen: SAY IT!
Jaleel: Alright, I no longer have such cravings.
Kellen: Splendid. Bob Saget will be very pleased to hear this.
Jaleel: Wait-wait-wait, do you honestly have me mixed up with Kimmy Gibbler?
Kellen: Steve Urkel…Kimmy Gilbbler…same difference.
Before Jaleel can enlighten Kellen as to the gross inaccuracies of his comments, the former Urkel finds himself trounced. Kellen abandons Jaleel to suffer the wrath of the woman presently victimizing him. Tina Valentine is in the ring and is now all over Jaleel, fulfilling her oath to take the war to Hollywood. She, along with the very same three hooded men she was spotted alongside earlier tonight assaulting Dean Daniels, now turn their sights to Jaleel White. Two of the hoodie sporting individuals grab Jaleel by the arms, dragging him up to his feet. They turn him around so that his jaw can be subjected to the code breaker by Tina.
Just before any further damage can be done, none other than Dean Daniels comes bolting down the ramp with a steel chair in his hands. The crowd has the predictable bout of fervor at the sight of Dean rolling into the ring and putting the edge of his chair straight into one of the hooded men’s ribs, doubling him over. He then cracks him over the spine with the chair. The same fate befalls another of the hooded gentlemen, dropping him to the canvas. Before the chair can be turned on Tina, she’s already vacating the ring, her mission complete, Jaleel White laid out on the canvas.
The chair wielding Dean adds to the pile of bodies, now driving the chair over the third and final hooded man’s skull, knocking him to the canvas. Dean then throws the chair aside and frees his hands to grab the hood that shrouds the man’s face in shadows. Before the hooded man can escape, the hood is pulled back and reveals the face of none other than Jacob Laymon….
Hunter: NO WAY!
Mackie: It’s Laymon…Jacob Laymon…we haven’t seen him in ages!
Hunter: He’s been one of those guys in the hood this whole time!?!
A stunned Dean weakens his grasp on Laymon just enough for the former GM to go rolling out of the ring. He is immediately joined at the hips by the other hooded men who were waylaid by Daniels. Laymon looks back into the ring at Dean, shouting a long string of threats at the man who revealed his identity.
BACKSTAGE
Drew: You’ve got no reason to be worried.
A cell-phone seems to be permanently stitched to Drew Bryant’s ear. It takes all of his effort to try and convince another potential draft pick that all is right in the world. His voice fills the office that his feet are currently putting a trench through as he paces from one end of it to the other.
Drew: This is exactly what Silas wants. You’re just playing right into his hands.
He pauses to listen.
Drew: I assure you, Kat Kelly, Lexy Chapel, they won’t put a finger on you, or erm, I guess a boot.
Another lull on Drew’s part.
Drew: Alright, fine, I guess I see your point. Best of luck to you in the future.
A distraught Drew hangs up the phone, putting it away just in time to field the inquires of correspondent Mark Comeau.
Comeau: Sounds like you’re having a tough night, Drew.
Drew: Seriously starting to regret keeping Wicked Intent together. They just cost me ANOTHER draft pick.
Comeau: I take it people are pretty worried that Wicked Intent will superkick their jaws in if they agree to sign contracts for Uprising?
Drew: Yes, they’re only PART of a much bigger problem though. I suspected that Silas would be pulling some dirty tactics to try and win this draft, but I didn’t think he’d go as far as he’s gone here tonight.
Comeau: What are you going to do about your next pick then?
Drew: Well not everyone has been discouraged from signing up for the Uprising brand. One lady in particular has told me that she doesn’t fear a potential attack from Riot’s Wicked Intent.
Comeau: Who’s that?
Drew: Crissy…Crissy Garner.
Comeau: So she’s your next pick in the draft?
Drew: You betcha.
Comeau: That takes care of your next pick, but what about the Wicked Intent problem?
Drew: I could use my power to punish Wicked Intent, but that’s the source of the problem. If you need to kill a weed, you have to tear its roots out.
Comeau: What’s the root?
Drew: Silas Mason…It’s about time he and I had it out once and for all.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
Cameras open on Crissy Garner splayed across the ground, eyes fluttering as she tries to stay conscious. A task made complicated by the stereo superkick she presumably received during the commercial break. The deliverers of that blow, Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel are presently stooped over their latest victim, staring down into Garner’s fluttering eyes.
Lexy: Still think you made the right call going to Uprising?
Kat: Let all your friends know this is what’s in store for them if they sign with Drew.
The Tag Team Champions walk away with smiles on their faces, leaving a damaged Garner behind. As if she wasn’t miserable enough, now she has to deal with the obnoxious tones of Silas Mason.
Silas: Can’t say as you weren’t warned.
The Principle Owner sashays towards Garner, stooping down towards the most recent victim of a Wicked Intent superkick.
Silas: Ya should’ve known better than to sign with Uprising…
Silas goes to leave before stopping, pulling an about face and looking down into Crissy’ barely conscious eyes.
Silas: Oh, and let yer girl Samantha Raine know I’m draftin’ that ass to Riot.
RINGSIDE
Mark Comeau is standing in front of the barricade, back aimed towards the excited crowd.
Comeau: It’s been a pretty wild and wooly night here for the 2015 IWC Draft Special. So many phenomenal talents finding out where they’re going to end up after the roster split. But at this moment we’re going to have a brief aside for some cross promotional ties in. So please welcome at this time, my guest, Joey Lawrence.
The camera pulls back to reveal the much famed Blossom star standing front row center. The crowd couldn’t possibly groan any louder, not even if their legs were caught in bear traps.
Comeau: Mr. Lawrence, welcome to the IWC.
Joey: Thanks. Is it normally this chaotic around here?
Comeau: Actually it’s been a pretty slow night by normal standards. Now as I understand it, you’re show Melissa & Joey returns on June 3rd to ABC Family. Care to explain the synopsis?
Joey: Not at all. In the show I play a male nanny, a ‘manny,’ who is hired by Melissa Joan Hart’s character, Melissa to take care of her niece….
Raine: Where are they?
Comeau’s eyes adjust to the pair moving in her direction, Samantha Raine and Ember Young. The duo commonly associated with Crissy Garner, the very woman assaulted mere moments ago backstage, are making their way down the ramp. They draw closer to Comeau and a perplexed Lawrence.
Comeau: Where’s who?
Raine: Chapel and Kelly?
Comeau: How would I know?
Raine: If you come across them first, let Wicked Intent know to bring their asses to this ring tonight.
Ember: Because they’re in for a fight.
That was pretty straightforward, and that’s all there is to it. Raine and Ember march right back up the ramp, leaving Comeau and Lawrence to get back to their conversation.
Comeau: So you were saying?
Comeau directs his words to the former teen idol.
Joey: Well in the show I….
Comeau: I’m sorry-I’m sorry-I’m sorry, can we just hear the line?
Joey: The line?
Comeau: Yeah, the line.
Joey: Listen man, I’m past all that. It’s ancient history.
Comeau: What’s the big deal, just say the line.
Joey: No.
Comeau: Just SAY IT!
Joey: I’m not gonna do it….
Before either man can win this argument the conversation comes to an end when Tina Valentine’s boot crashes over the back of Joey Lawrence’s skull. He is sent flipping over the barricade to the ringside mats. The fans are heckling Tina so as she grabs Lawrence by the arm and whips him into the ring. The commentators explode at ringside.
Mackie: TMZ get your cameras ready!
Hunter: Tina Valentine continuing her assault on Hollywood.
Mackie: Now Joey Lawrence is caught in the crosshairs. First Steve Urkel, now the brother from Blossom….WHOA!
Lawrence now finds himself on the receiving end of a figure four leg lock that has him screeching in pain and tapping out repeatedly. Tina continues to assault the legs with such ferocity and rage, determined to snap Lawrence’s limbs like mere twigs. This time there is no one racing the aid of Joey Lawrence, and really, who would want to?
BACKSTAGE
Drew: You know what Silas…I’m sick of this. I’m sick of you trying to undermine me throughout this whole draft. This night needs to come to an end and come to an end right now.
Drew Bryant lays down the law to Silas Mason, who acts unaffected by either the statements or the tone of the Majority Owner’s voice. Silas’ arrogance will not be swayed by anyone, Drew in particular. As Drew’s shouts carry through the backstage corridor Silas just looks at the crust forming under his nails.
Drew: I’m talking to you, Silas.
Silas: Yeah, but I’m not listening.
Drew: You had better start, because I’m making a decree, a decree right here and right now. This draft show is over…
Silas: I still have picks to make son…
Drew: So do I…okay-okay, you know what, let’s just get them out there and get this over with, my next pick is Lilith Evans.
Silas: Nice…real nice….but she ain’t got nothin’ on my pick….Mr. Black Hollywood, Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx….
Drew: Alright, fine, you know who my next pick is then? It’s Derek…Derek Marks.
Silas: Pretty good choice there chief, but I just keep one upping ya around every turn, so ya might want to stop while yer behind, because I’m making Ember Young exclusive to Riot.
Drew: Nice selection, but you know what, I’m going to do what I’ve done all night, trump you. My next pick is Kellen Jeffries. He’s coming to Uprising.
Silas: I’ll see yer Man-God and raise ya one Mya Denton. She’s coming to Riot to stay.
Drew: Alright, I have one more pick, and….
Silas: Ya know what Drew? Why don’t ya grow a set of balls and go on out to that ring again to make yer next announcement?
Drew: Why’s it matter if I do it in the ring?
Silas: Cause I want the whole world to see ya get embarrassed when yer next draft pick goes out there and gets their head kicked off by Lexy Chapel and Kat Kelly.
Drew: I knew you were putting them up to attacking my roster.
Silas: Ya ain’t gonna have a roster by the time I’m done, hahahaha. And Lexy and Kat, they didn’t need no promptin’ to do nothin’. This was all THEIR idea. So go ahead, go out there and name the next jobber on yer roster, then watch them get their jaw crushed with some superkicks.
A smiling Silas goes to walk past Drew only to stop, spin around and offer a final comment. He steps up behind Drew, who can’t even bring himself to look back in Mason’s direction.
Silas: By the way, thanks for letting me keep Wicked Intent together. Lexy and Kat, they’re already proving their usefulness to the Riot brand.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
When cameras return from the commercial break they find their way into the darkened hall where Serenity and Cindy Todd have taken residency. The two are engaged in some secretive dialogue, speaking in whispering tones and not allowing the camera to hear what they are saying. Only the voices of the commentators can be detected in the background.
Mackie: One HAS to wonder what’s being discussed here between Serenity and that monster Cindy Todd.
Hunter: There’s no telling. We all know there’s history between Cindy and Serenity. I’m guessing Cindy is rallying the forces to follow her and the NEW New Eden.
Mackie: One also has to imagine this has something to do with the main event we’re still scheduled to see here tonight, where Serenity’s ex-lover, Katelyn Buehler collides with Taylor Chase.
BACKSTAGE
Forearms and fists fly into the body of Lilith Evans. She tires her best to cover her skull as she withstands a hailstorm of blows from Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel. The Tag Team Champions are brutalizing the most recent Uprising draft pick. The commentators are getting all uppity, their high pitched voices heard in the background.
Mackie: Wicked Intent attacking ANOTHER Uprising draft pick.
Hunter: But this one is fighting back, Lilith Evans is gonna give as good as she takes.
Lilith continues to fight back to the best of her abilities but is eventually warn down to the ground by the onslaught of blows. The future looks bleak for Lilith before into the fray rushes Samantha Raine and Ember Young, looking to avenge the assault on their friend Crissy from earlier tonight. They instantly come to blows with the very woman who superkicked their comrade’s chin, throwing punches upside the face of Lexy and Kat.
Mackie: Raine and Young!
Hunter: They’re looking to get some payback on Wicked Intent for attacking Crissy Garner!
Wicked Intent find themselves combating Raine and Young to an explosive reaction from the crowd inside of the Manhattan Center.
IN-RING
Drew Bryant is located in the middle of the squared circle where a phone is pressed to his ear and a despondent expression sits on his face. He looks rather morose, the events of the evening, and the conversation with his next potential draft pick weighing heavily upon him. He tries to keep his mouth away from the microphone extending up from the podium in front of him, not wishing to share the intimate details of his phone conversation.
Drew: What do you mean you don’t want to come to my brand?
Drew runs his hands through his hair, trying not to pull any out.
Drew: You don’t have to worry about what Wicked Intent will do to you. I’m telling you, you’ve got nothing to fear.
Obviously the talk is not going in the direction Drew had hoped. After a sigh he lowers the phone from his ear and disconnects.
Drew: Um, ladies and gentlemen, I was SUPPOSED to come out here and make my next draft pick, but unfortunately the deal I had in place has fallen through. So I’m going to ask for an extension so that….
Silas: Ya ain’t gettin’ shit boy.
Silas Mason is not the ‘compromising’ type. He makes his way down the ramp at this point with a grin flashing across his face and his back flanked by Lenore-Price Mason. Naturally a little muscle tails Silas wherever he goes, especially when he’s entering the ring and getting a bit uppity. Drew’s eyes narrow to slits, peering out from beneath the veils of his lids at Silas. The look does not daunt Silas or slow either his steps or the speed of his words.
Silas: If ya ain’t got a draft pick, tough titty.
Drew: Come on Silas. I just need time.
Silas: You’ve had plenty of it. I got my pick set in stone. So why don’t ya step aside and let me go ahead and announce who will be joinin’ Riot next.
Drew: Silas….
Silas: I said move yer ass!
Lenore moves around Silas in the direction of Drew, who finally backs away from the podium. Silas slips into that now unoccupied spot.
Silas: Alright boys and girls, this is it…my last pick in the draft, and I’ve saved the best for last. So with no more ballyhoo, it’s time to announce that the final member of the Riot brand, oops, pardon me, I mean the “Silas Mason Presents Riot” brand is….SELENA FROST!
There is quite the rabble of applause and hoopla. The cameras cut away to the conference room where numerous IWC stars are amassed, Selena Frost amongst them. She smiles, stands and bows to all her fellow competitors who are clapping in response to her draft pick. Even the commentators lament over this choice.
Mackie: Silas ain’t kidding, he really did save his best pick for last.
Hunter: Selena Frost drafted to Riot, and boy does that ever change the whole landscape of that brand.
Mackie: Obviously Selena is going to be a major-MAJOR player in the years ahead for Silas and his show.
Hunter: But where does this leave Drew Bryant? He lost a draft pick. Our brand just got screwed.
BACKSTAGE
A split screen comes into view showcasing Katelyn Buehler on one side and Taylor Chase on the other. Both are gearing up for that big match with even bigger consequences slated to go down later tonight. The commentators hype the pending pole match.
Mackie: Still to come on this Live Draft Special a truly EPIC main event.
Hunter: We didn’t’ expect to see any in ring action tonight but boy am I happy that things tend to change on the fly around here. Cause now we’re getting Taylor Chase one on one with Katelyn Buehler.
Mackie: In a match where a Riot contract will be hanging above the ring suspended from a pole. Whoever pulls it down will earn a spot on the Riot brand, but whoever loses will be out of a job.
Hunter: Who’s getting that contract?
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
The Snow Queen, THE Selena Frost, she is standing directly in front of the camera with backstage correspondent Mark Comeau stood beside her. The two linger in the corridor where Selena’s reaction to her draft selection waits to be revealed.
Comeau: Well Selena, moments before the commercial break we found out that you will be exclusive to the Riot brand. How did it feel hearing Silas announce your name?
Selena: Hmmm, that’s a loaded question. I mean ANYTHING that comes out of Silas’ mouth normally has to be cured with a shot of penicillin. But I guess I SHOULD express a smidgen of gratitude considering the totally uncharacteristically KIND words Silas had to say about me. I didn’t see that coming.
Comeau: What are you intentions for the Riot brand?
Selena: First and foremost, capturing the Queen of the Ring Championship. I fought tooth and nail against Tina Valentine at Invictus to become number one contender for that title, and now that I no longer have the concern of ambiguity regarding which show I’d end up on, I can fully focus my efforts on adding gold to my waist.
Comeau: Wouldn’t that come at the expense of Marina Valdivia however? I thought the two of you were…..
Selena: Listen, Marina and I formed an alliance of convenience. We united simply because we shared a mutual hate for Mason Van Stanton and the Noel family. Our association doesn’t change the fact that we are wrestlers, and wrestlers are in this business for one thing, not to form alliances, but to capture championships. I’m not going to put words in Marina’s mouth, but I’m fairly confident that she would tell you that she welcomes my challenge. Any fighting champion should be eager to prove again and again and again why they deserve their title, and why they are sitting at the top of their division.
Comeau: So when the two of you face off on the Riot brand for the championship, there will be no hurt feelings?
Selena: I can’t promise that, but what I can guarantee, is that when Marina and I collide for her Queen of the Ring Title, we will produce a match so legendary that it even further elevates the prestige of the championship. Something we both want.
Comeau: Good luck to you, Selena.
Selena: Luck gets you so far, it’s up to me do the rest from here. It’s time to bring a Wintervention to Riot, and unleash the full force of the ‘believe’ movement.
Selena looks past the camera towards the crowd in attendance, who are already starting a very loud ‘we believe’ chant.
KATELYN BUEHLER VS. TAYLOR CHASE:
CONTRACT ON A POLE MATCH
The cameras return to the ring where a pole is extending out from a turnbuckle and a contract is swaying from the top of it. The commentators sound quite eager to find who will take it down.
Hunter: Selena Frost eager to capture her moment.
Mackie: Just like Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler look to capture that contract presently hanging above the ring. We’re going to see Buehler versus Chase III, with a Riot contract on the line.
Hunter: It’s so hard to believe that two fourths of the Invictus main event are forced to fight for their jobs.
Mackie: Well Katelyn and Taylor, they both said that they refused to go to Uprising….
Hunter: All because they want to stay on Riot and get their hands on their respective enemies Serenity and Mika Kozlov.
Mackie: Sadly for them though, Silas Mason runs Riot now, and he doesn’t want either Katelyn or Taylor on his roster. He’d rather see them face down in the gutter than continue working with them.
We now hear the tunes of Katelyn Buehler’s entrance music wailing through the PA system. She steps to the stage looking even more stoic than ever, her eyes never veering from the contract hanging from the pole above the very ring she’s entering.
Hunter: This match decides pretty much EVERYTHING for Katelyn.
Mackie: Her whole future is riding on this.
Hunter: We’ve heard for weeks since Invictus that Katelyn was toying with the idea of retirement. But Serenity’s words here tonight have lit a fire under her ass. Now she won’t leave until she gets one last crack at Serenity and the championship.
Mackie: And Serenity has even said that if Katelyn wins this match, Serenity will give her a title shot.
Katelyn remains focused, her will unshakeable, even as the tunes of “Boss’s Daughter” hits the speakers and Taylor Chase emerges from the backstage area. Taylor shows the very same uncanny focus, refusing to let anything take her mind off the contract that is presently dangling above the ring. She enters the squared circle and keeps looking up at the Riot contract even when coming within arm’s length of her longtime rival.
Hunter: So much history between former World Champion Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler.
Mackie: You ain’t kidding. These two have been going at it for over a year. Who will forget their epic collision back at Reawakening Day in 2014?
Hunter: Right now neither lady is thinking back to that date, or even reflecting on the many issues that have developed between them over the years. They have total tunnel vision. Taylor is thinking about getting her hands on Mika Kozlov, Katelyn is thinking about getting her hands on Serenity. Only one lady is going to get what they want though, and they’ll have to accomplish it by grabbing that contract and pulling it down off the pole.
Mackie: What a way to end this Live Draft Special.
Hunter: It’s so hard to believe one of these two are about to be out of a job.
Referee Mayfield, who is NOW wearing his official apparel, starts the match and immediately Taylor goes after the contract. Katelyn shows no qualms about pulling Tay off the top rope by the wrist, sending her crashing back first into the canvas. The match wages on from there, with Katelyn throwing Taylor head first over the turnbuckle and into the steel pole. Taylor is sent corkscrewing to the outside and Katelyn is quick to climb the corner, reaching up for the contract. Taylor grabs her by the ankle and pulls her down off the turnbuckle to the apron. Katelyn lands on her feet and lifts one into the air, booting Taylor right in the jaw. Katelyn then turns her back on Tay and climbs the corner, not even able to get fully to the top rope before she’s grabbed by the belt and dragged down. Taylor doesn’t just pull Katelyn off the turnbuckle but throws her all the way down to the outside mats. Katelyn crashes against them spine first. Taylor then heads up the turnbuckle and reaches for the contract, grabbing it. But she then spots Katelyn standing up on the mats below, prompting Taylor to go diving off the top rope right into her rival with a big splash.
The two then fight around the ringside area for several moments before Taylor launches Katelyn shoulder first into the exposed turnbuckle post. Taylor then climbs that post and the pole, once again reaching the top rope before going for the contract. Katelyn rolls into the ring behind Tay though, grabs her by the leg and pulls her around. Taylor finds herself pulled down off the turnbuckle and onto Katelyn’s shoulders, Buehler actually going for Taylor’s own finisher the True Story. Katelyn throws her over into the GTS but Taylor lands on her feet, not face first across Katelyn’s knee. Taylor then goes for the roaring elbow…attempting the KTFO, Katelyn’s own finisher.
Shockingly Katelyn ducks it and swings behind Tay, shoving her forward not only into the turnbuckle but up it. Taylor quickly climbs the corner to the top rope, reaching up for the contract. But Katelyn stops her, stepping up the turnbuckle behind Taylor and then dragging her down off of into a super electric chair drop.
It takes both ladies several moments to recover but once they do they pick up right where they left off, trading punches back and forth. The match wages on from there with both ladies really wearing one another down with punches, kicks and chops, even the occasional headbutt, and it’s one of these headbutts that finally put Tay down. Katelyn goes for the contract once more, finding it in her fingertips, only to have her hopes dashed when Tay interferes. Taylor grabs Kate by the leg, refusing to let her get any closer to the contract at the top of the pole. Katelyn turns around on the top rope and dives at Taylor only to be caught and hit with a spinning powerslam.
Although they are in agony both Taylor and Katelyn manage to drag themselves towards the turnbuckle. They are unaware of the fact that their rival is crawling right alongside them and inching up the pole bearing the contract. They finally realize that they are not standing on the top rope alone when they simultaneously reach out for the contract. Taylor punches Katelyn across the brow and then Kaelyn responds with a back elbow to Taylor’s ribs. They both repeatedly drive one another’s face against the pole. Eventually the blows cause them both to take a nasty tumble off the very top rope to the outside mats.
The two lie on the mats looking highly disorientated. Hence why neither Katelyn nor Taylor spot the boots coming down into their faces, boots belonging to Mika Kozlov and Serenity. The crowd is particularly hash at the sight of the two New Eden ladies brutalizing their respective rivals. Serenity is working over Katelyn, sitting her up against the barricade and choking her with a boot to the throat. Mika has Taylor’s ribs against her shoulder, pushing Chase spine first into the apron with tremendous force. Mika then pulls Taylor away from the apron and drops her ‘sister’ with the Das-Vi-Dania, the double arm DDT driving Taylor’s head into the thin protective mats. At the same time Serenity has Katelyn stood long enough to be crushed in the face after Serenity springs off the apron into a roundhouse kick.
The blow knocks Katelyn back and into the barricade, spilling over into the screeching crowd. With Taylor and Katelyn laid out their attackers back up the ramp. The black eyed World Champion Serenity, and the blacked eyed sociopathic Russian Mika, never take their focus off their beaten down rivals. That’s when Cindy Todd steps out from the back and stands between and slightly behind both Serenity and Mika.
All three dark souls embrace the image of a languishing Taylor and Katelyn, the pair left in New Eden’s wake. At last Mika and Serenity follow Cindy to the backstage area, deeming their work done. However, neither Taylor nor Kate are finished yet. Taylor drags herself from the mats and into the ring. Katelyn drags herself from the crowd and into the ring.
Both ladies miraculously pull themselves up the turnbuckle and to the top rope, reaching up for the contract. They start to throw blows once again though, exchanging shots in the process of grabbing the contract. Suddenly they both slip just as they get their hands on the document. Kate and Tay take the tumble to the ring, coming down at the same time. No one is concerned about their fall, all anyone cares about is the fact that Tay and Kate have pulled down the contract.
Kate has one hand on it….
Tay has one hand on it….
Both ladies have the contract in their clutches.
Mackie: Erm…time out.
Hunter: Katelyn AND Tay…they-they-they….
Mackie: BOTH pulled down the contract!
Hunter: At the risk of sounding contrived…WHO WINS!?!
The crowd amassed in the Manhattan Center are posing the exact same inquiry. They watch as official Mayfield renders a decision, grabbing Kate AND Tay by their wrists, lifting them simultaneously aloft.
Hunter: It looks like they BOTH win, Mackie.
Mackie: The real winner in all of this is the Riot brand. They get BOTH Taylor Chase AND Katelyn Buehler!
The victors of this pole match rise to their knees and look down at the contract that is in both of their clutches. Their eyes then veer to one another’s faces, the pair looking pleasantly surprised by the manner in which this impromptu bout just concluded. No one is surprised however, when they hear the all too familiar voice of Silas Mason.
Silas: So the two of ya really think ya won tonight? Naaah….
Down the ramp marches a confidant Silas, pausing at the edge of the ring.
Silas: I WON….jus like ole Silas always does. Cause now, both yer asses belong to me.
Tay and Kate roll into opposite corners, unable to stand after the physicality they inflicted on one another. As strong as their compulsion is to wrap their hands around Silas’ throat, they are unable to act on those impulses, far too fatigued. So Silas goes on grandstanding in typical fashion.
Silas: I ain’t gonna make it no secret, my plans are to make yer lives a living HELL! Welcome to Riot….
Silas’ chuckle is less tolerable than Michael Cole commentary.
Silas: Roll the credits…
Drew: Not so fast Silas….not so fast.
Silas’ head snaps around, eyes narrowing on the face of Majority Owner Drew Bryant making his way down the ramp.
Drew: We’re not done yet….You seem to forget that you stepped on my toes earlier and cut me off before I could make my last draft pick.
These comments reduce Silas to nothing but a sneer.
Silas: Yeah, good luck with that Drew….good luck finding someone who is actually WILLING to join your roster.
Drew: Oh ye of little faith. I not only found someone who wanted to join my roster, but someone jumping at the chance to call Uprising her home. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the newest member of the Uprising roster….VANILLA SKYY!
The Bitch From Barrow instantly steps through the curtains and moves down the ramp while her entrance music blares in the background. Following along behind her is her ever vigilante agent Adam Chase. The pair reach the end of the ramp but it’s only Skyy who goes further, rolling into the ring. She rolls right past a speechless Silas, who watches wide eyed from the apron.
Hunter: HOLY CHRIST!
Mackie: Vanilla Skyy the final draft pick for Uprising and GOD what a draft pick.
Hunter: Skyy can now call Uprising her home. This is BLOCKBUSTER.
Skyy winks at a still reeling Silas. His mad eyes shift from Skyy to the stage as if beckoning someone. That someone…or somebodies…are Kat Kelly and Lexy Chapel, the Tag Team Champions making their way down the ramp.
Mackie: Oh shit, now we’ve got Wicked Intent on their way down the ramp.
Hunter: They’ve been laying out every single one of Uprising’s draft picks.
Mackie: Vanilla Skyy might be no different.
Instead of shying away from a two on one disadvantage Skyy actually encourages Lexy and Kat to bring it. The Tag Team Champions stop at the base of the ramp, glance in one another’s directions then smile. They begin to enter the ring before stopping when Katelyn Buehler and Taylor Chase step up behind Skyy, all three ladies standing shoulder to shoulder to shoulder.
Mackie: Taylor Chase and Katelyn Buehler standing beside Vanilla Skyy, and look at the champions backing off.
Hunter: Not even Lexy and Kat are crazy enough to fight these three.
Mackie: What an absolutely crazy draft special.
Hunter: Like you’d expect anything less. But now we move onto the future. The rosters for Riot and Uprising set.
Mackie: What’s going to happen when both of these brands put on their first shows?
Hunter: Anticipate the unanticipated.
Mackie: Thank you for joining us tonight, and strap yourselves in, because you’re in for a wild ride.
FADE TO BLACK
Invictus II
VIDEO
A giant cement slab slowly begins to inch to the left of the screen. As it pulls away light seeps out from an aperture that was obscured behind it. That radiance trickles down the stone stairwell and washes across the face of Marie Jones. She stands on the mid-point of the stairs, looking up into the pale white light that looms so far ahead. The moment she climbs a step we can hear excited voices speaking in the background.
Greyson Lovejoy: It’s the event that changes lives forever…
The camera zooms in on Marie’s foot hitting the ground and kicking up dust.
Orlando Cruze: Your wildest dreams cannot even begin to do this night justice…
When the focus pulls back from Marie’s foot and returns to her face we now see she has undergone a jarring transformation. And for good reason, as she is no longer the red haired phoenix, but the ghostly pale Katelyn Buehler. Now Katelyn stands alone on the ancient stone stairwell, taking a faithful step towards the light.
William Mason: You live your whole life for just that one day…
Katelyn moves closer to the light, and the second that it kisses her flesh we see her skin change hue, her black hair lighten and her entire physique transform. It’s no longer Katelyn standing a few steps removed from the beacon of light but Serenity.
Dan Douglas: There’s no describing the impact it has on you, body, spirit and mind….
Serenity draws ever so much closer to the fountain of light gushing forth from the rip in the sky at the top the stairs. A strong gust of wind blows her hair in front of her face. Once the mask of bangs fall back and away we see it is no longer Serenity’s features hidden beneath them, but Taylor Chase’s.
Taylor Chase: The moment you compete at Invictus, you’re life changes forever…..
The top of the steps have been reached and Taylor is now being engulfed in the light.
Christian: Invictus will be about testing my limits.
There is a sudden influx of chaotic clips that consume the screen. The stairwell and the transforming bodies traversing it on a quest to reach the light have faded away. Now we see Christian rushing across the ring and delivering the spear on William Mason, driving down the No Limits Champion. The video cuts to Mason’s retaliation, blindsiding Christian with a title belt and concluding this ambush via giving Christian a Perfect Driver on the stage.
William: At Invictus, you will find out that I….am….LIMITLESS.
Mason stoops over an unconscious Christian holding the No Limits Title in the air.
Scott Cannon: I won’t stop until I have MY Taylor Chase back…..
The New Eden influenced Scott Cannon stands in the ring making a speech before the cameras quickly cut to Johnny Kingdom cutting him off.
Greyson: HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!
Sparkles: JOHNNY KINGDOM IS BACK!
Another transition in the footage takes us to Scott trying to intimidate Kingdom even while Johnny is operating in an official capacity as special referee for Scott’s match. The next scene goes far beyond intimidation, Kingdom and Cannon featured brawling in the parking lot.
A Hell In a Cell is shown descending from the rafters and towards the ring. The video transitions to Rachel Tatum Lee standing in front of her ex-husband Aiken Frost and espousing the line that she has been waiting so long to deliver.
Rachel: I want a divorce.
We cut from Rachel’s stand against Aiken to the dissolution of Ethan Von Aaron’s alliance with Alana Starr as she turns her back on him while he’s being bloodied and beaten by Aiken in the ring.
Greyson: Rachel Tatum Lee and Ethan Von Aaron versus Aiken Frost and Alana Starr!
Sparkles: Hell in a Cell at Invictus.
The clips are now highlighting Gavin Taylor as the Evolution Champion turns his back on his tag team partner Andre Jordan. A desperate Andre reaches out for the tag, but Gavin walks in the opposite direction of the outstretched hand.
Greyson: Gavin Taylor has just abandoned his tag team partner.
The camera spirals around Gavin’s face which is turning back to look at the ring with an incredulous smile extended across it. A few weeks later we see Andre flipping over the desk that separates him from Gavin, the two squaring up on one another in the ring moments after the contract signing.
Andre: At Invictus I’m gonna give you the honest to goodness beating you deserve.
The music and the clips continue to bombard the screen at a frenetic pace. Now focus is paid to Mika Kozlov defending the World Championship against her sister Taylor Chase. Mika’s game-plan goes horribly awry when her rival Brittany Lohan comes limping down the ramp, fighting through EMTS to get to Kozlov. The distraction causes Mika to walk right into the True Story that costs her the World Championship. This scene is followed by the haunting words of Kozlov, which can be heard in the background while on the screen we see her rising through the stage and through a ring of fire.
Mika: Brittany Lohan….
The video transitions to Lohan standing in the ring while the ropes around her burn.
Mika: At Invictus, I will reduce your world to ashes…and you will FEAR ME!
This scene is replaced by an even more garish image, that of Lukas Montgomery sitting in a corner of the ring holding a blood soaked Aaron Harrison’s head in his arms. Lukas’ words are superimposed over the violence playing out on the screen.
Lukas: I don’t want Mika to be cured, and I don’t want you to be happy.
The chaos continues with a shot of Harrison crushing Lukas’ skull between the steps and a chair, Aaron giving his former partner a one man-conchairto. The video switches to a shot of Aaron holding a hammer and standing over a restrained Lukas.
Harrison: We’re going to finish this at Invictus in an UNSANCTIONED MATCH.
The World Title consumes the screen, being raised aloft in the middle of the ring. The video segues to a masked Katelyn Buehler throwing Serenity into Marie Jones and knocking them both out of the Last Stand Rumble. The excited vocals of the commentators can be heard lamenting over this shocking and magical moment.
Greyson: KATELYN BUEHLER HAS WON THE LAST STAND RUMBLE!
Sparkles: She’s going to the main event of Invictus to challenge for the World Title!
Another quick jump takes us to Serenity and Marie standing in the ring protesting their elimination from the Rumble.
Marie: We were not eliminated, Katelyn was already taken out of the Rumble, she had no right to come back and throw us out.
Serenity: She is not going to Invictus.
Yet another time jump takes us to Blaire McBride in the middle of the ring, the Principle Owner clasping a microphone.
Blaire: After all the controversy during the Last Stand Rumble, I am announcing that Katelyn Buehler, Marie Jones and Serenity will challenge the World Champion in a fatal four way for the title at Invictus.
Speaking of the World Champion, Mika Kozlov is shown crashing face first into Taylor Chase’s knee. The True Story connects, knocking Mika out and allowing Taylor to pick up the victory, regaining the World Title. The excited vocals of the commentators speak in the background while this historic moment plays out on screen.
Greyson: Taylor Chase returns and captures the World Championship.
Mika: She’ll defend it at Invictus.
The images bombarding the screen now feature Marie Jones smashing Katelyn in the face with a titanium knee brace. The video cuts to Katelyn speeding up the ramp and hitting Serenity with a motorcycle, carrying her rival to the backstage area on the handlebars of the bike.
Katelyn: I am coming home at Invictus and no matter what the result no matter what I am going to leave that ring with my head held up with no regrets i will leave everything out there and I will leave everyone in that audience…Satisfied.
As we hear Katelyn’s voice in the background we see her hitting the KTFO on Serenity and on Taylor Chase.
Marie: For the fans, they need to get used to seeing me at the top of the mountain. They need to get used to seeing me as the world champion. There is no force in heaven or on earth that can stop me at Invictus II.
The voice over of Marie Jones can be heard while we see the titanium knee brace around her leg caving in Katelyn’s skull.
Serenity: The landscape finally changes May 4th with me as the World Champion. You’re welcome.
The chilling words of Serenity are playing in the background while there are images of Serenity hitting Taylor in the head with a baseball bat.
Taylor: This isn’t where the story ends, oh no this is a new chapter and where the fun truly begins going into the future as your World Champion and That is a True Story.
Once again we over hear Taylor while seeing clips of her delivering the True Story on Marie Jones in the confines of a Steel Cage.
The footage now cuts to Mason Van Stanton pointing at the Invictus banner hanging from the rafters. Marina Valdivia is shown directing her finger towards the Invictus graphic. Selena Frost is extending her finger toward the Invictus banner. Even more raised voices are overheard in the background.
Marina Valdivia: It’s my night to show that I’ve truly arrived in IWC and that my future is brighter than ever.
Kellen Jeffries: Invictus means respectability. Just one win on the biggest stage in IWC and nobody is laughing at the Man-God any longer.
Selena Frost: Invictus, to me, is a night that is unlike any other in IWC. It’s the end of so many stories and journeys, but also the beginning of new ones. It’s about reflection. Where you’ve been, where you are and where you’re going. We’re all here because we believe that.
Amanda Blayze: At Invictus, I’ll be liberated.
Lexy Chapel: At Invictus, all the rules change.
Dean Daniels: At Invictus, we take our place in history.
The camera rapidly ascending a flight of stairs can be seen before it hits the light at the top. From the blinding light the word “Invictus” takes form. A deep voice can be heard in the background.
Voice: It is now time for the greatest spectacle of them all….INVICTUS!
Fireworks are shooting from the specially crafted stage and entry way here tonight at Invictus. A long and decadent stairwell leads down to the stage, with two Cartel-trons set to the sides and slightly beneath these steps. At the top of the stairwell is a giant Invictus emblem with LED boards built into the lettering and flashing enough colors to induce an epileptic fit. Once the enormous fireworks display has ended cameras flow over the crowd amassed in the Staples Center. They are hamming it up and feeling particularly raucous for this landmark event in IWC history. The commentators, now overheard in the background, sound even more exhilarated than the audience.
Greyson Lovejoy: This….is…Invictus!
Finally the cameras cut away from the fans and settles on the trio situated behind the announce table. Greyson Lovejoy, his puppet Sparkles, and Frankie Paradise are all three decked out to the nines in recognition of this event…yes, even Sparkles is wearing a tiny tuxedo.
Sparkles: The biggest night of the year is here.
Greyson: The most heralded spectacle in professional wrestling emanating live tonight from the Staples Center here in Los Angeles California. I can’t believe we are finally here gentlemen….look at my arms, I’m getting goosebumps.
Frankie: No one wants to see those pasty stick thin twigs of yours Greyson, if anyone should be showing off their arms it’s me. I mean, my biceps have their own zip codes.
Sparkles: Sparkles is so excited for tonight…FREE CHEESE FOR EVERYONE!
At last we transition to the middle of the ring but not because we’re about to see competition…no, it’s for more SPECTACLE. Currently Ring Announcer Thomas Boll is in the middle of the squared circle holding a microphone and speaking through his normal broken English.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, here to sing America of Beautiful. She is Grammy winning recording star….RHIANNA!
The Staples Center fantasizes at the prospect of seeing a Rhianna performance, but what they get in reality is anything but a performance from the pop star.
Jessica Wilde: Rhianna? Not likely.
From beneath the Invictus emblem steps Jessica Wilde, toting her Extraordinary Championship and followed closely by her masked protector Executioner. The two make their way down the steps and finally reach the ramp, descending it to the ring. Once inside we can see Wilde’s new ring gear for the evening, decked out in a blood red cape that hangs from her back and tied to her wrists.
Wilde: I did the world a favor and sent that talentless hoe home before I gave her a fatter lip than Chris Brown.
Even louder boos emanate from the crowd.
Wilde: No one wants to hear Rhianna bark and howl her way through a rendition of America the Beautiful. They all want this song done right. Which is why I’m out here to do what Kordy couldn’t do at last year’s Invictus and make sure it’s sung correctly.
Wilde steps back and clears her throat.
Wilde: Take it Executioner.
The crowd couldn’t possibly groan any louder the moment they see Executioner take the microphone and take the center of the ring. After some preparation Executioner produces his best singing voice.
Executioner: Grrr…Grrrr…Grrrrr.. GGGRRR!
Believe it or not that actually is Executioner singing.
Executioner: Grrr-grr-grrr-GRRRRRGRRRR!
The growling continues to Wilde’s delight and the crowd’s unanimous disgust. Just as Executioner is about to get into the chorus the lights in the building begin to flicker and fluctuate. Both Wilde and Executioner alarmingly turn to the stage, wide eyes drawn to the numerous Cartel-trons that are flashing. Upon the screens the viewers can see letters appearing interspersed between shots of a wolf’s face and a bloodied jester mask. At last all the letters come together to form the word ‘N-E-C-R-O.’
’Sin with a Grin’ starts to play over the PA system marking the arrival of Shilo Valiant. Naturally a man as twisted and bizarre as Shilo does not come to the ring in typical, mundane fashion. Several individuals emerge from the back, stepping around the stairs leading up from the stage to the curtains. Their faces have been painted with skull patterns and black robes hang from their bodies, giving them the appearance of those partaking in the Day of the Dead celebration. Those in the Calaveras make up are lugging along a black casket between them.
Sparkles: Sparkles is frightened.
Frankie: What in the hell is this shit?
Greyson: It looks like Wilde’s and Executioner’s opponent in the handicap match tonight is making his entrance in chilling fashion. Shilo Valiant is playing mind games with these two.
The casket is at last sat up straight and now a fog is seeping out from the cracks of the lid. Suddenly the lid flies off and Shilo Valiant emerges from the casket, stepping out to the ramp and glaring at both Wilde and Executioner in the ring with his haunting eyes.
Greyson: THERE HE IS! Shilo Valiant here to take on Jessica Wilde and Executioner in this handicap match to open Invictus 2015.
Sparkles: What bigger way to start Invictus than by seeing the SCW Icon Shilo Valiant competing in an IWC ring for the very first time.
Greyson: It’s enough to give you chills.
The second Shilo plants his feet on the canvas the Staples Center can be heard marking out. Everyone gives Shilo the ovation an athlete of his caliber and fame deserves. However, Wilde greets him in a far different and far less respectful manner. She overcomes her fear and rushes straight at Shilo, swinging her unsanctioned Extraordinary title belt, the very championship that Shilo has stalked her in order to take possession of, right at the legend’s face. Shilo catches Wilde coming in though with a small package.
Greyson: Wilde TRYING to jump Wilde with the title, but he’s caught her! Is the match going to end this quickly?
Sparkles: We’re gonna have a title change right out of the gates!
Official Arnie Ficklebottom makes the count to thunderous approval from the crowd.
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Executioner overcomes his surprise, grabbing Shilo by the waistband and pulling him off the cover. Wilde rolls away and into the ropes while Executioner drags Shilo to his feet then pulls him into a short arm clothesline. But Shilo ducks, resulting in the masked man shooting past him and into a clothesline to Wilde’s larynx, flipping his own partner over the ropes.
The stunned giant backs up right into the waiting arms of Shilo, who rolls him up from behind into the sunset flip.
Greyson: Now Shilo’s got Executioner!
Frankie: Yep, and thanks to the fucktarded rules of this match, Shilo can pin either one of his opponents to become Extraordinary Champion.
The referee makes the count to thunderous approval.
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Executoner’s kick out does not receive the same amount of praise. He rolls to his feet and swings at Shilo only to be caught around the neck, Valiant preparing to deliver the Last Laugh. The snapmare driver is about to be delivered but Executioner shoves him off and sends him flying towards the ropes that Wilde is now standing on the opposite side of. Shilo lifts his foot into the air though, connecting with a superkick over the top rope right to Wilde’s jaw, knocking her to the outside.
Shilo then turns back towards Executioner, who is rushing straight in with hands extended for his throat. But Shilo drops into a baseball slide right through Executioner’s legs then pops up to his feet behind him. Shilo now leaps into the air, going for a back stabber only to have Executioner grab the top rope and shirk Valiant off. Shilo falls to the canvas and rolls across it, Executioner turning to face him and looking to behead the Necro Merchant with a clothesline…a clothesline Shilo ducks right under. Shilo remains stooped as he rushes under the seven footers arm and into the ropes, diving through them into a suicide headbutt that connects with Wilde on the outside of the ring.
Greyson: Great work by Shilo here, managing to consistently keep both of his opponents from employing their number’s advantage against him.
Frankie: He’s a cheater, he keeps catching Wilde totes off guard.
Shilo’s collision with Wilde has sent her rolling backwards up the ramp. In the meanwhile Valiant is climbing up to the apron and then catching an inbound Executioner by swinging his shin over the top rope and into the behemoth’s brow. Executioner is knocked back and Shilo is taking the top rope, pulling himself over it. He is about to spring off the cables only to be caught around the ankle by Wilde. She reaches up from the mats, grabs him around the leg and yanks on it, pulling Shilo down from the ropes face first into the apron.
The collision with the reinforced steel beneath the apron rattles Shilo but does not take him off of his feet, instead he staggers back from the ring shaking the cobwebs out of his skull. At the same time Executioner reaches out of the ring and grabs the tarp hanging from the apron, pulling it up into the air. He exposes the steel rebar that supports the apron and now Wilde introduces Shilo directly into it. She grabs him by the back of the head and throws him face first with all her strength right into the steel. Shilo’s head ricochets from the steel and he now falls unconsciously across the mats. Wilde then directs him into the ring where Executioner is waiting. He grabs Shilo by the ears and pulls him up into a jackknife powerbomb. Moments after he leaves his adversary incapacitated Executioner reciprocates Wilde’s demand for a tag. She quickly scales her team’s corner then comes flying off into the Wilde Fire. The frogsplash connects right on top of Shilo’s head.
Greyson: Powerbomb followed by the frog splash.
Sparkles: This is just as I had envisioned it! Only in my dreams there was more cheese.
Wilde hooks one leg with her arms, and the other with her legs, leaning back in a desperate pin attempt.
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The official’s hand draws to the canvas but Shilo’s arm launches away from it. He kicks out just a second before he could succumb to this two on one advantage. A dismayed Wilde now rolls Shilo over to his stomach and applies the front chancery, locking in the submission with all her upper body strength. Yet Shilo does not stay down, forcing his way up to his feet and motivating Wilde to extend her foot to allow Executioner to tag it. He then enters the ring and delivers a double axehandle smash across Shilo’s lower back, knocking him to his knees. The masked man steps around Shilo and applies a rear naked choke which transitions into a cobra clutch.
Frankie: The number’s too much for Shilo, could of predicted this would happen, and I did predict it, just didn’t want to say it till now.
Sparkles: Sparkles believes you.
In spite of having the strength zapped from his body by the cobra clutch Shilo is still working his way up to his feet. This motivates Executioner to lift Shilo up off of his feet with the cobra clutch and then fling him across the ring. Shilo is thrown like a ragdoll right down to the canvas and Executioner stalks him, taking great pleasure in this thorough beat-down. He now sits Shilo up on to the canvas and wedges his fists to both sides of his adversary’s head, applying a vice grip. He does so just close enough to the ropes for Wilde to reach over and tag his shoulder. She quickly enters the ring then hustles into the ropes in front of Shilo who is still trapped in the vice grip. A running knee strike smashes Shilo in the face, knocking him to his back. Executioner steps out of the way and leaves Shilo to suffer at Wilde’s hands, and suffer he does. Wilde drops down beside Shilo and applies a neck cravat. The hold twists the Necro Merchant’s head, almost snapping it right off the neck.
Greyson: These holds might not earn a submission but they will effectively wear Shilo down.
Frankie: Just as they’re doing now.
Wilde puts all of her power behind the cravat that is winding her nemesis down. The crowd is standing and slapping the barricades, stomping their feet and screaming for Shilo to get back up. He now begins to ascend, finding strength returning to his legs, which begin to straighten, compelling him to stand up. Wilde acts quickly, delivering a snapmare from the neck cravat position. She then tags out to Executioner, who enters the ring, rushes into the ropes in front of Shilo, ricochets off and delivers a big dropkick to Shilo’s face.
The fans applaud the acrobatic display by the seven footer, who rolls along to his feet, bounces off the cables and delivers a jumping elbow drop square to his opponent’s heart. Executioner then rolls along to his feet and extends his hand, looking to tag out to Wilde. She quickly springs to the top rope and Executioner grabs her under the knee and the jaw, throwing her into a big splash right on top of Shilo. She hooks a leg and looks to retain the Extraordinary Championship.
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The frazzled fans change their tune when seeing Shilo get his shoulder up. In aggravation Wilde pulls Shilo up by his bangs, rolling him to his knees. She then swipes her arms through the air, calling for an end to this whole affair. She rushes back into the cables, ricochets off and leaves her feet, going for the Scarlet Letter. The Curb Stomp is about to be delivered but Shilo suddenly stands up even with Wilde basically standing on the back of his head. As a result Wilde goes flipping over backwards and shockingly lands on her feet. She then lifts one into the air, going for a spinning heel kick only to have Shilo drop into a baseball slide beneath the kick. Shilo continues to slide, going under the ropes and through Executioner’s legs. He grabs him by the ankles, pulling his feet out from under him and causing the masked man’s face to come crashing down right into the apron. The giant turns away from the ring, stooping over and grabbing at his face. Shilo takes advantage of this, rushing at Executioner, stepping off of his back and then using him as a stepping stool to launch onto the top rope.
Shilo lands on the cables and is about to spring off back into the ring but Wilde dashes across the squared circle and pushes her opponent back. As a result Shilo goes flipping from the top rope into a MOONSAULT that sends him crashing right into Executioner at ringside.
Greyson: Shilo always thinking on the fly….literally.
Sparkles: It looked like he was going for a splash on Wilde off the top rope, but she pushed him off and sent him moonsaulting right into her monster at ringside.
Shilo rolls away from said monster and then comes rushing at the ring just as Wilde grabs the top rope and pulls herself over into the crossbody. But Shilo suddenly drops down and crawls under the tarp and under the ring. Wilde lands on her feet across the ringside mats then grabs the tarp hanging from the apron, throwing it out of her way so she can reach beneath to get her hands on her rival. She peers under the ring but does not see Shilo. A recovered Executioner staggers in, aiding Wilde in her search for Shilo. They are so preoccupied looking beneath the ring that they don’t spot Shilo scrambling through the squared circle above them. He emerges from the opposite end of the ring, crawling out from under it and then sliding through the ropes, putting himself back on the canvas. He rushes across it and flips over the top rope into a corkscrew crossbody that sends him slamming into both Wilde and Executioner.
Frankie: How in the hell is Shilo doing this? Seriously?
Greyson: The man possesses an almost preternatural awareness of where his opponents are and how to take advantage of their positioning.
The LA crowd is giving Shilo a standing ovation as he works his way back into this match and wears both of his adversaries down. He steps in and pops Executioner across the jaw, staggering him back into the ring apron. He then delivers a knife edge chop across Wilde’s sternum, sending her spiraling away. Shilo turns back to Executioner, popping him across the face with a closed fist. He then takes him around the neck and rolls him into the ring, following him inside.
Wilde grabs Shilo by the ankles though and attempts to keep him from getting into the ring. This prompts Shilo to roll to his seat, wedge his feet to Wilde’s chest and kick her off. As a result Wilde hits the mats and rolls back, ending up right beside the Extraordinary Title belt. Meanwhile Shilo is standing up in the ring and turning to face Executioner…or more accurately, Executioner’s BOOT. The blow knocks Shilo’s brains almost right out of his head.
Executioner then falls into the lateral press, on the verge of helping his team successfully retain the Extraordinary Title.
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With seconds to spare Shilo manages to roll his shoulder from the canvas. A seething Executioner drags Shilo along into a front chancery while hooking his leg in the process. He now lifts Shilo into the air, going for the Executioner’s Noose, a fisherman buster onto the masked man’s raised knee. But at the last second Shilo manages to float over, landing on Executioner’s back and wrapping arms around his neck, applying a rear naked choke. Executioner swings his arms around in a desperate attempt to escape the hold. He finally turns his back to the ropes and staggers in reverse, putting Shilo on his seat across the top rope. Executioner then spins around and pushes Shilo only to have Valiant reach out with his legs as he falls back, tucking them under his opponent’s armpits. As a result Executioner is sent flipping over the cables and to the outside mats, Shilo landing on the apron.
His eyes veer back to the ring where Wilde is now crouching on her knees. Shilo grabs the top rope and springs onto it, flying off with his trajectory carrying him towards Wilde. He flies right into the Extraordinary Championship, Wilde revealing that she was crouched over the belt and now swinging that belt right into Shilo’s face.
Greyson: OOOOH GOD!
Frankie: Shilo wanted that title and Wilde just gave it to him, hahahahaha….Ooooh I’m awesome.
Sparkles: Extraordinary Title right in the face.
The belt bounces off Shilo’s brow and leaves him splayed across the ring. Wilde throws the title aside before the official can catch her red handed. Right now Ficklebottom is still staring over the ropes at Executioner, checking on his condition, meaning the ref totally missed the blow from the title belt. But he doesn’t miss it as Wilde rushes across the ring, leaps into the air, wedges her foot to the back of Shilo’s head and pushes his face down into the Scarlet Letter. The curb stomp connects and less than a second later Wilde is crawling into the cover to capitalize on that move. Ficklebottom slips into position and makes the count. Fans are literally covering their eyes on top of covering their mouths to stifle the vomit that wants to come gushing from their guts.
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Here comes the three and there goes Shilo’s arm form the canvas. Wilde rolls to her seat and slaps her own hands over her own mouth, holding back not vomit but the string of obscenities that want to come flying out.
Sparkles: Shilo gets a shoulder up! This is what Invictus is all about!!
Greyson: And that right there is why Shilo Valiant has accrued such a resume and outstanding record in professional wrestling, constantly defying expectations.
Wilde is still grappling with her disbelief. Eventually she overcomes her surprise and starts to rush towards the ropes to hit a second Scarlet Letter. She goes charging at Shilo who stands up just in time to catch Wilde around the neck, going for the Last Laugh. The Snapmare Driver is about to connect only for Shilo’s plans to be thrown out the window when a hand is thrown around his throat. Executioner slides into the ring and grabs Shilo by the esophagus, seconds from hitting the chokeslam. He lifts Shilo into the air but Shilo surprisingly flips back, not only breaking free from Executioner’s clutches but catching Wilde in the top of her head with a Pele Kick. His shin cracks Wilde in the top of the skull, knocking her back into the ropes, falling down over the Extraordinary Title. At the same time Shilo lands on his elbows and knees while Executioner steps over his opponent’s head. He grabs him around the waist, hoisting him up into another jackknife powerbo….NOO….Shilo manages to slip out of the behemoth’s arms, taking him around the neck then dropping back into the downward spiral.
Executioner’s face bounces from the canvas and Shilo is rolling back away from him. He stands up just as Wilde comes charging in from behind, once again swinging the Extraordinary Title at the back of Valiant’s head.
Greyson: WATCH OUT SHILO!
The title connects, with nothing but air. Shilo manages to reach back catching Wilde around the neck and cutting her off in mid swing of the belt. Shilo delivers the Last Laugh, the snapmare driver planting Wilde’s head into the ring.
Greyson: Wilde attempts to smash Shilo in the skull with the belt!
Sparkles: But she walked right into the Last Laugh.
The LA crowd has a spastic response at the sight of the Last Laugh connecting and Shilo making the cover on his latest victim. The fans chant along with each slap the referee gives the canvas.
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There is quite the exhilarated response at the sight of Wilde failing to get her shoulder up. Shilo sits on the canvas smirking as the bell rings and the announcer names him not only the victor but the NEW Extraordinary Champion.
Greyson: Just like that it’s over…It’s over! We have a NEW Champion crowned right here at Invictus.
Sparkles: What a way to start the show.
The Extraordinary Title belt is handed to Shilo, who promptly rolls to the outside of the ring. Instead of doing the obligatory stand on the turnbuckle and lift of the belt, Shilo drops to his knees on the ramp, plopping himself right in front of the casket he made his entrance in. As Shilo lifts the Extraordinary Title, fireworks shoot from the top of the casket.
Greyson: Shilo has come to Invictus and he walks away from the biggest night of the year with the Extraordinary Title.
Sparkles: And Invictus is just getting started.
BACKSTAGE
Coffee pours into a cup clutched in the hands of the Rising Phoenix, the one and only king of controversy himself, the man who makes his in ring return tonight at Invictus, Christian Savior. He prepares himself a pre-match caffeine cocktail, lingering in the concessions area the entire time. His moment of solitude is short lived however.
Johnny Kingdom: Do my eyes deceive me?
Christian spits his coffee back into the cup, the flavor suddenly not to his liking. He looks towards former IWC World Campion, the Team Leader, the legendary former World Champion who ALSO makes his return to the squared circle tonight, Johnny Kingdom.
Kingdom: Is that Christian Savior in the flesh? Albeit slightly more wrinkly flesh?
Christian: Says the man with more crows feet than eyes.
Kingdom: And to what do we owe the honor of Christian Savior’s presence here tonight? I take it we can expect the customary Rocky Balboa plotline? You know, the whole former champion returning to the ring to prove he’s still got it, only with less dead Adrienne…
Christian: Oh no, I haven’t fallen into the dreaded ‘Johnny Kingdom Role’ have I?
Kingdom: Hey, at least I actually have a legacy worth coming back to defend. Since, well, you know MY era here in the IWC was a thousand times greater than yours.
Christian: The fact that you can tell me that with a straight face is a testament to just how delusional you are. Everyone knows that MY era as World Champion of the IWC was the single greatest era in this company’s history.
Kingdom: Heh. Yeah, trading barbs with Ethan Von Aaron really does sound epic. Soooo much greater than what I did during MY era, like defending the World Championship in blood feuds against the likes of AWOL and Hurse and….
Orlando: Don’t go leaving my name off that short list.
A rather surprised Kingdom and Christian turn to face the man NO ONE thought would be in attendance for tonight’s Invictus. Former World Champion, former IWC President, and Icon eternal, Orlando Cruze. He approaches the pair that he has quite the track record with.
Kingdom: What are you doing here?
Christian: Yeah, didn’t you retire for like what, the fifteenth time?
Orlando: More like the twentieth. But don’t go and get your knickers twisted now, I’m not here to come out of retirement AGAIN.
Christian: Knickers?
Kingdom: Like Patrick Ewing?
Orlando: And I’m not here to try and put MY era on some type of pedestal. See guys, tonight is just as much about looking back as it is about looking forward. While this event honors the traditions and the milestone moments of the past, it also builds towards the future, which is why I’m here tonight. I was brought to Invictus by the new owners to say my final farewell and to make an announcement that is going to alter this company for years to come.
Kingdom: Awww, how adorable, same old Orlando and his inflated sense of self-worth.
Christian: If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black.
Kingdom: There’s no need to bring racism into this….
With a roll of his eyes and a smirk Orlando distances himself from this argument, embarking for the ring.
Christian: Racism? Brother, I don’t even know what the hell your ethnicity is. You could be an Oompa Loompa for all I know.
Kingdom: Hmmm, would explain my passion for random song and dance numbers.
Christian: Before this becomes just that the same old song and dance, let me remind you that neither of us came here tonight to argue over who’s era was more dominant. This is Invictus, Johnny, IN-VIC-TUS!
Kingdom: Thanks, but I don’t need for you to tell me how important this night is, I wouldn’t be here if Invictus didn’t mean something special to me.
Christian: You know, as dirty as it makes me feel to say this, Orlando is right. We’ve made a lot of great memories here at Invictus, and neither of us are through making history. I got one or two controversial moments left in the tank, and William Mason will find that out tonight.
Kingdom: Yeah, some may claim that I’m not in my prime anymore, but guys like Scott Cannon, are going to learn that even if I’m no longer at my best, I’m still better than HIM.
Cameras transition to a close up view of handcuffs hanging from a steel pole ascending from a turnbuckle. Ring Announcer Thomas Boll can be overheard in the background.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, following match schedule for one fall, and it is a Handcuffs on a Pole Match.
The crowd cheers in recognition of this sure to be brutal bout. Just as their pulses quicken, their hearts stop at the sounds of distant screams. A fog rolls in over the stage enhanced by an ominous purple light, casting an eerie glow over the arena. A dark void can now be seen emerging from the fog, a shadowy mass that soon takes the shape of Mrs. R. She crawls down the steps to the stage and stops on her knees. The second she looks up something comes lowering down towards her from the rafters, bodies with cuffed wrists latched onto poles. The fog off to Mrs. R’s sides starts to dissipate and now we can see torture victims trapped in gallows, their faces buried beneath damp and dirty sacks.
Greyson: What in the hell are we seeing here?
Frankie: Hell…THAT’S what we’re seeing.
Sparkles: This has to the creepiest thing Sparkles has ever seen, and I once went to Disney Land.
Greyson: The intimidation game being played by Mrs. R and her monster Mordecai just seconds before he clashes with Vanilla Skyy in the first ever IWC Handcuffs on a Pole Match.
Frankie: Yeah, but Skyy is not easily intimidated, especially with being out for revenge against Mr. R and Mordecai, who have abducted and destroyed everyone that Skyy has cared about.
Greyson: Not to mention turning Skyy’s husband, Danny Darko, against his friends, leading to the collapse of the group Pain & Pleasure.
With fire erupting from the stage Mordecai walks through the flame. His haunting presence sends the crowd into chills. Their fear brings a smile to Mrs. R, who is still kneeling on the stage beside her beast. Finally Mordecai walks past her and reaches the ring, pulling his enormous frame to the apron via his tight grip on the top rope. That’s when the lights in the arena take on almost an artic blue tone. Snow actually begins to fall from the rafters and descend upon the crowd, some stupid enough to stick out their tongues and taste it. “U & Ur Hand” is playing over the PA system as a harsh snow storm bombards the stage. Through the blanket of snow we see a figure emerging that figure with her back turned to the camera. A huge and thick fur coat might be hiding her body but one can make out the unmistakable figure of Vanilla Skyy. She at last turns around and reveals that beneath the thick fur coat she is sporting an all black leather ensemble, busting out some different ring gear for this auspicious event. Standing behind her is Adam Chase, who thankfully is NOT in leather, but IS wearing a fur coat of his own.
Greyson: The Barrow Alaska native competing in her very first Invictus event.
Sparkles: And god almighty does she have a snowy tundra to traverse here tonight.
Frankie: Yeah, and something tells me Mordecai is going to be as unforgiving as the Alaskan climate.
Greyson: Especially if he’s the first to reach those handcuffs at the top of that pole. Heaven help whoever ends up in those shackles first.
Skyy reaches the ring, removes her fur coat and now glares at the beast giving her a deadpan glare from the center of the squared circle. Skyy does more than shed her coat, she sheds all inhibition, throwing caution aside and her body into the ring. She no sooner enters the squared circle before Mordecai takes her by the throat, latching onto her with the goozle.
Greyson: Chokeslam coming before the bell could even sound!
Sparkles: You can feel all the animosity between these two straight out of the gates.
Frankie: Mordecai going to make Skyy pay for attacking his Mrs. R on the last NewAge.
Mrs. R watches with delight from ringside as Mordecai heaves Skyy into the air for the chokeslam only to have her squirm out of his clutches. She swings her body around behind Mordecai, who turns to face her and almost walks right into the White Out. Skyy goes for the bicycle kick only to have Mordecai drop down out of the way, rolling from the ring in the nick of time to avoid suffering the blow.
Greyson: No chokeslam from Mordecai, and no White Out from Skyy.
Sparkles: These two going for their big moves very early on.
Skyy doesn’t go for another big move, instead she goes for the handcuffs, climbing the turnbuckle and reaching to the top of the pole where the shackles are hanging.
Frankie: She’s going after the handcuffs.
Greyson: Which have played such a huge role in the build into this match, remember those cuffs have shackled her hands, her friends hands and her agent’s hands as they were tormented and tortured by Mordecai in recent weeks.
Skyy almost has her hand around the cuffs before finding a hand around her throat. Mordecai leaps to the apron and reaches up, snatching Skyy by the carotid artery. He is just about to chokeslam her off the top rope back into the ring. Suddenly Skyy kicks Mordecai’s arm away though and then leaps off the turnbuckle, landing on the monster’s shoulders and hitting him with a hurricarana that sends him flipping off the apron.
Greyson: OOOOH!
Mordecai hits the mats with a hard thud. He shows little signs of pain up until Skyy drops to his side, pulling his arm into the Zero Below. The fans are screaming at the top of their lungs as Skyy applies her version of the crippler crossface outside of the ring on her monstrous opponent. Mordecai slowly works his way back up to his feet though, heaving Skyy up off of the mats and allowing her to dangle from his side. He now flips Skyy up onto his shoulder, countering the crossface into a running powerslam. He rushes across the mats to throw Skyy into the ring post but she manages to slip off of his shoulder at the last second, landing behind him. Mordecai stops before he crashes into the ring post, turning around to face Skyy, who leaves her feet, lands on his shoulder and prepares to drop back into the hurricarana. Mordecai plants his feet though and then shakes his head, refusing to be flipped into the move, causing Skyy to just hang upside down from his shoulders. Mordecai now heaves Skyy back up into a seated position on his chest before spinning towards the turnbuckle. He is about to powerbomb Skyy into the post only to have Vanilla drop back, delivering the hurricarana that sends Mordecai flying into the steel turnbuckle.
Mordecai bounces off then twists to the ground, grabbing at his forehead. A smiling Adam Chase claps for his client, deeply enjoying Skyy’s destruction of the behemoth who assaulted him just two weeks ago on NewAge. Mrs. R’s response to Mordecai’s plight is very much different, burying her face in her palm.
Greyson: Skyy with all the momentum on her side right now.
Sparkles: Who would have thought we’d see Skyy dominating Mordecai?
She’s about to do much more than dominate. Skyy rolls into the ring and approaches the steel beam supporting the handcuffs. She climbs the turnbuckle to the top rope and then reaches up for the cuffs before spotting quite the sight from the corner of her eye. Her agent has got a bit too big for his britches, Adam standing over Mordecai and shouting insults. There is no greater insult however than what Mordecai does in retaliation. He reaches up and snatches Chase by the throat, beginning to strangle him while the monster works his way to his feet. A chokeslam seems imminent on the horrified Chase. Just then Skyy comes flipping off the top rope into a senton plancha, crashing right into Mordecai’s waiting arms. To a thousand impassioned cries, Mordecai CATCHES Skyy in a front chancery, suspending her above the mats in a suplex position. He then spikes her with the brainbuster across the thin protective mats.
Frankie: BRUTAL DUDE, BRUTAL!
Greyson: Skyy attempting the senton from the top but she was CAUGHT and hit with a sickening brainbuster by Mordecai.
Frankie: Totes. And the last place you want to be is on the defensive against this creature.
Mordecai gets to his feet and drags Skyy along with him into the ring, the only place she can be pinned. A pin is not what Mordecai goes for though, instead he pulls Skyy up to her feet and drags her into a vicious short arm clothesline. He then drops to his knees and slaps his hand down around her throat. He pushes down on his wrist to apply even more pressure on Skyy’s throat, strangling the life out of her. She desperately kicks her feet as she gasps for oxygen. The referee insists that Mordecai break the illegal chokehold only to receive a bone chilling scowl from the beast. He finally stops strangling Skyy and pulls her along to her knees before hooking her around the waist. Mordecai dead lifts Skyy from the canvas and holds her in the gutwrench while stepping around the ring, just showing his strength. Ultimately he flings her back into the side suplex.
Mordecai just sits up on the canvas with a bored expression on his face. His hands are soon filled with Skyy’s hair, dragging her along to her knees and placing her in a front chancery. He once again deadlifts her from the canvas, holding her upside down in the suplex position while stepping around the ring. He shows his strength and at the same time allows all the blood to run into Skyy’s head. Ultimately he drops back into the suplex, slamming her body HARD into the unforgiving ring.
Greyson: Skyy just unable to recover after suffering the brainbuster on those thin mats.
Sparkles: Her head took such a nasty spill and Mordecai has just been dominating since.
Mrs. R doesn’t even try to hide the smile on her face as she watches Mordecai drag Skyy along to her feet and apply another front chancery. He now hoists her up into a second stalling suplex, moving around in a circle to give the crowd one more display of his power. But showing off comes back to haunt the monster, because Skyy manages to not just slip out of his clutches, but slide off his shoulder and land on the top rope behind him. She now finds herself standing just beneath the handcuffs hanging from the pole. Skyy reaches up for them but can’t get hold. Mordecai doesn’t have the same problem, he manages to take possession of what he’s after, Skyy’s foot, for the moment. She turns and manages to boot him straight to the face, driving the goliath back. Skyy then balances herself and dives out of the corner, coming down right on top of Mordecai’s SHOULDERS. He catches her with the fireman’s carry and then drives her down into a Death Valley driver planting the back of Skyy’s head right across his elevated knee.
Greyson: Another nasty landing right on top of her head.
Sparkles: Everything about Mordecai is nasty.
Including the trapezius hold he is now applying. He steps in behind Skyy and clamps down tight on her trapezius muscle, squeezing it until it wants to explode like a freshly squeezed orange. Before Skyy can be drained of her pulp she begins to swing her arms and tries to work her way up to her feet. She shockingly manages to get back to her feet in spite of being locked in this hold by the demonic figure.
Shockingly Mordecai releases her of his own volition only so he can shove her forward into the ropes. Skyy bounces off and staggers back into a headbutt right between her shoulder blades. The pain is indescribable and almost removes Skyy from her feet. Mordecai keeps her standing so he can shove her again into the ropes, but this time Skyy isn’t about to bounce back into the creatures waiting arms. She drops down into a baseball slide under the ropes and gets to her feet on the apron. She then leaps into the air, swings her foot over the top rope and cracks an inbound Mordecai to the forehead. He is driven back, for the time being.
Mordecai shakes off the kick and comes charging straight at his adversary only to be caught around the neck and pulled down throat first into the top cable. His head snaps off the ropes as he gasps for air and staggers away from Skyy. She quickly dashes across the apron and scales the nearest turnbuckle, which just so happens to be under the handcuffs.
She once again reaches up for the shackles but fails to reach them before finding herself caught in the clutches of fear incarnate. Mordecai steps in behind Skyy, takes her by the arms and pulls her down off the turnbuckle into the Gory Special. He stretches over his back at an awkward angle in this submission hold before ultimately transitioning into something far more devastating. He wraps an arm around Skyy’s neck and pulls it down before dropping back and spiking her face into the canvas with the Weapon X.
The Gory Special transitioned into the reverse STO has left Skyy all but dead to the world. But Mordecai wants to take it just a step further. He sits Skyy up on the canvas and reapplies the nerve pinch, putting all of his strength into the squeeze on her trapezius muscle.
Greyson: Those handcuffs are proving to be nothing but a detriment to Skyy.
Frankie: Yeah, every time she goes to take them down from the pole Mordecai makes her pay for it.
Greyson: And now she’s paying the ultimate price, a potential loss.
Mordecai almost salivates at the thought of Skyy passing out to the agony coursing through her arm, but she won’t do it. She starts towards her feet, the crowd giving her the motivation to stand. But Mordecai applies even more pressure on her trapezius muscle, bringing her back down to her knees and keeping her there. But now Skyy slips right back through Mordecai’s legs, causing him to break the submission. She then gets to her feet behind Mordecai and dropkicks him straight to the rear end. The force of which sends Mordecai flying forward not only into the turnbuckle but over it, his face cracking into the steel beam supporting the handcuffs.
Mordecai’s head bounces off as he now twists around right into a big thrust kick under the jaw by Skyy. The blow has Mordecai staggered but still standing. So Skyy now whips around, going for a roundhouse kick only to have Mordecai duck under it. He stands back up with false confidence, Skyy makes a full revolution after missing her first roundhouse kick only to connect with the second. Her shin blasts Mordecai across the temple, stumbling him around. She then takes off into the ropes to deliver the move that will FINALLY take him down. She ricochets off the cables and into the White Out, the bicycle kick connecting with NOTHING, Mordecai reaching out and catching her by the throat. He avoids the White Out by way of hitting the chokeslam. Skyy is driven into the canvas and Mordecai is falling into the lateral press.
Greyson: It looked like Skyy was building momentum.
Frankie: Nah, she was just delaying the inevitable, her destruction.
The official makes the three count as Mordecai puts his palms to Skyy’s chest, holding her shoulders down to the canvas.
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To the delight of the fans Skyy manages to get her shoulder up right before the three.
Mrs. R stirs at ringside, pacing impatiently as this match goes far longer than she had anticipated. Mordecai drags Skyy along to her knees and then blasts her across the brow with a headbutt, driving her down to the canvas. He then takes Skyy by the bangs, pulls her up to her feet and hits her with a second headbutt, this one even more devastating than the last, putting her on her back. Finally, once he’s confident that he’s put her down and that she isn’t getting back up, Mordecai goes after the handcuffs.
Sparkles: This is the first time we’ve seen Mordecai go for the handcuffs.
Greyson: If he gets hold of them, Skyy’s night, career, hell even her life may be at an end.
Mordecai starts to climb the corner and reach up for the cuffs only to find his foot snagged on something. He looks back and spots Skyy latched onto his leg, refusing to allow him to grab the cuffs. Mordecai swings down into a devastating blow across her brow, knocking her away. Mordecai then stalks her before ultimately stooping down and grabbing her by the hair, dragging her wounded head under his lap. He then pulls her up into a powerbomb predicament but Skyy manages to push herself over his head, landing on the turnbuckle behind him. She gets her balance by holding the pole. She then quickly back flips off the turnbuckle right onto Mordecai, but FAILS to take him down. Mordecai catches Skyy on his shoulder, rushes across the ring and throws her over the turnbuckle shoulder first right into the steel pole.
Frankie: OH FUCK!
Greyson: Skyy thrown deliberately into that pole.
Sparkles: They might get more use out of that pole than the handcuffs.
Skyy corkscrews to the apron, falling across her seat and grabbing at her badly banged up collar bone. She gets to her feet only to be knocked off of them when Mordecai rushes across the ring and clotheslines her to the throat, knocking her to the outside mats.
Mordecai now returns his focus to the handcuffs. He begins to climb the turnbuckle, reaching up for the handcuffs. They are right in his clutches, Mordecai literally seconds from pulling them down. One thing DOES come down, Mordecai’s body.
In an amazing feat Skyy manages to climb up the opposite side of the ropes behind Mordecai, putting a hand to his rump. She pushes with all of her strength to shove Mordecai’s face right into the pole. His skull bounces from the steel and now his testicles take a tumble into the ropes. He loses his footing and finds himself crotched across the cables.
Greyson: WHAT A LANDING!
Sparkles: Nastiest landing I’ve ever seen.
Mordecai reaches for his groin, which has to be swelling after that disturbing plunge into the cables. Although he hasn’t even begun experience pain just yet, cause Skyy is climbing up onto the turnbuckle in front of him. She uses the pole to balance herself before walking the top rope and leaping into the White Out.
Frankie: WHHHHAAT!?!
Sparkles: I DIDN’T JUST SEE THAT!
The fans stand with hands on top of their heads and their jaws dropping to their knees at the sight of Skyy walking the top rope and punctuating it with the bicycle kick on the monster. The blow has sent Mordecai spiraling to the outside of the ring, spilling to the mats.
Fans: THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME!
Greyson: No, that was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone hit the White Out from that position before, EVER!
A desperate Skyy realizes this is her window of opportunity, compelling her wounded body towards the turnbuckle and then up it. She climbs the corner and then reaches up for the handcuffs. However, the pain becomes too much, the simple act of reaching putting too much strain on her internal injuries. She doubles over clasping at her ribcage, her convalescence proving quite detrimental. Somehow Mordecai is getting back to his feet at ringside, albeit with a lot of help from the apron. He drags his body into the ring and then crawls up behind Skyy, starting to climb the corner beneath her. Skyy is none the wiser, reaching up for the handcuffs and JUST getting her hands wrapped around them. Suddenly she finds Mordecai slipping under her, putting his shoulders to the back of her thighs. Mordecai grabs her around the waist, heaving Skyy into the air then dragging her down off the turnbuckle into the EMBRACE THE DARK! Mordecai falls down off the middle rope as he connects with his version of the Last Ride Powerbomb.
Greyson: OOOOOH MOTHER OF PEARL!!
Frankie: Skyy can’t be alive after that, there is no way. Not after the Embrace the Dark off the turnbuckle.
Sparkles: Yeah, and…wait a minute….look at the top of the pole.
All attention shifts to the pole that WAS holding the handcuffs….not anymore. In the process of lifting Skyy up into the Embrace the Dark, Mordecai put her at a high enough elevation to grab the handcuffs. Amazingly they are still wrapped around her hand even after taking the Embrace the Dark. This might be a moot point however, because Mordecai is right on the verge of finishing her off. He crawls across the ring and slaps his hand down around Skyy’s throat. He then pulls her along to her feet and prepares to deliver a second chokeslam. The enraged Mordecai throws Skyy up into a deadly chokeslam only to have her counter in mid-air, transitioning around into the Zero Below. She drags Mordecai down to the canvas and applies the crossface to a huge ovation from the fans.
But Mordecai is fighting through it, starting to get back to his feet. This prompts Skyy to twist her body and roll to the side, right over Mordecai’s back, coming down onto her seat on his opposite side. She then puts the handcuffs between her hands, dragging the chain across Mordecai’s throat and yanking back while also trapping his arm. She now has a modified version of the Zero Below locked in on Mordecai with the chain from the handcuff grinding across his throat.
Greyson: Skyy choking Mordecai with the handcuffs! She’s strangling him with the handcuffs!!
Frankie: And she’s got the Zero Below locked in at the same time. Mordecai has got no other alternative but to tap out.
Mrs. R is scowling from ringside at the sight of Mordecai suffering the Zero Below. Skyy isn’t scowling, she’s right on the cusp of celebrating as she brings Mordecai closer and closer to the brink of being choked out.
Greyson: He’s fading, Mordecai is fading!
Frankie: The Monster is about to pass out to the Zero Below.
The referee sees Mordecai’s eyes rolling to the back of his head and now reaches down, grabbing his arm, lifting it into the air. He is right about to let Mordecai’s wrist go and see if he’s passed out before Mrs. R grabs a handful of Skyy’s hair, pulling her away from the Zero Below.
Greyson: Mrs. R interfering on Mordecai’s behalf….DAMN HER!
Frankie: This twisted chick is only doing what’s right by her monster. Monsters deserve loving too after all. Even the ugly ones.
Sparkles: She’s taking advantage of that no disqualification rule in this Handcuffs on the Pole match.
Mrs. R now pulls Skyy up to her feet and hits her with a kick to the gut, followed by a scintillating and totally unexpected stunner. Skyy collapses to her back, clutching at her jaw and looking totally spent. Mrs. R gets to her feet with a smile that is shattered when Skyy’s agent Adam Chase comes barreling into her gut with the spear.
Greyson: CHASE!!!
Sparkles: He just friggin speared Mrs. R!
Frankie: This is so ridiculously awesome.
Chase and Mrs. R roll out of the ring exchanging punches. In their wake they leave Skyy laid out and the handcuffs on the canvas beside her unconscious body. That’s not where the cuffs stay, they soon find their way into Mordecai’s clutches. He rolls Skyy onto her stomach and then savors in this moment of shackling her arms behind her back.
Greyson: Oh God…oh no….
Sparkles: Mordecai has got Skyy cuffed.
Frankie: Now we see just how depraved this monster really is.
Saliva almost seeps from the corners of Mordecai’s mouth as he stoops and takes Skyy by the hair, dragging her up to her knees. He looks out over the crowd, who are begging and pleading for him to show mercy. Unfortunately mercy is not a word in Mordecai’s vocabulary. He drags Skyy up to her feet and then heaves her up onto his shoulder, trying to get her into position for the tombstone piledriver. Shockingly Skyy manages to squirm until she gets out of Mordecai’s clutches. She lands on her feet behind the beast then takes off into the ropes, bouncing off and coming back in at Mordecai, who spins around into such a devastating clothesline that it sends Vanilla corkscrewing through the air.
Frankie: DAYUM what a clothesline!
Mordecai swipes his arms through the air, symbolizing that the end is not near but now. He takes Skyy by the hair and drags her up to her knees before taking one last look to the outside of the ring where two security guards are separating Mrs. R and Chase. He does not take kindly to seeing the guards put their hands on Mrs. R. At last his focus returns to Skyy, dragging her up to her feet just as she leaves them in order to deliver a shocking White Out straight to the monster’s jaw. The blow knocks Mordecai into a spiral, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Skyy, with hands still cuffed behind her back, charges into the cables in front of him, ricochets off and hits another White Out, this one even more brutal than the last. Mordecai is knocked onto his back and Skyy is falling over his chest, shouting at the referee to make the count.
Greyson: TWO WHITE OUTS! TWO WHITE OUTS!
Sparkles: Mordecai never saw it coming!
The referee slips into position and makes the count to a reaction that threatens to shatter the foundation of the Staples Center.
1
2
To everyone’s disbelief Skyy gets the three and has finally toppled the unstoppable Mordecai.
Greyson: I don’t believe it….I don’t believe it actually happened….Vanilla Skyy, with her hands shackled behind her back, has just pulled off an absolute miracle.
Sparkles: This is Invictus, the home of the miraculous.
The crowd is screaming so loud at the sight of Skyy finally achieving vengeance against Mordecai. She sits up and celebrates in spite of her hands being shackled behind her back. Chase slides back into the ring and wraps his arm around Skyy’s neck, hugging his client.
Greyson: An emotional victory for Skyy here tonight at Invictus. She defeats the monster who turned her husband against her, who attacked her friends, who kidnapped her weeks ago.
Frankie: By catching Mordecai completely off guard with those two White Outs.
Sparkles: Mordecai thought he had Skyy dead to rights after shackling her hands behind her back, but she managed to shock him with those kicks out of nowhere
Greyson: Skyy victorious here tonight, what an Invictus moment for her, what a career moment for her, and what a personal moment for her.
Mordecai rolls into the corner, sitting up and watching Skyy and Chase celebrate. All the while Mordecai is grinning oh so manically. Mrs. R does not smile as she rolls into the ring and pats Mordecai on the shoulder, all the while whispering such insidious things into his ear.
Adam helps his client to her feet only for her to fall back to her knees as the toll of this match catches up with her. She may be in crippling pain, she may be debilitated, but it was all worth it to hear her name announced as the victor here at Invictus.
BACKSTAGE
We cut from a celebration in the ring to a woman who looks to have a celebratory moment all her own this evening. Katelyn Buehler is doing some hamstring stretches backstage before rising to her feet and working the kinks out of her arms by swinging her shoulders. The commentators can be overheard in the background.
Greyson: Katelyn Buehler readying herself for what is going to be the biggest match of her career.
Sparkles: She competes in the main event tonight for the World Championship.
Greyson: Indeed, she’ll be one of three challengers for the gold in the Fatal Four Way.
IN-RING
Cameras return to the ring where the stagehands are dissembling the pole used in the previous match. The fans are still reeling from that competitive bout, and the commentators are still singing the virtues of Vanilla Skyy’s hard fought victory.
Greyson: Just two matches in and Invictus is already producing the goods.
Sparkles: We just saw Vanilla Skyy and Mordecai wage one hell of a war in the Handcuffs on a Pole match.
Greyson: And Skyy’s victory in that match brings finality to her long standing issues with the monster who has set out to be her ruination.
Sparkles: One has to wonder what we’re going to see nex…
“You Know My Name.”
These words erupt through the PA system.
Greyson: Oh my.
Frankie: *Cynically* Oh great.
The Staples Center absolutely erupts into a euphoric response at the sound of former IWC President Orlando Cruze’s music. Their ovation gets even louder when the Icon steps through the curtains, Orlando stops on the stage and soaks in the seismic ovation he’s getting. He grins, pumps his fist against the chest of his suit jacket then raises his knuckles into the air. The commentators sound equally as excited as the crowd to feel Orlando’s presence.
Sparkles: The Chrome Dome cometh!
Greyson: No Invictus would be complete without Orlando Cruze.
Frankie: I don’t think he gets the point of the word ‘retired.’
Greyson: Our former President making his way to the ring here at Invictus for the final time.
Frankie: We can only pray.
Once in the ring Orlando receives a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd.
Orlando: INNVVVVICCTTTUSSS!
The fired up Cruze somehow manages to get the crowd even more hyped for the pay-per-view.
Orlando: God it feels so good to be in this ring for what is without a shadow of a doubt the biggest Invictus in IWC history. When I announced my retirement and walked away from the IWC, I made a promise that I would never return….buuuut, when it comes to Invictus, you can never say never. This just seems like the most fitting place to say goodbye to my fans and farewell to my career, a career that was defined by this event. It was right here that I won my first IWC World Championship, and it’s here tonight that I bid a fond adieu to my legacy. So before I get to my other announcement, I just want to say thank you…THANK YOU for supporting me throughout every moment of my life and my career. You’ve meant the world to me, and in lieu of all my accomplishments, my greatest achievement was putting smiles on your faces….
Frankie: Oh lord, someone please drop the curtain on Orlando.
Greyson: It’s hard to believe that this will be our final glimpse of the Icon.
Sparkles: Are you crying, Lovejoy?
Orlando: Now before this gets too sappy I have an announcement to make. My hand picked successor Drew Bryant called me here tonight to deliver his edict and I guess soften the potential blow back. So with that said, I’m here to let the world know that after this event has gone off the air there will be a MAJOR shake-up coming to the IWC. After tonight everything is going to change……The IWC will
Mika Kozlov: BURN.
The lights in the arena dim and everyone’s attention shifts to the halo of fire forming on the stage. Through the flame two figures ascend, one of them being the former World Champion, Mika Kozlov. A black shroud hangs over her head and shadows her painted face. She rides the back of her recently debuted juggernaut, Borislav. The giant Russian wears Mika like she were a backpack, carrying her down the ramp.
Greyson: We might want to brace ourselves, Mika Kozlov, the most demented and disturbed lady on the entire IWC roster is drawing closer to the ring.
Sparkles: Where the husband of her sister, Taylor Chase, the woman who beat Mika for the World Title, is currently standing.
Frankie: Orlando should have stayed away like he vowed he would.
When Mika’s eyes come into view they are even darker than the clothe draped over her head. She slips from Borislav’s back and into the ring, her heavy lingering outside of the squared circle watching her every movement.
Mika: Everything you care about lapochka will BURN. Your IWC will burn. Your wife will burn. Your roster will burn.
Orlando: Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a smidge to the loss of your World Championship? You know what, it doesn’t matter Mika, because I’m through dealing with you, that’s one of the benefits of being retired and no longer being your boss.
Mika: You might be done with me, but I am not done with you, hehehehe. I promised I would put fear into the heart of Brittany Lohan before our match tonight, and you will help me do just that…
Borislav manages to rush in behind Cruze, crushing him in the back with a roundhouse kick. The swift shot knocks Orlando to his elbows and knees. Mika now stoops down towards Orlando, who is being placed in a camel clutch by Borislav.
Mika: When Lohan takes one look at your burnt, mangled and mutilated body she will know fear for the first time in her life.
Mika and Borislav are about to inflict even more punishment on the Icon before a strange voice filters through the speakers.
Matt Walst: Hey Mika Kozlov….maybe you should save your strength, you’re about to need it.
Mika’s black eyes are turned to the lead singer of the band ‘Three Days Grace,’ who is making his way down the stairwell leading to the stage.
Walst: Because you might be a Diamond Demon, but you’re about to fight the DEVIL!
The elated crowd watches as Walst finally reaches the stage and finds himself surrounded by the rest of his band. Almost immediately they begin to play their hit single ‘I Am Machine,’ which also happens to be Brittany Lohan’s entrance track.
Walst: Here’s to being human
All the pain and suffering
There’s beauty in the bleeding
At least you feel something
I wish I knew what it was like
To care enough to carry on
I wish I knew what it was like
To find a place where I belong, but
The curtains at the top of the stairwell opens and Brittany Lohan emerges. Behind her back the Invictus lettering hanging above the steps has turned bright blue to resemble the shade of her trademark eyes.
Walst: I am machine
I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something
I am machine
I never sleep
Until I fix what’s broken
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something
Lohan slowly makes her way down the steps and ultimately reaches the stage, her gaze unbroken from the face of Mika throughout the whole process. She doesn’t even look away from Mika as the chorus of her entrance music kicks in and the band performing it becomes much more animated. Borislav has released Orlando, who has rolled to the outside of the ring, backing from the deranged Russians. Mika’s smile is ever widening as she watches Lohan come to the stage amidst all this flare.
Walst: Here’s to being human
Taking it for granted
The highs and lows of living
To getting second chances
I wish I knew what it was like
To care about what’s right or wrong
I wish someone could help me find
Find a place where I belong, but
Lohan starts her descent down the ramp, moving towards the woman who has put her through so much hell over the past several months. Now in Lohan’s mind it’s payback time, and retribution is going to be so much sweeter to achieve here at Invictus. Mika is already ushering Borislav out of the ring, truly wanting her hands and her hands alone to do all the damage to Lohan, refusing to share.
Walst: I am machine
I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something
I am machine
I never sleep
Until I fix what’s broken
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something
Lohan inches her way up the steps, savoring every single second that she makes Mika wait. Meanwhile on the stage Walst and company are really getting into the hardest portion of their hit track. The intense Lohan, adorned in new ring gear for the evening, puts one foot on the apron and then lingers, watching Mika stew.
Walst: It wasn’t supposed to be this way
We were meant to feel the pain
I don’t like what I am becoming
Wish I could just feel something
I am machine
I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something
I am machine
I never sleep
Until I fix what’s broken
I am machine
A part of me
Wishes I could just feel something.
Lohan slips through the ropes and into the ring where she finds her fierce blue eyes locked on Mika’s intimidating black eyes. The fans are going absolutely mad with suspense. The camera cuts back to Walst on the stage.
Walst: INVICTUS….YAH! Kick her ass, BLo!
Three Day Grace’s support brings a half smirk to Lohan’s face. This grin sickens Kozlov, who is pacing, growing impatient.
Greyson: WOW!
Sparkles: You want to talk about entrances, that was something special.
Frankie: All it’s done is piss Mika off though. I hope it was worth it.
Greyson: To be fair, does anything really anger Mika? It’s kind of hard to get a read on her emotional state.
Sparkles: Probably because just like Lohan, she has no emotion.
Three Days Grace clears the stage, getting out of dodge and leaving Lohan and Mika to take their rightful place in the spotlight. Referee Michelle Blacker tries to convey the rules to both athletes before realizing the futility of her actions. She just calls for the bell and leaps out of the way as Lohan and Mika barge at one another, converging in the middle of the ring. The two hold nothing back right out of the gates, exchanging punches.
Frankie: Here we go!
Sparkles: Mika and Lohan duking it out in one of the most anticipated matches here at Invictus.
Greyson: After Lohan cost Mika the World Championship and Kozlov tries to break Lohan’s leg with a cinder block to her knee, we FINALLY see these two settle it all here in this ring, right now!
Lohan and Mika continue to lay into one another with punches, neither lady giving an inch. Finally Mika begins to win the slugfest, driving Lohan back a few steps. But Lohan answers, driving her knuckles into Mika’s cheek with such force that Kozlov almost loses her footing. She stumbles back and tries her best to remain upright. Finally she lunges at Lohan and gouges her eyes, blinding her.
Frankie: There’s the Mika we adore.
Kozlov now grabs Lohan by the wrist and whips her into the turnbuckle only to be reversed. Instead Mika is launched into the corner with enough force to send her flipping up and over it. She crashes hip first into the apron and spills to the outside mats.
Sparkles: And there WENT the Mika we adore.
Greyson: Mika just being sent flipping over that turnbuckle thanks to the force of that Irish whip.
To the surprise of the crowd they witness Lohan doing something very uncharacteristic, climbing the turnbuckle to the top rope. She gets her balance and then launches herself to the outside of the ring, plummeting directly into Mika. Both athletes hit the mats to an uproar from the crowd.
Greyson: Lohan just throwing herself right at Mika.
Frankie: These two will kill themselves just to inflict a flesh wound on their opponent.
Lohan reaches her feet with a handful of Mika’s bangs. She attempts another Irish whip, this time into the steel steps but Mika manages to twist around just in time to counter. She pulls Lohan into a drop toe hold, sending her face flying the steel stairs and ricocheting off. Lohan rolls away from the steps and away from the dangerous Kozlov. Already Mika is searching beneath the ring for a foreign object.
Greyson: What is Mika looking for?
We get an answer when Kozlov reveals the fruits of her search, pulling a cinder block out from under the squared circle.
Sparkles: A CINDER BLOCK!
Greyson: The very same item Mika smashed over Lohan’s knee several weeks ago.
It’s not the knee that the block is about to crush this time, Mika aiming it right at Lohan’s face. Brittany is standing up with her back wedged to the steel turnbuckle post, meaning her skull is about to be crushed between the corner and the concrete. Mika rushes in and begins to swing the cinder block at Lohan’s face, but she manages to side step this intended execution, catching Kozlov by the back of the head then launching her along skill first into the post. Mika’s head ricochets from the post and she goes spiraling back into Lohan’s clutches. Brittany throws Mika along into the post a second time, then a third time, and then a fourth time. The cinder block falls out of Mika’s clutches and she now collapses back into the waiting arms of her rival, Lohan heaving her up into a back drop suplex right onto the ring apron.
Greyson: Lohan dominating here thus far. She has so much hate for Mika after everything these two have put each other through since the start of 2015.
Mika rolls back into the ring clutching at her spine and giggling through all the anguish. Just as Lohan begins to follow her opponent in she spots Borislav moving towards her, prompting Lohan to drop back down to the mats and try to cut off the behemoth. Surprisingly Borislav backs off though, and does so with a grin. Lohan realizes that this is a distraction, turning back towards the ring just in time to spot Mika leaping feet first through the ropes and going for a dropkick. But Lohan reaches up and catches Mika’s boots before they can drill her in the face. Mika holds onto the middle rope as her legs are thrown up and over Lohan’s shoulders, putting her in a powerbomb position. Lohan turns and throws Mika spine first right into the top edge of the barricade.
Frankie: AAAAAH!
Greyson: Lohan throwing Mika into that barrier! She may have just snapped Kozlov’s spine.
Sparkles: Lohan has got officiating duties for later tonight, she’s got to make quick work of Mika if she wants to have the stamina to referee the four way main event.
Surprisingly Mika stays on her feet, leaning primarily on the barricade and still laughing. Lohan steps in and delivers a vicious knife edge chop right across her sternum. She then grabs Mika by the bangs and leads her to the ring, driving her face into the apron before ultimately depositing her back into the squared circle. Mika gets to her knees just as Lohan steps in and blasts her straight to the face with a right hand, followed by a second and then a third and then a fourth. Each blow results in louder cheers from the crowd and louder laughs from Mika.
Mika: Stop tickling me mishka.
A smile forms on Lohan’s face as she takes off into the ropes, ricochets form them and delivers a running boot straight to Mika’s forehead.
Greyson: Mika is absolutely NUTS.
Sparkles: She’s actually encouraging Lohan to continue assaulting her.
Mika now ends up dragging herself up to her feet with the aid of the turnbuckle before Lohan takes her around the neck and sits her on the top rope. Lohan now takes her around the neck and hooks the leg, stepping out of the corner in preparation of delivering the muscle buster. It connects, driving Mika’s body forcefully into the canvas. Customarily this would leave all of Lohan’s opponents questioning their will power and seriously debating pulling a Kevorkian to put them out of their misery. Yet Mika doesn’t plea, she doesn’t beg, she doesn’t even groan, she just lays there smiling and laughing. Lohan grimaces and groans, not out of pain, but out of aggravation. She grabs Mika by the hair, pulls her up to her feet and then hooks her neck and her leg, lifting her into a second even more devastating muscle buster.
After two muscle busters, all of Lohan’s opponents would customarily be pulling a Rip Van Winkle, rendered comatose for thirty something years, yet Mika’s reaction is to laugh and laugh loud. She somehow rolls away from Lohan, preventing a potential pinfall and turning the ropes into a barrier. Mika ends up on the apron and Lohan stalks her prey, slipping a leg through the ropes. Suddenly Mika is latching onto that leg though, the very same one she shattered a cinder block over several weeks ago. Mika actually begins to bite Lohan’s knee with Lohan trying to shirk her off of her leg. Mika then lifts that leg into the air and delivers a dragon screw leg whip. As a result Lohan’s leg snaps off the middle rope, and causes her to go tumbling back into the ring. Mika follows her inside and stays on the leg, dropping down behind Lohan and beginning to club her over and over again across the crease of the knee.
She then grabs Lohan’s ankle and lifts her leg into the air, throwing her knee down into the canvas. Lohan’s face flushes with anguish as she tries to put distance between herself and Mika, rolling into the ropes and trying to employ them to reach her feet. But Mika is right there behind her, rushing in and delivering a dropkick to the back of her leg. Lohan falls to the canvas but continues to clutch the ropes. She uses them to stand up before Mika delivers a basement dropkick to the knee. Lohan falls flat on her face and grabs her leg as she rolls under the ropes and to the apron.
Frankie: Mika has found the chink in Lohan’s armor.
Greyson: Going after the very same knee that she destroyed with the cinder block.
Sparkles: Remember the last time these two fought, Lohan actually passed out from all the damage that Mika had done to her knee.
Greyson: We could get a repeat of that here tonight.
Frankie: I don’t think Mika wants Lohan to pass out. She wants to hear Lohan tap out.
Greyson: And even then, that might not be good enough for Kozlov.
Mika pulls Lohan to the middle of the ring by her ankle and then drops an elbow into the side of her opponent’s knee. Lohan grimaces in pain and now Mika stands up, dropping down into a headbutt across Lohan’s leg. Once again Mika begins to bite at Lohan’s knee, prompting Brittany to lift her free foot and drive it into Mika’s cheek repeatedly. Finally Mika is swatted away and now sent rolling towards the turnbuckle. Mika quickly climbs the corner and then flips back off the middle rope into a moonsault, crushing Lohan’s leg. A display of such agony is etched in the lines of Lohan’s face as she reaches for her leg, which has fallen into Mika’s clutches. Kozlov extends the leg out over the canvas and begins stomping it with all of her force. She then leaps into the air and just drops back first right across the leg. Lohan pulls her leg away and her body towards the corner, using it to ascend to her feet. Mika is following, grabbing Lohan’s leg and wrapping it around the middle rope. She pulls up on Lohan’s ankle, hyperextending the leg around the cable.
The official starts a five count on Mika, reaching four before Kozlov turns around and BARKS at the referee. Blacker leaps back from the snarling and now laughing face of Kozlov. That face soon finds itself on the receiving end of a devastating closed fist, Lohan fighting her way out of the corner. The blow knocks Kozlov back, catching herself before she goes down. Lohan then steps in and nails a SECOND punch across Mika’s jaw, which threatens to break the bones in Mika’s face. Lohan then steps forward to hit a third right hand but what she receives instead is a superkick straight to the knee. Lohan falls on her elbows, her leg completely shut down and her offence totally collapsed.
She defiantly tries to stand up but finds her progress impeded at the sight of Mika charging in. But Lohan catches her with a back drop, sending her flipping through the air. Mika crashes into the canvas and Lohan stumbles forward into the ropes. She tries to work out the kinks in her knees, but has little time to recover considering that Mika is already back on her feet and charging in. Lohan ducks down and low bridges the top rope. Causing Mika to trip over her and then flip to the outside mats.
Greyson: Lohan trying to stage a comeback….
Sparkles: That’s just been shut down!
Mika leaps back to her feet at ringside and grabs Lohan’s leg, tearing it out from under her. Brittany collapses to her back and now finds her leg dragged out over the apron. Mika lifts the leg into the air then swings the crease of her knee down right into the apron, causing Lohan to sit up grabbing at her leg in agony. Mika swings the back of Lohan’s knee down into the apron a SECOND time. She then pulls on Lohan’s ankle, dragging her leg towards the turnbuckle. Mika prepares to wrap the knee around the steel turnbuckle post but Lohan stops her. She pulls the leg back in towards herself, dragging Mika’s face into the steel beam. Mika’s skull bounces back from the post, but she keeps holding onto the ankle, beginning to pull on the leg once again. Lohan yanks back and forces Mika to taste turnbuckle post a second time. At last Mika breaks her grip on the leg and starts to crawl towards the time keeper’s area where a small barricade has been set up to protect the ring announcer and other IWC staff members.
Mika turns away from that barrier and into the inbound boot of Lohan. Somehow Brittany manages to push through the pain and charge across the mats into the yakuza kick. The blow nails Mika with such force across the face that it sends her flipping back over the barrier and into the time keeper’s area.
Greyson: The efforts of both of these ladies is downright superhuman.
Sparkles: Neither knows pain, or how to make Sparkles a cheese cake apparently.
Putting weight on Lohan’s leg is downright debilitating, so delivering that kick was a testament to just how much she wants to destroy Kozlov. We get further proof of that when Lohan rushes across the mats and leaps over the barricade surrounding the time keeper’s area, crashing right into Mika on the opposite side.
Frankie: FUUUUCK!
Greyson: Lohan taking Mika and herself out.
Sparkles: This is nuttier than Mr. Peanut.
Lohan and Kozlov lie on the concrete, but the crowd is on its feet cheering their hearts out. Many have already started in with a holy shit chant at the sight of Lohan’s deadly leap. She painstakingly starts towards her feet, trying to balance herself on her bum wheel. She drags Mika along to her feet and then flings her down face first into the ring bell. Mika bounces off and then staggers away from her adversary, stepping around the time keeper’s barricade and the announce table. She makes her way towards the ring, rolling in and breaking the official’s ten count. Lohan is limping right along after her, climbing up to the apron and throwing a leg through the ropes. Mika grabs that leg, preparing to hit it with a dragon screw.
Lohan has it countered this time, driving a fist into Mika’s brow, knocking her back and almost knocking the paint right off her face. Lohan then starts across the apron and towards the turnbuckle, starting to scale it. She gets to the top rope, turning her back to Mika as she prepares, to the shock of the fans to go high risk. But just then Kozlov rushes across the ring and delivers a kick to the back of Lohan’s ankle, knocking her legs out from under her. Lohan falls onto her seat and then tumbles back, hanging upside down from the turnbuckle.
Mika then rushes the length of the ring and hits a heat seeking dropkick straight to Lohan’s leg. Lohan falls out of the tree of woe position and to the canvas, clutching desperately at her banged up leg. Surprisingly she starts to work her way up to her feet and manages to get one of them up into the air to block the inbound Kozlov, but Mika catches that foot, grins and then throws the leg aside. As a result Lohan’s foot flies over the middle rope, her leg elevated by the cable. Mika then delivers a straight punt kick right to the back of her knee. Mika then takes that knee, puts it under her armpit and begins to drag Lohan back to the center of the ring. Brittany throws a punch at Mika’s face but she pulls her head back in the nick of time. Lohan throws another jab but again Mika pulls her head out of the way a second time.
Mika actually blows a raspberry at Lohan. This childish and insulting gesture results in Lohan swinging her trapped leg down towards the canvas, with Mika trying to hold on. As a result Mika is sent flying down face first into the ring, bouncing off of it and up to her knees. Lohan then hooks both of Mika’s arms, going for the Final Solution.
Greyson: Final Solution! Final Solution coming!
Frankie: Dammit Lohan, just die already.
Lohan is right about to deliver her devastating tiger bomb only to have Kozlov wedge hands to her gut and shove her back. Lohan staggers into the corner, no sooner hitting it before she launches her foot into the air, catching an inbound Kozlov under the jaw with a boot. Mika is stumbled back by the blow but not taken from her feet. She collects herself and then charges once again at Lohan who now forces Kozlov to eat a back elbow to the teeth. Mika twists away from Lohan, who limps out of the corner and begins to hook both of Kozlov’s arms, going for the Final Solution.
Sparkles: Here she goes again.
Greyson: Another attempt at the Final Solution.
Sparkles Will it be more than an attempt this time?
Mika begins to throw Lohan up into the air to deliver the Tiger Bomb only to have her knee give out. As a result Mika drops back to her feet and then hooks the creases of her rival’s knees, pulling the legs out from under her. Lohan falls onto her back and Mika tries to apply a submission only to have feet end up wedged to her gut, Brittany pushing her off. Kozlov spirals into the cables, bounces off and then comes back in at Lohan, who catches her adversary with an attempt at the spinebuster. But Mika manages to slip over Lohan’s shoulder and down her back, catching her around the waist. She pulls Lohan over into the sunset flip. Instead of going for the pin Mika stands up and grabs Lohan’s legs, trying to apply a submission once again. But this time Lohan manages to avoid it by dragging Mika down into the small package.
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Mika rolls right out of the pin and directly onto her feet. She then rushes at Lohan only to be caught, heaved into the air and driven down into the Double A Spinebuster. Lohan rolls away though, unable to make the cover given the condition of her knee. In spite of her agony Lohan manages to begin the arduous journey back to her feet. Suddenly she feels pressure on her leg, looking down and spotting Mika wrapped around it. Lohan blasts her across the back repeatedly with clubbing blows. She then reaches down and takes Mika around the waist, using her strength to heave Kozlov up and onto her shoulder, preparing to deliver what looks like an awesome bomb, but her knee buckles. As a result Koalov slips over Lohan’s shoulder and comes down onto her feet behind her, taking Lohan around the neck in the process and bridging her over backwards. The crowd expresses their shock at the sight of Mika countering the awesome bomb attempt into her version of the Sister Abigail. Mika is just about to deliver the fatal blow only to have Lohan slip her head out of her opponent’s clutches and hook both of Mika’s arms from behind, pulling her down into the backslide.
Greyson: Another quick roll up by Lohan!
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Frankie: Don’t let it end this way my black eyed beauty!
The official just begins to make the three but Kozlov manages to get her shoulder up in time. She rolls back out of the pin and then crawls into a hook of Lohan’s arms. Lohan is pulled into position for the Dos-Vi-Dania. The double arm DDT is about to snap Lohan’s neck but instead its Lohan’s arms that snap out of her opponent’s clutches. She stands up, forcing Mika to hang upside down over her back. Lohan then rushes across the ring and prepares to hit an Alabama Slam only to have Kozlov catch her around the waist. Mika pulls Lohan down into the sunset flip before transitioning into the figure four leg. Or at least that was her intention. Mika swings around Lohan’s leg and is about to get the hold applied only to have Lohan wedge a boot to her seat, pushing her off and into the nearest turnbuckle. But Kozlov manages to jump to the middle rope and then spring off into a moonsault, flying over the head of an inbound Lohan.
Brittany staggers under her and hits the turnbuckle, now resting against it as Mika comes charging at her. Lohan bends forward and spots Mika coming at her, standing up and heaving Kozlov into position for the Alabama Slam. However, Mika reaches out and catches the top rope with both hands, refusing to be flipped over into the move. Mika now pushes off the top rope with her hands, driving her seat into the back of Lohan’s neck and bending her forward into a crouch while Kozlov comes down on her feet. Mika then hooks both of Lohan’s arms and snaps back into the Dos-Vi-Dania. Lohan’s skull crushes the canvas, almost splitting it wide open. Mika then stands up and grabs Lohan’s legs, flipping forward into the jackknife cover.
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Lohan sits up though, sending Kozlov rolling over backwards onto her feet. The moment Mika stands up, she grabs Lohan’s legs, swings around them and applies the figure four to the shock of the crowd and to the agony of her opponent. Lohan is resisting that initial urge to tap out. She lifts her hand into the air, allowing it to hover above the canvas but refusing to let it slap the ring.
Frankie: Kozlov’s got it locked in, she’s going to snap Lohan’s leg like peanut brittle.
Greyson: If Lohan doesn’t tap out first, which we all know she will never do.
Sparkles; Chances are she’s going to pass out first, just like she did weeks ago.
All those in the Staples Center are standing and screaming at Lohan, DEMANDING that she not tap out. Brittany bites her lip and digs her nails deep into the palms of her hands, refusing to submit to the figure four that is putting so much strain on her injured leg. Lohan puts her fists to the canvas, dragging herself towards the ropes and then reaching out for them. But Mika breaks her own figure four, stands up and drags Lohan to the center of the ring. Mika then begins to step around the legs once again in order to lock in the figure four.
Lohan sits up, grabs Mika by the bangs and pulls her down into a headbutt. The blow is sufficient enough to stagger Mika back, but not enough to detach her from Lohan’s legs. If Mika can’t get a submission she’ll instead go for a pin, flipping forward into the jackknife cover. Instead of pinning Lohan though, Mika comes down on her seat right beside her opponent, catching her around the neck. It looks like Mika is going for the side headlock but instead she stands up and bridges Lohan to her feet. Now Mika is setting up for the Killing Joke. She just begins to swing through but Lohan reaches out, wraps her arms around Mika’s waist and twists their bodies around so that Mika is stooped and trapped in a modified waist lock. Lohan gut wrenches Mika up onto her shoulder then drops her via the awesome bomb.
Mika is DRIVEN into the ring with such back breaking force. Again Lohan has trouble following up though, her leg limiting her. It takes her longer than normal but Lohan is able to get to her feet and grab Mika by the wrist, dragging her up to her feet and then taking her around the waist. Lohan lifts Kozlov into the air and throws her into another awesome bomb. Kozlov crashes from a tremendous height spine first into the canvas, almost snapping her spine. This time Lohan IS able to capitalize, crawling across the ring and putting her shoulders into the creases of Mika’s knees, attempting the pinfall.
Greyson: Are TWO awesome bombs enough to finish Kozlov off?
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Mika puts her hands to the back of Lohan’s head and shoves down on it, sending her flipping forward and coming down on the back of her shoulders. Mika then stands up and catches Lohan’s legs, swinging around them and applying the figure four leg lock.
Frankie: Niiice ha-ha-ha!
Greyson: Shocking transition back into the figure four.
Kozlov has the hold established and Lohan on the cusp of tapping out to it. She balls up her fists and shakes them out to her sides, trying to rally herself. Momentum is swinging in Lohan’s direction, the crowd slapping the barricades and stomping their feet in support of Lohan. She feeds off the surge of energy, sitting up and grabbing Mika’s legs. She puts all of her strength into trying to pry Mika’s legs away from her own. Mika puts the pressure back on though, refusing to let Lohan muscle her way out of the hold. Lohan is seemingly left with no recourse, lifting her hand into the air to tap. The hand swings, not into the ring, but into the ankles of Mika. Yet again all of her strength is employed to finally break the figure four, Mika shocked to find her figure four ruined thanks to Lohan’s immense strength.
Greyson: Mika finding out that Lohan’s strength is without equal.
Frankie: This is unreal.
Mika leaps to her feet and goes after Lohan’s legs yet again only to find two boots wedged to her gut. Lohan kicks her off, sending Mika crashing to the canvas then rolling back to her feet. She then glares at Lohan, who is standing with the aid of the turnbuckle. Mika comes charging in and Lohan stoops down, catching her and heaving her into the air for the Alabama Slam. Once again Mika reaches out and grabs the top rope though, holding on tight enough to block the flip over slam from connecting. Lohan tries to pulls Mika over the slam yet again but Mika’s clasp on the ropes won’t be broken. So Lohan pushes up on the legs instead of down, causing Mika to go flipping up into a headstand on the top rope. Mika then twists her body and floats over, landing on the apron. Mika quickly begins to climb the corner only to be cut off by a palm thrust from Lohan. She then steps up the turnbuckle and places Mika in a front chancery. All of Lohan’s strength is then put into lifting Mika up and placing her in position to deliver the Muscle Buster off the turnbuckle.
The crowd is squealing in anticipation of delivering the super-muscle buster but that expectation is thwarted when Kozlov manages to shift her weight. She causes Lohan to lean forward, Mika landing on her seat across the top rope and turning Brittany’s front chancery into a double underhook. Quite the reaction is elicited when Mika jumps out of the corner and pulls Lohan off into the double arm DDT. The Dos Vi Dania connects, crushing Lohan’s skull against the canvas.
Greyson: DOS-VI-DANIA OFF THE TURNBUCKLE!
Frankie: IN….SANE!
For reasons unbeknownst to everyone that isn’t Mika, she’s crawling away from Lohan and towards the ropes, shouting at Borislav. The massive Russian at ringside reaches under the ring and removes to a blow torch.
Sparkles: This…..is…..bad.
Frankie: Mika is about to turn Lohan into a human bonfire.
Greyson: Mika has vowed to burn Lohan alive but God help us if she actually follows through.
With torch now in hand Mika approaches Lohan, about to light her ablaze. The referee tries to interfere though, only to be brushed aside. Mika snaps at the referee, threatening Michelle. Kozlov then turns back to Lohan, about to reduce her to nothing but a smoldering ruin. Instead Mika walks right into her own ruination, caught by Lohan and heaved into the air before ultimately being driven down into the Alabama Slam.
Sparkles: Lohan is not gonna be our own personal burning man tonight.
Greyson: A desperation counter by Lohan, not only saving her but also potentially picking her up the win here.
Lohan crawls into the cover, hooking both of Mika’s legs, leaning with her back into her opponent’s ribs.
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Greyson: Lohan at long last purging the demon from her….
Suddenly Kozlov hooks both of Lohan’s arms and reverses into a crucifix pin. But this is actually a set up for a submission. Mika breaks the pin, stands up and swings around Lohan’s elevated legs. She now applies the step over toe hold, putting so much strain on Lohan’s leg and at the same time putting herself out of range of Lohan’s arms so that the hold can’t be broken via Lohan’s strength. The crowd is back on its feet making an impassioned plea for Lohan not to tap out. This task is easier said than done given the condition of her legs.
Frankie: Tap out already Lohan. You’ve prolonged this enough.
Greyson: Lohan is never going to give up, even if it means her leg ends up broken?
Frankie: Ends up? Check yourself fool, it probably already IS broken.
Regardless of rather her leg is broken or not, Lohan just won’t tap out. Upon realizing this Mika turns her focus to the outside of the ring, glaring straight at Borislav.
Mika: Cinder block!
On orders from his master Borislav fetches the cinder block that Mika attempted to use right at the start of the match. He slides it into the ring but the referee puts the breaks on Mika’s plans to use that block as a weapon. Blacker tries to throw the cinder block out of the ring while behind her back Lohan is grabbing at another foreign object. Mika returns her focus to her opponent, who is still trapped in the step over toe hold, but not for much longer. The moment Mika turns towards Lohan she finds a fireball hurling straight into her face. Lohan has grabbed hold of the blow torch that was going to be used earlier and is now turning it against the very woman who introduced the weapon into the bout. The flame JUST kisses Mika’s face, not catching it entirely, but doing enough damage to force her to break the submission. She rolls away from Lohan, looking blinded by the blast of flame.
Greyson: Did I just see that!?!
Sparkles: A fireball from Lohan right in Mika’s face!
Frankie: These two ladies have the type of issues even I couldn’t fix with the healing power of my penis.
A blinded Mika rolls around on the canvas desperately clutching and clawing at her face. She instinctively starts to work her way up to her feet with the aid of the turnbuckle. The moment Mika stands up she finds herself caught around the neck and heaved to the top rope sitting upon it. Lohan then climbs up after her, taking Mika around the head while hooking her leg. The fans are going absolutely insane as Lohan drags Mika off the turnbuckle into the super muscle buster!
Greyson: Ooooh….Lohan tried that earlier and now it finally hits pay dirt!
Frankie: But can that do it? Can that end Mika Kozlov here at Invictus?
The referee finally turns away from the cinder block that she couldn’t get out of the ring and towards the pin that she can make the three count for. She spots Lohan draping an arm across Mika’s chest, prompting Blacker to hit the canvas and do her thing.
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The fans watch with baited breath as the hand falls to the canvas. It is just about to hit the ring for the third time, but Mika’s shoulder will not stay down on that ring for three. She rolls it from the canvas and out from under Lohan, who looks absolutely stunned. Her blue eyes are open so wide, as is her mouth.
Frankie: But Mika keeps it going, hahahaha. Nothing can kill this freaky bitch, nothin’!
Greyson: You might be right, Frankie, a confession that makes me want to shower in acid.
Frankie: Agreeing with me isn’t that bad, right Sparkles.
Sparkles: It’s easy.
Lohan slowly drags the lifeless body of her adversary up to her knees, beginning to hook both of Mika’s arms to deliver the killing blow. The Final Solution is seemingly moments from spiking Mika on the back of her neck and at long last concluding this long and bitter war. But just then from the corner of Lohan’s eye she spots the cinder block….
Sparkles: What is….Oh no….oh golly….
Greyson: It looks like Lohan has just locked her peepers on that cinder block Mika tried to bring into this match.
Sparkles: She knows what Mika did to her with that block before….Why can’t it be a block of Wisconsin cheese?
Frankie: Cause we’re nowhere near that lucky.
Greyson: Speaking of luck, it seems that Mika’s has just ran out.
Lohan tosses the unconscious Kozlov to the canvas then approaches the cinder block, picking it up. The crowd expresses their concerns as Lohan narrows the distance between she and Mika, about to use the block to crush her nemesis’ skull.
Greyson: Don’t do this Lohan, don’t cross that line.
Frankie: It’s a line Lohan has crossed a thousand times in the past, Lovejoy. Tonight won’t be any different.
The cinder block raises above Lohan’s head and prepares to descend onto Kozlov’s before Borislav interferes. He leaps to the apron and not only gets the attention of the referee but of Lohan as well. Brittany drops the cinder block and then launches her good leg into the air, slapping the side of Borislav’s face with a yakuza kick. Her shot knocks Borislav right back to the outside mats from where he originated. She then turns around to face her original target, Mika, who is somehow back to her knees. Lohan limps towards her and receives a headbutt right to the injured knee. A grimacing Lohan doubles over, grabbing at her leg while Mika stands up and hooks both of her arms, the Dos-Vi-Dania about to connect yet again. But the double arm DDT is thwarted when Lohan stands up, back dropping Mika through the air. On the way down though Mika grabs Lohan around the hips, pulling her over into the sunset flip. Kozlov then stands up and prepares to lock in the step over toe hold a second time…NOT HAPPENING…Lohan sits up just in time to deliver an uppercut to Mika’s jaw, sending Kozlov staggering back, falling into the referee. Lohan staggers to her feet and begins to come towards her prey only to have Mika grab Referee Blacker and throw her shoulder first right into Lohan’s leg. The official bounces off of Lohan’s knee and knocks her leg out from under her. Lohan drops to her knees and then finds one of Mika’s connecting with her face. Kozlov rushes across the ring and hits the shining wizard, cracking Lohan in the skull.
Frankie: That’s how ya set up a victory, use everything at your disposal, referee included.
Greyson: Mika sickeningly using the referee to set up that shining wizard. It’s a miracle Kozlov hasn’t been disqualified.
Sparkles: But look, it’s come back to haunt Mika, there’s no referee to make the count.
Indeed, Mika may have Lohan’s leg hooked, but there is no referee to count Lohan’s shoulders to the canvas. Blacker is rolling around on the ring holding her shoulder and grimacing in pain. Mika is about to let Blacker know what real pain is, approaching the referee and grabbing her by the jersey, trying to shake some life back into her. Mika finally turns away from the referee just in time to spot Lohan getting back to her knees, Kozlov instantly taking advantage of her opponent’s positioning. Mika steps in and takes Lohan around the neck, bridging her over backwards and preparing to give her the Killing Joke.
Frankie: Put the last nail in the Yeti’s coffin.
Mika licks Lohan’s forehead then spins into the Killing Joke only to have Lohan suddenly counter by dropping down into the school boy.
Although the referee is still unable to make the count, Mika kicks out instinctively, dropping over to her knees and eagerly dashing to her feet right into Lohan’s waiting arms. Brittany catches Mika across the face with the roaring double axehandle smash. The blow sends Kozlov right back down to the ring and Lohan spiraling past her into the ropes. She leans on them for support, catching her breath and pushing past the pain that is shooting through her knee. Lohan finally swoops in for the kill, leading Mika to her feet by her hooked arms and then throwing her into the Final Solution….
Greyson: At last….AAAAH!
The moment Lohan throws Mika up onto her shoulders, Kozlov reveals the cinder block in her hands, smashing it right over Brittany’s brow.
Greyson: OH GOD!
Sparkles: Cinder block right in the FACE!
Chunks of cinder block fall down right alongside Brittany’s body. She hits the ring with Mika coming down on top of her, reaching over her head and hooking Lohan’s leg. At last Blacker is coming through, conveniently missing the use of the cinder block and too shaken up to notice all the cement slivers lying around Lohan’s head. The official makes the count to screams of protest.
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All the protests in the world don’t matter. Lohan’s power doesn’t matter. Lohan’s will doesn’t matter. After having a cinder block smashed over her head nothing was going to help Lohan kick out. Mika manages to get to her knees, looking exhausted and legitimately shaken up after this very physical collision with Lohan that she managed to win by the skin of her teeth.
Greyson: These two just put each other through hell.
Frankie: Invictus brings out that side of people. Besides, these two have always been well acquainted with hell.
A recovered Borislav rolls into the ring, still smarting after suffering Lohan’s yakuza kick. He approaches Mika and aids her up to her feet, Kozlov almost unable to stand on her own. They now glare at Lohan, who has rolled to the outside of the ring and spilled across the mats. She looks up groggily at the Invictus banner hanging above the squared circle, perhaps realizing that she was so close to emerging with a victory and another potential career highlight at this most heralided event. Mika now breaks away from Borislav and drops to her knees in the middle of the ring, looking up towards the rafters and producing a laugh that is so chilling it would have Leatherface flipping on a nightlight. The lights in the building dim and fire rises from the turnbuckles, all in recognition of Kozlov’s victory.
Greyson: An absolutely grueling match between Brittany Lohan and Mika Kozlov.
Sparkles: One that just set the bar for Invictus a lot higher.
Greyson: This has already been a terrific night of action and yet we’ve still got so much to come here at Invi…..What the hell is that?
The fire rising from the turnbuckles now illuminates a figure towering behind the backs of Mika and Borislav. Said figure is wearing a sack over his head, instantly clueing everyone into his identity.
Greyson: It’s SUNDOWN!
Sparkles: A member of Tombstone!
Frankie: Those crazy backwoods conjurers who have been out to abduct Mika for weeks.
Mika and Borislav alike can feel the sudden change in the reaction from the fans. They spin around spotting Sundown, but it might be too late. He reaches out for Mika, grabbing her by the wrist and trying to take possession of her weakened and wounded body. However Borislav delivers a boot to the side of Sundown’s face, knocking him away from Mika, but failing to remove the masked man from his feet. Borislav now drags Mika to the outside of the ring, preventing her from falling into Tombstone’s clutches. Sundown watches through the slits of his mask, seething at the sight of Mika and Borislav backing up the ramp. She slipped right through his fingers here tonight, but letting her get away again is not a possibility.
BACKSTAGE
Aaron Harrison, Mika Kozlov’s ex fiancée, is currently standing in the locker-room right beside backstage correspondent Mark Comeau. Harrison is staring up at the ceiling, in deep contemplation, in utter reverence. Obviously the former Blacklist member has much on his mind. The very fashionably decked out Comeau attempts to pluck the thoughts from Harrison’s head, an area few would dare explore.
Comeau: Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Comeau here with the man who faces Lukas Montgomery in an UNSANCTIONED match later tonight here at Invictus, Aaron Harrison.
Mark shifts focus from the camera to the contemplative Harrison.
Comeau: Aaron, for months we’ve seen the dissolution of the Blacklist play out before our very eyes, leading to this one on one match against your former blood-brother, Lukas Montgomery. How does it feel knowing that later on this evening you collide with a man you legitimately trusted? One of the competitors who alongside you started the Blacklist.
Harrison: There are just four words that keep repeating in my head when I think about this match with Lukas….”I NEVER WANTED THIS.” Not in this or any other lifetime have I ever desired a fight with Lukas. It’s like you said Comeau, I trusted Lukas, and I-I-I respected him. I can’t say that for many people in my life. Lukas is on a very short list. So the idea that I would be about to face him in a match so violent that the IWC has to distance itself from it to prevent any potential legal ramifications, just goes to show how far things have gotten.
Comeau: The issues between you and Lukas all began when your fiancée Mika joined New Eden and set out to systematically destroy the two of you. Is there any part of you that can understand and sympathize with Lukas for trying to take Mika out?
Harrison: I’m not a man who believes in sympathy, Mark, I see sympathy as an insult. So I won’t be sympathetic to Lukas. I’m through trying to understand him, that ship sailed the moment he crushed my skull with a steel chair and bathed in my blood. When he declared the Blacklist dead. When he tried to take Mika from me. Now at Invictus, I’ll be the one taking from Lukas…I’ll take his blood….I’ll take everything he cares about…and in the end, I’ll take his career.
Aaron turns his face to the camera.
Harrison: A few weeks ago, Lukas, you asked me if I forgave you, well the time for forgiveness is OVER.
Elijah: Brother…
Attention is redirected to Elijah Dallas, the Tombstone member who has been standing behind Comeau for God only knows how long. Harrison is less than polite in nudging Mark aside so that he and Elijah can have a proper line of connection.
Elijah: Sundown failed….
Harrison: Failed?
Elijah: We took it upon ourselves to grab Mika, and jus’ as Goddard prophesized, we failed.
Harrison: Why did you try to grab her? I thought you wanted me to….
Elijah: But we ain’t gonna fail next time brother, and you ain’t gonna fail tonight when ya face that summbitch who tried to take us out and prevent us from helpin’ Mika.
Harrison: Yeah….
Elijah: Yeah? Nah, I want to hear conviction in that voice boy. Ya promised Tombstone that ya would avenge Lukas’ attack on me and my own. Tonight ya make good on that promise, and Tombstone will make good on ours. While yer beatin’ Lukas, we’ll be curing Mika.
BACKSTAGE
Cameras transition to the parking lot where a beat to shit Impala is cruising to a stop. The driver’s door pops open and the last person anyone expected to see comes stepping out. A scruffy, bearded and just plain dirty, Desmond Drake exits the car. He then heads for the interior to the Staples Center. The stunned voices of the crowd can be heard in the background.
Greyson: What is HE doing here?
Frankie: Our former boss…The Dessimator, he’s in the house!
Sparkles: We haven’t seen him in forever! Not since he lost his job.
RINGSIDE
It’s that awkward moment in the show that calls for a lull in the action to give the crowd an opportunity to catch their breath. How are we going to kill that time? By cutting to the gorgeous Susie Moore, who is appropriately adorned for this event in a t-shirt with a bow tie drawn on the chest. She is standing in front of the barricade. Behind her back are an assortment of celebs she hopes to get a comment from.
Susie: Hiiii everyone, it’s Susie Moore here at IN-VIC-TUS….ewww-woooo-wooo-www…
She gets wide eyed and keeps pulling her face towards and back from the camera.
Susie: And with the IWC’s big event being here in Cali, it’s sure to draw some celebrities. I’m standing by with one such celeb who is no stranger to this wacky company, Hollywood’s Leading Man, Sebastian Blake.
The camera cuts to Sebastian standing behind the barricade and pumping his fist high above his head. Behind him we can see celebs such as Adam Sandler, and to a much-much-MUCH lesser extent Rob Schneider.
Susie: Welcome back to the IWC, Sebastian. You gonna get in the ring tonight?
Blake: Nah, I’ve had my fill with that, getting concussed with chair shots by Tina Valentine isn’t as fun as it sounds. So tonight I’m strictly here as a fan, I’m just going to sit back and watch the telecast.
Susie: Goodie. So no hard feelings between you and the IWC for that concussion you were eluding to?
Blake: Naturally, but I’m taking what Tina did to me a little better than my wife has.
Susie: Where is Callista?
Blake: Believe me, it’s probably for the best that she’s NOT here. That’s not to say I didn’t come alone though, I got a few wrestling enthusiasts with me tonight, like my boys the LA KINGS!
The crowd erupts at the sight of Johnathan Quick and Mike Richards of Kings fame seated behind Blake.
Susie: Awesome, I love basketball….
Blake face-palms.
Trinity Street: It’s time.
A rather unflattering response is given to the sight of the legendary Trinity Street, who has just made her way to the stage with microphone in hand. She looks quite dapper this evening in her extravagant apparel.
Trinity: It’s time for Invictus to at long last receive a dosage of adrenaline. You people can stop tweeting about last week’s episode of Arrow because you finally have a reason to pay attention to what’s happening here LIVE tonight. So take your faces out of your IPhones and veer your eyes to the ring where my pupil, Kat Kelly, is about to make her Invictus debut by not just successfully defending her IWC Tag Team Titles, but doing so in epic fashion. So you might want to ready yourselves for the single most impressive showing you’ve seen all night long….
Lucas Knight: You’re right love.
Down the ramp marches Lucas Knight in his tailored tux.
Lucas: We are going to see a show, from MY pupil, the insatiably outspoken Lexy Chapel.
Trinity smiles at the sight of her lover Lucas, the two joining together on the stage and wrapping arms around one another’s waists.
Lucas: Lexy on her own can go to that ring and give the world an Invictus moment that will be talked about not just tomorrow, not just next year, but for decades to come, but she’ll gladly share this moment with your pupil.
Trinity: Then it’s time for Kat and Lexy to do what they’ve done since coming to the IWC.
Lucas: It’s time for the SHOW!
A rousing display of fireworks shoot from the stage behind the backs of Lucas and Trinity. Now the multiple Cartel-trons, including the two set up on opposite sides of the stairs leading down from the back to the stage spring to life, showing the Tag Team Champions. We see a compilation of clips featuring the two hitting superkicks on a dozen different opponents from a dozen different angles.
Confetti showers down from the rafters, falling upon two scantily clad men holding giant Asian silk folding fans over the entry way. They pull the fans away and reveal Lexy Chapel and Kat Kelly standing behind them, lifting the Tag Team Titles above their heads. Wicked Intent make their way down the ramp to the stage where two more half naked men are waiting, already assuming the position. They have taken crawling postures so that Kat can sit on one of their backs and Lexy can sit on the other. The gentlemen crawl towards the ring, carrying the Tag Team Champions on their backs.
Sparkles: This entrance is the GOAT.
Frankie: You know it.
Greyson: It seems that Trinity and Lucas have spared no expense on the Invictus entrance for their pupils, the reigning and defending Tag Team Champions.
Once at ringside the two men who carried Lexy and Kat join with the two gentlemen who were fanning them at the top of the stage. All four of these servants turn themselves into a makeshift stairwell that Wicked Intent employ to climb into the ring.
Greyson: The issues between our new Tag Team Champions and Bad Behavior finally come to a head this evening. Over the past few weeks we’ve seen Wicked Intent blindside Bad Behavior and totally disrespect the challengers. Tonight they are going to answer for all past transgressions against Bad Behavior though.
Frankie: Wicked Intent is WAY too hot to PAY for anything.
Lucas and Trinity remain at ringside, cheering on their respective pupils who are now gesticulating in the ring with the Tag Team Titles. The overblown entrance at last comes to an end when “Something Bad” hits the PA system, resulting in an excited uproar from the fans. Literally every fan gets to their feet and stare up the ramp, or more accurately to the area directly beside it. That’s where a giant armored truck has backed into position. An LAPD emblem is plastered across the side and the driver reveals himself to be in full police garb. He steps around to the backdoors and unlocks them, revealing two more officers inside. They are presently guiding a shackled, orange jumpsuit wearing Ember Young and Crissy Garner from the back.
Greyson: Talk about entrances.
Sparkles: Sparkles wants an orange jumpsuit too.
Frankie: You’ll have to spend some time in the pen first, Sparkles.
Sparkles; That’s okay, Greyson is always throwing me in the playpen.
Frankie: That’s not….forgettaboutit.
Kat and Lexy are shaking their heads and mocking Bad Behavior in the ring as the challengers are led by their shackled wrists towards the ring. As they pass by the camera Ember shouts straight into it.
Ember: No time off for good behavior.
At last the handcuffs are removed, freeing Ember and Crissy for this eagerly anticipated tag team title match. The pair move to the aprons and stare over the ropes at Wicked Intent, urging the opposition to step into the squared circle.
Greyson: You can definitely feel the tension in the air for this one ladies and gentlemen.
Sparkles: Tag Team Titles on the line here at Invictus.
Crissy enters the ring on behalf of her team and is pointing straight at Lexy, demanding that she be the one who starts out the match for Wicked Intent. A smirking Lexy points at herself and whispers the words ‘you want me?’ Ultimately she shrugs and steps to the middle of the ring where she and Crissy begin to circle one another. Just as it looks like they’re about to lock up Kat comes rushing into the ring behind Crissy and blasts her over the back with a forearm, driving her to the canvas.
Greyson: OH COME ON!
Frankie: That was totes hysterical.
Lexy chuckles as she exits the ring, looking outside at Lucas and Trinity, who are also rather amused. In the ring Kat is all business though, grabbing Crissy by the hair raising her head from the canvas and throwing her face down into the ring. Crissy rolls across the canvas holding her lip and sitting up just as Kat comes charging in, delivering a running knee across her opponent’s face…or at least that was her intention. Crissy manages to drop to her back and avoid the knee, which goes flying over her head. Crissy then reaches out and grabs Kat by the legs, pulling them out from under her and sending her crashing onto her face. Crissy then rolls sideways over the body of Kat, ending up seated at her side and locking in the crossface.
Kat tries desperately to free herself and eventually manages to do so by tucking into a forward roll. She ends up back on her feet, grabbing Crissy’s legs and flipping forward into the jackknife cover.
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Crissy wraps her arms around Kat’s waist and manages to bridge both their bodies up from the canvas. Crissy then swings their bodies around until she’s standing at Kat’s side and grabbing the arm, forcing her down to the canvas into the crossface.
Greyson: Nice transition right back into the crossface!
Frankie: Come on Kat…stop lollygagging.
Sparkles: Lollygagging? What’s that mean?
Frankie: I imagine it has something to do with gagging on my….
Greyson: Please never ask Frankie to explain himself, Sparkles.
The crossface is putting great strain on Kat’s arm, but she will not submit to it. She somehow is able to roll away from Crissy, pulling her over into a pinning predicament.
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Crissy breaks the crossface and rolls back to her feet. Kat jumps up in front of her and is charging in only to stop cold when Crissy pulls back her fist, ready to swing. Kat leaps in the opposite direction of the knuckles, and wraps her arms around Lexy’s waist. The fans chuckle as Lexy pats Kat on the top of the head and Crissy just stands there with her fist still drawn back.
Lexy officially tags Kat’s shoulder and looks to avenge her. She rushes straight at Crissy who drops her fist and catches Lexy with a hip toss. Lexy rolls across the canvas back to her feet and runs into a deep arm drag. Lexy scrambles back to her feet and now rushes into a leg trip, Crissy using her arms to sweep her opponent’s feet out from under her. Crissy then falls into the lateral press.
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Lexy kicks out, rolling away from Crissy and to her feet. She then comes charging at Crissy only to have Garner lift her foot for a big thrust kick. But Lexy lunges back from the boot, landing on her knees then crawling into her corner where she wraps her arms around Kat’s waist. The fans chuckle while Kat whispers reassuring words to her partner then tags her shoulder.
Frankie: Wicked Intent are just so adorable.
Greyson: Debatable.
Crissy has had enough, rushing across the ring and delivering a dropkick to Lexy’s back, knocking her shoulder into Kat’s ribs. The blow knocks Kat from the corner and sends Lexy rolling to the center of the ring. Crissy picks her up and scoop slams her onto the canvas. She then makes the tag to an eager Ember before dragging Lexy back to her feet. She scoop slams Lexy again right next to the ropes that Ember comes flipping over into a senton. She crashes into Lexy’s ribs then rolls along to her feet, running into the opposite ropes. She springs off, builds some momentum and leaves her feet, coming down knee first into Lexy’s chest. Lexy rolls to the apron, covering her sternum and grimacing in pain. Ember reaches over the ropes and drags Lexy up to her feet only to have Chapel take her around the neck and drop to her seat, snapping Ember’s throat off the top rope.
Ember staggers back right into the waiting arms of Kat, who is the LEGAL member of her team. She strikes at an advantageous time, grabbing Ember by the arms and pulling her down into the backslide.
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Ember manages to kick out, rolling over backwards onto her feet and then swinging around to deliver the Torched. The discus punch misses when Kat drops to her back to avoid the blow. She then kips back up to her feet and spins around into a roundhouse kick that Ember manages to duck under. Kat spins around into the twisting back heel kick to the ribs, doubling her over. Ember then hooks both of Kat’s arms and throws her into the air before transitioning from the tiger bomb into a back breaker across her knee.
Greyson: Kat TRIED to take advantage of Ember, but it came back to haunt her.
Sparkles: Bad Behavior coming into this match SO fired up.
Kat starts to stand up when Ember leaps into her back with a leaping knee strike. The blow sends Kelly flying into the ropes, bouncing off then coming back in into Ember, who catches her with a Canadian back breaker across the elevated knee. A grimacing Kat rolls away from Ember, clutching at her kidneys, her lower spine in dire straits at this point. She stands with the aid of the ropes when Ember steps in and delivers a hard knife edge chop across her sternum. Ember then reaches out, making the tag to Crissy, who proceeds to leap into the air from the apron, delivering a kick to the back of Kat’s head. The blow knocks her forward into Ember’s snapmare. Both Crissy and Ember rush into the ropes in front of Kat before delivering simultaneous basement dropkicks to her face.
A flabbergasted Trinity stands at ringside slapping the apron and shouting instructions at Kat, who is in none too receptive a mind-frame at the moment. Ember makes her exit from the ring leaving Crissy to continue working over Kat, which is exactly what she does. The moment Kat gets to her feet Crissy comes in swinging, throwing a fist into her jaw. The blow sends Kat back peddling into the cables, which support her just so she can stand there and suffer further abuse at Crissy’s fist. Garner rushes in and swings into another right hand only to have Kat suddenly drop down and grab Crissy by the waistbands, pulling her down through the ropes. Crissy crashes to the outside mats but quickly rushes to her feet, beginning to return to the ring. She is about to climb to the apron only to be caught from behind, Crissy being hurled into the ring post by Lexy.
Frankie: THERE WE GO!
Greyson: The Champions always cutting corners.
Frankie: Makes work so much easier.
Crissy bounces off the ring post and falls back first against the apron, looking concussed by the collision with the steel. She is far worse shape after Kat hits her with a baseball dropkick to the upper back. The kick launches Crissy along right into the barricade, bouncing off hard then hitting the ground.
Kat now leaps over the top rope and onto the apron before back flipping into the moonsault. She crashes down right across the ribs of her prone opponent. The agonizing Crissy is forced to her feet then placed in almost a modified abdominal stretch. Kat holds her in this awkward position just long enough for Lexy to leap off the apron and come down knee first into Crissy’s ribs. After delivering this lung bursting move Kat throws Crissy into the ring. She rolls in just to make the tag to Lexy. Kat then pulls Crissy up to her feet and places her in a full nelson, trapping her arms behind her back. Lexy then rushes in and hits a running knee to Crissy’s ribs, doubling her over. Kat and Lexy take both of Crissy’s arms and swing around them, applying a simultaneous arm ringer. They punctuate the move by delivering a punch to her gut in perfect synchronism.
Kat then snapmares Crissy over to her seat before finally leaving the ring. Lexy then drops behind Crissy, driving a knee into her back. She then locks the Serial Thrilla in a rear naked choke.
Lexy: THRILL ME!
If punishing her isn’t bad enough the insults only further aggravate Crissy, who starts to work her way up to her feet and out of the hold. Though Lexy shuts down this potential comeback by dragging Crissy down to the canvas by the hair, slamming the back of her head into the canvas. Crissy sits up and Lexy drops down behind her, applying a version of the body vice with her legs wrapped around Garner’s waist. Lexy squeezes her legs about the ribcage of her challenger, who bellows in agony.
Greyson: Wicked Intent slowing this match down and working over Crissy’s mid-section.
Frankie: Nothing is going to stop Kat and Lexy from leaving here with the Tag Team Titles.
Crissy would definitely argue with Frankie’s opinion, as does Ember, who is stomping the steel steps to get the crowd rallied behind her partner. They are cheering as loud as they can for Crissy, who starts to twist from side to side, eventually forcing Lexy to break her hold. Lexy stands up and delivers a straight punt kick to Crissy’s back. She then puts Crissy in a dragon sleeper, dragging her up to her feet. Lexy backs to her corner and uses her free hand to tag in Kat, who leaps to top rope and springs off into a big splash, coming down on top of Crissy’s chest while Lexy drops into the sit-out reverse DDT.
Frankie: Remarkable.
Greyson: See, that’s the worst thing about Chapel and Kelly, they have all the talent in the world, but their attitudes make it hard to see them for the talented duo they are.
Kat hooks both of Crissy’s legs, setting up a potential win for her team.
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Crissy rolls her shoulder out from under Kelly, who snaps at the referee for the speed of his count. Mayfield explains that it was a two, and that she needs to deal. Kat handles her aggravation by dragging Crissy up to her feet and throwing her into Wicked Intent’s corner. Kat then comes rushing in to take advantage of her opponent’s positioning only to have Crissy drive a back elbow into her inbound face. She then delivers a straight punch to Lexy’s jaw, knocking her down off the apron.
Crissy spins around to face her partner, only separated from Ember by the length of the ring. That distance is closed, Crissy rushing across the ring to make the tag only to have Kat step in her way, catching her ribs against Kat’s shoulder. Kat places Crissy in a bearhug, refusing to let her reach her corner. A desperate Crissy reaches over Kat’s back for the tag, but can’t reach her partner’s outstretched hand. It takes all her strength, but Crissy starts to push both her body and Kat’s towards Bad Behavior’s corner.
Greyson: Just a few more inches Garner, you’re just inches away from the tag.
Frankie: Stop playing favorites Lovejoy!
Crissy’s fingertips fall just short of Ember’s hand by mere centimeters. That small gap becomes the Grand Canyon when Kat lifts Crissy into the air and carries her back to the center of the ring. Kat is just about to drop Crissy to her feet and lock the bear-hug again only to see her plans go awry. Crissy slides down Kat’s back, catching her around the waist and rolling her over into the sunset flip. Kat keeps on rolling though, right out of the pin and onto her stomach where she finds herself trapped in the crossface. There is a loud eruption from the crowd at the sight of Kat finding herself back where she started off in this match, trapped in the crossface.
Frankie: NO!
Sparkles: Crossface locked in…AGAIN!
Greyson: Bad Behavior could be on the cusp of capturing the Tag Team Titles if Kat taps out.
Kat is toying with the notion, but Trinity removes that idea from her head, shouting into the ring at her pupil. Lexy finally interferes, rushing across the ring right at Crissy, who breaks the crossface in order to catch her opponent by the legs. Crissy rolls back, causing Lexy to collapse onto her face. The determined Crissy rises to her feet and locks in the Boston Crab. A grimacing Lexy blocks out the pain coursing through her leg. She fights through just long enough for Kat to save her. Kelly charges into a clothesline on Crissy, who breaks the leg lock in time to catch her opposition’s inbound arm. She forces Kat down into the crossface to another explosive roar from the crowd and an anguished scream from the champion.
Greyson: Back into the crossface!
A hold that Crissy won’t stay in for long, countering the same way she did earlier, dropping into a forward roll across the canvas. She breaks free from the submission then charges at Crissy with a kick aimed at her face. But Crissy rolls under the kick and then lunges into a tag, slapping Ember’s hand.
Greyson: The tag is made!
Sparkles: And here comes Ember, as fired up as a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ember climbs her team’s corner and then lunges out of it into a stereo clothesline across the throats of Kat and Lexy, driving them to the canvas. They are quick to reach their feet and Ember is waiting on them, twisting around into a discus clothesline on Lexy’s throat, knocking her to the canvas. Ember then nails Kat across the throat with a standing single leg spinning heel kick. Ember swings around to face Lexy, who is working her way back to her feet. Ember nails her to the jaw with a straight thrust kick, knocking her out cold. Ember returns her focus to Kat, who is rushing in only to be caught with an absolutely devastating Michinoku Driver. Ember reaches over Kat and hooks her leg for the pin.
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Lexy breaks up the pin by stomping Ember in the back of the skull. She then turns her back on Ember in order to shout at the jeering fans.
Lexy: Shut up you fat smarks!
In the process of yelling at the crowd Lexy gives Crissy enough time to enter the ring and set up a tag team move. She rushes at Ember, who puts her feet up into Garner’s gut, throwing her partner into a modified monkey flip. Instead of flipping over though, Crissy just flies forward and catches Lexy around the neck, swinging around into a tornado DDT.
Greyson: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!
Sparkles: Bad Behavior breaking out something new here at Invictus.
Ember quickly gets back to her feet and spots Kat charging in. Kat throws a clothesline that Ember blocks by driving her forearms into the crease of Kat’s elbow. As a result Kat turns away from Ember and then finds a shoulder wedged to her back. Ember heaves her into a back drop suplex but then flips her over so that Kat comes down ribs first right into the raised knees of Crissy.
The fans cheer on the sight of the modified gut buster that has Kat in very bad shape. Crissy then rolls over backwards to her feet just as Lexy comes charging across the ring, going for the superkick. But Crissy catches her leg and pushes it away, sending it flying right into Ember’s waiting arms. Ember holds onto Lexy’s leg just long enough for Crissy to deliver a step up enzugari to the back of her head. Ember then delivers the dragon screw leg whip on Chapel, driving her down to the canvas.
Lexy rolls to the outside of the ring where Kat is already resting. The two are gathering themselves while also listening to the tutelage of their mentors. Lucas and Trinity step in, not only aiding their students to their feet but telling them how to combat Bad Behavior’s offence. This huddle ends when Crissy and Ember rush across the ring and come diving over the top rope into perfectly synchronized senton planchas. They come crashing down right into not just Lexy and Kat, but Trinity and Lucas as well.
Greyson: WHAT A DIVE FROM BAD BEHAVIOR!
Frankie: That was totes uncalled for!
The crowd packed into the Staples Arena are screaming their hearts out as they watch Bad Behavior take down the champions and their advisors. Ember now drags Kat to her feet and throws her into the ring. She follows her inside and now slaps her fist repeatedly into the palm of her hand, setting up for the Torched. Kat works her way up to her feet, having no idea that she is about to be on the receiving end of the roaring punch.
Ember spirals into the Torched…no…into Kat’s superkick. A forceful kick nails Ember in the jaw, taking her off of her feet. Kat then turns around right into Crissy, who retaliates on her partner’s behalf via going for her Thrill Shot. But Kat manages to counter that by side stepping Crissy and nailing her with a superkick as well.
Frankie: The Superkick Soiree is getting started, and Crissy and Ember are on the guest list.
Greyson: Kat with those desperation superkicks saving her for now.
Kat now turns towards the laid out Crissy, beginning to hop in place in order to build into the standing 450 splash. She leaves her feet and flips into the move only to slam not into Crissy but the canvas. Crissy rolls out of the way of the 450 and breathes a sigh of relief only to look up and see Lexy leaping from the apron, springing off the top rope, flying over Kat and hitting a 450 splash of her own.
Sparkles: OOOOH PEPPERJACK!
Greyson: 450 from Lexy!!
The fans react loudly at the sight of that last series of moves that have left Crissy prone and Kat taking advantage. She crawls into the lateral press, cautiously hooking both legs. But the referee does not make the count, informing Kat that Crissy is NOT the legal participant in this match. Kat throws a fit in the process of rising to her feet and turning to Ember, who is leaning on the ropes recovering from the superkick. Kat charges at Ember, hitting her with a knee to the ribs then taking her by the wrist. Kat launches Ember towards the waiting Lexy, who bends down to catch her incoming opponent. However Ember side steps Lexy, grabs her by the back of the head and throws her shoulder first into Kat’s ribs. Kat catches Lexy in a front chancery though, holding her in place so she can’t be used to spear Kelly. This protective act comes back to haunt the Tag Team Champions though when Ember rushes in and leaps into a standing blockbuster. She pulls Kat down into the flip over neck breaker and Kat accidentally pulls Lexy down into a DDT.
Greyson: Ember set that up beautifully!
Frankie: Can the crowd hear me face palming?
It’s unsure who got the worst of that last sequence, Lexy or Kat, both looking very addled. It’s Lexy who is first to reach her feet and she does so just in time to be subjected to a running back elbow from Ember. The challenger then performs a back flip elbow drop only to have Lexy roll out of the way. As a result Ember crashes into the canvas, sitting up and grabbing at her arm. She rolls to her knees just as Lexy steps in and cracks her in the chest with a buzzsaw kick, followed by a second one. Just as Lexy is about to go for the third roundhouse she spots Crissy charging at her. Lexy side steps Crissy and pushes her along into Ember’s hands. Ember leaps to her feet, catches Crissy coming in and throws her not only into the air, but back over the head of Lexy. Crissy lands on Lexy’s shoulders then flips her back into the inverted hurricarana driver.
Greyson: Now that was impressive!
Frankie: Would you stop sucking up to Bad Behavior already!?!
Lexy’s head bounces off the canvas and she flops over to her knees, looking so dazed and confused. She’s even more disorientated when Ember and Crissy step in, take her around the neck and simultaneously drop back into spike DDTs. Lexy now rolls over to her back and Ember makes the cover. The referee AGAIN refuses to make the tag though, shouting at Ember that Kat is the legal member of her team. Ember spits vile at official Mayfield while working her way up to her feet. Crissy is already pulling Kat to the middle of the ring and pointing down at her, insisting that Ember make the cover. Ember drops into the lateral press.
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Kat gets her shoulder up, rolling away from an exhausted and angered Ember, who slaps the canvas while screaming out in frustration. She calls out to Crissy, who steps in and helps Ember roll Kat to her knees, both ladies placing her in a headlock. A double spiked DDT is coming only to be thwarted when a recovered Lexy steps in and blasts Ember over the back with a forearm. Crissy then spins around and goes to punch Lexy across the face but Lexy ducks down and drives the top of her head into her opponent’s gut, doubling her over. Kat then stands up as she and Lexy step to opposite sides of Crissy, double hip tossing her into Ember, who catches her partner before she can hit the canvas. She holds Crissy suspended upside down in her arms. But this is another protective act that comes back to haunt her team. Lexy and Kat deliver simultaneous superkicks to Ember’s shins, causing her to fall to her knees and spike Crissy on top of her head with a piledriver. Then Wicked Intent nails Ember in the face with stereo superkicks.
Frankie: That’s my girls!
Greyson: Wicked Intent and those devastating superkicks putting Bad Behavior back on the defensive.
Sparkles; This is like watching a pinball game come to life.
Kat quickly drops down into the pin on Ember, hooking her legs.
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Amazingly Ember manages to get her shoulder up in time to prevent suffering the loss, keeping her team’s title ambitions alive. Wicked Intent join in with stomps at Ember’s body and face. Kat then grabs Lexy by the wrist, whipping her into the ropes. Lexy returns to her partner’s waiting hands, Kat throwing her over her head and sending Lexy into a shooting star press. She comes crashing down right into Ember then rolls out of the way as Kat flips back into a standing corkscrew moonsault. She lands on Ember and remains splayed across her, going for the pin.
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Crissy dives in just in time to break up the pinfall.
Greyson: Crissy saving her partner and preventing the pinfall in what has been an incredible tag team title match.
Lexy makes Crissy pay. She grabs Crissy by the hair and forces her to her feet before lunging into the superkick. Crissy ducks down to avoid taking the blow and in the process performs a sweeping leg trip, her foot hitting the back of Lexy’s planted foot. As a result Lexy crashes to her back. Kat looks to avenge her partner, charging in only to be caught around the neck, Crissy dropping back into the downward spiral. She then locks in the Koji Clutch on Kat, who is already lifting her hand looking ready to tap out. But Lexy intervenes, delivering a superkick right into Crissy’s temple.
Greyson: Lexy breaking up the submission in the most vicious way possible.
Frankie: Fuck Suplex City, this is Superkick City.
Lexy turns away from Crissy after delivering the superkick then spots Ember trying to stand up. Lexy rushes in and steps over Ember’s head, pulling her up into position to deliver the package piledriver. It looks like Lexy is about to deliver the brain scrambling blow only to have Ember shove Chapel back. Lexy accidentally bumps right into Kat, who remains standing behind her, holding her partner up. Ember spirals into them and hits the Torched on Lexy’s jaw, knocking her head back into Kat’s face. The two bump noggins and Kat goes down while Lexy stumbles forward into another Torched. Ember swings around and blasts her straight to the jaw, knocking her from her feet.
Ember doesn’t let her opponent stay down for long though, dragging Lexy to her knees then into the turnbuckle. She picks her up and places her on the corner before following her to the top. Ember climbs to the top and prepares to deliver the 3rd Degree Burn. All focus should be on the successful culmination of Bad Behavior’s pursuit of the Tag Team Titles, but instead it’s on the actions of Lucas Knight and Trinity Street at ringside. Trinity is forcing the Tag Team Title belts out of the hands of the time keeper while Lucas is leaping up to the apron. He acts like he’s about to get into the ring, key word being ‘ACTS.’
Mayfield cuts him off, preventing Lucas from getting involved in this match. Meanwhile behind the referee’s back Trinity is climbing up to the turnbuckle beside Ember and smacking her in the back of the head with the Tag Team Title.
Greyson: This is bullshit. Trinity and Lucas getting involved!
Frankie: That’s leading by example.
The fans are all over Trinity, who ignores their heckles as she drops from the apron. Lucas abandons the apron and now everyone is watching Ember, who has fallen to her seat on the top rope, looking incredibly dazed by the blow from the belt. That’s when Kat rushes across the ring behind her and leaps into the air, catching Ember and pulling her off the top rope into the Chelsea Smile.
Sparkles: Now the backstabber from the top rope!!
Ember bounces off the knees and finds herself splayed motionless across the canvas. Kat rolls her to her back and makes the cover.
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The fans are crying for Ember to kick out, but it’s not to be. The Chelsea Smile in combination with the blow from the Tag Team Title belt has left Ember incapable of kicking out, meaning the champions have successfully retained their gold.
Frankie: The Chelsea Smile does the trick again.
Greyson: THE CHELSEA SMILE!?! Ember was hit in the head with the Tag Title dammit!
Frankie: Well she had it coming. Like it or not, Wicked Intent are leaving with the belts. Get over yourself, Lovejoy.
Lexy climbs down out of the corner and joins Kat in a celebration, the two collapsing into one another’s arms. They raise each other’s arms while veering their eyes to their advisors. Lucas and Trinity enter the ring with the Tag Team Titles in their clutches, returning the belts to their rightful owners. Lexy and Kat hold up the gold while Trinity and Lucas stand back clapping with grins on their faces. Meanwhile Crissy crawls towards Ember, checking in her condition.
Greyson: Although the circumstances of their victory leaves a lot to be desired, Wicked Intent emerge from this grueling match with the Tag Team Titles.
Sparkles: A big moment for Lexy and Kat here in their Invictus debuts.
Greyson: Yes, and a major heart breaker for Bad Behavior, who took the champions to their absolute limit here at the biggest show of the year.
An exhausted Kat and Lexy continue to celebrate with their Tag Team Titles while Crissy glares at them, swearing revenge.
BACKSTAGE
A nervous Selena Frost comes into view, pacing back and forth through a corridor and sporting a ‘WE BELIEVE’ t-shirt. She is presently getting herself psyched up for competition, as she goes one on one with Tina Valentine in an eagerly anticipated grudge bout.
Kloe: You look…anxious.
Selena looks up and scowls at Kloe Masters. The former IWC President and scrupulous businesswoman now associated with Selena’s rival Tina, comes stepping into view.
Kloe: You should be. But please, don’t be on edge because you’re making your Invictus debut. Or because the eyes of millions and millions of people are going to be watching your every move. You don’t need to worry about any of that. What you SHOULD be concerned about…is Tina Valentine. She is going to make your Invictus debut your swan-song. The millions watching around the world are going to be mortified at the sight of what she does to you. Their BELIEF in you is about to be shattered.
These words are not intimidating Selena, they’re inspiring her.
Kloe: I BELIEVE you don’t stand a chance against Tina, and in a matter of minutes, you’re going to that ring to prove it.
Kloe walks away with a smirk on her face.
RINGSIDE
Cameras transition back to a panoramic shot of the crowd, who have already seen so much this evening, with even more to come. The voice of Ring Announcer Thomas Boll can be heard in the background, speaking in his broken English.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, please welcome, to perform hit single “Painkiller,” and tell story of Selena Frost versus Tina Valentine….THREE DAYS GRACE!
Cameras cut to Three Days Grace frontman Matt Walst, who has a microphone in hand as he paces the stage. Behind him his crew is all set up and ready to rock out.
Walst: INNNVVVVIICTUSS….
The fans pop loudly.
Walst: Get up off your asses and get LOUD!
They do exactly as instructed and now Walst is properly motivated to start in with the lyrics of ‘Painkiller.’
Walst: You know you need a fix when you fall down
You know you need to find a way
To get you through another day
Let me be the one to numb you out
Let me be the one to hold you
Never gonna let you get away
Behind his back on the multiple Cartel-trons we see a bevy of images pertaining to all the incidents between Tina Valentine and Selena Frost that have built into their Queen of the Ring Title Contenders Match to take place tonight. There are shots of Tina attacking Selena’s arm with a chair, and then images of Frost getting Valentine locked in the Frost Bite submission.
Walst: The shoulder you cry on
The dose that you die on
I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
You’ll love me till it’s all over, over
‘Cause I’m the shoulder you cry on
The dose that you die on
I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
Walst is getting animated on the stage, while the screens behind him show clips of Tina bashing a beer bottle over the back of Selena’s head. The video on the Cartel-trons cuts to Selena causing Tina to be eliminated from the Last Stand Rumble. It then transitions into shots of Selena attacking Tina’s friend Victoria Salinas backstage and bashing her in the skull with a trashcan lid.
Walst: I know what you want so desperately
You know I’ll give you one for free
Forever you’re coming back to me
Now I’m gonna give you what you need
‘Cause I know what you fiend on and what you lean on
And what you lean on
The shoulder you cry on
The dose that you die on
The clips on the Cartel-tron show Selena in her debut with the IWC trying to lock Tina in the cross arm breaker only for her to escape the ring. The video then transitions into Selena keeping Tina from getting back in the ring as her tag team partner, Mary Allison Chainz is pinned, costing Tina her Queen of the Ring Title.
Walst: I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
You’ll love me till it’s all over, over
‘Cause I’m the shoulder you cry on
The dose that you die on
I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
Did you find another cure?
Did you find another cure?
I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
You’ll love me till it’s all over, over
‘Cause I’m the shoulder you cry on
The dose that you die on
I, I can be your painkiller, killer, killer
Painkiller
The footage now features Tina locking Selena in Selena’s own finishing submission, the Frost Bite, mangling her arm. We then see Tina and her Slay Revolution attacking Selena backstage before cutting to a scene some time later featuring Selena in the crowd surrounded by fans chanting ‘WE BELIEVE.’ The video transitions to Tina and Selena squaring up on one another in the ring. Another clip shows Tina holding up the Queen of the Ring Championship and Selena pantomiming a belt across her waist.
Walst: Let’s get this STARTED!
The fans are almost creaming themselves in anticipation of Tina Valentine versus Selena Frost, and now they won’t have to wait any longer. Because the lyrics of “Talkin That” have just started playing in the background. Tina Valentine emerges from the back in her altered entrance attire for the evening, sporting a sleeveless leather coat with spiked shoulder pads. The second she reaches the base of the steps and gets to the stage she shoves Matt Walst forcefully out of her way.
Frankie: Jesus Christ Walst, get the hell out of Tina’s way.
Greyson: Valentine just out to antagonize anyone she crosses paths with.
Sparkles: That’s what the Duchess does best.
Greyson: Well one person she’s been antagonizing for months has the chance for revenge here tonight when Selena Frost finally gets her hands on Tina in a number one contender’s match for the Queen of the Ring Championship.
An outraged Walst has to be held back by his fellow bandmates, kept from lashing out at Tina who continues towards the ring. Once inside she removes her jacket and throws it over the ropes right at Sebastian Blake in the crowd. Blake stands up and now security is forced to step in his way, keeping him from potentially lashing out at Valentine.
Sparkles: Tina just pissing EVERYONE off.
Greyson: Now she’s angering Sebastian Blake, the man she gave a concussion to several weeks ago after she threw a chair straight into his skull. But Tina better not be focused on Blake if she wants to put the Snow Queen down here tonight.
As Tina continues to upset the entire world the person she’s irritated more than anyone in it is now about to head for the ring. Selena Frost, Tina’s opposition for the evening, finally does come to the ring, albeit in a fashion befitting of the Snow Queen. To the surprise of everyone, and the disgust of Tina, a giant snow globe can be seen appearing through the curtains beside the stairwell erected on the stage. Said snow globe is filled with flurrying snow circling Selena Frost. The snow-globe with Selena inside is pulled down towards the ring on the forks of a tow motor while the lyrics of “Believe” are playing through the PA system.
Greyson: This…is….surreal.
Sparkles: You know, Sparkles almost had the same entrance planned for myself.
Frankie: Another crazy Invictus entrance.
The snow globe comes to a stop at the base of the ramp and Selena peers through the glass that surrounds her at an impatient and irritated Tina. Valentine is shouting at everyone who will listen, including the referee, insisting they get Selena to stop hamming it up and get into the ring. Finally Selena opens a small door in the snow-globe and makes her exit. The moment she steps out she is bombarded with the screams of the fans, all of which chanting “WE BELIEVE.”
Greyson: The Believe Movement in full force here tonight at Invictus.
Frankie: Which has only got to be pissing Tina off even more.
Just as Selena begins to enter the ring she finds the side of her face smashed with a running knee from an impatient Tina. The blow knocks Selena to the mats and Tina follows her right outside. The fans stop chanting “WE BELIEVE” and start booing Tina, who drags Selena to her feet by the hair and throws her face first into the glass wall of the snow-globe.
Greyson: Despicable!
Frankie: Tina tired of waiting for this match to begin, tired of Selena and all of her antics.
Greyson: ANTICS!?! She was just making her way to the ring.
Frankie: Stop yelling at me, Lovejoy, I’m just expressing an opinion, last chance I checked there was still a freedom of speech law in this country.
Greyson: A freedom you abused way too frequently.
Selena is made to pay for her elaborate entrance as she bounces off the snow-globe and collapses to the mats. Tina then takes Selena by the legs, tucks them under her armpits and catapults her face first into the snow-globe this time. Selena bounces off the glass and spirals away from it towards the ring. Tina rushes in behind her and wedges a shoulder to Selena’s back, heaving her into the air then driving her down via the back drop suplex onto the thin protective mats.
Greyson: So much hatred between Tina and Selena that has been building ever since Frost made her IWC debut by trying to put Tina in a submission hold.
Frankie: Tina at long last making her pay for that.
Greyson: She already did when she screwed Selena out of the Queen of the Ring Championship at Last Stand.
Selena agonizingly gets to her seat with her back propped to the turnbuckle post. That’s when Tina rushes across the mats and caves Selena’s chest in with a running knee strike. She then steps back and gets another running start into a second knee to the sternum. Tina’s not through yet though, dashing into Selena and her chest with a THIRD knee. The referee is shouting at Tina, demanding that she get Selena into the ring, but Valentine blows him off and gives him an up yours gesture. She then goes right back after Selena, who is desperately getting to her feet with the aid of the apron. Although Selena can barely stand she manages to deliver a desperation knife edge chop, connecting across Tina’s sternum and driving her back.
Greyson: Selena answering! She’s still got some fight! Even after being assaulted before the match could begin.
Selena hits a second knife edge chop, staggering Tina back. Selena then goes for a third running chop only to be caught with a back drop that sends her flipping over and plummeting into the mats. Tina drags Selena to her feet, takes her by the wrist and whips her as hard as she can into the ring apron. Selena hits ribs first and then bounces right back into Tina’s arms. She takes Selena around the arm and the leg, giving her a Russian Leg Sweep straight into the barricade.
Selena’s back bounces off the barrier, sending her ricocheting off down to the mats. An intense Duchess pulls Selena to her feet only to drive her back into the mats via the scoop slam.
Sparkles: Are they ever going to get into the ring?
Frankie: Once they do it’s going to be the shortest match in history, because Tina has absolutely DESTROYED Selena before this bout could begin.
A handful of Selena’s hair is used to pull her to her feet and then scoop slam her across the mats once again. She grabs at the small of her back then rolls towards the ring, desperately grabbing at the apron and attempting to reach her feet. Once she does stand up she finds the back of her head caught and her face driven into the apron. Selena at long last rolls into the ring, or at least half of her does. Her head remains splayed over the apron that Tina is now standing on top of. She leaps off and comes down with a diving fist right into Selena’s face. Tina then steps past Selena and climbs up the nearest turnbuckle leaping off into another diving fist that nails her opponent right across the bridge of the nose. As Tina falls to the mats Selena rolls fully into the ring, already looking spent, already looking beaten down.
Valentine rolls in after her and the bell finally sounds to officially commence this match.
Greyson: And we’re just NOW getting this match underway.
Frankie: Might as well as not even put down that tiny hammer Time Keeper, you’re gonna need it again here in just a second.
Upon entering the ring Tina does not turn her wrath on Selena but on the fans.
Tina: (Nasally mocking voice) We believe…..we believe…..we believe!
The crowd boos and Tina produces a contemptuous smile. She then runs at Selena, or more accurately right into Selena’s knife edge chop. The stiff strike blisters Tina’s sternum, but more importantly knocks her back so that Selena can get a breather. Tina now rushes at Selena once again only to have Frost side step her, take the back of her head and throw her over the ropes.
Greyson: Selena starting to get back into this.
Frankie: BACK into it? She was never in it to begin with.
Sparkles: That’s all changing now.
Tina gets to her feet on the outside of the ring but can’t return to said ring in time to prevent what happens to her next. She looks up to the turnbuckle which Selena is standing on top of before flipping back into the moonsault. She comes crashing down from a great height straight into Tina’s chest, knocking both athletes to the ground.
Greyson: OHHHH YEAAAH!
Sparkles: Selena going to the air!
The moonsault looks like it did as much damage to Selena that it did to Tina, but Frost is already back on her feet. She drags Valentine up and then delivers a European Uppercut across her jaw. The stiff blow sends Tina staggering along into the barricade. She falls against it and immediately finds her ears bombarded by the insults of Sebastian Blake.
Blake: Awww, poor Tina. Does it sting Tina? Does it sting?
Selena rushes across the mats, steps off the top of the steel stairs and launches herself into a clubbing blow across Tina’s back. A stunned Tina crawls away from Selena, returning to the ring. She rolls inside with Selena nipping at her heels. Once inside of the squared circle Selena cups her hands around her mouth and shouts towards the crowd.
Selena: BELIEVE!
Fans: We believe….we believe….we believe!
Selena nods towards her fans then steps right into Tina’s waiting arms. She catches Selena with a jaw breaker that shuts her mouth and sends her flying back into the ropes. Selena bounces off and comes right back into Tina’s waiting arms, catching her with a tilt a whirl into the back breaker.
Tina then just disrespectfully SHOVES Selena off her knee and down to the canvas. A fierce Tina sits down on the small of Selena’s back, pulls her head up from the ring by the hair then begins to deliver crossface forearms across her cheek and temple. She delivers several of them before the referee interferes, demanding that Tina stop before this goes too far. Tina quits delivering the forearms but never lets go of the hair. She pulls Selena up to her knees, puts a foot to the back of her head then hits her with the curb stomp.
Frankie: They don’t get any more intense than Tina.
Greyson: She does have a lot of passion, but she uses that passion the wrong way.
Further insult is added as Tina grabs the ‘We Believe’ t-shirt covering Selena’s body and rips it down the back. She then tears it away from Selena’s body, revealing the wrestling attire that was on below it. Tina spits on the shirt and as thus spits on the fans, who do not take kindly to these actions. The Duchess goes even further, extending the shirt between her hands then placing it across Selena’s throat, pulling back and chocking her rival. Selena gasps for air, desperately trying to pull the makeshift noose from her esophagus. The referee is shouting at Tina, starting a five count and reaching four, at last prompting Tina to remove the shirt from Selena’s throat, then toss it aside. She now drags Selena towards the ropes and puts a foot to the back of her head, hitting her with another curb stomp, this time driving her throat down into the middle cable.
Selena’s head bounces back and her throat has been closed. Tina now stands right on top of that throat with both feet, holding the top rope to keep her balance. The official starts another five count on Tina, already exhausting himself trying to keep her in line. At last Tina steps off the throat then drops down, putting a knee into her larynx. She holds it there and forces the referee to commence with another five count.
Upon reaching a count of four we at last see Tina take the leg away from her opposition’s neck. She then pulls Selena’s head up by her bangs and flashes the middle finger in her face. Tina closes her hand into a fist and swings it across Selena’s brow. Tina grabs Selena by the wrist and pulls her along to her knees before kicking her to the chest repeatedly. It’s becoming obvious that Selena has just not recovered from the pre-match assault, she is not on her game whatsoever.
Painstakingly she tries to work her way up to her feet, feebly palming at Tina, trying to use her attire as a crutch to help get her balance. Tina looks down at her with a snide smile. She then delivers a punch right across Selena’s face, knocking her to the canvas.
Tina: All night long Ice-Bitch…all night long.
Tina now stands back and watches Selena AGAIN trying to stand up using Valentine’s attire to do so. Once on her feet, Selena now holding onto Tina’s shoulder, Valentine lays her out a second time with ANOTHER punch. The blow sends Selena corkscrewing to the ring but she won’t stay down on it. To everyone’s surprise, even Tina’s, Selena is getting back up.
Fans: We believe! We believe! We believe!
Selena paws at Tina and works her way up to her feet before being taken around the waist and hit with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Tina then kips up arrogantly to her feet and shouts right back at the fans.
Tina: Believe in that bitches!
Tina turns around and drops to her knees, continuing to shout at and antagonize Selena, who is trying to fight her way up to her feet. She struggles valiantly against the injuries that have been inflicted on her throughout this match, determined to beat Tina, determined to leave here tonight as the Queen of the Ring Number One Contender. She finally does get up on incredibly shaky legs while Tina reaches out, taking her under the jaw, lighting lifting up on it. Selena stands and Tina takes her down with another punch. NOO…wait, Selena catches Tina’s arm, uses it to bend her forward and then steps over the bicep, going for the Frost Bite. She’s about to flip Tina over into the cross arm breaker only to have Valentine counter by pushing Selena off and into the ropes. Selena bounces from the cables and returns to Tina’s waiting clothesline, one so forceful that it sends Frost crashing into the ring and Tina coming down to her knees beside her.
Tina looks at Selena and just shakes her head. After chuckling at Selena’s plight, Tina exits the ring, causally walking around it to get up close to the nearest camera.
Tina: Are you capturing this? Make sure all the fans watching at home can see her face…Get a close up of it…Get a close up!
Tina points at the ring where Selena is in the worse pain of her life, still unable to get much in the way of sustained offense against her adversary. Now Tina suddenly turns away from the ring and the camera-man, reaching over the barricade and pie facing the standing Sebastian Blake down into his chair. Blake immediately jumps to his feet but security and members of the LA Kings that Blake showed himself hanging with earlier, hold Sebastian back.
Greyson: Tina just can’t help herself.
Sparkles: It wasn’t good enough that she gave Blake a concussion a month ago, now she’s got to take every opportunity to insult him.
Tina is still baiting Blake, shouting at him passionately but knowing Blake can’t get through security. The Duchess turns her back on Blake and returns her focus to her opponent. She starts to slide through the ropes when Selena leaps upright, steps to Tina’s side and grabs her arm. Tina is flipped through the cables then over to her back, finding herself placed in the Frost Bite.
Greyson: The Frost Bite…its-its locked in!
Frankie: Tina caught totally off guard.
Selena has the hold tightly applied and Tina on the verge of tapping to it. She wails in agony and swings her free arm through the air, trying to resist the urge to use it to slap the canvas. She does not tap out, instead she manages to force her hands back together even though Selena is wrapped around one of them. Tina uses all of her strength to stand up and heave Selena up into the air, an incredible feat considering that Selena is still locking in the Frost Bite. Tina manages to step towards the ropes and put Selena’s head through the top and middle rope. Tina now falls back and breaks the Frost Bite by swinging Selena’s throat up and into the cables.
Greyson: Oh no-OH NO-the Frost Bite BROKEN!
Sparkles: In the most ghastly way Sparkles could imagine.
Selena slides down the cables that may have just snapped her neck, they are now the only thing keeping her seated up. All the strength is taken from her injured, no, her crippled body. Tina grabs her by the ankle, drags her to the middle of the ring and then pins her in the most nonchalant casual fashion possible.
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2
Selena manages to roll her shoulder from the canvas, making Tina regret her lazy cover. Tina just sits there trembling from the anger that has consumed her heart and her soul. She follows behind the crawling Selena and drops a double axehandle into her lower back, knocking her to the canvas. Tina then swipes her forehead and whips the sweat collected across her fingers down onto Selena’s crushed body.
Tina: You should have listened to Kloe.
Right now the only thing Selena is listening to are the screams of the fans, who are begging her to get up. She slowly works her way towards her feet with the aid of the cables, determined to get to her feet, an act she might just regret. Tina steps in behind her and arrogantly rakes her back with nothing but finger nails. Selena falls down to the canvas and Tina steps back once again mocking the fans.
Tina: We believe! We believe! We believe!
Selena gets back to her feet and Tina steps in from behind, delivering another back rake.
Tina: We believe! We believe! We believe!
Selena works her way up slower than before but still managing to get her legs under her. Tina steps in and starts to rake her back but Selena reaches over her shoulders and grabs Valentine’s hands before the claws could rip at her flesh. Selena drops to her knees and flips Tina over her back by the wrists, sending her collapsing to the canvas then rolling across it back to her feet. She charges at Selena with another clothesline but Frost has other ideas. She bends down and catches the creases of Tina’s legs, pulling her down to the ring into a jackknife cover.
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2
Tina launches her shoulder from the canvas and Selena immediately wraps her legs around the arm springing from the ring, transitioning from the pin right into the Frost Bite.
Greyson: It’s locked in again! It’s locked in again!!
Sparkles: Frost Bite applied! Frost Bite applied tightly!
Selena has the Frost Bite tightly clamped in this time, meaning there is little hope for Tina to escape. That still doesn’t stop Valentine, who gets to her knees and employs all of her strength to lift Selena up off the canvas even with her still holding onto the Frost Bite. Tina manages to run across the ring and tries to drive Selena back first into the turnbuckle. She succeeds in crushing Selena’s spine against the corner, forcing her to break the submission. Selena drops back to her feet, leaning on the corner to remain upright. Tina shakes off the damage to her arm then rushes right at Selena, who leaves her feet and hits a dropkick to Tina’s knee. As a result Valentine is sent flying face first into the middle turnbuckle pad, her head snapping back. She then stands up using the corner that Selena is now stepping up behind her. Selena puts Tina in a dragon sleeper then leaps off the turnbuckle into a tornado reverse DDT.
Greyson: That’s what you need to do Selena, that’s what you need to do to stay in this match. Keep Tina guessing, keep her on her heels.
Frankie: That’s NOT going to help Selena, nothing is.
It takes all she’s worth to reach her feet but that’s exactly what Selena does, standing just in time to catch a recovering Tina with a forearm across the face. Selena steps back and although it kills her just to breath she manages to release an impassioned scream.
Selena: BEEEELIIIIEVEE!
Fans: WE BELIEVE! WE BELIEVE! WE BELIEVE!
They shout even louder than before and have further provocation to scream when seeing Selena rushing at Tina. There hopes die a horrible death though when Tina hits Selena in the face with a big kick. The shot sends Selena staggering back into the corner, falling against it for support. Tina rushes right at her and right into her arm. Selena leaps to the middle rope, catches Tina around the neck and leaps off the corner, hitting a tornado DDT.
Greyson: Now the tornado DDT connecting! This is a truly inspiring performance from Selena!
Frost struggles but finally rolls over and drapes an arm across Tina’s chest.
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Valentine manages to get her shoulder up right in time to avoid the pinfall loss.
An exasperated Selena refuses to let that be the end of her come back. She rises to her feet and approaches the nearest turnbuckle, slipping through the ropes and beginning to scale it.
Frankie: This isn’t smart Selena.
Selena gets to the top rope and is prepared to dive off before Tina rushes across the ring, grabbing her by the throat and the thigh, throwing her from the turnbuckle. Selena crashes to her back and then rolls across it straight onto her feet. She then turns around and to a rousing ovation Selena rushes across the ring into a mafia kick, nailing an unsuspecting Tina in the face while she was standing in front of the turnbuckle she just launched Selena off of. Frost then grabs the back of Tina’s head and throws her down out of the corner before scaling the turnbuckle. She gets to the top rope then takes flight, soaring across the ring into the elbow drop directly into the black heart of her opponent.
Greyson: ELBOW DROP! ELBOW DROP! ELBOW DROP!!
Sparkles: This really is inspiring Sparkles!
Tina is convulsing and Selena is covering, hooking her opponent’s legs.
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The crowd is already celebrating right up until they see that Tina’s arm escaped the ring. Selena sits up with her hair messed, sweat beading down her face and eyes that look on the verge of producing tears. She is totally stricken with grief upon realizing that Tina kicked out of the elbow drop.
Greyson: Selena asking herself what she has to do to put Tina away.
Frankie: Tina is not leaving Invictus until after she’s beaten Selena…no…crippled Selena.
Selena crawls into the ropes and uses them to stand up, watching as Tina makes her way to her feet and into her waiting arms. Selena takes her around the neck, setting for the Cold Snapmare. She begins to leave her feet in order to hit the move only to have Tina counter into the Street Smart Lung-blower. Tina frees her head, leaps into the air and drags Selena down into Tina’s raised knees. The back breaker leaves Selena rolling and thrashing about on the canvas.
Greyson: It looked like Selena was just about to set up for her finishing DDT out of that Cold Snapmare but Tina counters! She counters into the Street Smart Lung-blower.
Frankie: Pin her Tina, be done with this…be done with this already!
That’s exactly what Tina does, crawling into the cover by wedging her shoulders to the creases of Selena’s knees, folding her up into the pin.
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2
And the referee’s hand comes down, only it never hits the canvas, because Selena’s shoulder is escaping it. Tina falls to her side, eyes widened and face frozen in a picture of shock.
Sparkles: Now it’s Selena who shocks the world!
Frankie: Look at that expression on Tina’s face…she is absolutely stunned!
As is the crowd, but they STILL start in with a just deserved chant of….
Fans: We believe! We believe! We believe!
Tina rolls to her knees and covers her ears, refusing to hear the fans and that chant that sickens her so. Finally she stands up, approaches the ropes and shouts right back at the crowd. Ultimately her attention turns to Blake in the front row, and it’s her spit that goes hurling towards him. Blake has had it and security isn’t about to hold him back. He starts towards the ring but security is having none of it, they not only put their hands on him but shove him back. The members of the LA Kings that Blake showed up with here at Invictus, lunge to their feet and come to Blake’s defense. They try to reason with security only to be shoved as well by the overzealous guards. So how are the LA Kings expected to react? Figure it out. They haul off and deck the security guards, driving them down to the ground while the crowd ascends to their feet. They are going absolutely NUTS at the sight of the LA Kings knocking down the last line of defense.
Greyson: THE KINGS ATTACKING SECURITY!
Sparkles: Are you fucking kidding Sparkles?
Now that the Kings have security distracted there is nothing stopping Sebastian. He looks over the barricade at Tina in the ring, who is shaking her head and instantly regretting spitting at him. Blake now jumps over the barricade and goes running towards the ring, beginning to slide in. But Tina is all over him, stomping at the back of Blake’s head repeatedly and then clubbing him over the back.
Greyson: Now Blake is trying to get involved!
Frankie: But Tina’s taking out the idiot.
Tina kicks Blake out of the ring then turns around right into Selena and right into her Cold Snapmare. She hits the move then keeps on rolling forward, pulling Tina along to her feet into her version of the DDT. Tina is spiked brutally on her head, flipping her to her back where she is quickly pinned.
Greyson: The Icebreaker delivered…Selena capitalizing on the distraction created by Blake!
Sparkles: She’s on the cusp of winning the number one contendership for the Queen of the Ring Championship!
Selena looks to pick up the biggest win of her IWC career thus far.
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2
The crowd packed into the Staples Center are screaming their lungs out before crying their hearts out when seeing Tina kick out. Selena rolls away from Tina to her stomach, the side of her face placed across the canvas with a disparaged expression on her face.
Greyson: Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable….
Selena sluggishly crawls towards Tina, pulling her up by her wrist. Suddenly Tina lashes out with her finger though, driving it right into Selena’s eyes. The gouging causes Selena to turn her back on Tina, blinded to the fact that Tina is leaping into the air behind her into another Street Smart Lung-blower. No wait, Selena plants her feet and then reaches back catching the airborne Tina around the neck. Selena counters the attempt at the Lung-blower into the Cold Snapmare. She and Tina roll forward across the canvas and back to their feet where Selena transitions into the Icebreaker. At the last second though Tina swings out of the front chancery, lunges into the air and catches Selena around the neck, delivering a stunner. Selena bounces jaw first off the shoulder of her adversary, staggering back into the ropes, bouncing off and running right into Tina’s knees. She catches Selena with the code breaker. Selena bounces off the knees then corkscrews to the canvas.
Frankie: Give it up Selena, you’re done…you’re just done. There’s nothing you got in your little arsenal to finish Tina off.
Greyson: That wasn’t the Valentine Heartbreak, but it was damn brutal.
A languishing Tina sits up on the canvas beside Selena, not going for the cover. Instead her eyes drift towards none other than Matt Walst from Three Days Grace rushing down the ramp holding an electric guitar in his arms.
Frankie: Seriously Walst….Get fucked you idiot.
Sparkles: Matt Walst of Three Days Grace fame taking exception to the fact that Tina shoved him aside before this match started.
Greyson: Is he actually going to get physical with Tina?
Tina puts a stop to any of Matt’s plans to get into the ring, standing up behind the ropes and threateningly pointing over them at the Three Days Grace front-man. He hesitates and lowers the guitar, looking intimidated by Valentine. Tina then turns away from Matt and rushes at a seated Selena, blasting her in the face with a kick.
Behind Tina’s back, on the outside of the ring, Sebastian Blake has recovered from the earlier assault at Tina’s hands and is grabbing the guitar from Walst. Back in the ring Tina has mounted Selena’s chest and is punching her repeatedly across the brow. The referee tries to stop her but Tina shoves the referee back in anger. This time the official retaliates though, pushing Tina right back. Valentine looks stunned by the referee’s actions. Now the official turns to check on Selena while Tina sets up to take him out with the Street Smart Lung-blower. But just then Blake grabs her by the shoulder from behind, spins her around and shatters Matt Walst’s guitar right over her head.
Greyson: Blake smashing that guitar across Tina’s skull!
Frankie: That cheater! That fucking cheater!
The guitar explodes around Tina’s cranium, leaving her stumbling around in the ring looking all disorientated. She finally falls back right beside Selena, who immediately reaches out with her legs, wrapping them around Tina’s arm and applying the Frost Bite on her unconscious opponent. The referee, who missed the attack with the guitar as a result of checking on Selena, now notices that Tina is completely out cold. He grabs her free arm, lifts it into the air and watches it drop before calling for the bell.
Greyson: Tina locked in the Frost Bite…and it’s over…oh my God it’s over!
Sparkles: Listen to this reaction! We have a NEW number one contender for the Queen of the Ring Title!
Frankie: This isn’t right! This isn’t right!! Tina was robbed!
Greyson: She got exactly what she deserved. She did this all to herself.
The arena is absolutely exploding with joy at the sight of Selena picking up the most emotional win of her IWC career. She rolls to her knees, lifts one hand into the air and slides the other through her hair. Blake then returns to the ring, grabs her by the wrist and lifts it aloft. At the same time Walst is rolling inside and taking Selena’s other arm, holding it up as well. They all three celebrate over the unconscious body of Valentine.
Selena stops gesticulating with Blake and Walst, instead she rolls to the outside of the ring, jumps the barricade and joins the crowd in a chant of “WE BELIEVE.”
Greyson: Selena with a career changing victory tonight at Invictus. She at last rids herself of Tina Valentine and has just claimed a shot at the Queen of the Ring Championship. Congratulations Selena, congratulations.
Frankie: Tina is going to be so fucking pissed.
BACKSTAGE
Harrison: Do you got her!?! Do you got her!?!
A great deal of commotion is breaking out in a backstage corridor with Aaron Harrison standing at the epicenter of it all. He presently has his foot wedged to the throat of Borsilav, pinning him to the floor. At the same time that he restrains the big Russian assigned to protect Mika Kozlov, Harrison directs his comments to Sundown and Elijah Dallas. The two presently have a screeching Mika held down on the floor, tying her wrists behind her back.
Elijah: We have her brother.
Harrison: Then get her out of here! QUICK!
Sundown and Elijah force Mika up to her feet by her bound wrists, her black evil infused eyes staring longing at Harrison.
Mika: Why would you do this to me, Cowboy?
Harrison: I told you I wouldn’t stop until I saved you, and that’s exactly what Tombstone is going to do.
Mika: Ha….haha……hahahahaha….there is no saving me, hahahahaha.
Sundown and Elijah drag Mika down the hall while Harrison watches.
RINGSIDE
Cameras cut from this stunning turn of events backstage to the shocked faces of the commentators planted behind their announce table.
Frankie: Can someone please tell me what the hell we just saw?
Greyson: It-it-it looks like Tombstone have just taken Mika Kozlov.
Sparkles: Why?
Greyson: I can only speculate as to their motives, but I have to believe it has everything to do with curing Mika Kozlov of the darkness New Eden put inside of her. We saw them do it for Taylor Chase several weeks ago, and we know they did the same for Rachel Tatum Lee.
Sparkles: Wow, Tombstone has been busy, they just took New Eden’s Jed Wayne two weeks ago on NewAge too.
Greyson: And we still haven’t found out what Tombstone has done to Jed, New Eden’s Hell-Hound.
Frankie: Jed abducted, Mika abducted….ENOUGH DAMN ABDUCTIONS!
Greyson: Agreed, but as long as we’re on the subject of Mika, one has to wonder what affect her ‘rescue’ at the hands of Tombstone is going to have on her former fiancée Aaron Harrison headed into this next match-up.
Sparkles: Yep. We’re finally going to see a match none of us ever thought would happen.
Greyson: Harrison is scheduled to collide in an Unsanctioned Match against his former Blacklist brother Lukas Montgomery, a man who has been opposed to Harrison’s attempts to cure Mika.
Frankie: And for good reason. Ever since Mika joined New Eden she’s been trying and succeeding at destroying Harrison and Montgomery. Lukas was only trying to protect Aaron, but the idiot doesn’t see that.
Greyson: Protect Harrison? You call what we saw happen six weeks ago on NewAge protecting Harrison?
VIDEO
NEW AGE: SIX WEEKS AGO
A video package consumes the screen showing Aaron Harrison and Lukas Montgomery in the middle of the ring where they apparently come to terms.
Lukas: These issues between the two of us has put just as much strain on me as it has you. So I’m glad…SOOOO glad that were able to come to an understanding here brother. But can you truly forgive me for everything I’ve done to Mika?
Aaron: I don’t appreciate what you did to Mika, and how you went behind my back to try and cripple her, but at the end of the day, we’re still as close as brothers….
Lukas: Closer.
Aaron: And as long as you can agree to stay away from Mika, then I can agree to forgive you for everything you’ve done to her in the past.
Lukas: Thank you Aaron, it’s such a relief to hear you say that.
The video cuts to the two hugging in the middle of the ring, completing this feel good moment. Aaron then turns to vacate the ring before Lukas slams a steel chair over his back. He then crushes Harrison’s head between the chair and the turnbuckle post. Ultimately we see Lukas holding the head he just shattered in his arms as he and Harrison sit in the corner of the ring.
Lukas: Of course you would forgive me, Aaron, because that’s all you do. You forgive and forgive and forgive. You just lay back and you take it like a little bitch.
The voices of the commentators here live at Invictus can be overheard while the images of the past continue to play over the screen.
Greyson: It was an appalling attack at the hands of Montgomery on a man who actually trusted and revered him.
Sparkles: And we finally saw Harrison respond to that bloody and brutal attack a few weeks later.
NEW AGE: FOUR WEEKS AGO
The video cuts to clips from the Lukas Montgomery versus Mika Kozlov match with Aaron Harrison serving as ringside enforcer. Before the bout begins we see Lukas take Harrison out with the Quieter, and it’s after several minutes of bloodshed between Lukas and Mika that we finally see Aaron’s response. Lukas is about to hit Mika with the Quieter only to be dragged to the outside of the ring, where he finds his head placed over the steel steps and crushed with a chair. Harrison smashes Lukas’ skull between the stairs and the chair.
Greyson: Harrison finally had enough. After seeing Lukas bloody Mika in the course of a No DQ match, he at last retaliated against Lukas for everything he’s done these past few months.
Sparkles: That’s led us here, to this Unsanctioned Match between former brothers in arms.
Greyson: So much has gone down between these two. They eliminated one another from the Last Stand Rumble and Lukas even tried to take out Tombstone so they couldn’t help reunite Mika with Aaron.
”Tangerine” cuts through the loud speakers, alerting the fans to the fact that Lukas Montgomery is on his way to the ring. The LED boards built into the Invictus emblem at the top of the stairs are glowing red. Each step on the stairwell that leads from the back to the stage are also glowing blood red. In fact, much of the building is now emitting a crimson hue. Lukas now steps into that red light, bowing his head which is hidden beneath a leather hooded jacket. He pulls back the hood slightly to look out at the screeching crowd before embarking down the steps.
Greyson: Lukas talks about how much Mika has changed, how she’s not worthy of being saved, but I think Aaron was right several weeks ago when he said Lukas was talking about himself.
Sparkles: The guy has definitely took a long walk off the short cliff known as sanity.
Frankie: Actually I think he’s saner than he’s ever been.
Greyson: How do you figure?
Frankie: It was crazy that he teamed with Aaron Harrison for years, forced to carry Harrison’s useless weight. The fact that he’s FINALLY shed that weight shows how much Lukas has evolved and grown.
With a methodical gait Lukas makes his way down the ramp, drawing closer and closer to the ring. He only occasionally peeks out from beneath the hood of his jacket to look at the disapproving faces of the fans.
Now that Lukas is in the ring all attention shifts to the entry way, the crowd and Lukas alike awaiting the arrival of Aaron Harrison. But before we see Harrison, we get a particularly odd bit of imagery.
The footage on screen now takes on a black and white color scheme, giving the appearance that we’re seeing a film from the classic era of cinema. Now an elderly gentlemen emerges from the back sporting both a tux and bow tie. He interlocks his hands in front of his stomach and stops on the stage.
Man: How do you do?
Questions the well-tailored and polite individual.
Man: Aaron Harrison feels that it would be a little unkind to present this match without a friendly word of warning. We’re about to unfold the story of Lukas Montgomery versus Aaron Harrison. This is one of the most violent bouts you will ever see between two men who were once closer than brothers. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel you would not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to….well….we warned you.
He says with a sheepish grin on his face before heading to the back. The screen now returns to its normal color and lighting just as “If You Dare” starts to play over the PA system. Lukas is standing in the ring smiling after this warning and now laughing at the sight of Aaron Harrison appearing at the top of the stairwell leading to the stage. The moment Aaron emerges from the back he’s received with an enormous response from the crowd. The fans surprisingly finds themselves empathizing with the sociopath. He makes his way down the steps and to the stage where he pauses to take one long look at Lukas, who is already shedding his jacket in anticipation of the war.
Greyson: The moment is here, the match we never thought we would see. Long ago Lukas and Aaron vowed that they would never face each other, but that all changed so many months ago. And now, we get this one time only match….
Sparkles: That isn’t waiting any longer to get started.
Lukas is bolting straight up the ramp at Aaron, who greets his former friend with a right hand. The two begin to exchange punches to a huge ovation from the crowd.
Frankie: Here they go!
Lukas and Aaron keep on trading jabs before Harrison drives his boot straight into Montgomery’s gut. The blow sends Lukas staggering down the ramp and towards the ring when Aaron rushes in from behind and clobbers him to the back of the neck with a clothesline. Lukas collapses to the mats but is quickly back up on his feet before finding Aaron charging shoulder first into his ribs, powering him spine first into the apron. Aaron wraps his arms around Lukas’ waist, pulls him away from the apron then charges him back first into the ring post. Aaron keeps on holding Lukas, twisting him towards the steel steps and ultimately driving him back first into them. Lukas bridges his back over the steel and grimaces in pain.
Harrison backs away from him and then builds some speed behind another spear, only to run right into a drop toe hold. Lukas catches Harrison’s ankle and puts him down face first into the stairs. Lukas crawls past him and towards the ring, reaching beneath it and snatching a steel chair. A disturbing gleam inhabits Montgomery’s eyes as he steps to Aaron’s side and lifts the chair over-head. Lukas takes great delight in swinging the chair down right at Aaron’s head only to have his target step back at the last second. The chair smashes the stairs, but does not squish Aaron’s head in between.
Lukas drops the chair and spirals around to face Harrison, who chops him across the sternum and then delivers a straight jab across his face. This is followed by another punch and then a second before Lukas gouges Aaron right in the eyes. He keeps his thumbs embedded in Aaron’s eye sockets, pushing him back into the turnbuckle post. Lukas then rushes in and leaves his feet, going for the big splash, but even though Aaron is blinded he’s still able to move out of the way just in time. Lukas cracks shoulder firs into the post and now leans against it. Meanwhile Aaron is picking up the chair that was about to crush his head.
Harrison steps in and swings right at Lukas’ brow, determined to mash it between the chair and the post. Lukas ducks down out of the way though, causing the chair to shoot past him and slam the post.
Greyson: Both Harrison and Montgomery going for revenge early on in this match, but it was not to be.
Sparkles: Unfortunately.
Harrison turns the chair long ways and follows behind Montgomery, who turns just in time to be cracked in the ribs with the top edge of the steel. Lukas doubles over and falls back into the barricade before having the chair swung across his upper back. The blow has Lukas stumbling away from Harrison, who isn’t letting him get very much further. He rushes up behind Lukas and bashes him across the back yet again with the chair. The strike to the kidneys sends Lukas spiraling along into the barricade, falling against it for support. Aaron then sets the chair up in the seated position, rushes at it and steps off, launching himself into a flying leg lariat aimed at his opponent but ultimately connecting with the barricade. Aaron bounces off the steel and collapses to the ground, reaching for his potentially injured thigh.
Frankie: Crash and burn dude, crash and burn. More of that please.
Aaron hobbles along to his feet and into Lukas’ arms. He takes Aaron around the neck and backs towards the chair, about to hit him with an evenflow DDT into the steel. But just then Harrison stands up straight and holds Lukas in position to hit him with the Alabama Slam into the chair. Somehow Lukas is able to reach out though and grab the barricade before squirming enough to pull himself out of Aaron’s clutches, spilling into the crowd. He works his way back up to his feet, shoving the fans aside then turning back to his adversary just in time to spot Harrison stepping off the chair set up at ringside and launching himself into a leg lariat over the barricade and into Lukas.
Greyson: As you can see these two are really taking advantage of the Unsanctioned Nature of this match. No disqualifications, no count-outs, no rules.
Lukas falls back into the first two rows of chair, laying across them. Aaron quickly sets up another chair, rushes at it and steps off, launching himself into the air before just dropping back first right into Lukas’ ribs. Both men crash through the chairs and all the way down to the concrete.
Sparkles: HOLY MOZZARELLA!
Frankie: Just think, these two USED to be simpatico.
Lukas rolls away from Harrison and towards the barricade, desperately using it to pull himself to his feet. Aaron then charges in and clotheslines him to the back of the neck, sending him flipping over the barrier to the ringside mats. His focus shifts to the chairs, setting up another one then barreling towards it. He steps off the chair and launches himself over into the barrier into a crossbody aimed at the recovering Lukas. To the surprise of the masses and to Harrison’s dismay, he finds himself caught across Montgomery’s chest, Lukas flipping him over into the fallaway slam right across the chair that was set up at ringside earlier.
Greyson: Fallaway slam through the chair!
Sparkles: Sparkles is loving this Unsanctioned Match more and more and more.
Frankie: I can watch these two kill each other all night long.
The demolished chair lies under the demolished Harrison. Agonizingly he crawls towards the ring, pulling himself in under the ropes. He slowly crawls away from Lukas, who is reaching beneath the squared circle. A table is slowly slide it out and into Lukas’ clutches. He drags it towards the barricade, slanting it diagonally between the barricade and the mats. Lukas then grabs the warped chair left at ringside and climbs up to the apron. He is about to enter the ring only to find his progress halted when Aaron slugs him across the face. Lukas almost falls back and goes right through the table that he has slanted at ringside. Aaron throws another jab, and then a third, and then a fourth, causing Lukas to ALMOST go over and through the wood. Aaron now takes off into the far ropes, ricochets from the cables and returns to Lukas with a forearm only to find himself greeted with a chair to the face. Lukas throws the chair he was holding over the cables and into Aaron’s forehead.
Frankie: More of that please.
Aaron falls away from Lukas and to the canvas, crawling across the ring. Lukas picks up the mutilated chair and swings it straight into Aaron’s back not just once, but twice….nope, that’s still not enough. A third blow from the chair connects, followed by a fourth, a fifth and a sixth. Lukas then places the chair on the canvas, grabs Aaron around the neck then hits him with an evenflow DDT into the steel. Lukas rolls to his side, pulling Aaron along with him still trapped in the front chancery. He drags Aaron to his feet then hits a second evenflow DDT onto the chair. Lukas doesn’t stop there, nuh’ uh, he rolls to his feet and keeps pulling Harrison along for the ride. A third evenflow DDT into the chair follows.
Frankie: I think that chair has just become Lukas’ new best bud.
After the series of DDTS into the chair Harrison lies on the canvas motionless and Lukas is on the prowl. He rolls to the outside and fetches a fresh chair before returning to the ring. He then slides that chair in between the top and middle rope before returning to his opponent. He drags Aaron up to his feet and then takes him by the back of the head, charging him at the chair wedged in the turnbuckle. But Aaron puts his hands to Lukas’ back and shoves him off into the corner. Lukas stops just short of hitting the corner and then turns around just as Harrison lunges at him for the spear. Aaron steps out of the way at the last second, causing Aaron to fly past him and ALMOST crash face first into the chair. Somehow Aaron manages to catch the ropes and prevent his skull from slamming into the steel. He then turns around just as Lukas rushes at him going for a yakuza kick.
The boot hits….nothing but air.
Aaron ducks the kick and then dives around Lukas’ hip, catching him around the hip. He then pulls him over into the school boy.
1
Lukas rolls right out of the pin and onto his feet before rushing at Aaron, who is still stooped over, catching the knee of his adversary. Harrison stands up, allows Lukas to hang over his back and then pulls him down into the Alabama Slam onto the mangled chair left lying in the middle of the ring, That’s exactly where Lukas is lying at this point, splayed across the steel that came to his aid earlier but now comes to his detriment. Aaron then staggers back into the ropes, falling against them for support, feeling the sting of the multiple DDTs.
An aching Lukas sits up on the canvas right before being cracked in the forehead with the thrust kick. The shot knocks Lukas to his back, left lying in an unconscious, broken heap. Aaron then grabs Lukas’ legs, tucks them under his armpits and catapults him face first into the chair that was set up in the turnbuckle.
The sound of Lukas’ head hitting the steel resembles that of a cannon being fired. Now it looks like Lukas’ was shot with a cannon, staggering back into Aaron’s waiting arms. He takes Lukas around the neck, placing him in a side headlock before charging at the chair in the corner and diving through the ropes. He turns Lukas’ head into a battering ram, slamming it into the chair.
Greyson: These two putting one another through total and absolute hell.
Sparkles: Exactly what they’ve done to each other for months now.
Lukas rolls to the middle of the ring with his eyes flickering and his body lapsing into paralysis. He’s about to wish he was totally numbed to everything when Aaron rolls him to his back and begins to subject his face to a fury of punches. Jab after jab after jab after jab crashes across Lukas’ face. Each blow is retaliation for everything that Lukas has done to Aaron and to Mika over the past year. The punches keep coming and coming and coming. Finally a laceration has been opened over Lukas’ eye, but even that doesn’t stop Aaron, he just keeps punching away.
Finally with his bloodied knuckle Aaron rolls to the outside of the ring, returning with a hammer. Yes indeed, Harrison has taken a hammer from beneath the squared circle. He rolls in and stares at the hammer then at Lukas’ face, targeting his rival’s skull. He is about to do just as Tombstone instructed him to do several weeks ago, bash Lukas right in the face with the hammer. He starts to step in and deliver the blow before Lukas lifts his palms into the air, begging off.
Lukas: FORGIVE ME AARON! FORGIVE ME!
Aaron stops in mid-swing, slowly lowering the hammer.
Lukas: It isn’t too late….It isn’t too late for the Blacklist.
The hammer continues to lower before finding itself hanging at Aaron’s side.
Greyson: Oh come on Aaron, don’t tell me you’re buying this.
Sparkles: He’s so desperate to believe he can have his pwecious wittle Blackwist family again.
Frankie: He really is pathetic.
Obviously Lukas and Frankie are of the same mentality. He delivers a low blow straight to Aaron’s crotch….or at least that was the plan. Just as Lukas swings his arm towards Aaron’s groin, Harrison hits him in the wrist with the hammer.
Greyson: Harrison ISN’T falling for it after-all!
Frankie: Well that just shows he possesses one more brain-cell than I was giving him credit for.
With his arm curled across his gut Lukas crawls away from Aaron and towards the ropes. He stands up only to be knocked right back down with Aaron steps in from behind and bashes him in the upper back with the hammer. Lukas falls through the ropes and to the apron, his face twisted into a grimace.
Greyson: That hammer wearing Lukas out.
Lukas slowly works his way back up to his feet with the aid of the ropes while Aaron begins to approach him with hammer raised in the air. Lukas saves himself though by throwing a forearm over the ropes and into Aaron’s jaw. The blow causes Aaron to drop the hammer and spiral to the center of the ring. He balances himself though then charges straight at Lukas, leaping over the ropes into a crossbody that connects…but wait, Lukas is still standing on the apron with Harrison extended across his chest. Lukas then falls back off the apron and throws Harrison over head into a fallaway slam through the table slanted between the barricade and the outside mats.
Greyson: OOOOH-HOOO-HOOOO!
Frankie: That may have been the single greatest thing I’ve ever SEEN!
An IWC chant has just gotten started in the Staples Center at the sight of Aaron’s plunge through the wood. Lukas crawls past him on his way to the stairs, taking hold and sliding them towards the announce table.
Frankie: Oooh great, now what do these psychopaths have planned?
The steps are situated in front of the announce table while Lukas steps around them towards the motionless Aaron. Lukas drags him by the arm and towards the steps. He takes the back of Harrison’s head and repeatedly swings it into the stairs.
Greyson: Good lord, stop Lukas, stop!
Lukas just keeps driving Aaron’s face into the stairs again and again and again. Ultimately Lukas just sits Aaron up with his back propped to the stairs. Lukas then approaches the ring, reaches beneath it, grabs another table and sets it up across the mats. He follows up by walking to the time keeper’s area, reaching over the protective wall situated around them and grabbing another steel chair.
Harrison is convulsing and twitching, clasping at his face, which is about to be subjected to even worse punishment. Lukas rolls Aaron to his knees in the process of opening the chair, sliding Aaron’s head inside of it. He then pulls Lukas to his feet, and rushes straight at the stairs, giving Aaron a bulldog onto the top of them with his head still trapped inside of the chair.
Greyson: You wondered what more these two could do to each other, we just found out.
Aaron’s skull is crushed inside of the chair and he’s now falling to his back. His lip is busted open, spurting blood down his chin and onto his chest. In spite of this he tries to stand up grabbing at the steps and using them to get his legs under his body. Lukas drags him away from the stairs and returns him to the ring before sliding in and going for the pin. He grinds his forearm across Aaron’s brow.
1
2
Aaron manages to twist his body to the side and lob his shoulder from the canvas. Lukas just sits there pissing and moaning over Harrison’s kick out. In his mind the line between reality and sheer delusion has been passed. He crawls across the ring and picks up another chair, yet again about to put it to ever so devastating use.
He turns his wide, crazed eyes to the blood surging down Aaron’s lip, and is about to widen the gap in it. Lukas rushes towards the kneeling Harrison and swings the chair only to have Harrison sit up and slam a hammer directly into Montgomery’s gut. The fans explode at the sight of Harrison picking up the hammer that was dropped earlier in the match and now crushing Lukas’s ribs.
Greyson: Harrison bringing down the hammer on Lukas!
The blow to the gut has Lukas almost spitting up blood. He turns around to face Harrison who smacks him on top of the head with the hammer.
Sparkles: ANOTHER SHOT FROM THE HAMMER!
Lukas’ eyes have rolled to the back of his head as he spirals around to face Harrison, who swings the hammer a THIRD time. The blow nails Lukas right between the eyes and finally takes him down to the canvas. He rolls across the ring and spills to the outside mats. Instinctively he rolls in the direction of the steps, using them to reach his feet and revealing the crimson mask he’s now sporting. Blood is gushing from a huge wound in his forehead, the gash initially created by the punches of Harrison but widened by the swings of a hammer. Montgomery is absolutely brain dead as he climbs up onto the steps and instinctively starts to reach his feet. Meanwhile Harrison is rolling out of the ring behind him and lifting the hammer above his head to a rousing ovation.
Frankie: These people are freaks….I love it!
Lukas gets to his knees on top of the stairs, looking through wide eyes at Harrison, who is rushing up the steps and swinging the hammer for one final blow. And that final blow is delivered by LUKAS. He stands up and catches Harrison against his shoulder, lifting him into a spinning spinebuster that puts him right through the announce table.
Greyson: JESUS!
Sparkles: Harrison right through our table! Right through our table!
A loud ‘holy shit’ chant fills the Staples Center at the sight of both Lukas and Aaron splayed across the broken fragments of announce table.
Greyson: They’ve destroyed each other!
Frankie: But did the morons have to destroy our announce too?
Greyson: I bet the IWC is very happy that they did not sanction this match now.
The referee is watching from the ring with a stunned expression on his face. He mirrors the exact same reaction as all the fans in attendance, who watch with widening eyes as Harrison and Lukas just lie amongst the broken table chunks, neither moving. At long last Lukas begins to stir, sitting up and grimacing from the pain in his kidneys and the loss of blood from his body. He slowly slides his hands into Harrison’s bangs, pulling him up from the ground and towards the ring. Harrison ends up lifelessly splayed across the ring. Montgomery rolls in after him and with blood dribbling down his face he makes the cover.
Greyson: This is it, the end of the Blacklist.
The referee drops to the canvas and brings finality to this grueling war between long-time friends.
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2
But the Blacklist isn’t ending under these circumstances, Aaron kicking out to Lukas’ dismay. He rolls away from Harrison with his eyes lunging out of their sockets.
Frankie: Did that dumbass just kick out!?!
Greyson: Harrison refusing to let the Blacklist end this way, with Lukas winning.
Lukas now swipes the blood from his eyes and works his way up to his feet. He painstakingly moves towards Harrison, dragging him up to his knees and throwing a punch across his brow. He then delivers a second shot and a third and a fourth and a fifth. Finally Lukas steps back and lifts his forearm into the air, setting up for the Quieter. He now rushes straight into the ropes behind Harrison, ricochets off and hits the roaring elbow to the back of his head. Harrison is knocked flat on his face with Lukas pushing him over to his back and hooking the leg.
Frankie: Quieter connecting! This had better be it.
The count is made to the disapproval of the crowd.
1
2
Here comes the three, but there goes Harrison’s shoulder, springing into the air. Lukas turns to his side ripping and tearing at his own flesh. He can’t believe Harrison kicked out again. Finally Montgomery is prompted to roll to the outside of the ring before returning with hammer in hand. He approaches Aaron, who is climbing up from the canvas only to be knocked right back down to it when the hammer connects over his back. Harrison rolls away from Lukas and ultimately back to his elbows. Lukas then steps in and swings the hammer into Aaron’s upper back a second time. This blow has Aaron grinding his teeth and trying to block the agony as he rolls into the turnbuckle grabbing the cables and working his way up to his feet.
Lukas looks at the hammer and a twisted smirk befalls his face. He then swings around like going for the Quieter but instead of using the forearm he employs the hammer. The hammer goes flying, right out of Montgomery’s hand when Harrison drills him in the ribs with the spear. Both men go down to the canvas amidst a rousing ovation from the thousands in attendance.
Greyson: Harrison with a desperation spear getting himself back into this match.
Lukas holds his ribcage and works his way to his knees, reaching out and grabbing the hammer. But Harrison drills him in the face with the thrust kick. The blow causes Lukas to lean back yet remain on his knees and keep possession of the hammer. He starts to pick it up only to almost drop it when Harrison steps in and swings a chair right into Lukas’ brow.
Somehow Lukas is still on his knees and still holding the hammer. Finally Harrison takes that hammer away from him and steps back, building momentum behind a skull crushing blow. But Lukas somehow manages to hit the low blow he was looking for earlier.
Greyson: Lukas continues to stoop to one low after another.
Aaron turns away from Lukas while holding the hammer and his groin. Lukas stands up behind him, pushing past the pain and through the blood loss. He now rushes into the Quieter which swings right past Harrison’s head. Aaron turns in time to duck under the roaring elbow, causing Lukas to spin past him then turn to face the hammer that rams right into his forehead. Somehow Lukas remains standing, stumbling around but standing nevertheless. That’s right up until Harrison kicks him to the gut, doubles him over and hooks both of his arms. He lifts Lukas into the air and drives him down face first with the Hybrid Theory.
Sparkles: No…please no…please God no…
Frankie: Don’t let Harrison win this!
Greyson: Deal with it, Harrison is about to end this Unsanctioned Match and end his association with Lukas forever.
The crowd cheers along as the official slaps the canvas to bring this absolutely brutal Unsanctioned Match to its close.
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And at long last it’s happened, to the screams of the masses in attendance, Montgomery has been….not so fast…Lukas kicks out!
Greyson: OH MY G0D-OH MY GOD-OH MY GOD!
With lip growing fatter after each passing second and more blood spewing from it, Harrison twists to his knees, forehead wedged to the canvas. He slaps it in frustration before working his way up to his feet and almost losing his balance. He staggers along and picks up the hammer, motioning for Lukas to get up. Montgomery is trying to do just that, but is having a hard time of it. He paws at the jersey of the referee before falling back to his seat. Lukas then begins to crawl towards the ropes, desperately trying to get away. Harrison stops him from going any further, swinging the hammer down right into his kidneys. Lukas rolls away from Aaron, grabbing at his body that has been put through things that the human anatomy was never designed for. He ends up in the corner, but is dragged out of it by the bangs of his hair. Harrison pulls Lukas to the middle of the ring then slowly lifts the hammer above his head, looking out over the crowd. They are begging him to swing the hammer once again into Lukas’ face but Harrison hesitates. He savors this moment, actually relishes in it.
He pulls the hammer back and swings only to realize he made the fatal error of giving Lukas too much time. Lukas reaches out and digs his thumbs right into Harrison’s eyes, pushing back on them with all of his strength. Harrison roars in pain, dropping the hammer and finding himself shoved back across the ring, his eyes almost being gouged from their sockets.
Harrison now turns away from Lukas, grabbing at his eyes, feeling as if he’s been blinded. Lukas then picks up the hammer and swings around into the back of Harrison’s head, hitting him not with the roaring elbow, but with a roaring hammer shot.
Aaron falls to his knee, still blinded and now feeling a massive subdermal hematoma forming in the back of his head. Lukas then spins around and hits ANOTHER hammer shot across the back of Harrison’s head. Lukas then throws the hammer aside and hits the Quieter. The roaring elbow smashes Aaron in the back of his skull. The blow knocking hit to the canvas.
To the shock of all those in the building Harrison rolls across the ring right back to his feet, stumbling around and screaming with primal rage. He then walks right into a boot to the gut followed by the Hybrid Theory onto the hammer.
Greyson: Lukas hitting Harrison with two hammer shots, a Quieter and now Harrison’s own finisher!
Sparkles: All after the rake of the eyes.
A blinded and near braindead Harrison finds his legs hooked and can barely detect the sorrowful cries of the crowd.
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And the hand meets canvas for the very last time….at least that would be the case if we lived in a world where Harrison didn’t just kick out.
Greyson: SWEET BABY JESUS!!
Sparkles: Harrison still FIGHTING!?!
A bloodied Montgomery sits up pissing and moaning on his way to his feet. He can’t believe Harrison just kicked out after that sequence of moves. He finally takes hold of Harrison’s bangs, sitting him up on the canvas. Lukas grabs the mangled chair and almost breaks it over Harrison’s back, knocking him flat on his face. Lukas then drives the chair over Harrison’s back again and again and again. Eventually there is almost nothing left of the chair in Lukas’ hands. He throws it aside and then grabs Harrison under the jaw, leading his former Blacklist associate to his feet and then pointing at the chair that is still wedged in the corner between the top and middle rope. Lukas charges Harrison at that chair, throwing him skull first directly into it. Harrison bounces off the steel and then falls to his seat, looking incredibly disorientated.
Lukas then pulls Harrison to his feet and sits him on the top rope. All the while Lukas’ eyes are drifting towards the table that is set up at ringside.
Lukas positions Harrison so that he’s facing that table. He then climbs to the apron in front of Harrison and scales the turnbuckle.
Greyson: That table Lukas put in position earlier is about to put an end to Harrison!
Lukas begins to lift Harrison up and across his chest, going for the fallaway slam through the table. He throws Harrison back but Aaron flies over Lukas’ head and doesn’t go through the table, instead he comes down on his feet across the apron. Lukas spins around on the turnbuckle and leaps off at Harrison only to be caught under the arms and find his move countered into the Hybrid Theory off the apron and through the table at ringside.
Greyson: OOOOH FUCK ME!
Sparkles: Lukas put through the table via the Hybrid Theory!!
The table is demolished and so is Montgomery’s body. With the crowd chanting ‘holy shit’ at a very loud decibel, Harrison drags Lukas into the ring. It takes all of Harrison’s strength, but he lifts Lukas onto his knees, staring into his bloodied face.
Harrison: I forgive you.
Harrison lifts Lukas into the air and hits him with a SECOND Hybrid Theory dead center of the ring. Lukas flops onto his back and Harrison crawls into the cover.
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The story of the Blacklist finally at long last comes to an end.
Greyson: WHAT….A….WAR!
Sparkles: These two men….former BROTHERS….tore one another to pieces and Sparkles loved every moment of it.
Frankie: No, Team Farkles loved every second of it.
Sparkles: That we did Frankie, that we did.
Greyson: This will undoubtedly go down as maybe the most barbaric match in the annals of IWC history. The things these two men put each other through here tonight will be talked about for years.
The blood soaked Lukas rolls away from Harrison, dragging himself into the ropes and falling against them. An emotional Harrison sits up in the middle of the ring, pained body, mind and soul by this incredibly competitive match and this equally as challenging victory.
Greyson: Harrison and Lukas didn’t just tear each other apart, but they destroyed the Staples Center in this battle, one that won’t soon be forgotten.
An exhausted Montgomery rolls out of the ring and staggers into the barricade, avoiding exiting via the ramp and for good reason. Mika Kozlov’s monster Borislav is making his way down it towards the ring.
Sparkles: Can this possibly get any better?
Greyson: Ooooh God no. Borislav headed for our ring. Last we saw him he was being held down backstage by Harrison while Tombstone took off with Borislav’s owner Mika.
Frankie: He wants Mika back and he’s gonna get her back right now. Beat her location out of Harrison.
That’s Borislav’s plan.
He enters the ring and marches straight towards Harrison only to have Aaron shockingly roll out of the ring just in time to avoid a potential onslaught. Borislav stops at the ropes and almost tears them down from the turnbuckles as he watches Harrison stagger up the ramp. Borislav now rolls out and follows Harrison to the back.
BACKSTAGE
A video monitor is playing a series of clips showcasing Johnny Kingdom battling AWOL one on one in a match waged several years ago at Invictus/Paranoia. The camera pulls away from the monitor and the highlight video playing across its screen to the man who is watching it ever so closely. Scott Cannon’s obsidian eyes are glued to the monitor and his thick arms are crossed over his chest.
Comeau: Erm, Scott Cannon..
Backstage correspondent Mark Comeau steps into view holding up a microphone. Scott never takes his eyes off the monitor to address Comeau. In spite of being totally ignored, Comeau proceeds with his questions.
Comeau: Can I get just a word with you regarding your pending bout against Johnny Kingdom?
Scott keeps his words to himself, bottled up in a mind entirely focused on the monitor.
Comeau: Do you have any comments you would like to make regarding your upcoming match, regarding Kingdom, regarding the World Title opportunity you would win if you can defeat Kingdom tonight?
Still Scott remains tight lipped.
Comeau: Do you have anything you’d like to say to the fans?
Scott: No…no…I don’t.
Scott at last speaks, but still doesn’t not take his eyes off the footage on the monitor.
Scott: I have no interest in saying anything to the fans. But I do have something I want to tell Taylor Chase.
The maniacal black eyes shift to the hard camera.
Scott: My precious-precious Tay, don’t believe them. They lie. They aaaaaalll lie. Tombstone. They lie when they tell you you need to be cured. Kelcey Wallace. She lies when she tells you that New Eden’s effect on you was to your detriment. Johnny Kingdom. He lies when he compares me to people like Eric Sailes and Tyson Galloway, two men I destroyed with YOUR knee brace, my gorgeous Tay. Liars. Liars all of them. Don’t trust them. Trust me. I’ve only ever had your best interests at heart. I only want what’s best for you. And if Serenity doesn’t take your World Championship tonight, then I will, because believe it or not, THAT’S what’s best for you.
Comeau: How is taking Taylor’s Championship best for her? I’m sorry, but this doesn’t make any sense.
Scott: It makes perfect sense. That World Title is keeping my Tay from being what she needs to be. That belt, that CURSE, inspires her to be something that she is NOT. The strap makes her TRY to be a hero TRY to be a role model, TRY to be normal. Normal isn’t fun. Role models are a lie. Heroes are boring. Tay is none of those things. Once I’ve taken that burden from her shoulder and cast her down into the depths of wallow, we’ll see the REAL Tay re-emerge. All I have to do first is beat Johnny Kingdom. Although he thinks I’m not capable of doing it, that I’m simply not of his caliber, I’ll gladly discredit his opinion here tonight and…..hold that thought.
Scott gives Mark a nudge, pushing him aside while he himself steps back. Just then a screaming Eric Sailes rushes into view, diving at Scott but missing him entirely and taking a header into the monitor. Eric’s retaliation has been thwarted, EASILY. He knocks himself unconscious after colliding with and busting the screen of the television Cannon was just watching. Eric now finds himself splayed across the ground at the feet of his intended target.
Scott: Now where were we?
Scott’s words are directed at a stunned Comeau.
BACKSTAGE
An exhausted Vanilla Skyy can be seen making her way down a corridor with her agent Adam Chase following behind her. She and Chase meet up with their friends Chris Davids and Mya Denton, who are waiting to greet Skyy with a group hug. The commentators chime in on this emotional moment in the background.
Greyson: The remnants of the original Pain and Pleasure celebrating Vanilla Skyy’s highly emotional win here tonight.
Sparkles: One has to wonder if Chris Davids and Mya Denton will have a similar celebration after their bouts tonight.
Greyson: Skyy defeated the monster Mordecai, but Chris still slated to battle Skyy’s ex husband Danny Darko tonight, and Mya Denton to face Darko’s allies Ricky Valero and Derek Marks in the Ultimate Opportunity match.
Frankie: These three still have a long night ahead of themselves.
IN-RING
Cameras race back to the ring just in time to spot Susie Moore standing in the middle of it. The bubbly Moore holds a microphone to her smiling lips as she takes in the festive atmosphere of Invictus.
Susie: Oh boy I got a major-major-major announcement everybody, and the IWC has entrusted me to deliver it. Talk about awesome. I’m here to reveal the attendance figures for Invictus. So let’s find out how many people are jammed into the Staples Center tonight. I bet it’s a lot. I bet it sets some kind of record, just like me when I spent forty straight hours on a trampoline, though it gave me the poos. Not to say that everyone here tonight is going to get the poos. You won’t. Unless you eat the cheese dogs, then your poos are going to blow out the seams of your pants…
Flash: Poo? POO!?! You’re seriously out here talking about feces?
The crowd in the Staples Center who WERE excited are now expressing dread at the sight of Flash Silver making his way down the ramp. His agent Infinity is following behind with her arm in a cast, still wearing the wounds of being locked in the Zero Below by Vanilla Skyy two weeks ago.
Flash: If you want to talk about crap, then let’s talk about the bull-SHIT decision to keep me off the Invictus card tonight.
Flash and Infinity enter the ring with an unintimidated Susie, who is not scared because she’s brave, but because she’s too naïve to realize she should be worried.
Flash: The actions of this company demonstrate that they are clearly run by Al Queda or the Taliban. The fact that they would keep an American Hero like myself from competing at Invictus is clear and irrefutable evidence that this company is controlled or funded by terrorists. Well as a proud American, I will NOT be subjected to the whims and fancies of sociopaths. That’s why I’m here to not only take a stand for myself, but for America. I am declaring that I will be entering the Ultimate Opportunity match later tonight and that I’m going to win it to become the next challenger for the Evolution Title. And furthermore….
”You Know My Name” hits the speakers for the second time tonight and leads to just as thunderous a response as the first time it was heard. The crowd is on its feet screaming as Orlando Cruze makes his way to the ring, hoping that this time goes better than the last. Once in the ring Orlando takes a microphone.
Orlando: Flash…sorry to step on your toes….
Infinity uses her one good arm to hold Flash back from the Icon.
Orlando: But I made a promise to all the fans packed in the Staples Center tonight….how many are there by the way, Susie?
Susie consults her palm, squinting at the note she has written on them.
Susie: 18,1….Pac-Man face….Banana…..0.
Susie squints even harder at her hand, clearly unable to read her hand writing.
Orlando: You keep working on that Susie, right now I’ve got a message that has to be delivered before I can be interrupted again.
Flash: Listen here you Somali pirate…
Flash can’t take anymore, stepping towards Orlando and embedding a finger in his chest.
Flash: No one cares what announcement you have to make.
Susie: I care.
Flash: See. NO ONE cares. The only thing anyone was interested in hearing is how I am going to enter the Ultimate Opportunity match and ever so heroically fill this building with patriotic pride.
Orlando: Yah-yah-yah, that’s all well and good. Just let me finish making the announcement I was brought here to make.
Flash: You’re not announcing anything, Mister. You better mind your ‘Ps’ and ‘Qs,’ mister, and learn to respect athletes of my caliber. So stop trying to terrorize me and start….
A boot flies right into Flash’s jaw, Orlando superkicking him with enough force to FINALLY shut him up. No, it does more than that, it knocks him on flat on his back and taking the express train to snoozeville. Orlando stands over Flash, shaking his head and raising the microphone.
Orlando: I regret it had to come to that, but I need to say what I was brought here to say because it effects your career Flash (points at Flash), your career Susie (points at Susie), everyone’s careers (points to the back), and how each of you will view the IWC from now on (points to the crowd). So before another psychopath like Mika can come out and interrupt me, it’s time to announce Drew Bryant’s decree. Starting on the very next Riot after Invictus, the roster as we know it here in the IWC will be SPLIT. That’s right, after Invictus has finished airing, we will see the creation of two federations under the IWC umbrellas.
Orlando offers no further insight, throwing the microphone down and leaving the ring. Wait, he just doesn’t leave the ring, he leaves the fans in total shock. Even Infinity, who should be helping her client Flash, stands there open mouthed and wide eyed.
BACKSTAGE
When we return to the backstage area we see Scott Cannon right on the cusp of exiting his locker-room. He puts the final touches on his ring gear, slipping his fingers into his Kevlar glove. He then swing his knuckles into his palm, readying his fist to deliver some devastating blows on Johnny Kingdom.
Alana: We need to talk…
Scott’s black eyes shift to the stunning yet now concerned face of his New Eden associate Alana Starr. She approaches her GOOD© Villains tag team partner emoting legitimate worry. Behind Alana stands Kordy, ever faithful follower of New Eden.
Scott: What’s up gorgeous?
Alana: It’s about Mika….
Scott: I figured as much.
Alana: I take it you heard that those bearded Wrong Turn film rejects have kidnapped her?
Scott: Yeah…hahahaha.
Alana looks stunned by Scott’s laughter.
Alana: Who knows what those animals are doing to her. First they take my pet, Jed (Wayne), and are probably making him squeal like a pig, and now they’ve got Mika, and you know how pretty her mouth is, she’s doomed!
Scott: Yeah…hahahaha.
Kordy: Your laughter confuses Kordy.
Alana: And it worries me.
Scott: It shouldn’t, it should relieve you.
Alana: Why is that?
Scott: Because if I know Mika like I think I know Mika, she’s not going to be Tombstone’s victim. Right now, she’s probably making their lives a living hell.
Alana: Well, you’re probably right, but after your match tonight, I still want your help finding her. So please make quick work of Kingdom so we can put our efforts into securing Mika’s return.
Kordy: Do you want me to go out there with you and deal with Johnny?
Kordy pleads with Cannon.
Kordy: I am technically still your bodyguard.
Scott: No, I’ll deal with Kingdom, and then WE will deal with Tombstone.
Before departing his room Scott groans, and opens his locker door just in time to turn it into a shield. Tyson Galloway, another of Scott’s recent victims, comes running head first into the other side. He attempted to spear Cannon but instead crashes skull first into the steel door, knocking him out cold. Scott then closes the locker and returns his focus to a stunned Alana and Kordy.
Scott: As you can see, I don’t need protection.
Scott steps over Tyson on his way to the ring, not even looking down at the unconscious seven footer.
A disembodied voice plays through the PA system. Though we can’t see the speaker, it’s unmistakably the great Sylvester Stallone.
Stallone: “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
If this inspirational quote wasn’t sufficient enough to rile the fans up, then the tunes of ‘Gonna Fly Now’ from the classic Rocky films should get heart beats racing, if they don’t people need to check to make sure their still breathing. The curtains open and a long line of children and teenagers come rushing out wearing seventies style apparel. They are hopping around excitedly and for good cause. Much to their delight Johnny Kingdom emerges from the back wearing a gray jogging suit and black beanie. He jogs in place for a moment, throws some punches then runs up the stairs that have been erected for showmanship purposes on the stage. Upon reaching the top of the stairwell and standing under the Invictus LED board Kingdom begins to shadow box and lift his fists above his head. Kingdom bolts down the steps back to the stage and jaunts towards the ring with the kids and teens following along behind him.
Once the Team Leader and Invictus host reaches the ring he begins to once again shadow box to the delight of the masses. The amused commentators chime in.
Greyson: Would you honestly expect anything less than a totally overblown entrance for Johnny Kingdom here tonight at Invictus?
Frankie: If he’s going to do an homage to a Stallone flick, can’t he at least do a GOOD Stallone movie, like Judge Dredd? I mean, we do have Rob Schneider in the crowd.
Greyson: The less you reference Rob Schneider the better for everyone.
Sparkles: Sparkles wants a Rocky entrance too.
Greyson: You would actually have to run.
Sparkles: Forget it then.
Greyson: Kingdom getting into the head of his opponent Scott Cannon, with all this theatricality behind his entrance. Makes sense for him to have this type of entrance considering we’re right around the corner from Hollywood.
Johnny goes on shadow boxing and then hopping around with his fists raised above his head. All the while the kids and teenagers are cheering him on at ringside.
Greyson: This is the first time we’re going to see Kingdom compete inside of an IWC ring in over a year.
Sparkles: The last time we saw him it was back in the 2014 Last Stand Rumble.
Greyson: Now we find out if Kingdom has suffered from any ring rust after being away from the IWC for such an extended period of time.
Kingdom removes the gray sweat-suit in order to reveal his wrestling attire for the evening. All the jocularity comes to a crashing halt when the lights in the building dim. We now hear another disembodied voice, this one clearly belonging to Michael Madsen in his role as Mr. Blonde from the film Reservoir Dogs.
Madsen: Listen kid, I’m not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don’t give a good fuck what you know, or don’t know, but I’m gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It’s amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I’ve heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain’t gonna get.
Upon cutting to the stage we find six men standing there all dressed in matching black suits and ties. Sunglasses sit on the edges of their noses, and their bodies are lined up side by side. Finally the centermost figure steps to the top of the ramp, revealed to be Scott Cannon. He now makes his way down the ramp to the tunes of “Bad to the Bone.” The other gentlemen casually follow behind him.
Frankie: THIS is an entrance!
Greyson: Scott Cannon playing a little homage of his own.
Sparkles: Yep, Scott parodying the great movie Men in Black.
Greyson: That’s NOT….to hell with it.
When he reaches the ring Scott removes his sunglasses and his tie, throwing them to the five individuals following behind him. He then stares with jet black eyes at the unintimidated Kingdom.
Greyson: The time for homages are over. Cannon versus Kingdom is about to get very-VERY serious.
Sparkles: These two have been chomping at the bit to get to one another for weeks….
Frankie: Yeah, ever since Kingdom returned to the IWC by grandstanding at Cannon’s expense.
Greyson: I admit, that was probably an unwise move on Kingdom’s part, as evidenced now that he’s about to collide with Cannon.
Frankie: And if Cannon wasn’t motivated enough for this match, if he beats Kingdom, he gets a World Title shot.
Scott slides into the ring and glares at Kingdom with those chilling dark eyes. The bell chimes in the background and at last all the games have come to an end, all the actors at ringside walking to the back. Referee Ficklebottom briefly frisks both men, confirming that they are not carrying weapons and then calling for the bell. Kingdom limbers up and Scott remains stoic while the crowd expresses their excitement. Both combatants begin to circle one another before ultimately tying up. They lock up in the collar elbow, struggling to achieve dominance. Finally Scott uses his power to force Kingdom back into the corner and hold him there. The referee starts a five count, prompting Cannon to back up with raised palms. Those hands then shoot right into Kingdom’s chest, shoving him back into the corner.
The fans let out an ‘oooooh,’ while Kingdom smirks. He then steps out of the corner and locks up with Cannon, the two typing up in a collar elbow. Now Johnny tries to push Cannon back into the corner but he’s like a boulder who can’t be budged. Scott suddenly yanks down on Kingdom’s arms, flinging him down face first into the canvas. Johnny kisses the canvas with his lips then rolls away into the nearest corner.
Scott stoops down with hands on his knees, smirking at Kingdom. Finally Kingdom gets back to his feet, dabbing fingers to his lips. He boldly steps to the middle of the ring locking up with Johnny, the two trapped in a collar elbow. They fight for control, Kingdom at last proving his strength by pushing Cannon back towards the ropes. But just then Scott uses the collar elbow to fling Kingdom through the cables to the outside. Kingdom lands flat on his ass, then looks up at the grinning Cannon. He throws his arms out to his sides and shakes his head.
Cannon: And they call YOU a legend?
Kingdom stands up at ringside, clapping his hands and laughing. He then rolls into the ring and approaches Cannon, the two about to lock up in another collar elbow. Kingdom actually lures Scott in and the two start to tie up before Johnny suddenly catches his opponent with a drop toe hold. Cannon lands on his face and now Kingdom begins to swing his body over Scott’s back again and again and again. He then ends up seated on Cannon’s lower back, where he delivers multiple slaps across the back of the skull.
Johnny then hops off Cannon and starts to laugh as Scott rolls to his seat, snarling.
Frankie: Does Kingdom have a death wish? You don’t disrespect Scott Cannon.
Greyson: To be fair Cannon has been disrespecting Kingdom all throughout the early goings of this match.
Scott works his way back up to his feet and then lifts his arms to set for the collar elbNO….Cannon drives one of his raised arms right into Johnny’s face. A straight jab nails Kingdom to the jaw, knocking him back into the ropes. Scott follows him in and delivers a knife edge chop across the sternum. Scott then places Kingdom in a side headlock, dragging him away from the ropes then dropping down to his knees. He forces Johnny down along beside him, grounding the IWC legend. Kingdom tries to pluck his head free but Scott tightens the lock. At last Johnny manages to work his way up to his feet, STILL trapped in the side headlock before rushing back into the ropes and dragging his adversary along with him. Both men bounce off the cables and Kingdom TRIES to push Scott off the side headlock but Scott flips him over into the takeover. Scott keeps the side headlock applied, really clamping his arms tight around Johnny’s neck.
Frankie: I’m surprised by this. I was expecting to see a far more vicious Cannon.
Sparkles: Yeah, he’s a lot more controlled and docile in this match though.
Kingdom struggles to get to a knee with Cannon sitting up at his side and really clinching onto the headlock. It takes him a few painstaking seconds but Kingdom at last gets to his feet, still stooped into the headlock. He now lifts Scott into the air and connects with the back drop suplex. Just as Johnny starts to break free Cannon reapplies the side headlock. He then sits up and squeezes Johnny’s head like a pimple that needs to be drained of puss.
A different approach is now taken to escaping the hold, Kingdom wrapping his legs around Scott’s neck and pulling him down out of the side headlock. Scott flips to his knees and then turns so that he and Johnny form a straight line with their bodies, Cannon’s head still trapped between Johnny’s knees. Scott then pushes himself up into a headstand before coming down back first into Kingdom’s chest. Johnny falls to his back and Scott comes down to his seat beside him, once again applying the side headlock.
Greyson: Cannon just wearing Kingdom down with these repeated side headlocks.
Frankie: These holds are more about showing dominance than they are about winning the match.
Kingdom rolls over to his knees but still can’t get out of the side headlock. Eventually he forces himself up to his feet with Scott standing beside him, clamping tight to the neck. Johnny takes Scott around the waist and steps back into the ropes, pulling his adversary along. Both men spill backwards through the cables and crash to the outside mats. When all is said and done Scott is revealed to STILL be holding onto the side headlock.
Scott grinds his arms across Johnny’s neck then drags him back into the ring. Both men roll inside and to the center where Kingdom once again finds himself still suffering the side headlock.
Sparkles: Scott’s grasp is unbreakable!
A grimacing Kingdom starts to work his way up to his feet while reaching out and hooking Cannon’s knee. He also takes him around the neck then drops back into the Regal Suplex. The slam that brings Cannon down on the back of his neck at long last breaks the submission hold, and hopefully that’s all it’s broken.
Johnny rubs his throat and gasps for air, refilling his oxygen deprived lungs with some precious O2. He works his way back up his feet then stoops to gather up what remains of his opponent. However, Cannon reaches up, takes Johnny around the neck and flips him over to the canvas into the side headlock. But Johnny won’t stay in the hold for long this time, rolling away from Scott and flipping him over onto the back of his shoulders.
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Scott kicks out and breaks the side headlock. A free Kingdom dashes to his feet and runs right into a shoulder block. Cannon drives Kingdom to the ring then stands over him grinning. He now takes off into the ropes at Johnny’s side, ricocheting off and coming back in at his adversary. Kingdom lunges to his feet and Scott leap frogs over him, continuing along into the far cables. He bounces off and comes back in at Johnny who log rolls towards Cannon’s feet. Scott jumps over Kingdom but Johnny reaches up and catches him by the ankle on the way over. Scott is tripped, coming down flat on his face while Kingdom rolls to his side and then applies a fujiwara arm bar. But Scott quickly works his way up to his feet and attempts to escape the hold by pushing Johnny off into the ropes. Kingdom bounces off the cables and returns to Scott, greeting his opponent with a shoulder block. Cannon hits the canvas with the Team Leader standing over him smiling.
Johnny takes off into the ropes, ricochets off and comes back in at Scott, who log rolls towards Kingdom’s legs, attempting to trip him. But Johnny jumps over Cannon then falls straight back, grabbing his opponent’s arm and locking in a fujiwara.
Greyson: Now Johnny giving Cannon a little taste of his own medicine.
Sparkles: Johnny couldn’t escape the side headlock and now Cannon can’t get free of the fujiwara.
Scott gets to his feet with Kingdom standing at his side, bending his opponent’s arm back into the fujiwara. Scott twists his body out of the hold and into a backslide on the Team Leader.
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Johnny rolls back onto his seat and then twists his body around in order to grab Scott’s arm and reapply the fujiwara.
Greyson: He’s STILL got the fujiwara cinched in!
Sparkles: And Johnny likes to use the crippler crossface, this could be a set up for it.
Scott tries to push past the pain running through his arm, trying his best to ignore the anguish. He struggles to his feet, forcing Kingdom to stand as well. Cannon then twists his body around out of the hold and into a shoulder to Johnny’s back. He charges him towards the turnbuckle, about to drive him against the corner. But Kingdom steps up the turnbuckle then flips back over Cannon’s shoulder, landing on his feet behind his adversary. Scott spins around and immediately finds his arm caught in Kingdom’s clutches and his body being dragged down into the fujiwara.
The fans clap and Cannon groans as he finds himself trapped once more. Though Scott only stays down in this hold for so long. He and Johnny stand up and Cannon manages to push Johnny along sideways into the ropes, forcing the official to start a five count and threaten Kingdom with disqualification if he does not break the hold. Johnny lifts his foot into the air though, wedges it to the top rope and pushes past so that he and Cannon end up in the middle of the ring yet again. Johnny then starts to drop down with the fujiwara still locked in but Cannon rolls away from him. Kingdom is flipped over and out of the armbar. He gets to his knees then pops up to his feet, rushing right into the big boot. Scott nails a stiff kick directly to Johnny’s face, knocking him flat on his back.
Frankie: There’s that aggression!
Greyson: More of the brawling techniques we’re accustomed to seeing out of Cannon.
Johnny slowly works his way towards his feet when Scott steps in and over his adversary’s head. He takes Kingdom around the waist, heaves him up into the air and then goes for the powerbomb. But Johnny manages to twist his body enough to slip off of Cannon’s shoulder, land beside him and grab his arm in the process. Johnny begins to lock in the fujiwara but Cannon shoves him off into the ropes. Johnny ricochets from the cables and comes back in at Cannon, who goes for another big boot. At the last second Johnny baseball slides under the inbound boot, pops to his feet and charges in behind Cannon. Scott makes a quick rotation, turning back to Kingdom, catching him by the back of the head then pitching him over the top rope. Johnny flips over the cables and comes plummeting down into the thin protective mats.
A languishing Kingdom works his way to his feet with the aid of the apron. He starts to work his way through the ropes, returning to the ring only to have Cannon deliver another swift and incredibly vicious big boot. The blow nails Johnny’s cheek, knocking him out and to the outside. He crashes back down to the mats, clutching at his face.
The referee commences with a ten count but only reaches five, Johnny getting back to his feet and into the ring. Scott is right on top of him, grabbing Johnny by the wrist and dragging him into a short arm clothesline. Cannon then pulls Kingdom to his feet then into the air, powerbombing him down to the canvas. Scott drops to his knees leaning shoulders first into the back of Johnny’s legs.
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Kingdom manages to roll his shoulders from the ring.
Greyson: No more finesse being shown by Cannon.
Sparkles: This is raw brutality.
Cannon drags Johnny up to his feet only to knock him back down with a clubbing forearm. Scott then takes Kingdom by the wrist, pulling it through his legs while hooking the other bicep. He now heaves Johnny up into a pumphandle powerslam. Cannon does not follow this up with a pin, instead he takes Johnny around the neck, rolls him over to his stomach and places him right back in the side headlock.
Frankie: The slow and methodical destruction of Kingdom continues.
Sparkles: As we get right back to where we started in this contest.
Johnny progresses towards his feet while Cannon crushes his neck with the powerful vice squeeze of Cannon’s arms. Both men at last stand up and Cannon breaks the side headlock in order to grab Kingdom by the back of the head, rushing him towards the ropes. Johnny’s throat hits the top cable and Scott yanks back on it, causing the ropes to bounce off Kingdom’s larynx. Johnny rolls over backwards to the center of the ring, gasping for air. Scott comes barreling in to take Johnny’s last breath. He grabs Kingdom by the back of the neck, forces him to his feet and charges him at the cables, intent on snapping his throat against them. Johnny reaches the ropes only to lunge through them. He drops to the outside mats, reaches back into the ring and grabs Scott’s legs, tearing them out from under him. Scott is then dragged to the outside of the ring where he immediately goes for a big boot on Kingdom only to have Johnny catch the inbound leg and toss it aside. Scott turns in a full circle back to face Kingdom, who has now leaped to the apron and is lunging off into a double axehandle smash across Scott’s face. The blow has Cannon staggered but still on his feet. Johnny climbs up onto the apron and leaps off into another double axehandle, but his arms never connect with Scott’s brow. Instead it’s Scott’s boot that connects with Kingdom’s gut. Johnny doubles over and Cannon now pulls him into position for the powerbomb.
To Scott’s dismay however, Johnny stands up and back drops his rival right over the barricade into the crowd. The fans clear out of the way of Cannon, who comes crashing into the concrete out amongst them. Johnny returns to the ring, breaking the official’s ten count, but that’s not all he’s intent on doing. He now starts to climb the nearest turnbuckle.
Greyson: Wait…Johnny…what are you doing?
Sparkles: Don’t even tell me he’s about to….
Frankie: Peter Pan you are not Kingdom…So don’t even try to take flight!
The crowd absolutely loses it’s shit at the sight of Kingdom diving off the top rope, flying over the ringside mats, over the barricade, and straight into Cannon in the crowd with a senton plancha.
Sparkles: NO WAY!!
Frankie: KINGDOM IS FUCKING NUTS!
Greyson: Johnny-Johnny Kingdom diving into the audience and taking out Cannon!
The Staples Center is filled with a roar of approval from the nearly speechless fans. They cannot believe they just witnessed Kingdom almost killing himself in order to put Cannon down. Eventually both men are back on their feet with Kingdom dragging Scott to his feet, over the barricade, over the ringside mats and into the ring. Scott ends up splayed across his back while Johnny ascends the turnbuckle yet again. He now takes to the air, soaring across the squared circle into a senton bomb that connects right across Cannon ‘s ribcage.
Fans: YOU STILL GOT IT! YOU STILL GOT IT! YOU STILL GOT IT!
Greyson: Kingdom hasn’t lost a step.
Sparkles: It’s like he’s got better with age, just like cheese.
The fans are both inspired and amazed to see Kingdom’s gutsy performance this evening. They are solidly behind him as he crawls into the cover on the younger Cannon.
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Scott’s shoulder evades the canvas and evades Kingdom’s pinfall. Johnny will make that shoulder pay. He forces Scott over to his stomach then applies the fujiwara, once again going back to the hold that has provided so much aggravation for Cannon.
Instead of lying there and being frustrated, Scott stands up and reaches up, taking Johnny around the nostril, fish hooking it. As a result Kingdom breaks the fujiwara then swings around and places Scott in a front chancery, setting to deliver the Exodus Finale. The Brainbuster DDT is right about to connect but Scott suddenly drops down and rolls right out of the ring.
Greyson: Kingdom THAT close. THAT close to hitting Scott with the Exodus Finale.
Scott stares back into the ring where Johnny is shouting at him. Kingdom doesn’t wait for Scott to return to the squared circle, he rushes across it and dives with both boots through the ropes. He nails Scott with a dropkick that sends Cannon flying back into the barricade, leaning over it for support. Johnny then grabs the top rope and pulls himself over into a crossbody. He comes crashing down right into ANOTHER big boot from Cannon. The blow knocks Johnny out of the air and to the mats. He then grabs at his face and rolls away from Scott, nearing the corner of two converging barricades. A chair is set up there and Johnny is instinctively pulling his body into it. He sits on the chair and no sooner gets his bearings before Kingdom finds his head crushed by the face wash. The running face wash crushes Kingdom’s head against the barrier, leaving him almost completely incapacitated.
Frankie: Scott demolishing Kingdom’s head with that kick!
Greyson: We see him deliver that Face Wash quite frequently in the ring, but very rarely on the outside against those barricades.
Scott rolls Kingdom’s prone body into the ring and follows it inside, making the cover.
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Kingdom manages to squeak a shoulder from the ring, preventing falling prey to Scott’s pinfall. Cannon sits up and spouts some words that really shouldn’t be repeated even on pay-per-view. He now takes Johnny around the neck and starts to stand him up before Kingdom valiantly delivers a European Uppercut, or at least attempts to. Scott sees the uppercut coming, swinging away from it and wedging his spine to Johnny’s. He hooks both of Kingdom’s arms, going for the backslide. But Johnny blocks it, twisting his body around right into Scott’s waiting arms. Scott transitions into the front chancery then lifts Kingdom for the House Rules. The jackhammer is about to connect only to have Kingdom shift his weight at the last second, drop to the canvas and roll away from Cannon.
Johnny looks back at Scott, who grins deviously.
Frankie: Scott THAT close. THAT close to finishing Kingdom off with the House Rules.
Scott now steps towards Kingdom and reaches out for him only to have the Team Leader grab the waistband of his opponent. He drags Scott down so that Scott’s throat hits the top rope. Johnny then yanks back on it, snapping the ropes against Cannon’s throat and sending him flipping back to the middle of the ring. Scott rolls to his knees and Johnny takes advantage of his position, rushing in and applying a front chancery, setting up for the Exodus Finale. Just as Scott is about to be heaved into the brainbuster DDT, Scott swings his body out of the front chancery, then swings his arm around into the Snake Eyes.
The roaring elbow is about to connect only to have Kingdom duck it, stepping around behind Cannon. Scott turns and finds his arm caught in Johnny’s clutches, Kingdom dragging him down to the ring and then applying the crossface….He’s ALMOST got the Lesson in Leadership locked in but Scott manages to not only avoid it but counter it. He hooks Johnny’s leg then falls back, pulling Kingdom over onto his shoulders with Cannon’s lying across his stomach.
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Kingdom manages to kick out before suffering the pinfall. He and Cannon roll to their feet simultaneously but Johnny is maybe a blink of an eye faster. Hence why he’s able to catch Scott with such a devastating lariat that puts him right back down to the canvas.
Greyson: That damned devastating lariat out of Kingdom. We’ve seen him use that clothesline in the past.
Frankie: Where it and HE should have stayed, in the past.
Scott holds his throat while rolling to his knees, trying to force himself up to his feet. Kingdom steps in though and over Scott’s head, beginning to set up for the package piledriver, another move from Johnny’s arsenal. But Cannon has other plans, refusing to allow this match to turn into a nostalgia fest. He grabs the creases of Kingdom’s knees and yanks the legs of his opponent out from under him. Johnny falls to his back and Scott lunges into the air, delivering a double stomp right into Kingdom’s ribcage. An agonizing Johnny rolls away from Cannon and into the nearest turnbuckle. Scott whips around to face Johnny seated in the corner, inspiring Cannon to race in and deliver the face wash. The boot crushes Kingdom’s cheek and temple. Scott then drags the injured anatomy of his opponent from the corner to the middle of the ring where he’s pinned.
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Johnny kicks out and Cannon makes him suffer for it, locking Johnny’s head in a rear naked choke.
Frankie: Well Kingdom put in a fine performance this evening but at the end of the day his dusty old ass just couldn’t hang with Scott Cannon.
Greyson: It’s not over yet Frankie.
Frankie: It was over before the bell even sounded.
Scott really works over Kingdom’s head and neck with the rear naked choke. After Johnny suffered multiple side headlocks at the start of the match his neck is raw and he’s too fatigued to escape this hold. He falls to his side and Scott drops to his stomach, getting in better position for the sleeper. The referee steps in and takes Johnny’s arm, lifting it into the air then dropping it to make sure he hasn’t passed out. The arm falls towards the canvas but then shoots back into the air, Johnny refusing to pass out and lose under these circumstances. He starts to sit up and fight to his feet. Scott stands up as well, still holding onto the rear naked choke. Kingdom then delivers an elbow to Scott’s ribs, followed by another, and then another before finally forcing Scott to break the choke-hold. Scott is now doubled over and Kingdom places him in a front chancery, going for the Exodus Finale once more. This time Scott counters by standing up and back dropping Kingdom over his head. On the way down though Johnny manages to grab Scott around the waist and attempt to pull him over into the sunset flip. However Scott drops down onto Kingdom’s chest and reaches back, hooking his legs.
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Greyson: Has Scott just got a doggy door victory?
To Scott’s distress Johnny manages to kick out. Scott stands up in aggravation, spinning around and reaching down to grab Kingdom but Johnny launches his shin into the air, cracking Cannon right in the top of the head. Scott looks glassy eyed as he turns away from Kingdom then finds his hips hooked from behind, Johnny pulling him down into the sunset flip.
But Scott rolls right out of the pin, or more accurately Johnny lets him escape. Why? So that Scott can end up on his knees and Kingdom can step over his head, hooks his arms and lift him into the package piledriver.
Greyson: Johnny at last hits it….
Frankie: But look at the effect it had on Scott.
The effect? No effect. Scott pops straight back up to his feet after suffering the piledriver and glares menacingly at a stunned Kingdom. He then rushes right at Johnny only to get a boot to the gut and find his body being heaved into a second package piledriver. Scott rolls off the canvas and straight up to his feet, shaking off the piledriver like it was nothing but a mere pinch. So Johnny kicks him in the abs, bends Scott over and subjects him to a THIRD package piledriver. Once again the move has no impact on Cannon, he is right back on his feet and seemingly hulking up.
Johnny is beyond shocked and now goes to kick Scott in the gut for a fourth package piledriver only to stop, sneer then blow a mighty wind in Cannon’s direction. Suddenly Scott just falls straight back, hitting the canvas and lying there unconscious.
Greyson: Hahaha, it looks like those piledrivers took more of an effect on Scott than he was letting on.
Kingdom falls into the lateral press on Cannon.
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Even three package piledrivers didn’t do the trick, yes they put Scott down but not long enough to suffer a three count. Johnny quickly drags Scott up to his feet and hooks his arms before lifting him into a FOURTH package piledriver. But wait…NO…Scott roots his boots to the ring and then pushes his bulky frame into Kingdom, driving him back into the turnbuckle. Johnny’s attempt at the package piledriver is broken, as may be his spine. Cannon steps back to give himself just enough room to get a running start behind the Snake Eyes. The roaring elbow is about to connect only to have Kingdom jump up onto the turnbuckle and lunge out of it, leap frogging Scott and his elbow.
Johnny drops behind Scott then takes off into the ropes, removing his elbow pad in the process to expose his bicep. Why? So that Kingdom can put every ounce of his muscle into the lariat that became a staple of his offence in past years.
Sparkles: HUGE CLOTHESLINE!
The lariat knocks Scott back and through the ropes. It looks like Scott is going to crash an unconscious heap across the outside mats, BUT his shins hit the top rope and catapult his feet back down to the ring. Scott is launched out of the ropes and right into the Snake Eyes. The roaring elbow smashes Kingdom directly in the face.
Greyson: HOLY FUCKING ELBOW!
Sparkles: SNAKE EYES! SNAKE EYES OUTTA NOWHERE!
Scott drops back into a cover on Kingdom, managing to hook one of his legs by grabbing one of his pants legs.
Frankie: Regretting coming out of retirement now, King-DUMB? Hahahaha.
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Greyson: Scott is moving onto a World Title shot….
No he isn’t, because Kingdom just kicked out.
Frankie: Oh my LORD!
Scott sits up with his Kevlar gloved hands raised out to his sides, mouthing the words ‘what gives.’
Greyson: Johnny says NO! No he will not allow his Invictus return to end like this.
A sweaty Cannon looks back over his shoulder at Kingdom, who is shockingly rolling into the ropes and using them to pull his body up to his feet. After taking the Snake Eyes, Kingdom just can’t stand on his own, his body nothing but jello at this point. Scott takes Kingdom by the wrist and effortlessly drags him into a headlock. Kingdom finds his body being lifted into the House Rules. The jackhammer is about to connect before Kingdom’s knee comes down and cracks Scott in the top of the head. Scott begins to stoop forward and lower Kingdom back down to his feet, but instead Cannon unleashes a roar, straightens his back and keeps Johnny suspended in the air upside down. The fans gasp at the sight of Scott’s freakish strength.
That power is tested when Kingdom nails a second knee to the top of Scott’s head. This proves enough for Kingdom to go flipping over Scott’s shoulder and landing on his feet behind him. Johnny reaches back taking Scott around the neck, setting up for the reverse neck…NOTHING….Scott manages to reach back over his shoulders and rakes Johnny’s eyes. Kingdom turns around to face Scott, although he’s not cognizant of that fact considering he’s just been blinded. Scott takes advantage of Johnny’s vision impairment, spinning around to deliver the Snake Eyes. Instead he runs right into Johnny’s waiting arms. Kingdom catches Scott’s swinging elbow and forces him down to the canvas, about to get the Lesson in Leadership locked in.
Greyson: CROSSFACE! Kingdom going for the crossface!
But Scott’s not about to let Johnny even toy with the idea of getting it locked in. He stands up and actually lifts Kingdom’s body from the canvas, Johnny still hanging onto the arm and determined to get it locked in the crossface. Scott makes that an impossibility though when he manages to throw Johnny across the ring and shirk him off Scott’s arm. Johnny shockingly lands on his feet and turns to face the inbound Cannon before turning Cannon’s face into mush with a devastating superkick. The stiff blow sends Cannon flying back and through the ropes….almost. Scott’s shins hit the top rope and catapult his feet back down to the canvas. He then spirals across the ring into the roaring elbow. The Snake Eyes…MISSES…Kingdom catching Cannon around the neck and hoisting Scott into the Exodus Finale! The brainbuster DDT drives Scott’s head brutally into the canvas.
Frankie: UNREEEEAAAAL!!
Greyson: Scott thought he had Kingdom with the roaring elbow but Johnny catches him and spikes him right on his head!
Sparkles: With the Exodus Finale. This is it! This is it!
Johnny crawls into the cover on Cannon, throwing all his weight across Scott’s chest.
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And the fans are on their feet cupping their mouths in disbelief when they see Scott’s shoulder escape from the ring a FRACTION of a second before the three could be counted. Johnny flops over onto his back with his hands on top of his face, palms cupping his eyes.
Frankie: CANNON KICKED OUT! HE FUCKING KICKED OUT!
Greyson: Listen to these fans, they are in disbelief. Scott Cannon has just kicked out of the Exodus Finale.
Johnny is through playing with kid’s gloves.
He grabs Scott around the head, pulls him up to his feet and then lifts him into the package piledriver. Scott flops to his side looking all shaken up while Kingdom walks past him and scales the nearest turnbuckle reaching the top rope. Johnny takes to the air and slams directly into Cannon, successfully hitting the 450 splash.
Greyson: There’s the 450! Just think of all the matches this has won Kingdom in the past.
Kingdom’s body hits Scott with such force that he actually flips over and onto his seat. He clutches at his ribs then sits back and hooks Scott’s leg.
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The fans are right on the cusp of celebrating Kingdom’s huge return victory before seeing Scott’s shoulder launch from the crowd to their sheer disbelief. Kingdom rolls to his side emoting an expression of complete shock, as if asking himself what he has to do in order to pin Scott here tonight. He takes Scott around the neck, rolls to his side and pulls him to his feet before setting to deliver the Exodus Finale a second time. He has Scott in the front chancery in prep for the brainbuster DDT but Scott suddenly wedges his shoulder to Kingdom’s gut and pushes him back into the turnbuckle. Kingdom this the corner hard, his front chancery broken and freeing Scott, who backs to the center of the ring. Scott then comes rushing in only to be caught with two boots to the face. The kick knocks Scott to his back and gives Kingdom the little boost he needs to go flipping up onto the top rope.
Johnny now stands up on the highest point of the corner before flipping off into the 450 splash. He comes down right into the laid out Scott, crashing into a SMALL PACKAGE. Cannon catches Kingdom coming down and instantly rolls him over into the pin.
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Greyson: WAIT-HOLD ON!
The referee’s hand comes down again but Johnny KICKS OUT just in time.
Frankie: Could it get any closer than that!?!
Sparkles: Scott ALMOST snuck in the victory over Kingdom.
Johnny rolls away from Cannon, who is back on his feet with his spine pressed to the corner. Kingdom comes charging at him only to have Scott deliver a boot across Johnny’s brow, sending him twisting away. Cannon then charges out of the corner, wedges his spine to Johnny’s back and lifts him into the back drop suplex, but Johnny manages to shockingly float over, flipping back and landing on the turnbuckle behind his adversary. Scott spins around just as Kingdom leaps off the turnbuckle into an attempt a shoulder block. But to the surprise of the crowd Cannon manages to catch the flying Kingdom in a front chancery, countering into a suplex position…no…a position for the House Rules.
Sparkles: UNREAL!
Scott swings around to hit the jackhammer only to have Kingdom counter at the last second by floating over Scott’s shoulder, catching him by the arm and dragging him down into the Lesson in Leadership. The crippler crossface is locked in and Scott is splayed across the canvas looking on the verge of tapping out to it.
Greyson: Another amazing transition into the crossface! Into the Lesson in Leadership!
The fans are screeching at the top of their lungs as they watch Scott fight for all he’s worth to escape this hold. After the damage inflicted on his shoulder with the fujiwara earlier in this bout tapping out might be his only recourse. But it’s a recourse he won’t stoop to. Scott works his way to his knees and then to his feet before heaving Johnny up from the crowd. Kingdom is still holding onto the Lesson in Leadership, refusing to break the hold until he’s broken Cannon’s arm. Which is exactly what it might take to finish Scott off tonight. Scott doesn’t allow that to happen, reaching up with his free arm, wrapping it around Johnny’s neck and then pushing up with the arm that’s trapped in the crossface. Somehow Johnny is shoved up into the headstand on top of Scott’s shoulder, finding himself locke din a front chancery before ultimately being driven into the ring with the House Rules!
Greyson: DID I JUST SEE THAT!?!
Sparkles: The Lesson in Leadership countered into the mother-lubbin House Rules!
Frankie: Fucking awesome.
Scott rolls into the lateral press, desperately hooking Kingdom’s leg.
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Frankie: Scott showing why he’s our next World Cham…
Kingdom launches his shoulder into the air.
Frankie: FUCKER!!
The crowd is going absolutely nuts at the sight of Kingdom kicking out, leaving Cannon sitting there beside himself in shock. It takes all of his strength to rise back to his feet and approach Kingdom, taking him around the neck then forcing him up to his feet. Johnny can barely stand as Scott lines him up for the Snake Eyes. He swings around into the roaring elbow that connects with NOTHIN…Johnny turns Scott’s own momentum against him, catching Scott coming in with the small package.
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Greyson: Kingdom sneaking in with the win!
The ref’s hand comes down to the canvas but Scott kicks out a second before that hand can reach the ring.
Frankie: NOT HAPPENING!
Scott dashes back to his feet only to stand in time to nearly be KOed by Kingdom and one of the most devastating running lariats ever seen. The sound of Kingdom’s bicep crushing Scott’s larynx can be heard for miles. Scott crashes to his back and Johnny lands on his knees beside him, sweating profusely and savoring every breath he draws into his lungs. Every inch of his anatomy aches as he gets to his feet and takes Scott by the bangs, sitting him up. He throws punches across Scott’s brow, several of them in fact before ultimately dragging Scott’s head under his seat, going for another package piledriver. He lifts Scott but amazingly Cannon shifts his weight, coming back down onto his feet. So Johnny alters strategy, instead stepping back and putting Cannon in the front chancery. Johnny now lifts Cannon in order to hit the Exodus Finale. But once again Scott shifts his weight and comes back down to his feet, blocking the brainbuster DDT. So Johnny changes his mind once more, and now swings around behind Scott’s arm, dragging him down into the Lesson in Leadership.
Scott falls flat on his face and Kingdom looks to apply the crossface. But at the last second Scott throws his legs across Johnny’s upper back, hooking them around his shoulder. Scott rolls Kingdom over backwards into the crucifix pin.
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Greyson: HEY!!
Kingdom valiantly squirms to break free but the pin was too lightning fast and is too tightly locked in on the stunned Team Leader, rendering him incapable of getting his shoulder up in time. The referee’s hand hits the canvas for the third time.
Greyson: WHAT JUST…..!?!
Sparkles: How the hell did he do that?
The fans are just as surprised, perhaps even more so than Kingdom. It still hasn’t registered with Johnny that his crossface was countered into the crucifix. He sits up and asks the referee what just happened before the reality of the situation finally sinks in. ‘Bad to the Bone’ is playing over the speakers while Scott drops to the outside mats across his knees. Once at ringside his sweaty and injured body produces laughter.
Greyson: I thought Kingdom was closing in on victory with another Lesson in Leadership but Cannon catches him with maybe the counter of the night into that crucifix pin.
Sparkles: Which means we have a new number one contender ladies and gentlemen. Scott Cannon is going to at long last get his World Title shot.
Greyson: And we’ll find out later tonight who that will be against based on the outcome of the 4 Way World Title match.
Johnny is pacing the ring arguing with the referee, slapping his hands together and insisting he got his shoulder up. The referee informs him once again that Scott got the pinfall. All the while Scott is making his way up the ramp holding his ribs with one arm and lifting the other above his head in victory.
BACKSTAGE
In spite of being held by two intimidating apparitions and forced along down a hallway against her will, Mika Kozlov doesn’t even struggle against Sundown and Elijah Dallas. The Tombstone members pull her down the corridor in the direction of a doorway.
Mika: What do you two have planned for lil ole’ Mika?
Elijah: Use your imagination.
Mika: Oh you do not want me to do that.
The two men who plucked Kozlov from her dressing room earlier this evening take her to her new destination, a darkened room where the man in black is standing.
Goddard: We’ve been waitin’ on ya.
Goddard steps out of the shadows and approaches the bound Kozlov.
Mika: Look, it’s Poppa Smurf.
Goddard: Ya want to know what we got planned for ya? Unfortunately we have no time for an explanation.
A figure steps out from behind Goddard, an older woman of Indian decent.
Goddard: We have to make this quick. Prepare her.
IN-RING
Cameras return to the ring where the fans are still reeling from that exhilarating Scott Cannon versus Johnny Kingdom bout. The commentators try to maintain professionalism even though several of them want to mark out as loud as the fans. You can hear the excitement in their voices even though the camera never captures their expressions, still focused on the screaming fans.
Greyson: Wow….I am still….WOW..
Sparkles: We just witnessed another Invictus match that is going to be remembered as long as Sparkles keeps cheese in my teeth.
Frankie: Yeah-yeah, Kingdom and Cannon really lit the world on fire, but what I’m really concerned with right now is what’s going on with Mika. What does Tombstone have in store for her?
We don’t get an answer to that question, not just yet, because at the moment we’re getting the track of “My Demons” playing over the speakers and Cassidy Haze making her way through the curtains. The black haired beauty pauses on the stage and screams towards the rafters, relishing in the fact that her mouth is now free of the gas mask/muzzle that has constrained her voice for too long.
Greyson: We’ll have to wait for clarity on the Tombstone, Mika issue, because right now Cassidy Haze…
Frankie: That ungrateful bitch who turned her back on her advisor, Jessika, three weeks ago. …
Sparkles: That would be her.
Greyson: Anyway, Cassidy is on her way to the ring, and from what I understand, she is still intent on getting an answer to the challenge she made to her advisor three weeks ago.
Once in the ring Cassidy continues to delight in the sound of her voice…a voice that was stripped from her by Jessika. A microphone is in Cassidy’s hands and her mascara covered eyes are directed towards the fans.
Cassidy: Howdy my fellow sycophants. Remember me? I’m the REAL Cassidy Haze.
The fans clap and cheer loudly.
Cassidy: Not that voiceless monster who was dragged around for weeks by Jessika and treated like nothing more than a mindless brute bent to her will. A position I never would have been in if I hadn’t allowed my friend Serenity to manipulate and take advantage of me. If I had known accepting her help, and Jessika’s help would mean I’d become nothing but their abused lap dog, I NEVER would have agreed to join them. They lied to me, used me, and if I hadn’t left Psychomachia, who knows what else they would have done to me. But the point is, I DID leave Psychomachia, and I did it by putting Jessika flat on her ass in the middle of the ring three weeks ago.
Again the crowd in the Staples Center fills with cheers.
Cassidy: That’s not all I did though. I didn’t just leave Jessika laying. I made a challenge to her. I demanded a match against Jessika right here tonight in the Staples Center, right here at INVICTUS!
The fans are absolutely exhilarated, Cassidy saying all the right words to get them fired up.
Cassidy: I’ve waited for an answer, but I’m not waiting anymore, so why don’t you don’t get out here Jessika and honor tradition by fighting….
Jessika: Tradition?
The fans heckle Jessika loudly as she steps through the curtains and down the steps leading to the stage.
Jessika: You think I care about ‘tradition?’ About you? About Invictus? I don’t….Tradition is meaningless to me. You are meaningless to me. And Invictus is meaningless to me. It didn’t have to be that way though, now did it? You could have been something special, Cassidy, you could have been the monster who made Invictus her playground. You could have walked into this ‘spectacle’ and massacred the entire IWC roster on your rise to the top, but instead you allowed weakness to creep back into your feeble little mind.
At last Jessika reaches the base of the ramp but goes no further.
Jessika: You’re losing streak, you’re lack of conviction, and your need for humanity have all proven one thing to me, Cassidy, you are NOT the monster I thought you were. In fact, now I’m seeing for the very first time that there are no TRUE monsters. All you quote un quote monsters are nothing but weak and stupid beasts of burden that have no place in this industry….
Cassidy: Is that so?
Jessika: You and every other so called ‘monster’ are nothing but embarrassments to this industry, that’s why I won’t indulge your little challenge tonight.
Cassidy: Monsters are an embarrassment huh? Well, just so happens I know a couple of people who might disagree with you.
Before Jessika can so much as sneer some very familiar entrance lyrics hit the PA system that sends chills right up her spine. Her head can’t whip around fast enough to face the beast now standing on the stage. Former ULW and IWC Hardcore Icon, Isaac Saine, is now standing at the top of the stairwell. The commentators erupt in the background.
Greyson: IT’S SAINE! IT’S ISAAC SAINE!!!
Sparkles: We-we-we haven’t seen him since….GOD, I can’t even remember.
The fans are going absolutely nuts at the sight of IWC’s original monster stalking Jessika, who instinctively back peddles into the ring. She slides in but then spots Cassidy coming after her, leading Jessika to dive back out of the squared circle. She now moves towards the barricade and attempts to escape through the crowd. She backs through the fans while sneering at the ring where Cassidy is still challenging her to a fight. Jessika just starts to grin before her back hits something, that something being the chest of former IWC combatant and resident psychopath, Killjoy.
Greyson: Oh my God….Killjoy is here!
Sparkles: One of the most imposing monsters in IWC history.
Jessika looks panicked as she lifts her palms and backs away from Killjoy, who silently stalks her. She then leaps over the barricade and tries to run around the ring to find another escape. She rushes right past the commentator’s table and starts to leap into the crowd where the all-around demented Too Magnificent is standing. The gigantic monster glares over the barrier at a terrified Jessika, who backs off with an alarmed look in her wide eyes. She now dashes around the squared circle and tries to leap over another barrier only to pause with one leg over the railing. She stops because her path has been blocked by another monster of IWC and ULW fame, AWOL.
Greyson: And now AWOL is here too?
Sparkles: Former World Champion and arguably the biggest monster of them all.
Greyson They have Jessika completely surrounded.
Frankie: I think Jessika is starting to regret what she said about monsters in this industry now.
Greyson: Every monster from IWC’s past have shown up to make her eat her words.
A horrified Jessika backs away from AWOL, who is climbing over the barricade. She rolls right into the ring and mindlessly walks right into a roundhouse kick delivered by Cassidy. The blow nails Jessika across the temple. The blow has knocked Jessika right out and now Cassidy is throwing herself over her former advisor’s chest, going for the pin. She shouts for a referee and one shows up, in the form of the face-paint wearing Riggs.
Greyson: RIGGS!?!
Sparkles: He’s here tonight TOO!?!
Greyson: The former IWC NHB Champion!!
Greyson: And another of wrestling’s most prolific monsters.
Riggs slides into the ring amidst a huge uproar from the crowd and slaps the canvas.
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The Staples Center is erupting into such an ovation at the sight of Jessika getting her ultimate comeuppance. A moment after pinning Jessika, her long abused monster Cassidy lunges to her feet and lifts her arms aloft in victory. Riggs takes her by the wrist, holding her arm up high. At the same time Isaac Sane, Too Magnificent, Killjoy and AWOL enter the ring and take hold of Cassidy, lifting her up onto their shoulders. The monsters of IWC past and present celebrate over the body of the woman who made the fatal error of denouncing them, a mistake she’ll long suffer for.
Greyson: What a crazy Invictus moment.
Sparkles: The IWC’s monster squad have just left Jessika laying.
Greyson: And Cassidy Haze has got her revenge on Jessika for all the verbal abuse she’s put Cassidy through for the past months building into Invictus.
BACKSTAGE
Cameras transition to Marie Jones pacing her dressing room back and forth. She seems to be stewing in contemplation on the eve of her World Title bout this evening. Finally she takes a seat on a chair and stares across the room at the object, the item that has become quite the double edged sword for her in recent weeks, but will give her a definitive advantage this evening, The titanium knee brace. The commentators voices can be heard in the background.
Sparkles: The Ginger Nation representative and Silas World’s crown jewel, Marie Jones getting ready for the epic World Title Fatal Four Way slated to come here tonight.
Greyson: She steps into the ring with Serenity, Katelyn Buehler and the Champion Taylor Chase right here in our Invictus main event.
IN-RING
The viewers are brought back to the interior of the Staples Center where the ever vivacious Susie Moore is standing in the crowd. She is still wearing her t-shirt with a tuxedo drawn on it, and is still holding a microphone.
Susie: Invictus so HUGE tonight…just like Kevin Smith’s gut. And to demonstrate just how big it is, I’m standing by with fans who have flown in from all around the world to watch the pay-per-view. Like this fan, from Australia.
The fan in question comes into view, his portly frame stepping to Susie’s side. An Andre Jordan t-shirt hangs over his body and a very excited expression sits on his face.
Susie: Hi honey-bunny. Where ya from?
Fan: I’m from Melbourne Australia.
Susie: Wow…I guess that’s pretty far away from California.
Fan: Erm, yeah.
Susie: And what brings you ALLLL the way to Invictus?
Fan: The chance to see Andre Jordan kick Gavin Taylor’s ass tonight! Yeeeeeah!
A lot of the fans gathered around the young Australian fan cheer rather predictably. Their tune changes when this segment is interrupted by the most obnoxious of obnoxious.
B. Real: Yo-yo-yo-YOOOOO!
The fans are less than appreciative of B. Real, who is making his way down the flight of steps that ultimately lead to the stage. The thuggish B. Real, Mrs. Budde’s Teacher’s Pet, wears an expression of anger as he rolls into the ring clutching a microphone.
B. Real: Stop the show. We ain’t movin’ forward, nuh-uh, no way. Ain’t gonna be no mo’ Invictus until Amanda Blayze, that Hawaiian Hooker gets her flabby ass in this ring and suffa’s for everything she done did to my Teacher, Mrs. Budde.
The longer B. Real talks the louder the fans groan. The commentators are sounding just as antagonized.
Sparkles: Is Sparkles supposed to translate for B. Real?
Greyson: I think we can get the gist of what he’s saying. He’s out here looking for revenge against ‘The Huntress’ Amanda Blayze, who took the fight back to Silas World on the last Riot by laying out B. Real’s Teacher and Silas World proponent Mrs. Budde.
Frankie: He SHOULD be vengeful, Amanda made the world believe she WANTED to be a member of Silas World. But it was an elaborate rouse to make Mrs. Budde look bad and to cost her the Tag Team Titles.
Greyson: You neglect to mention that Mrs. Budde and Silas World victimized Blayze for almost a calendar year before Blayze set them up.
Frankie: I didn’t neglect to mention anything.
B. Real keeps on pacing the ring and staring towards the ramp.
B. Real: How dare ya gurl….Blayze, ya ain’t got no cred no mo’. Da’ World dun gave ya a chance to be a star, and how ya make reparations, by double crossin’ Mrs. Budde. You ain’t nuttin, ya jus’ thirsty gurl, ya jus’ basic. And ya about to find out that Mrs. Budde, she unstoppable, she like the Hulk, she about come out and smash dat ass. She’s strong, she’s bae, and when she beats ya, ya officially become her BITCH!
B. Real’s long winded introduction suddenly comes to an end when the lights in the Staples Center begin to descend into darkness. There is one light appearing on the stage though, a glow emanating from the torches held in the hands of two Hawaiian fire-dancers. They twirl flaming staffs around their body in dangerous yet beautiful fashion. All the while they are reciting a traditional Hawaiian battle chant. Once they have finished their recitation, the fire dancers step aside to accommodate the arrival of Amanda Blayze. ‘Warriors of the World (United)’ starts to play over the loud speakers and all focus shifts to the top of the staircase situated on the stage. Now standing there is Amanda Blayze, who receives an enormous response from those packed in the Staples Center. Amanda, decked out in new ring attire for this occasion, stands in front of the Invictus emblem enhanced by LED boards. At the moment said LED boards are glowing red, yellow and orange to resemble the color of fire. Amanda starts down the steps and reaches the stage.
Greyson: Amanda Blayze has taken enough from Silas World, she wasn’t about to stand back and suffer any further.
Sparkles: For almost a year Silas World has cost her matches, cost her titles, even started rumors that she and Orlando Cruze were involved in an extra-marital affair. And worst yet, they didn’t even give her a slice of cheese.
Greyson: That’s led us here to tonight where Amanda Blayze takes on Silas World’s Mrs. Budde, but there are huge stakes involved.
Frankie: That’s right, cause when Blayze loses she’ll become Silas World’s BITCH.
Greyson: No, when she finally defeats Mrs. Budde, Silas World HAS to stay out of Blayze’s business from now until the end of her career.
Frankie: She isn’t about to have a career after Mrs. Budde is through with her .
A stubborn B. Real watches from the ring as Amanda makes her way to the end of the ramp. She sneers at B. Real, who is pacing in agitation. Blayze then calls for a microphone, one handed to her just as she starts to enter the ring.
Blayze: B. Real, try as I may to make sense out of anything that comes from your mouth, I just can’t….
B> Real affords Blayze no opportunity to finish that thought, pouncing on her with boots and punches. He takes the microphone he was holding and slams it over her back repeatedly.
Greyson: B. Real attacking Blayze before the match could even begin!
Sparkles: He’s softening her up for his Teacher, Mrs. Budde.
B. Real goes for another stomp on Blayze only to have his ankle caught. A panicked B. Real hops on one foot while staring wide eyed at the kneeling Amanda, who has a tight lock on his leg. Amanda smirks then twists B. Real’s ankle until he falls flat on his face. She stands up behind him, mutilating his leg with the ankle lock. B. Real is roaring in pain and immediately tapping out to the submission.
Greyson: Blayze making B. Real tap.
Frankie: That’s so like Blayze, to take advantage of a defenseless man.
A screeching B. Real keeps slapping the ring and his ankle continues to mauled by the vengeful Blayze. Before further damage can be done the sounds of children’s voices can be heard in the background.
Child 1: I will never run in the hallway.
Child 2: I will never cheat on my exam.
Child 3: I will never talk during lectures.
Child 4: I will never pass notes in class.
Cameras cut to the stage where a number of children in posh private school uniforms are standing in front of chalk boards. Said boards are set up on both sides of the stage and the students are using them to write out a list of the offences they’ve committed. Finally the kiddies stop writing on the boards and then flip them around. On the opposite side of the boards we see a chalk rendering of Mrs. Budde holding her Golden Yard stick. ‘Sick’ by Adelita Way starts to play over the PA system hyping the arrival of Mrs. Budde. She steps down the stairs and to the stage clutching her yard stick and slapping it against her palm.
Greyson: Mrs. Budde finally coming out to the aid of her Pet.
Frankie: In epic fashion…totes epic fashion.
Sparkles: Blayze better be careful, because the last couple of times we’ve seen Blayze and Budde collide, Blayze was knocked out by the Class Dismissed.
Amanda spots Budde coming, which is why she breaks the ankle lock and sends B. Real rolling out of the ring. He spills to the mats right in front of Budde, who stoops to check on her student. All the while Blayze is stooping for another reason, to pick up a microphone.
Blayze: Silas World, you may think I regret challenging you tonight, that I’m a fool for running the risk of losing to you, Mrs. Budde, and being forced to become a member of your group. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take to finally put you, and all of Silas World out of my life forever. That’s exactly what’s going to happen right here, and right now at Invictus. After I’ve beaten you, I’m done with Silas World for GOOD!
Amanda rushes across the ring and dives over the top rope into a senton plancha, crashing right into Budde and B. Real at ringside.
Greyson: OOOOH!
Frankie: Typical Blayze. Attacking people when their guard is down.
Greyson: She’s taking the fight straight to Silas World.
The senton catches the fans and Budde off guard. Blayze keeps her opponent reeling. She drags Budde to her feet, throws a forearm upside her face and then drags her into the ring. Budde rolls in under the ropes, unintentionally leaving her golden yard stick outside of the squared circle. She gets to her knees just as Blayze steps in and crushes her sternum with a buzzsaw kick. She then delivers another buzzsaw kick to Budde’s chest, followed by a third and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and finally a tenth. The shot knocks Budde along into the ropes, leaning on them for support. Blayze then rushes across the ring, baseball slides under them to the outside mats then delivers a huge roundhouse kick directly to Budde’s cheek. The blow knocks Budde’s head off the ropes and sends her rolling back to the center of the ring. She ends up on her back looking disorientated while Blayze scales to the apron and then scales the turnbuckle.
Blayze then takes to the air, soaring across the ring and crushing Budde’s chest with the double stomp.
Greyson: It looks like Blayze is going to make quick work of Budde.
Sparkles: Just think of all the pint up frustrations Blayze is carrying into this match.
Frankie: If we have to hear about poor pathetic Blayze and how Silas World tormented her I swear I’m going to vomit.
Blayze drops down behind Budde, sits her up and then subjects her cheek to MMA elbow after MMA elbow. The blows crash repeatedly into Budde’s skull, rattling her brain. But Budde doesn’t just sit there and suffer. She works her way towards her feet even while having her head obliterated by the elbows. Budde pushes back, forcing Blayze across the ring and ramming her kidneys into the turnbuckle. Budde then reaches over her shoulders, takes Blayze by the neck and snapmares her out of the corner. Budde then rushes at the seated Blayze, connecting with a flip over neck breaker. Amanda’s head is snapped forward, her jaw hitting her chest. Budde rolls past her and back to her feet before slipping through the nearest set of ropes. She glares back at Blayze, who has fallen from her seat spine first into the corner. She sits up against it just long enough to be subjected to a move that has the crowd screaming their lungs out. Budde springs to the top rope on the opposite end of the ring then takes flight. She soars the entire length of the squared circle and ultimately connects with a dropkick right to Amanda’s chest.
Greyson: Some amazing agility just displayed by Budde!
Sparkles: She just crushed Amanda with that coast to coast dropkick.
The fans are starting a standing ovation at the sight of Mrs. Budde’s kick, which has left Blayze slumped to the side. She isn’t left in that position for very long, Budde dragging her out of the corner to the middle of the ring. Budde then lifts Blayze’s leg, sending her rolling over backwards and ending up with her back wedged to the turnbuckle. Budde then rushes in and delivers a step up knee strike right to Blayze’s jaw. The blow has Blayze disorientated before she finds her body being thrown down out of the corner to the middle of the ring. Budde climbs up the corner she just tossed Blayze out of then leaps into the air. She comes down knee first straight into Blayze’s brow.
Budde drops into the lateral press, going for the first pinfall in this very fast past encounter.
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But Blayze manages to get a shoulder up, not only staving off defeat but keeping herself from becoming a member of Silas World. Budde will take possession of Blayze, in much the same way that she takes possession of Blayze’s hair. She pulls Blayze up to her feet then scoop slams her to the canvas. Blayze hits the ring and rolls to his side, trying to stand up. Budde hooks her arms though and then snaps back into the bridging double underhook suplex.
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Blayze kicks out again, refusing to taste defeat and to become a member of Silas World. This stubbornness is not well received by Budde, who takes Blayze by the hair and lifts her to her knees. Budde steps back and launches her foot into the superkick on her kneeling opponent. The boot is about to shatter Blayze’s cheek but she catches the boot before it could shatter her face. Blayze then stands up and performs an inside leg trip on the foot that was still planted. Blayze now attempts to apply an ankle lock on Budde.
Greyson: This is smart strategy by Blayze, go after Budde’s leg and take away her most potent offensive move, the Class Dismissed.
Sparkles: That same Mafa Kick that has left Amanda unconscious twice in recent months.
Greyson: Yeah, the move that cost Blayze the Queen of the Ring Title back at the End of the Year Special.
Blayze almost has the ankle lock applied but Budde is quick to avoid it. She rolls to her back and gets her feet up into Blayze’s chest, pushing her back into the corner. Blayze hits the turnbuckle and then finds Budde bearing down upon her. Budde hits a running spinning heel kick that nails Blayze in the chest, squishing her between leg and turnbuckle. Budde takes Blayze around the neck, lifting her into the air then sitting her on the top rope. Budde quickly starts to follow her up to the top, applying a front chancery to deliver the superplex.
The crowd rises in anticipation of seeing Mrs. Budde hit this high impact move that will slow Blayze down to a crawl. Budde drops back, but it’s not into the superplex. With all her remaining strength Blayze pushes Budde off the front chancery and off the turnbuckle. But Budde’s foot slips and she comes crashing down seat first on the top rope, she then falls back, finding herself hanging in the ever precarious tree of woe.
She starts to pull herself back up and towards the top rope though only to have Blayze leap right off that cable and drop with both knees straight into Budde’s chest.
Greyson: KNEES TO THE CHEST!
Blayze drops down to the canvas and Budde falls back into the hanging position, still dangling from the turnbuckle in the tree of woe. Only now there’s no pulling herself back up to the top rope, because that double knee drop to the chest has rendered her almost unconscious. ALMOST is not sufficent enough for Blayze. She rushes across the ring, leaps from her feet, gets some significant hang time then delivers the hesitation dropkick right to Budde’s upside down face.
The beautiful kick has left Budde’s brains scrambled, but Blayze wants to see those brains splayed across the canvas. That’s why Amanda takes her nemesis around the waist, pulling her out of the corner and holding her upside down. Amanda steps to the center of the ring where she leaps into the air and hits a jumping Tombstone Piledriver.
Frankie: Why? Why is Mrs. Budde being subjected to this?
Greyson: Subjected to the same type of beating she and the rest of Silas World have been giving people for over a year?
Frankie: Yeah. Why?
Greyson: Well um, I kinda just answered your question already.
Blayze hits the tombstone and follows it up with the cover.
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Greyson: It looks like Silas World is out of Blayze’s life forever…
Not likely. Budde gets her shoulder up, kicking out of the Tombstone just in time. Blayze allows no rest of the wicked, pulling Budde up to her feet and then lifting her into a second tombstone. No wait, Budde manages to shift her weight and cause Blayze to begin falling back. Mrs. Budde then comes down onto her feet and lifts Blayze into position to deliver her own Tombstone. Not today. Blayze reaches out and catches one of Budde’s legs, placing it in an ankle lock. A grimacing Budde falls down flat on her face with Blayze standing up behind her, twisting on her leg and threatening to snap the ankle.
Sparkles: Budde thought she was going to sneak that Tombstone in and score the win, but Blayze says nuh’ uh.
Greyson: And now she’s got the ankle lock applied on Budde’s leg. What’s it going to be Budde, tap or snap?
Budde decides neither option works for her, so she counters instead. She rolls onto her shoulder and lifts her free foot into the air, kicking back at Blayze’s arms. A well placed kick finally detaches Blayze and sends her staggering back into the ropes. Blayze ricochets off and comes back in at Budde, who rolls to her seat and looks to catch her inbound opponent with a small package. Instead what Budde catches is a straight shin kick directly to the chest, knocking her flat on her back. Blayze then turns her back on Budde and back flips into the moonsault, crashing down directly into Budde’s chest. Blayze follows up with another pinfall.
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The fans express their distress at the sight of Mrs. Budde again getting her shoulder up. Blayze looks unnerved but not derailed. She grabs Budde’s bangs, using them to pull her towards her feet while jabbing her repeatedly across the face. But just then Budde pushes the hands away from her hair and swings her leg straight at Blayze’s head. At the last second Blayze drops down though, avoiding the Golden Rule kick. Blayze hits a sweeping back heel kick right to Budde’s planted foot, knocking it out from under her and as a result sending Budde crashing onto her ass.
Blayze hustles towards Budde, delivering a running shin kick aimed at her rival’s chest but hitting nothing. Budde drops to her back in order to avoid suffering the kick. The momentum of which has sent Blayze swinging around so that her back is aimed towards the laid out Budde behind her. Blayze quickly back flips into a standing moonsault, crashing right into Budde’s….SHOULDER? Mrs. Budde leaps to her feet and catches Blayze in mid- back flip now holding her upside down just long to spike her on top of her head with the leaping tombstone.
Greyson: Budde with her own tombstone.
Frankie: Somewhere Silas is already counting all the extra zeroes on the bonus he’ll be getting from Budde’s victory.
Sparkles: Plus he’s probably thinking of all the horrible things he’s going to have Blayze do when she becomes another of his clients.
Greyson: Budde has to pin Blayze first to make that a possibility.
That’s exactly what Budde is doing, dropping into a cover on Blayze while grinding a forearm across her face.
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Blayze manages to kick out.
Just as it seems Silas World is going to take possession of Blayze’s contract she shows that she’s going to remain an independent, free spirit. She throws her shoulder into the air, successfully kicking out and successfully aggravating Budde.
The Disciplinarian pulls Blayze along by the arm into a front chancery. Budde then lifts Blayze into a stalling vertical suplex position, allowing all the blood to run into her opponent’s head. Budde then takes a few steps forward and drops back into the running suplex. Blayze reaches for her kidneys as she sits up on the canvas. Its while in this position that Blayze finds the back of her head cracked with the thrust kick. The stiff strike sends Blayze rolling to her elbows and knees where her cheek is now obliterated with a second thrust kick.
Frankie: See, this is why Mrs. Budde is the power and BRAINS of Silas World. She’s working over Blayze’s head all as set up for the Class Dismissed.
Blayze starts to work her way back up to her feet only to have Mrs. Budde put a boot to the back of her head and shove her face down right into the canvas. The modified curb stomp connects but Budde hasn’t taken her foot away from the back of Blayze’s head. Instead she lifts her foot, drags Blayze’s head off the ring and then curb stomps it straight down into the canvas a second time. But Mrs. Budde keeps the boot wedged to her opponent’s head then pulls it up from the canvas. Once again Blayze finds her face curb stomped into the ring. Mrs. Budde shakes her head at the sound of the crowd’s boos and now only wants to hear that sickeningly sweet crack of Blayze’s face.
Once again Budde lifts her foot, elevating Blayze’s head into the fourth Curb Stomp. And it does not connect because Blayze flips over to her back and catches hold of the foot that was going to drive her face into the canvas. Blayze gets to her knees and manages to twist Budde’s leg so that she is coming down flat on her face and finding herself trapped in the ankle lock.
Sparkles: Blayze back into the ankle lock!
Greyson: Budde paying for that arrogant display with the repeated curb stomps.
Sparkles: It might have just cost her the victory and the right to have Blayze as her personal bitch.
Budde lifts her hand into the air, ready to tap out to the pain from the ankle lock. But she suddenly thwarts Blayze’s effort to submit her. She ducks her head and rolls forward, flipping Blayze over her body and down to the canvas. Budde sits up and grabs the creases of Blayze’s legs, holding them down and going for the pinning predicament, folding Amanda over like an accordion.
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Blayze manages to not only kick out but grab hold of Budde’s ankle in the process. She falls to her side and tries to drag Budde to her gut in order to really clamp on the ankle lock. Budde will not tolerate this, she rolls to her side, AWAY from Blayze. As a result Budde’s legs are swung with enough force to send Blayze flipping over sideways as she tried to hold onto her adversary’s ankle.
Blayze rolls to her feet and rushes straight at Budde, or more accurately straight into Budde’s boot. The Disciplinarian goes for the Class Dismissed, but her mafia kick is caught, Amanda trapping the leg under her arm. Just as Blayze contemplates what she’s going to do to Budde’s leg, Amanda finds her eyes gouged. Budde desperately rakes the eyes and causes a blinded Blayze to drop her opponent’s leg. Blayze gets her vision back just in time to spot the heel careening towards her face. The Golden Rule connects, and does so with enough force to dislodge Blayze’s head from her shoulders.
Frankie: WOOP! There it is!
Sparkles: The Golden Rule connects!
Greyson: But I don’t think she hit all of it.
Regardless of rather she hit all of the Golden Rule or not, it’s irrelevant, because she’s too weakened to make a cover. Mrs. Budde leans on the ropes and scowls at the barely cognizant Blayze. Although Budde SHOULD go for the pin, she instead grabs Blayze by the hair, forces her up to her feet and then lifts her to the top rope. Budde insists on hitting the superplex that was blocked earlier in the match. She climbs the corner and gets to the top rope, applying the front chancery. She pulls Blayze up to her feet while Budde’s eyes are looking out over the pleading crowd. She is truly enjoying this and is about to get even more pleasure out of the superplex that she now delivers, driving both she and Blayze down to the canvas. The second they hit the canvas though, Blayze lifts up with her legs, hooking them around Budde’s. She counters the landing on the superplex into an inside cradle.
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Sparkles: Wait-wait!
The fans are already standing up to express their shock over Blayze sneaking in to pick up the win. But at the last possible second Mrs. Budde manages to narrowly kick out. She then rushes to her feet at the same time that Blayze is standing up. Budde delivers a quick kick right to Blayze’s gut, doubling her over and potentially fracturing some ribs. Budde then takes off into the ropes at the side of a stooped Blayze, bouncing off and building momentum into a basement dropkick. Both boots hit the side of Blayze’s head with some force, sending her spiraling around into a full circle. She turns back to face Budde, who is still laid out on the canvas, then leaves her feet, flipping forward into a shocking and unexpected standing senton. She crashes right across Budde’s chest and then leans back into the pin, hooking Budde’s leg and hoping to catch her unsuspecting.
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Budde counters into the crucifix pin though.
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Now it’s Budde trying to catch Blayze off guard and potentially succeeding. Somehow Blayze manages to not only kick out but roll over to her feet, turning towards the kneeling Budde and going for the roundhouse kick, one that Budde manages to duck. She stands up behind Blayze, takes her around the waist and lifts her up into the German suplex. In mid-air however, Blayze manages to twist her body around to face Budde, snatching her around the neck then snapping back into the DDT. But Blayze then rolls back still holding onto the front chancery and setting up for the Huntress Trap.
Greyson: If Blayze gets this submission locked in, that front chancery, body vice combination she could be on the verge of ridding Silas World from her life forever.
Frankie: Fight this Budde, fight this!
That’s exactly what Budde is doing, refusing to let Blayze get the body vice locked in but unfortunately unable to block the front chancery. Budde works her way back up to her feet with Blayze hanging off her opponent’s neck with the headlock and almost getting her legs bound around Budde’s waist. Finally Budde stands up and back drops Blayze right over her head. Blayze slides down Budde’s back though then grabs her by the ankle. The crowd lunges out of their seats at the sight of Blayze rolling Budde over backwards and lifting her leg into the air, applying the ankle lock.
Greyson: She’s trapped….she’s trapped…the Disciplinarian trapped in the ankle lock.
Sparkles: Blayze set up for this a number of times during this match and now she’s FINALLY got it cinched in in the middle of the ring!
Greyson: There’s nowhere for Budde to go.
Mrs. Budde rolls to her stomach, bellowing in pain yet refusing to give in. She turns onto her shoulder, kicking back with her foot at Blayze but Amanda drops the ankle she was holding and grabs the boot that is being launched at her. Blayze now puts THAT leg in the ankle lock, making Budde groan all the louder. She then tucks her head and rolls forward, flipping Blayze down to the canvas, but Amanda STILL has the ankle lock applied. She rolls over to her feet, pulling Budde onto her stomach and lifting her adversary’s trapped limb into the air.
There is only one means of escape for Budde now, crawling across the ring and towards the ropes which are at such a distance. She draws herself just close enough to reach out for the cables but Blayze pulls on her leg and drags her back to the center of the ring. Amanda drops to her knees and cinches in the ankle lock even tighter than before, turning herself into almost a makeshift bear-trap.
Greyson: There is no escape.
Frankie: Don’t you do it Budde, don’t you dare tap out.
Budde’s trembling hand raises above the ring, looking so ready to relent to the pain coursing through her leg. As Budde’s loss seems imminent cameras switch to B. Real at ringside, who is crawling towards the ring with his Teacher’s golden yard stick in hand. He can barely put any pressure on his leg, suffering the ill-effects of the ankle lock before the match began. Nevertheless he comes rolling into the ring, yard stick in his palms.
Greyson: Somebody get that idiot out of the ring.
Frankie: B. Real coming to Budde’s aid.
Greyson: I’m so sick of Silas World constantly interfering.
Bkayze puts an end to that, whipping her leg around and cracking the kneeling B. Real in the temple. The roundhouse kick shatters the teeth in B. Real’s mouth. Blayze then kicks him repeatedly, driving him out of the ring and to the outside mats. Unbeknownst to Blayze the golden yard stick that B. Real brought into the squared circle is still lying on the canvas behind her. It soon finds its way into Budde’s clutches. The referee is so preoccupied shouting at B. Real that he doesn’t spot Blayze turning around right into the shot from the golden yard stick. WAIT! Blayze leaps over the swing of the yard stick, landing on her feet in front of a kneeling Budde, then drills her in the temple with the roundhouse kick. Budde goes down to her back and Blayze makes the cover.
The referee is still too preoccupied with B. Real on the outside mats to notice the pin being made in the ring. Blayze stands up and approaches the referee, trying to get his attention. The moment she steps past Budde though, the Disciplinarian reaches up and takes her around the thigh, rolling her over into the school girl.
But Blayze rolls right out of the pin and onto her knees where she’s nailed between the eyes with the yardstick. NO! Blayze catches the yard stick before it can drill her between the eyes. She then pulls it straight out of Budde’s hands. The crowd gets very excited at the sight of Blayze now standing over Budde with the yardstick in her palms.
Greyson: At long-long last it’s time for Budde to face her comeuppance.
Sparkles: She’s about to be taken out with the yardstick that Budde has used on so many unsuspecting victims in the past, Blayze amongst them.
Budde drops to her seat and lifts her palms into the air, begging off. This is like Christmas come early for Blayze, who is so eager to smash her rival in the brow with the yardstick. She swings, FINALLY exacting revenge on not just Budde, but Silas World as well. However the yardstick never meets Budde’s head, because it falls right into the clutches of the referee. The official reaches over Blayze from behind and takes the yardstick out of her hands.
Greyson: Ah dammit ref.
Frankie: How can you condone Blayze trying to use that yardstick on Budde?
The yardstick is torn away with Blayze trying to reclaim it. She follows behind the referee, grabbing at the weapon but failing to reclaim it. When it becomes obvious that this is a lost cause, Blayze turns back to her opponent and walks right into the Class Dismissed. The crowd is stunned as the dangerous mafia kick drills Blayze right in the face, sending her spiraling down to the canvas.
Frankie: BOOM!
Greyson: There was the kick! The kick that has knocked Blayze out twice!
Sparkles: And she’s out again.
Budde falls back into the ropes where she convalesces and watches Blayze lay motionless on the canvas. The referee steps in and checks on Blayze’s condition, seeing if she’s knocked out. He lifts her arm into the air and watches it fall lifelessly to the canvas. He then grabs it a second time and allows it to drop. He goes for one last confirmation, lifting Blayze’s arm for a third time and allowing it to fall to the ring…BUT IT DOESN’T. Blayze’s arm shoots straight back into the air, leaving Budde and the fans in a state of total disbelief.
Greyson: Not this time!
Sparkles: Blayze is still conscious!?! HOW!?!
Greyson: I don’t know how Sparkles, but somehow her will is kicking in, no pun intended.
In an act that defies reality Blayze is getting to her knees and slowly coaxing her way towards her feet. She looks incredibly dazed and even more so confused, but she’s still getting her feet beneath her. She stands…good lord in heaven she stands, but not for long, the Class Dismissed nails her right in the temple. The mafia kick sends Blayze twisting to the canvas and Mrs. Budde climbing into the cover.
Frankie: That’s two mother-fucking mafia kicks!
Greyson A second Class Dismissed…
Sparkles: This one followed by a cover.
Many of the onlookers are standing and screeching at Blayze to kick out, but after suffering the Class Dismissed twice, her body just doesn’t possess the will or the awareness to get a shoulder up.
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A sense of dread overcomes the crowd when Mrs. Budde’s arm is lifted aloft in victory.
Greyson: No….oooooh no….
Frankie: School is in session bitches!
Greyson: Blayze unable to answer the count after receiving the Class Dismissed TWICE! Meaning…
Frankie: Amanda Blayze has to sign her career over to Silas World.
Greyson: A fate worse than death.
Mrs. Budde gets to her feet and leans against the ropes, glaring with a smile on her face at Amanda, who is just now starting to recover. B. Real crawls across the ring to Mrs. Budde’s side, putting his arms around her with a hug. He leans his cheek against her hip while she strokes his head like he were a cat purring on her lap. Amanda rolls to her side in the center of the ring, looking up groggy eyed at the two people who now control her career.
Greyson: This is not an Invictus that Amanda will remember very fondly.
Frankie: What are Silas World gonna do to her now that they own her contract?
Greyson: I’m truly afraid to find out.
An exhausted Mrs. Budde limps towards Blayze and stoops to speak directly in her ear.
Mrs. Budde: Class begins tonight, and I don’t tolerate tardiness.
BACKSTAGE
A white towel stained red with blood is held to the busted lip of Aaron Harrison. He has refused medical assistance, no sutures placed in the gash in his bottom lip. He’s too busy to receive any nursing, because he’s too preoccupied waiting for news…news on Tombstone’s efforts to cure Mika Kozlov. At the moment he’s pacing outside of the very room where Mika was led moments earlier. The commentators pick up on that.
Greyson: There we see Aaron Harrison….
Sparkles: Less is more when it comes to Harrison.
Frankie: None is enough when it comes to Harrison.
Greyson: You two, I swear. Anyways, Harrison waiting for news regarding Mika Kozlov. We saw him aid in her abduction earlier tonight, and now he’s waiting in the room where she’s apparently being ‘CURED.’
Frankie: This idiot should be in a hospital right now after everything he and Lukas Montgomery went through earlier tonight.
Greyson: That’s true on some accounts but…..oh no…I’m getting word through my head-set that something is going on in another part of the backstage area, let’s get cameras there pronto.
Frankie: Move your asses cameramen!
BACKSTAGE
Cameras transition to a corridor where IWC superstar Chris Davids finds himself splayed across the ground. At the moment Derek Marks, Ricky Valero and Danny Darko, the NEW Pain & Pleasure are stomping away at him. All the while a chain hangs from Darko’s hands and soon finds its way around Chris’ neck, placing him in a steel noose. Danny tucks on the chain and stoops towards Chris’ face.
Darko: You and Mya have held MY wife down for long enough. Now it’s time for YOU to be held down. You’re going to feel the same DEAD weight you put on Skyy’s shoulders.
The chain is tugged again and Chris’ body is dragged down the corridor towards the ring. The commentators sound so exasperated in the background.
Greyson: Pain & Pleasure attacking Chris Davids backstage and chaining his throat!
Sparkles: It looks like Danny is dragging Chris to the ring for the House of Pain Match.
Greyson: Where the only way to win is to chain your opponent’s arms to the ropes.
Frankie: Looks like Danny is gonna have the advantage.
There are no theatrics, no overblown productions, no entrance shenanigans of any kind, just straight up violence to commence this match. Chris’ body is dragged to the top of the stairwell leading down to the stage. Darko has the chain wrapped tightly around Chris’ throat, turning the steel links into a noose. He pulls Chris to his feet by the chain and then throws him over the railing of the staircase. The crowd screams as Chris finds himself dangling high above the stage, being hung by the chain.
Greyson: HE’S HANGING HIM! DANNY’S HANGING DAVIDS!
Sparkles: This is sickening!
Greyson: And shocking when you consider that just a few months ago these two were teammates in the ORIGINAL Pain & Pleasure.
The oxygen is gagged from Chris’ body as he remains suspended high above the stage, legs kicking and arms flailing. Finally Chris turns his body and grabs the railing he was tossed over, now throwing a punch over the railing and into Danny’s ribs, doubling him over. Chris then places Darko in a front chancery, setting up to vertical suplex Darko off the top of the stairwell and all the way down the stage which is a good 20 feet below.
Greyson: This is getting violet and vicious fast.
Sparkles: And for good reason considering what these two have put one another through for weeks.
The fans watch with baited breath as Chris prepares to break Danny into pieces via the suplex. At the last second though Danny pulls his head out of Chris’ clutches, wedges hands to his chest and shoves him back. A piercing scream emanates from the crowd at the sight of Chris flying off the top of the staircase and crashing all the way down to the stage below. He tries to land on his feet but ends up falling with a hard splat nevertheless.
Greyson: JESUS CHRIST!
Frankie: Chris knocked off the top of that huge stairwell set up for Invictus.
Fans: HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!
The disorientated Davids rolls to the base of the stage, grabbing at his mid-section. Just then Darko rushes down the steps and up to Chris’ side, delivering a kick directly to his adversary’s ribs. Chris rolls down the ramp at this point and ends up at ringside where he curls into a fetal position. Danny follows along behind him, chain in hand. He stops beside Chris and begins to stomp him to the ribs and the shoulder. Danny places the chain on the apron then pulls Darko to his feet, throwing him back first into the apron.
The chain is taken and used to wrap one of Chris’ arms around the bottom rope.
Greyson: Darko taking advantage of the ambiguous rules in this match.
Sparkles: Yeah, it was never stated that the loser had to be chained to the ropes INSIDE of the ring.
Danny is now binding Chris’ arms to the bottom rope, wrapping one of them to the cable with the chain. But just then Davids throws his free fist upside Danny’s jaw, staggering him back. Chris then grabs the chain that was wrapping one of his arms to the ropes. He extends the links out between his hands and then rushes across the mats, using the steel to crush Danny’s larynx. The modified chain assisted clothesline knocks Danny back over the steps and onto the mats. He slowly works his way up to his feet on the opposite side of the stairs while Chris is taking the chain, wrapping it around his knuckles. He then rushes across the mats steps off the stairs and launches himself into a superman punch. The chain laced knuckles drill Darko right upside the jaw, sending him spiraling into the barrier.
Sparkles: It’s just as Darko speculated on the last NewAge. That chain is going to come into play aplenty before it’s used to wrap the arms and win this match.
Greyson: That stipulation and the implementation of the chain all a result of Darko’s use of shackles in recent weeks when abducting Davids and all his former Pain & Pleasure teammates.
The blow from the chain has Danny all discombobulated as he staggers towards the barricade. Chris throws the chain into the ring, not needing it at this point. He then stoops forward and sets to deliver the Don’t Stop Me Now. Here comes the spear, Chris closing the distance between himself and Darko, driving his shoulder right into Danny’s gut. The blow throws Danny back and directly into the barricade.
Greyson: There’s the Don’t Stop Me Now already!
Sparkles: Driving Darko right back into the barricade too.
Darko ricochets from the barrier and stumbles along towards the ring. He surprisingly stays on his feet just long enough to roll into the squared circle. He ends up on his back, looking up in a dazed state at Davids, who is scaling the nearest turnbuckle. It seems that Chris is about to go for the Who Wants to Live Forever. The twisting monsault is about to connect but Darko rolls out of his flight path. He goes under the ropes and to the apron. He then stands up with Davids towering on the turnbuckle above him. Chris leaps off the corner and hits the missile dropkick on Darko’s chest, taking both men off the apron to the outside mats.
Frankie: Ouch-ouch-ouch!
Greyson: Has anyone ever hit a missile dropkick from that position?
Sparkles: Davids just did, coming off the turnbuckle and knocking Danny from the apron.
Chris and Darko collapse to the mats with the fans leaping around excitedly in the stands. A shaken Davids doesn’t keep Danny down that long, pulling him to his feet and backing him into the apron. He then grabs Danny’s arm placing it against the bottom rope. Chris reaches past his opponent, grabbing the chain out of the ring and using it latch Darko’s arm to the cable.
Greyson: Davids already closing in on a potential win.
Sparkles: Revenge coming for Chris Davids.
Or at least it would be if Danny didn’t possess such quick thinking. With his free hand he grabs the back of Chris’ head and pulls him face first into the chain that is binding Darko’s wrist to the rope. Chris’ face bounces off the steel links and his body takes a plummet to the ground. Darko removes the chain from around his wrist then takes it and wraps it around Chris’ neck. The noose is employed to pull Chris to his feet and then whip him right into the barricade. Davids flips over and slams into the barrier back first, bouncing off then taking a tumble to the ground.
Danny yanks on the chain once again, pulling Chris up to his feet and then whipping him by the neck into the steel steps. Chris’ shoulder crashes into the stairs and his body goes rolling back right to Danny’s waiting feet. A bludgeoned Chris is returned to his feet and the chain is used to pop him right under the jaw. The shot sends Chris staggering back into the ring, then under the ropes. He tries to defiantly work his way to his feet only to be nailed across the cheek with a running knee strike. Darko takes Davids down to his back and then starts to subject his chest to stomp after stomp after stomp. He eventually rolls Davids to his stomach, sits down on his back and wraps the chain around Chris’ head. He pulls back on said chain now, placing him in a modified camel clutch. The cinks of said chain grind across Chris’ face, tearing and ripping at the flesh.
Greyson: Darko getting a lot of fun out of that chain.
Sparkles: Tonight no different than all the weeks that have passed between Darko and Davids in the build up to Invictus. Darko has repeatedly victimized his former Pain & Pleasure ally, culminating to this….
Frankie: The ultimate and final sacrifice on Davids’ behalf.
Danny finally steps off Chris’ back and uses the chain to pulls his rival into the ropes. Chris’ wrist is placed to the top rope and Danny begins to shackle it to the cable. The other hand begins to be latched to the rope as well.
Greyson: An end to the first House of Pain match coming quickly.
Sparkles: Darko crucifying our own personal Jesus.
Frankie: All Danny has to do is tie that other hand to the cables.
Danny begins to lock Chris’ far arm to the ropes, but his feet are still free. Chris launches his boots into the air, places them to Darko’s chest and shoves him back. Darko is sent flying off of his feet and to the canvas. Darko rolls over backwards to his knees while Chris is trying to unchain one of his wrists. Darko comes barreling towards him though, prompting Chris to bend down, catch Danny coming in and back drop him over the ropes. But Darko floats over, lands on his feet on the apron then takes Chris around the neck. He drops down from the apron, snapping the back of Chris’ head off the top rope. Davids drops to his knees, clasping at his neck. Meanwhile Darko is climbing back up to the apron, looking to finish his foe off by removing the chain from the top rope and wrapping it around his knuckles. But just then Chris flips over backwards into the Pele Kick, his shin nailing the top of Darko’s head. The swift kick sends Danny collapsing to the mats, but it does not keep him down.
Darko shakes off the Pele kick, looking undaunted as he returns to the ring. He climbs to the apron and begins to re-enter the squared circle before finding his ribs demolished when Chris rushes across the ring and dives through the ropes into the Don’t Stop Me Now.
Both men fly off the apron and to the outside mats, Chris coming down shoulder first into Darko’s ribcage. As the two athletes hit the ground the thousands in attendance lunge right out of their chairs.
Greyson: Chris just connected with perhaps the BIGGEST Don’t Stop Me Now we’ve ever seen him hit.
Sparkles: Completely slicing Darko in half.
The building continues to rumble with applause while Chris works his way along towards the ring, dragging himself up with the aid of the apron. The intense nature of this very fast paced match is weighing heavy on his body. He eventually takes Danny by the hair, pulls him to his feet and into the ring. Chris takes a moment to lean against the apron and recover from the multiple injuries he’s suffered throughout the course of this bout. Finally he rolls into the ring and approaches Darko pulling him to his feet and starting to shackle his wrist to the top rope.
Greyson: Davids again trying to end this eagerly anticipated confrontation.
Sparkles: And just think what Chris can do to Danny if he gets his wrists tied to those ropes.
Greyson: He’ll be entirely at Chris’ mercy.
Chris manages to get one wrist latched to the top rope before going after the other arm. He forces Darko’s arm to the rope and begins to chain it in place. Danny looks like he’s about to suffer a loss here in the House of Pain.
Greyson: Remember, all Davids has to do to win this is chain Darko’s wrists to that rope, he’s already 75% of the way there.
Darko suddenly pulls his foot up and into Davids’ gut, doubling him over. Danny then flicks Chris right in the eye, blinding him. Davids turns away from Darko, staggering to the middle of the ring and stooping over. Darko grabs the chain and rips it from his wrist. He wraps it around his fist and approaches Davids only to receive a back kick to the gut, doubling him over. Chris then takes off into the ropes in front of the stooped Darko, ricocheting off and coming back in at his adversary with the Don’t Stop Me Now. He lunges into the spear and it connects right against Darko’s chain wrapped knuckles.
The blow to the face has Chris swinging around, unconsciously turning back to face Darko’s inbound shin. Danny leaps into the Darkolator, the corkscrew kick shattering his adversary’s face.
Greyson: Chain to the skull followed by the Darkolator.
Frankie: Finally bringing an end to this cray-cray-crrraaaazinesss.
It hurts Darko just to move but he manages to drag Chris along by the wrist towards the ropes. One arm is draped over the middle cable, and now Danny begins to wrap it in the chain, tying him up. The other arm is taken and placed over the ropes, Danny starting to wrap that in the chain as well.
Sparkles: Just like last month, Danny shackling Chris and preparing to inflict so many tortures upon him.
Chris is lifeless, seemingly unable to prevent having his arms fully chained to the ropes and bringing this long awaited grudge bout to an end. Danny almost has both arms bound, and is already thinking of all the horrors he’s going to subject to a completely defenseless Davids to. That horror show will have to wait though, because Chris refuses to be the quintessential victim. He manages to get his boot not only up but right into Darko’s crotch, hitting him with the very low blow that Danny has delivered on Chris over the past several weeks. Danny doubles over, cupping his crotch in his hands and dropping his jaw as he lets out a groan of pain.
Greyson: A fitting blow to that son of a bitch Darko!
Davids takes the chain around his arm and begins to wrap it about his knuckles. He then swings a fist right at Darko’s face only to have a knife edge chop nail him across the throat. Danny’s lower extremities may be in pain but Chris’ throat is now closing. He drops to his knees and Darko steps over his head hooking his arms. The crowd screeches in anticipation of seeing the Last Rites delivered. Danny starts to lift Chris but Chris manages to shift his weight at the last second, dropping back to his feet. Chris then swings out of the piledriver predicament and into a spinning back kick to Danny’s gut, doubling him over. Chris then takes off into the far ropes, ricochets from them and prepares to deliver the Break Thru. Chris leaves his feet for the scissors kick only to have Danny step back at the last second, avoiding suffering the shot to the neck. Chris spins around after missing the Break Thru and finds himself on the receiving end of a blow to the jaw from the chain. Danny rushes in with the chain now extended between his hands and uses it to clothesline his adversary through the ropes to the outside of the ring.
Darko now backs way with a sinister grin inhabiting his face. That grin is ever widening as he closes in on his opposition. Chris stands up on the outside of the ring just as Danny leans through the ropes wrapping the chain around his neck, turning it into a noose. Chris gasps for air as he’s pulled up onto the apron across his seat. All the oxygen is being deprived to Chris’ lungs, which explains why he’s looking like a Smurf at the moment. His face is as blue as Violet Beauragarde after sneaking into untested Willy Wonka gum.
Darko assumes the role of the juicer, pumping everything out of Chris’ body as he drags it into the ring with the chain still strangling his rival. He pulls Chris around and sits him back first against the ropes, taking his arms and putting them to the cables. Danny begins to chain them in place, looking to finally put an end to this clash. Chris has a contrasting idea. He rolls under the ropes, takes the slack of the chain that Darko is still holding the opposite end of it and gives that chain a hard tug. As a result Danny is pulled along throat first into the middle rope, his head snapping back. Danny gasps for air as he turns away from the ropes that Chris has just slid under, returning to the ring in time to hit the Break Thru. The scissors kick nails Darko in the back of the head, knocking him to the canvas.
Greyson: Darko managed to avoid the Break Thru the first time, but not the second time.
Sparkles: And Davids got every last bit of it.
Frankie: He’s got to follow it up by chaining Darko’s arms to the ropes though now. Which the idiot isn’t doing.
Greyson: No, he’s going to the top rope in order to further soften Darko up in order to get those wrists latched to the ropes.
Chris headstands his way up onto the top rope, setting for the Who Wants to Live Forever. He is about to take to the air before being cruelly reminded that he still has the chain wrapped around his neck. Darko grabs the other end of the chain and gives it a tug, pulling Chris down onto his seat across the top rope. Darko then lunges into the air and hits the Darkolator, that corkscrew roundhouse directly to Chris’ lower back. The blow causes Chris to fall back, hanging in the tree of woe.
Somehow Chris manages to grab the top rope though and begin to pull his upper body back towards a seated base. But Darko cuts him off by delivering a SECOND Darkolator, this time right into Chris’ face as he hung upside from the corner. Chris falls right back down into the tree of woe, hanging lifelessly from the turnbuckle.
Darko now rolls under the ropes to the outside of the ring and then reaches in under the cables. The chain in his hands begins to tie Chris’ arms to the bottom rope.
Greyson: Darko continuing to play with the rules of this House of Pain Match.
Sparkles: Yeah, now he’s chaining Davids’ arms to the BOTTOM rope out of that tree of woe position.
Darko has got one arm chained and now steps around the turnbuckle to the other. He begins to chain that arm to the bottom rope as well, almost having it latched. Chris begins to fight though, struggling for all he’s worth. Finally he gets an arm lose and then begins to unchain the other one, even with the blood rushing to his skull while he hangs upside down.
Darko rolls into the ring and then takes off across it, dropping into a baseball slide dropkick aimed at Davids’ head. But Chris unties his hand just in time to sit up and cause Darko to slide under him and end up crotching the steel turnbuckle post. Darko grimaces in pain while rolling to the center of the ring and clasping his testicles in his palms. He slowly looks up from his swollen groin to the airborne body of Davids, who is spiraling through the air and connecting with the Who Wants to Live Forever? The twisting moonsault at last connects, crushing Darko.
Greyson: Davids went for it earlier but now he finally connects with the Who Wants to Live Forever?
Frankie: Is that gonna stop Darko though? Cause I’m telling you guys, nothing else has.
Davids is about to find out if he’s done enough to defeat Darko, dragging him into the ropes, sitting him against the cables and starting to wrap his arm with the chain. Chris is affixing Darko’s arm to the rope, at long last tying it up. Chris then slips through the ropes to the apron, standing behind Danny and putting his other wrist to the top rope. Chris begins the arduous task of tying it in place as well. But Darko avoids the loss by yanking his arm out of Chris’ clutches. He then whips around and swings a fist at Chris’ face, but Davids side steps the blow. Chris then leaps into the air and hits the Break Thru to the back of Darko’s head, snapping Darko’s throat against the top rope as a result.
Frankie: BRUTAL, DUDE!
The axe kick finally forces Darko’s compliance. He falls to his seat, only held up by the one wrist that is still chained to the top rope. His other hand is now taken, put against the cable and Chris quickly chains it in place.
Greyson: After all that brutality we finally come to closure in the first House of Pain Match.
Sparkles: We’ve been throwing the word ‘revenge’ around a lot tonight, but that’s truly what Chris Davids just accomplished.
Greyson: Davids definitely proving that’s not the case here tonight. He’s got Darko chained to the ropes which means he’s won this match.
Frankie: But this is just where the fun begins.
Darko finds himself in quite the unenviable spot, chained to the ropes with no means of protecting himself. Naturally Chris knows this, hence why he’s left the ring and grabbed something from beneath it. He makes his triumphant return to the ring with a kendo stick in hand.
Frankie: Hey now Chris, Cindo De Mayo is tomorrow night.
Greyson: I think Chris is going to get an early start to the festivities.
The tip of the cane embeds against Darko’s sternum before being used to lift his chin, raising his eyes towards Chris’ face. To Chris’ surprise what he sees is not the look of a man demoralized and broken, but a man who wears the grin of a victor.
Darko: What do you think you’re going to do with that?
Darko says while gesturing with his head to the canvas in Chris’ hands.
Chris: I think you can figure it out.
Darko: Hahahaha…go ahead then. Get it over with.
Now it’s Chris’ eyes that draw to the cane in his clutches.
Darko: Do it already! I ain’t got all night.
The plotting eyes of Davids return to Darko’s smile.
Chris: That’s what you want isn’t it? That’s what you would do if you had me in this position, right?
Darko: In a heartbeat.
The cane falls out of Chris’ hand and lands at Darko’s feet.
Chris: I’m not you.
BACKSTAGE
Cameras catch Serenity as she paces her locker-room. In spite of the fact that she is about to compete in the biggest match of her wrestling career, where she will take on three of her biggest rivals to date for the World Championship, Serenity looks almost casual. Nothing affects her, not even the potential of at last winning the Title in the main event of Invictus. The commentators actually sound more on edge than the leather bound black eyed beauty.
Greyson: Serenity looking like she has no doubts or cares in the world heading into her Title bout tonight.
Frankie: Could this finally be her night? Is Serenity going to win the World Title and bring it back to New Eden?
Greyson: She’s got an incredibly tough road ahead of her, that’s for certain
Sparkles: She faces her ex-lover Katelyn Buehler, her nemesis Marie Jones, and a wrathful Taylor Chase, four way World Title main event yet to come.
IN-RING
In a flash we cut back to the ring where announcer Thomas Boll is standing with microphone raised to his lips.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, match that follow is Ultimate Opportunity match, and it for shot at Evolution Championship. Introduce first….
Blaire: I think not.
Instead of introducing one of several combatants in the Ultimate Opportunity match we get the arrival of Blaire McBride. The Principle Owner is making her way down the ramp to the deafening cry of outrage from the masses inside the Staples Center. Blaire exudes nothing but confidence however as she narrows the distance between her body and the ring. Once inside Blaire takes possession of the microphone from Boll. The commentators sound just as dismayed as the audience.
Greyson: Oh great. Can’t we go just ONE night without putting up with Blaire McBride?
Frankie: Who would want to? Meow.
Greyson: Our Principle Owner headed to the ring to presumably grandstand.
Frankie: After all she had to endure in order to get her position of power, don’t you think she deserves the right to show off her peacock feathers?
Greyson: All she endured? For God sakes, she stabbed her own sister, former Principle Owner Karen McBride, in the back and threatened her into selling over her shares of control here in the IWC.
Frankie: Yeah, that took a LOT of work.
The over confident Blaire outright ignores the groaning audience.
Blaire: With this being Invictus, and this Ultimate Opportunity match being MY brainchild, I think it’s only fair that your Principle Owner, YOUR Blaire McBride, makes this incredible evening and this bout all the more special. So I thought I’d do each of you in attendance tonight, and all those watching from around the world, a solid by coming out here and assuming the role of ring announcer for this match.
Greyson: Ooooh for fuck sakes.
Frankie: SHUT IT!
Blaire clears her throat, smiles as wide and cheesily as possible then lifts the mic to her lips.
Blaire: Loyal Blaire McBride aficionados, the following contest is a Blaire McBride original, a Blaire McBride brainchild, the Ultimate Opportunity matc…..
Karen: Really Blaire?
The fact that her ‘sister’ is interrupting her is not particularly well received by Blaire. She whips around with a fire of a thousand suns burning in her eyes as she stares up the ramp at Karen standing at the top of the stairwell. The former Principle Owner makes her way down the steps with microphone in hand and a look of repulsion twisting her face.
Greyson: Here comes Karen.
Sparkles: The very same chickadee who Blaire stole the Principle Ownership from.
Frankie: She didn’t steal anything! She bought it outright!
Karen draws closer and closer to the ring where her infuriated sibling is standing.
Karen: Is there no stopping your ego?
Blaire: Ego? Me? Don’t be silly.
Karen: No, don’t YOU be delusional. See, you’re not just egotistical, but you’re totally out of your mind if you THINK that I was just going to let you steal my ownership.
Karen goes rolling into the ring, leading Blaire to make a hasty exit. Surprisingly Karen doesn’t follow, she just glares at her sister backing around the ring with microphone trembling in her hand.
Karen: I tried…God knows how hard I’ve tried to control my anger, I’ve tried to give you time to come to your senses. I wanted to follow Melanie’s (McBride) advice, when our baby sis came to me and begged me to give you time for you to come to your senses. But now I see Blaire, you are absolutely SENSELESS, and that’s how I’ll beating you tonight, SENSELESS.
Blaire: Figures. I wouldn’t suspect anything less than threats and violence from common street trash like yourself. Thanks for proving again that you are not worthy of the McBride name.
Karen: Oh Blaire, but I AM a McBride, like it or not we’re family, and you want to know the funny thing, I’m showing more and more McBride traits every day. Like being ruthless for instance. That’s exactly what I’m going to be tonight, Blaire. Because one way or another, I’m going to drag you into this ring and I’m going to force you to do exactly what you forced me to do last month, I’m going to make you give me back my Principle Ownership. I’m challenging you to face me on one on one right here tonight at Invictus, the winner takes possession of the 25% ownership.
Blaire: You think you can blackmail me?
Karen: Yes, yes I do. Because it’s just like I said, I’m a McBride, and that makes me privy to some pretty dark family secrets….secrets involving you and your past. Secrets I can stand in this ring and announce right here tonight to the whole world.
Blaire: You wouldn’t.
Karen: Try me.
A trembling, red hot Blaire at last snaps and makes a brash decision.
Blaire: Fine…FINE-FINE-FIIIIINNNNNEEE! You and me, one on one tonight, ownership on the line!
BACKSTAGE
Once again the show’s focus shifts to Aaron Harrison pacing outside of the dressing room where Mika Kozlov is presently contained. He anxiously waits on any news regarding the cure of his former fiancée. One that is supposedly being administered by the very group that broke New Eden’s hold over Taylor Chase. Thus far there has been no sight of Tombstone to give him further details on Mika’s progression or lack-there-of.
Lukas: FOUND YOU!
Suddenly Harrison is blindsided from behind by the man he went to war with earlier tonight, Lukas Montgomery. A steel pipe in Lukas’ hands catches Aaron in the back of the head, the blow sending him hurdling into the floor. An already aching Aaron, still wearing the wounds inflicted on him during the Unsanctioned Match earlier tonight, rolls onto his back groggily looking up at Lukas. The pipe Montgomery holds is now pointing down at the barely conscious Aaron.
Lukas: Did you think this was over?
Asks the man with blood still caked across his face, the results of his war with Harrison earlier tonight.
Lukas: I said I didn’t want Mika cured, and I didn’t want you to be happy.
His wide and maniacal eyes shift from the sprawled out Aaron to the room Harrison was just pacing outside of.
Lukas: Is that where she is? The source of your happiness? You’re precious Mika? Is that where she’s being ‘cured?’ How about we check on her progress?
Lukas squeezes the steel pipe just before stepping into the room and putting that weapon to use. He stops in the doorway though, finding himself shocked at the visual of Mika Kozlov seated in the middle of the room with her diamond eyes shining, the darkness no more. Goddard, the man responsible for the removal of New Eden’s influence over her, is stooped at Mika’s side, draping her shoulders with a blanket.
Goddard: You’re too late boy.
Lukas: No….It-it-it can’t….
Two more members of Tombstone lunge in at Lukas’ sides, grabbing him by the arms and forcing him to his knees. Elijah Dallas and Sundown are stood over Lukas, pinning him to the ground. That’s when a staggering Harrison falls into the room, barely catching himself against the jamb. He was out to get Lukas, but comes to a dead halt when spotting Mika across the room, the paint removed from her face and her eyes crystal clear. All traces of New Eden’s infectious influence over her removed.
Aaron: Mika?
Mika: Cowboy….
Lukas: This can’t be…This isn’t HAPPENING!
We return to the interior of the Staples Center with a wide angle view of the screaming fans. The commentators can be overheard in the background.
Greyson: It seems as if the cure has taken hold. Tombstone has liberated Mika Kozlov from New Eden’s control.
Sparkles: Awww, now she can go back to being the murderous, deranged psychopath we all know in love.
Frankie: Harrison has got his girl back.
Greyson: Good news for Harrison and Mika, but we’ve got some bad news for William Mason coming up here next. In a matter of minutes we’re going to see Mason defend his No Limits Title one on one against Christian Savior.
Sparkles: A match we’ve been waiting several weeks to see…
Greyson: With William’s No Limits Championship on the line.
Sparkles: Christian was brought in to TRY and help talk Willie out of going to the darkside, but Mason gave him the beat-down.
Greyson: Prompting Christian to make a MASSSIVE challenge to Mason, vowing to return to the ring and get revenge on William.
Sparkles: Ain’t no one going to get their hands on my Willie, no one!
Focus shifts to the Cartel-trons, which provide a shot of William Mason standing in the guerilla position. He is presently wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his altered ring gear for the evening. His battle ready body approaches a giant mirror that provides a reflection, but not a MIRROR image. We do see William in the glass, but it’s a Mason bedecked in a fancy suit and tie wearing the PURE Title. A Mason from happier days long ago. The Mason in the hooded sweat shirt glares into this reflection with his skin pulsating. Finally he lifts his No Limits Title belt into view and throws it right into the mirror, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Mason steps through the broken glass and now appears in the flesh at the top of the stairs positioned on the stage.
Sparkles: It’s WILLIE!
Frankie: What a bizarro entrance.
Greyson: Last year at Invictus, William Mason went one on one with Hurse and bested him, tonight he collides with another legend in the form of Christian Savior, will he have the same success?
Mason picks up the No Limits Title, throws it over his shoulder and starts down the steps towards the stage. He reaches the bottom, shifts his attention to the heckling fans then proceeds down the ramp. Once in the ring William throws his belt across it and casually leans against the corner.
Greyson: Several months ago Mason was targeted by Serenity, who wanted to see him shift from the millionaire playboy to the hardcore, demented sociopath he was years ago.
Frankie: it seems that transformation has been achieved, and the proof will be in the pudding.
Sparkles: We’re gonna see Willie go full-fledged rogue tonight when he battles Christian.
The show transitions to the exterior of the Staples Center. Slowly the camera rises towards the night sky where a distant light can be seen cutting through the cloud. A flaming ember gets closer and closer and closer to the Staples Center. At last we see that it’s a fiery phoenix sailing towards the building. The flaming bird of resurrection descends to the roof of the Staples Center and starts to transform. At last the phoenix reduces in scale and begins to take the shape of a human being. Just before the body hits the gravel gathered across the top of the Staples Center, we see that the phoenix has changed into Christian Savior. Smoke ascends from the stooping Savior. Slowly his eyes look up towards the camera and reveal the balls of flames that are his pupils.
The tunes of ‘Falling in the Black’ are playing through the PA system as we return to the interior of the Staples Center. Christian now walks out to the top of the stairs, receiving a hero’s welcome. He smirks in the direction of the fans then proceeds down the steps and towards the stage.
Frankie: What…the…fuck…was that?
Greyson: Maybe the greatest entrance thus far tonight. Christian Savior, the Rising Phoenix, the Opportunist, and the man who challenges for the No Limits Title tonight heads for the ring to compete for the first time since last year’s Invictus.
Sparkles: But he has bit off way more than he can chew. Challenging Mason was a BIG mistake.
Greyson: We’ll we’re about to find out if that’s true or not here in a matter of minutes.
Christian stops at the top of the stage and glares menacingly at Mason, who stands almost nonchalantly in the corner of the ring. The Rising Phoenix draws closer and closer to his opponent but finds his progress halted when he spots a fan holding up a ‘Savior-Us’ sign. Christian winks at the fan, grabs their sign and holds it above his head.
But now Mason takes advantage of Savior’s distraction, darting in behind Christian and hitting him with a clubbing blow over the back. Savior is knocked to his elbows and knees where his body is then subjected to multiple stomps from the No Limits Champion. Mason picks up the sign that was just dropped then tears it in two. William then pulls Christian up to his feet by the back of the head, dragging him towards the steel steps then crushes his face against the steel. Christian’s head bounces off the stairs and his body twists along into the ring. Mason follows him inside and then takes hold of Christian’s hair, forcing him up to his knees. Mason steps over the back of Christian’s head and takes him around the waist, setting up for the Perfect Driver.
Greyson: We’re gonna see the Perfect Driver right out of the gates!
Sparkles: Told you Christian didn’t know what he was getting himself into trying to beat my Willie.
The Perfect Driver is about to be delivered, or at least it would be if Christian weren’t standing up and back dropping his rival over the top rope. William catches some significant height before plummeting to the ground with a devastating thud. He then rolls across the ground and into the barricade, using it to ascend to his feet. He turns just in time to have his throat engulfed by a lariat. Christian rushes across the mats and hits a lariat so powerful that it sends both men flipping into the crowd.
They hit the ground and Christian drags William from it, hitting him with forearms to the chin. Savior then delivers a knife edge chop straight across William’s sternum, blistering it. Mason turns away from Christian and staggers through the crowd, shoving them out of his way. Savior rushes in behind Mason, steps off a chair and leaps into a double axehandle smash that catches William over the upper back. William is knocked to the ground, rolling along to his knees. He inches his way to his knees only to have his progress halted when Christian takes him around the neck, placing him in a front chancery. Christian is about to deliver the impaler DDT on the concrete.
Sparkles: Oh damn-oh damn-oh damn.
Greyson: Savior about to DDT William on the floor.
Frankie: He’s got a lot of pint up frustrations when it comes to Mason. The man has left Christian laying twice in recent months.
Greyson: And he’s about to exact some revenge.
Sparkles: Not on my Willie.
The DDT is about to shatter William’s head but Mason has other ideas. He puts his hands to Christian’s ribs, shoving him back right into the stairs. Christian backs up the steps and then leaps off of them. He dives into a big splash that connects against Mason, knocking both men down to the ground. The fans are going absolutely nuts as Christian climbs on top of William’s chest and repeatedly punches him across the face with one pummeling blow after another.
Finally Mason manages to shove Christian off and roll away. He gets to his feet and staggers through the fans but Christian stalks him like a creature from a monster movie. The fans clear a path for Mason, who steps between them and a small wall. Christian is nipping at his heels, ultimately catching up with Mason and blasting him over the shoulders with a forearm smash. The shot sends William spiraling to the ground and rolling across it.
Eventually Mason reaches his feet and another flight of stairs leading up into the higher sections of the Staples Center. Christian follows him up the stairs, turning William around into a right hand across the jaw. Mason is almost taken down, but somehow remains on his feet long enough to have his chest crushed with an open hand palm strike.
The fans continue to go nuts over this chaotic start to the No Limits Title match, while cameras race to keep up with the insanity. Those cameras find themselves in what has to be the tenth row at this point where Mason is getting his face crushed by punches. At last Mason manages to duck a blow to the face and drives the top of his head straight into Christian’s gut, doubling him over.
Mason then pulls Christian into a short arm clothesline that he manages to duck. He swings around behind William and in the process grabs a cup of beer from a nearby fan. Mason spins back to face the Rising Phoenix before having said beer cup smashed across his brow.
Frankie: Why waste a perfectly good beer?
Sparkles: These two just beating the crud out of each other.
An alcohol saturated Mason stumbles along between the fans and reaches the barricade. He then begins to step over before Christian moves in and grabs his leg, lifting it into the air, sending William flipping to the ringside mats. William crawls across them and towards the ring, dragging himself up by the steel steps. He then turns around and spots Christian standing on the barricade. Savior leaps off and right into a clothesline that is countered into a spinning powerslam. Mason drives Savior into the mats then rolls away, finding himself seated against the steps.
Greyson: Finally Mason getting on the board here. That’s the first move he’s managed to hit on Savior since this match started.
Frankie: With the exception of that attack from behind.
An agonizing Savior works his way to his feet and walks right into a punch between the eyes, followed by another and then another. Mason then leads Christian to the ring and rolls him in under the ropes. Mason climbs up onto the apron and starts to slip through the ropes, returning to the ring before Christian leaps to his feet, rushes at William and catches him with a boot to the cheek. The blow knocks Mason, who was half way through the ropes, fully into the ring. He spirals to the canvas, rolls across it and painstakingly works his way up, having no idea that he’s rising right into the spear.
Christian steps into one of the corners and stoops in anticipation of hitting the Bloodline Spear. Savior urges Mason to his feet so he can slice him in two. At last Mason stands and spirals around into the spear, Christian charging right in to destroy William’s ribcage. He dives at Mason only to have the No Limits Champion side step him and throw Christian by the back of the head through the ropes to the outside of the ring.
Christian slams into the ground, then rolls across it towards the makeshift wooden announce table.
Greyson: No-no-no, stay away…
Sparkles: Hssssssss!
Frankie: Did you just-just hsss at them?
Sparkles: Sparkles thought it would ward them off. Sparkles is gonna try to spritz them with a water bottle next.
Frankie: Hopefully it works, we’ve already had our table destroyed once already, so keep them away from our replacement.
Savior stands with the aid of the announce table, looking back over his shoulder at Mason, who is standing on the apron above him. He then leaps off into a double axehandle smash aimed at the back of Christian’s head only to have him side step the blow. As a result William flies past him and crashes face first into the announce table.
Sparkles: My Willie’s FACE!
Greyson: Right off our announce table Sparkles.
Mason leans against the announce table that Christian is now dragging him on top of.
Frankie: Oh lord, their climbing onto the wood.
Now Savior and Mason are standing on the table and William’s head is being dragged into a front chancery. The impaler DDT is about to connect, putting Mason’s head through the table.
Greyson: An implant DDT about to connect and put Mason’s skull right through our announce table.
Sparkles: Don’t do it Christian! Don’t do it!
Here comes the DDT. Or at least that’s Christian’s plan. Mason puts the kibosh on that plot, dropping to his knees and delivering a forearm smash straight into Christian’s testicles. The low blow doubles him over, cupping his groin and dropping his jaw. He looks to be in total agony and William is only going to add to his misfortunes. Mason stands up, takes Christian around the neck and falls right back down into the DDT.
Greyson: OH MAN! Did you hear the sound of Christian’s head hitting our makeshift commentator’s table!?!
Frankie: Duh. It’s impossible not to. It just happened an inch in front of our faces.
Sparkles: Are you regretting coming back now Christian, huh-HUH?
Christian lays lifelessly on the table, finding himself in the unfamiliar position of being at the mercy of his adversary. Unfortunately for Christian, William will show no compassion. He rolls into the ring then back out to break the official’s ten count then approaches the ring steps. A swift kick is delivered to the top half, knocking it away from the bottom section. William pulls the lower portion of the stairs towards the announce table.
Greyson: Now what does William have in mind?
Frankie: God only knows…God only knows.
Christian is working his way to his knees and his head is being dragged under Mason’s seat. William then points down at the steel stairs.
Greyson: Don’t tell me…don’t tell me he’s gonna….
Sparkles: Yeppers. William is going to give Christian the Perfect Driver off of our table and onto the steel steps. Break his neck Willie!
Mason looks to not just end this match, but end Christian’s career in the process. He lifts Savior into the air for the driver, the fans begging Mason to stop. But at the last second Christian shifts his weight and comes back down on his feet. He then pushes William back and staggers away from him, stepping onto the Spanish announce table. Savior keeps on backing away from William, who is still located on top of the English announce table trying to get his bearings. Mason starts to make his way towards Christian but it’s Savior who closes the gap between them. He runs across the Spanish announce table, across the English announce table and slams his shoulder into William’s gut. Every fan in the Staples Center reacts loudly to the sight of Savior spearing Mason off the announce table back first into the small protective barricade erected around the time keeper’s area and ultimately right through that wall. Both men crash to the floor and the fans lunge out of their seats.
Sparkles: AAAAAAH! MY WIILLLLIIIIEEE!!!
Greyson: Jesus Christ-JESUS CHRIST!
Frankie: That was….awesome-hahahaha.
A ‘holy shit’ chant has started at the sight of Savior spearing Mason through the barricade, which has left the No limits Champion twitching. A fatigued Christian gets to his feet with his hands sliding into Mason’s hair, using it to pull him towards the ring. Mason is rolled to the middle of the ring where he tries to curl up around his ribs. Christian isn’t letting that happen, crawling towards him and falling across his chest into the lateral press.
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Even the spear off the table through the barricade wasn’t enough to vanquish Mason. The No Limits Champion won’t relinquish the belt, especially not to his rival. Amazingly William is rolling to his feet, which proves to be to his detriment rather than to his aid. Christian places him in a front chancery then lifts him into the impaler DDT. Christian FINALLY hits the move, spiking William directly on top of his head. Unfortunately Mason flips to his back, putting him in the perfect position to be pinned. Christian crawls into the cover, hooking both legs.
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Mason once again manages to do what he does better than anyone else, escape. A winded Christian gets to his feet and ultimately puts those very feet right into Mason’s mid-section. Stomp after stomp nails William in his already weakened rib cage. Somehow Mason ends up in the corner of the ring where he finds his chest still being stomped and a foot eventually wedged to his throat. Christian chokes him with the boot, putting all his strength behind crushing Mason’s larynx.
The official starts a five count, threatening to disqualify Savior on the basis of this illegal choke. Unfortunately the referee’s threats are not enough to back Christian off of Mason, so the referee gets involved. He backs Savior away from Mason, for all of about ten seconds. Christian nudges the official out of his way then goes right back after Mason, stomping him to the chest and ribs over and over again.
The official is forced to intervene for a second time, pulling Savior back.
Sparkles: Get that psychopath off my Willie!
Greyson: Savior determined to crush Mason, and he’s doing a damn good job of it as well.
Mason slowly pulls himself up with the aid of the ropes, making it to his feet just in time to be nailed with a running shoulder block to the ribs. Christian charges right past the referee and nails a modified version of his spear to the ribs of the turnbuckle bound Mason. At this point William’s ribs have to feel like they’ve been ground into jelly. He doubles over where his head is caught in Christian’s clutches. Savior pulls him to the middle of the ring and sets up to deliver a second impaler DDT. But Mason thwarts his adversary’s ambitions. He puts his hands to Christian’s gut, shoving him back. William then looks to narrow the gap between them, charging at Savior, who leaves his feet and catches Mason with the code breaker.
Savior is about to drop back only to instead be shoved back.
William pushes Christian off the code breaker attempt then bails from the ring. Savior lands on his feet, glaring through the ropes where William is stooped at ringside. Christian doesn’t give him the opportunity to recover, rushing across the ring, sliding under the cables and rushing in behind Mason. A forearm cracks William across the jaw, sending him staggering around, trying desperately to stay upright. Christian is bound and determined to drag him down though, and will do so via the code breaker. He lunges into the air, gets his knees to William’s chest, but never drops back into the move. Instead William puts his hands to Christian’s shins and pushes, sending Savior flying back and right into the steel turnbuckle post.
Christian bounces back first off the post, arching his wounded spine around it. He then staggers forward right into William’s waiting arms, Mason taking him around the waist then delivering an overhead belly to belly suplex. Christian is sent flipping over, not into the mats, but into the lower section of steel steps that Mason had put in position earlier.
Greyson: Belly to belly! BELLY TO BELLY onto the STEPS!
Sparkles: Mason turning up the aggression to a whole new level tonight, I love it!
On instinct and nothing else, Christian rolls off the steps and starts to inch his way up to his feet. He doesn’t get very far before finding William running in at his side, catching him around the head then delivering the swinging neck breaker that puts the back of Christian’s head into the stairs.
Frankie: WOW! Mason really showing us how much he’s changed over the past few weeks. He could have broken Christian’s neck just now, and he doesn’t even care.
The aggressive Mason drags Christian and his potentially injured neck to his feet before rolling him into the ring, William slides in after him and makes the cover to the harrowing cries of the crowd.
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Amazingly Christian manages to kick out. This logic defying display leaves Mason bitterly espousing insults. He drags Christian up to his seat and then places him in a dragon sleeper. William purposely targets Christian’s head and neck with this hold, and it seems to be a tactic that is paying dividends for the No Limits Champion. Christian is slowly crumbling in his clutches. Like a soggy cookie dipped in milk, Savior is falling to pieces.
The sounds of the pleading crowd fills the Staples Center and Christian seems to be responding to them. He clinches his fists and starts to bridge himself up from the ring, but not out of Mason’s clasp. William intensifies his clutch on Christian’s neck, depriving all of the oxygen to his brain. Savior’s muscles move on instinct, in no need of his brain, he reaches back and takes William by the ears. He manages to bend Mason forward just enough for Christian’s knee to reach his face. One knee strike after another begins to weaken Mason’s clutch on Christian’s skull until the dragon sleeper is finally broken. Savior then snapmares Mason over by his ears.
A banged up William rises to his feet and turns just as Savior rushes in with a clothesline. At the last second though William reaches out and takes Christian around the waist, hitting him with a belly to belly suplex. Christian’s body is flung directly into the turnbuckle, his back bouncing off the corner with some force.
Greyson: Now Savior belly to belly suplexed into the turnbuckle.
Sparkles: A whole new side of Willie coming out.
Frankie: I wonder if Savior wishes he had just stayed at home eating Doritos and watching episodes of Orange is the New Black on Netflix.
Sparkles: Sparkles is more a House of Cards fan. I love when Kevin Spacy goes all Ferris Beuller on us.
Greyson: Gentlemen, there’s a match going on.
Frankie: We’ll finish this conversation later. I haven’t even gotten into Marco Pollo yet.
Christian crawls away from the turnbuckle and to the middle of the ring, perhaps the worse place for him to be. Mason steps in and takes him around the neck, bending Christian’s head over into the dragon sleeper.
Greyson: Back into the sleeper, and Christian has been sufficiently broken down at this point to tap out to it.
Frankie: Christian doesn’t strike me as the tapping type. Passing out would probably be more likely.
Mason has the grueling submission locked in on Christian, who even in his pain addled state resists the compulsion to tap. Instead he starts to work his way back towards his feet and tries to counter the same way he did earlier. He takes William by the ears and tries to bend his head forward enough to throw a knee up into his face. William catches that inbound knee though and lets Christian fall to his back, the leg still in his clutches. Mason rolls Christian to his stomach and then steps over his back, placing him in the Boston Leg Crab.
Frankie: Nice transition right there into the Boston Crab.
Greyson: It’s almost shocking to see this match actually reach a slower pace after the chaotic start.
Sparkles: Ya should have known Mason would eventually get Christian grounded. Just like a kid who smarted off to his mother and made a bunch of collect phone calls to one of those 1-800 numbers, William is grounding this spoiled brat.
Mason sits down on the small of Christian’s back and bends his leg at such an angle that his foot almost touches the top of his own head. Savior is bent by William’s arms but won’t be bent to William’s will. The determined Christian crawls hand over hand across the canvas, getting closer and closer to the ropes. He finally reaches out for them only to have his fingers fall short. William then starts to pull him back to the center of the ring where he starts to lean back on the leg and the spine of his adversary.
Christian flops over to his back though and lifts his boot into the air, wedging it directly to William’s backside, He kicks with enough force to send Mason flying forward into the ropes. Mason spills through the ropes and onto the apron. This precious moment is taken for Christian to get back to his feet then dash across the ring, reaching over the ropes to grab Mason. But William catches Savior around the back of the head and drops from the apron, snapping Christian’s throat off the cable.
A gasping Christian backs across the ring, grabbing at his potentially collapsed esophagus. Mason slides into the ring in front of him and then charges at Christian, who surprisingly goes for a standing spinning heel kick. Mason manages to duck the kick though, transition around behind Christian and put hands to his back, shoving him forward into the corner. Christian twists and hits the turnbuckle with his already injured back. But it’s his face that is going to take the most damage, finding itself on the receiving end of the step up knee strike.
Mason drops down from his adversary and then backs to the center of the ring so he can get a running start behind a second step up knee strike. Christian’s brain is rattled and soon finds its way into Mason’s arms. William puts him in a side headlock and rushes out of the corner in order to deliver the bulldog. But Savior manages to do the unthinkable, plucking his head free at the last second before he could suffer Mason’s Ambition. William is sent staggering forward before whipping around to face Christian, rushing right into his waiting knees. Savior surprises Mason by catching him with the code breaker.
Greyson: ORIGINAL SIN CONNECTING!
Sparkles: What an appropriate name, because if Christian wins this match it will be a sin!
Savior would like to immediately follow up with the pin after his version of the Code Breaker, but he’s suffering a lot of fatigue and wear at the moment. It aggravates every inch of his anatomy to do it but Savior rolls over and drops an arm across William’s chest.
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The referee’s hand is coming down at the same time that Mason’s shoulder is coming up.
The crowd screams in anger at the sight of Mason’s kick out, which leaves Savior in a desperate state. It takes all of his doing but Christian gets William up to his knees and slowly begins to back towards the corner. Whatever high impact move Christian has in store for Mason is derailed when William pushes the Rising Phoenix backwards into the turnbuckle. The second Christian’s back hits the corner, he finds his face ALMOST on the receiving end of a step up knee strike.
At the last second though, Christian ducks his head down causing the inbound knee to miss his face. William spins around on the corner, sitting on the top rope, though it becomes a bit harder to remain upright when Christian nails him with a punch right across the jaw. Christian then begins to scale the turnbuckle, reaching the top rope and standing in front of Mason, trapping his head in a front chancery. It looks like Christian is going to pull William off the top rope into the impaler DDT. He drops back….well…actually he’s THROWN back. William pushes Christian off the turnbuckle, not sending him flying into the ring, but onto the ropes. Christian lands crotch first across the top cable.
Frankie: There goes Christian’s sperm count, what little there was to begin with.
Sparkles: Sparkles has a great sperm count, too much in fact. Every time Sparkles gets a chick preggers they produce a whole litter of little Sparkles.
Greyson: I have the paternity case documents to prove it.
Savior continues to straddle the top rope while grabbing at his swollen genitals. It’s his other head he should be concerned about though. William steps to his side, throws both of Christian’s legs over the top rope and twists him around so that only Savior’s shins are placed on the top rope. His head however is trapped in William’s front chancery. Mason then snaps back into the rope hung DDT, driving Christian all the way down from the top rope head first into the ring.
Frankie: And there’s the rope hung DDT!
Sparkles: My Willie really pulling it out tonight.
Greyson: That’s right….I think….Mason breaking out all his trademark spots to break Christian down.
After his head has splattered against the canvas Christian finds himself unconsciously rolling to his elbows and knees. William dashes to his side, taking Christian around the waist then hoisting him into the gutwrench powerbomb. William leans down into the creases of Christian’s knees, folding him up into the pinfall.
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To the surprise and the delight of the masses Christian manages to get his shoulder up, kicking out with a mere second to spare…kicking out right into William’s clutches. William instantly transitions Christian’s kick out into the step-over crossface.
Sparkles: Can Sparkles just throw in the towel for Christian? I got one right here.
Greyson: You’re pulling on my underpants, Sparkles.
The fans BEG Savior not to do it, but his hand is nevertheless rising into the air, looking ready to tap out. The pain coursing through his body at this point is insurmountable, all consuming, all debilitating. Mason has every bit of the STF locked in and is showing no signs of releasing Christian from his agony. There is only one reprieve from this pain, hence why Christian is tapping…tapping into his last vestige of strength in order to reach out and grab the bottom rope.
Sparkles: Fucking bullshit!
The crowd is expressing their adulation for Christian, who just defied everything that Mason has thrown at him to get to those cables. William rolls away from Christian, looking exhausted himself, especially given the condition of the very ribs that were hit with the Bloodline Spear earlier in this match. William grabs Christian by the wrist, drags him to his feet and whips him into the turnbuckle. William then charges in and hits the step up knee to Savior’s jaw. William backs to the center of the ring then charges at Christian and hits a second step up knee to the face. Mason then takes Christian around the neck, rushes out of the corner and delivers the bulldog, driving Savior’s face into the ring. Christian flops to his back where he is easily pinned by the No Limits Champion.
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NOT HAPPENING! Christian manages to get his shoulder up to Mason’s dismay. He initially protests the referee’s count then uses his hands to grab a bundle of Christian’s hair, dragging on it and pulling Savior up to his feet. Suddenly Christian leaves his feet though and drags William’s face down into his knees. The Original Sin connects AGAIN. The codebreaker sends Mason staggering back into the corner, falling against it.
Greyson: A desperation Original Sin buying Christian some time.
Savior isn’t taking a breather, no, his out of breath body is traveling right towards Mason in the corner. He runs right along into William’s European Uppercut. The blow sends Christian staggering back looking stunned that William had the wherewithal to make that counter. William now pulls himself up onto the turnbuckle, standing on the middle rope then lunging off at Savior. But Christian leaves his feet and catches Mason coming down into the Original Sin.
Greyson: HE HITS IT A SECOND TIME!
Frankie: Another Original Sin, this time on a flying Mason!
Sparkles: Is Willie part of the Flying Mason trapeze act? That would be amazing.
Mason falls lifelessly to his back and Christian is crawling into the lateral press. He only has the strength to hook one leg.
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The lack of a proper cover allows William the opportunity to kick out.
Greyson: Mason still possessing the strength to get a shoulder up.
Sparkles: Sparkles can’t take much more of this drama.
Greyson: These two have waged one of the hardest fought battles not only of the night, but of the past year and a half of IWC action.
Savior slowly works his way up to his feet with the aid of the referee’s shirt. All the strength is gone from Christian’s limbs, but he’s still able to take his adversary by the hair, leading Mason up to his knees. He gets William no further because Mason manages to drive a forearm into Christian’s ribs, doubling him over and putting his head in just the right position for the Perfect Driver. Mason begins to step over Christian’s head to hit him with the move but Savior manages to crawl right through William’s legs. Mason spirals around right into Christian and his knees. Savior leaps into the air to hit the Original Sin, but William counters by grabbing Christian’s wrist and pulling on it so that the Rising Phoenix falls across his shoulders. William holds Christian in the fireman’s carry, lugging his rival to the middle of the ring to hit some unspeakable horror. However, at the last second Christian manages to swing his body around off the fireman’s carry and into a front chancery. William finds his body heaved into the air with his head ultimately taking the plunge into the canvas. The impaler DDT has connected AGAIN!
William is left totally braindead and Christian is looking to leave the rest of his body feeling the exact same way. The Phoenix rises, standing up in the corner of the ring while crouching down, obviously looking prepared to deliver the Bloodline Spear.
Sparkles: Don’t get up Willie. PLEASE!
Greyson: Savior is locked in, he’s honing in on his target. The spear is coming!
Savior is running his hands through his hair, tearing at it in a crazed and maniacal manner, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as they watch William struggle to his feet. Christian is getting almost euphoric at the thought of hitting the spear, one last move to end this match and take William’s coveted championship. William is on his feet and Christian is bolting in behind him, lunging into the spear. Mason turns around right into the end…the end for Christian!
William leaps into the air and catches Christian’s head under his seat. Mason now lifts Christian into the Perfect Driver!
Frankie: Did we just see that!?!
Sparkles: YIPEE! YIPPEE!
Greyson: William just countered the Bloodline Spear into the Perfect Driver. That has to be the most amazing counter of the night.
Sparkles: The most amazing counter ever!
William crawls into the lateral press on Christian, while the horrified crowd intently watches the referee’s hand swatting the ring.
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Mason sits up celebrating perhaps the hardest fought victory of his career. He launches his arms high above his head before finding his emotions plunging to whole new lows when he sees the referee lifting two fingers in front of his face.
Sparkles: WHAT!?!
Greyson: Christian got his shoulder up!
Sparkles: WHAAAAT!!?!!
The fans find their minds blown at the sight of Savior kicking out, leaving William in an inconsolable state. Mason is in a bad frame of mind, the frame of mind that drives people to do the type of things that land them in front of a jury of their peers. Mason pulls on Christian’s hair while stepping back towards the ropes, scaling the turnbuckle in reverse. He pulls Christian up beneath him and then drags Savior’s head under his seat, preparing to hit the super Perfect Driver.
Somehow Christian manages to stand up straight though and back flip Mason off the top rope. However, on the way down William reaches out, catching Christian around the waist and pulling him down out of the corner into a sunset flip….No…wait, Christian holds onto the top rope with both hands, refusing to be flipped out of the corner and into the pin. So Mason hooks Christian’s hips and drops to his seat, pulling Savior’s face down into the top rope. Christian’s head snaps back, leaving him hanging from the turnbuckle in a very dazed and incoherent state. All the while William is rushing in behind him and lunging into the step up knee strike to the back of Christian’s head.
William falls back to his feet, steps to the center of the ring then gets another running start behind a second leaping knee strike to the back of the head. He leaves his feet and his soul almost leaves his body when Christian spins around lunging into the Bloodline Spear. His shoulder slams into William’s gut, driving both men down to the canvas.
Sparkles: NOOO!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOO!!
Greyson: William going for the Mason Ambition but running right into the Bloodline Spear!
A spear followed by a pin.
Greyson: We’re about to have a new No Limits Champion crowned.
Sparkles: Sparkles is gonna cry. Thank God I have this handkerchief to blow my nose on.
Greyson: Those are my underpants again, Sparkles
The whole building is reverberating right down to its foundation at the count is made.
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The fans, Savior, the world all as one rejoice over the crowning of a new champion. That would all be true, if William hadn’t just squeezed an arm out from under Christian right before the three.
When Christian is informed that William kicked out he looks like he was just informed that someone punched his grandmother in the face.
Greyson: I don’t effin buy it. There is just no way.
Sparkles: Sparkles is officially the happiest puppet on planet earth right now.
Sparkles isn’t going to be very happy in a moment because Christian is backing into the far ropes and stooping in anticipation of hitting a second Bloodline Spear. He takes a step or two before stopping in mid dash, his eyes veering from Mason to three hooded men making their way down the ramp.
Greyson: HEY NOW!
Sparkles: It’s those hooded fellas who have been sabotaging our shows the past few weeks.
Frankie: Why are they popping up at ringside now?
Greyson: They must be out here operating on orders from Kloe Masters.
Frankie: Why would you spread such gossip? That’s a totally unsubstantiated rumor, nothing more.
Greyson: Come off it. These three are so obviously associated with Kloe. Who we saw trying to butter William up two weeks ago the same way she’s been trying to suck up to Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx and Dean Daniels.
The trio in the hooded sweatshirts surround the ring where a tense Christian is turning in circles, readying himself to take on all three at once. However, it’s only a single guy who starts to make his way into the ring, prompting Savior to dash to the ropes and knock him off the apron. Christian slides through the ropes and stands on the apron himself at this point, shouting down at the individual he sent crashing to the mats.
The referee is also shouting at the hoodie sporting intruder, along with his two buddies. Neither ref nor Christian have their eyes where they need to be, on the man who has rolled to the apron behind his opponent’s back. William delivers a straight uppercut to Christian’s groin, doubling him over. He cups at his testicles while turning around to face William, who steps over Savior’s head, grabs him by the waist band and pulls him off the apron into the Perfect Driver. Christian’s head comes down right onto the steel steps that William left positioned at ringside earlier in the match.
Greyson: GAAAAAAAH!!
Frankie: SICK! FUCKING SICK!!
The fans are starting a loud holy shit chant as William rolls Christian’s unconscious body into the ring. Mason slides in after him and throws his worn, battered body across Saviors chest.
1
Greyson: There is no way Christian is kicking out after one of the most disturbing piledrivers I’ve ever seen!
2
Just as Greyson speculated Savior is unable to get his shoulder up before the three count. The distraction of Kloe’s thugs, the low blow, and the Perfect Driver off the apron onto the steel steps at ringside were just too much for Christian to overcome.
Greyson: Two of all the time greats just delivered a show stealing performance here at Invictus.
Sparkles: But in the end my Willie takes the win.
Greyson: You’ve got to give Christian a lot of credit. He gave Mason the match of a lifetime tonight, but thanks to the distraction created by Kloe’s thugs, William managed to pull off that Perfect Driver from the apron onto the stairs at ringside, claiming victory.
The drained, physically and emotionally, Mason gets to his feet and stares over the ropes at the Cartel-tron, which is presently replaying footage from the conclusion to his match. A look of anger suddenly flashes across William’s face when he sees the interference of the three hoodie wearing figures commonly associated with Kloe Masters. He rolls to the outside of the ring and approaches the commentator’s table, shouting over it at Sparkles.
William: Did they really interfere in my match!?!
Sparkles: You didn’t know?
William: Of course I didn’t know. GOD DAMMIT!
Mason slams his fist on the makeshift wooden announce table, which has taken the place of the one destroyed earlier in the night in the Unsanctioned Match.
William: I didn’t want it to end like this!!
Back in the ring Christian Savior is being attended to by both the referee and now some medics. They slide in, surround Savior and check on his condition. All the while William is making his way around the ring and to the backstage area spewing curse words and kicking anything in sight, the steps, the barricade, even the ramp. Obviously William is irate over the conclusion to this title bout in spite of the fact that he was victorious.
The medics now help Savior to his feet inside of the ring only to have Christian surprisingly push them away. He may be concussed as a result of that driver on the stairs, but he is still refusing assistance. The prideful Christian falls into the ropes and ultimately drops right through them to the outside of the ring. He almost loses his balance but stays on his feet and staggers to the back.
Greyson: Christian leaving on his own two feet.
BACKSTAGE
After one of the most competitive bouts in IWC history wraps up in the ring we cut to the aftermath of another emotional bout waged earlier in the evening. An exhausted and battered Chris Davids makes his way down the corridor and towards the trio eagerly anticipating his arrival. Mya Denton, a still aching Vanilla Skyy, and Adam Chase, all of Chris’ friends are present and accounted for. Much like earlier in the night, moments after Skyy’s victory over Mordecai, a celebration commences amongst the former Pain & Pleasure allies. Skyy and Mya both greet Davids with simultaneous hugs while Chase stands back clapping. The commentators can be heard talking in the background.
Greyson: The former members of Pain & Pleasure celebrating another emotional victory here tonight at Invictus.
Sparkles: Chris Davids defeating Danny Darko in the House of Pain match.
Greyson: Now it’s up to Mya Denton. Will she win the Ultimate Opportunity match coming up next?
Sparkles: She’ll have to go through the NEW Pain & Pleasure to do it.
BACKSTAGE
Speaking of the Ultimate Opportunity match we see another entrant in that match Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx standing in front of a photographer. A camera snaps a few shots of Mr. Black Hollywood, taking a few publicity shots of him wearing the “Invictus: Believe” t-shirt.
Randal: You about ready?
Randal, Marcus Briggs and Melissa Fairweather, three members of Jeffrey’s entourage step into view. They make Starxxx the sun in their universe, orbiting around him.
Jeffrey: Yup. Ready. Just getting my mug out there.
He gestures to the photographer snapping images of him.
Marcus: This photoshoot is really going to increase your exposure.
Starxxx: It better. I’ve been standing here acting like eye candy all day long.
Melissa: You make GREAT eye candy.
She says while wrapping herself around Starxxx’s arm and leaning her cheek to his shoulder.
Starxxx: Of course I do. It’s about time I finally got all the attention on me. Not been easy to do with those hooded muttafuckas constantly sabotaging me.
Randal: Surprised this company hasn’t stepped up and put an end to all that.
Starxxx: Nah, looks like it’s up to me do sumtin bout it. Good thing Dean Daniels is in that match wit me tonight.
Randal: Still think he’s the one under the hood?
Starxxx: Ain’t got no other reason to think otherwise.
Photographer: Alright Mr. Starxxx, that should just about do it. I just have to take your photos off my flashdrive.
Informs the photographer as he removes the flashdrive from the camera and waves it about.
Marcus: You do that, and be quick about it. Sure Starxxx wants to see the results of his photoshoot before he goes out to compete in this Ultimate Opportunity match.
Before the photographer can show off his handiwork a clothesline nails him in the back of the head. The flashdrive now falls into the hands of a man with his face shadowed by a hooded sweatshirt, the very man who has been undermining Starxxx’s attempts to capture the limelight.
Starxxx: You sumbitch!
The hooded man is off and running with Starxxx, Marcus, Randal and Fairweather following behind, reenacting a Benny Hill Chase scene.
IN-RING
Thomas Boll is once again standing in the middle of the ring, microphone in the hand of the announcer and his broken English infecting the ears of the audience.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, follow match is elimination Ultimate Opportunity match with a shot at the Evolution Title going to the wi….
Silas: Hold on just a second there ya Wiseau rip-off.
The crowd reacts to Silas like spitting cobras spewing venom. The poisonous and toxic element that is Silas Mason makes his way down the ramp with a microphone in hand and a less that pleasant expression on the diabolical agent’s face. Speaking of unpleasant, we hear the voice of Frankie Paradise and the rest of the commentators chiming in in the background.
Frankie: It’s the GOAT Silas Mason!
Greyson: And I thought Blaire McBride interrupting the commencement of the Ultimate Opportunity match was bad, seeing Silas come out here is about a thousand-billion times worse. It’s like trading bed-bugs for crabs.
Frankie: Come on, crabs aren’t THAT bad. Sure their itchy but…
Sparkles: They sure do taste good.
Silas enters the squared circle and shoos the announcer aside so as to take center-stage.
Silas: I know what everyone of ya fake, plastic doll babies are expecting me to come out here and say. Ya think I’m gonna go on some long tirade about how Tay-Tay gave me the True Story on NewAge. Ya think I’m gonna piss and moan over being pinned by that ungrateful slut I single-handedly made a World Champion again. But I’ve gotten use to her disrespect. I’ve grown almost TOLERANT of it. Because I’m a tolerant guy.
Fans: ASSSHOLE! ASSHOLE! ASSHOLE! ASSHOLE!
Silas allows these comments to just trickle down his back like the piss that trickles down the legs of all his past victims.
Silas: Ya know what, go on disrespectin’ me like Taylor Chase did, it ain’t gonna get to me, cause like I said, I’m a patient person. How else would ya explain my continued business relationship with Blaire McBride? I mean, the girl made me certain promises only to pull the rug out from under my feet while my eyes were on the carrot she had danglin’ right in front of my face. Yet she and I remain very close business associates. And THAT’S why I’m out here, not to throw a fit over last week’s NewAge. Nuh-uh. I’m here to HELP…help Blaire, just as I’ve done all these past months.
Silas continues to ignore the boos of the crowd and their disgusting chants.
Silas: Just so happens helpin’ her is gonna help me too, cause Blaire’s enemies are MY enemies. Karen McBride, she disrespected me worse than Taylor ever could. I helped her become Principle Owner only to have her turn her back on me, so is it any wonder that I would offer my valuable assistance to Blaire? And ya know what? I’m gonna keep helpin Blaire out tonight. I helped her take the Principle Ownership from Karen, and I’m gonna help her hold onto her power. Tonight I’m offerin’ my services to be Blaire’s tag team partner. I say we make this a handicap match, Blaire McBride and Silas Mason versus Karen McBride with the Principle Ownership on the line!
The fans are absolutely floored by this announcement from Silas, and not a one of them are in support of it.
Silas: I think that makes for a far more competitive match. See, I’m just tryin’ to level the playing field make this a fair fight….
Voice: A fair fight?
The fans are collectively stunned at the sight of a man they NEVER thought they would be forced to see in an IWC ring again. Making his way down the ramp is the pint sized body of Desmond Drake. The commentators have to resist the urge to upchuck at the sight of the former IWC President descending towards the squared circle.
Greyson: Oooooh no….Oooooh God no. I was really-really praying it was just a hallucination when we saw Desmond Drake arrive here earlier tonight.
Sparkles: It wasn’t, Dessie is BACK!
Frankie: Hell yeah. It’s been too long since we’ve seen the imp.
Greyson: He’s been gone ever since he lost his job as Principle Owner at the End of the Year Special.
Silas looks perplexed at the sight of the midget entering the ring sporting his scruffy beard, beanie and dingy jacket. The dirty Desmond proceeds to go on a tirade.
Drake: Let’s talk about fair shall we? Is it fair that I lost my job back at the End of the Year Special? Is it fair that I’ve fallen from grace? Is it fair that everyone has turned their backs on me? The answer to all those questions is YES. It is fair. I deserved to lose my job. I deserved to fall on harsh times. I deserved everything that I got. And you want to know why? Because just like you, Silas, I’m a horrible human being. I’m scum. I’m the lowest form of life.
Greyson: Shocked to hear Drake confess that.
Drake: I did a lot of horrible things that I deserved to suffer for. And it’s because of my jaded past that I’m here tonight at Invictus. Because I came to the biggest event of the year for one reason, to try and make amends for my mistakes.
Silas: What does any of this have to do with me imp?
Drake: You’ve given me the perfect way of making things right. I’ve victimized a lot of people in my run as President of the IWC, and one of those people were Karen McBride. Rather she wants my help or not, I’m going to have her back tonight. One way or another I’m going to be part of that match for the Principle Ownership, I’m going to be Karen’s partner!
Silas: Ya really do have a death wish, don’t ya imp?
Drake: No….just the drive to redeem myself, and that’s exactly what I’ll do when I make sure Karen retains her ownership tonight.
Silas is left shaking his head over this display of conviction out of Drake. Now we’re about to see something else come out of Drake, his blood. Silas lifts his boot and drives it straight into Desmond’s face, knocking him on his back. The crowd has a harsh reaction to Silas’ strike.
Greyson: Oh come on!
Sparkles: Silas attacking Desmond!
Suddenly the fans change their tune when they spot Karen McBride bolting down the ramp. Silas quickly clears out of danger, diving to the outside of the ring and avoiding Karen. Once in the squared circle Karen stoops to check on Desmond then shouts over the ropes at the departing Silas, who is grinning ever so confidently.
Greyson: Did Karen actually just come to Desmond’s aid?
Sparkles: Another surprising turn of events considering that Karen and Desmond have a tenuous past to say the least.
Frankie: Are we actually going to see Karen and Dessie team tonight against Blaire and Silas?
BACKSTAGE
The fans are quite exhilarated at the sight of Dean Daniels…no…not just Dean Daniels…but Tabitha Silverstone as well. The duo are making their way down the corridor, their destination being the locker-room.
Tabitha: I’m not trying to pressure you or anything, sorry if I’m coming on with the hard-sell.
Dean: Nah, don’t even worry about it, your fine.
Tabitha: So what do you think?
Dean: I have to admit, working with you, working with Andre and working with Marina, sounds like a dream come true. Actually, I’m kinda honored that you would even consider taking me on as a client.
Tabitha: Well if there’s one thing that Silverstone International prides itself on, it’s having an eye for talent. And based on Andre’s recommendation, I’ve started paying very close attention to your performances. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you are a champion in the making.
Dean: Hey, if I win the Ultimate Opportunity match in a minute here, I might just prove you right.
Tabitha: I’m sure you will.
Dean: Tell you what Tabitha. My mind is a little focused on that match right now, so how about we chat after it’s over.
Tabitha: Sure. Gives us a chance to sit down and hash out the finer details of a business relationship.
Dean: Sounds good.
As Tabitha walks away Dean steps into the locker-room, coming to a halt when spotting the figure standing inside. That figure being the same man in the hooded sweatshirt who stole the flashdrive from Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx a few moments ago. At the moment that mysterious individual, with face shadowed by a hood, is holding the stolen flashdrive and a sweatshirt in his hands. He jumps when seeing Dean unexpectedly entering the locker-room. The horrified individual in the hood drops both items he was holding them takes off running, Dean chasing him.
Dean: Get back here you son of a….
The hooded man rushes out the door opposite to the one that Dean just stepped through. Surprisingly Daniels stops at the doorway, watching the man take off. He has no idea that another figure is now entering the room behind him, through another door. That figure just so happens to be Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx.
Starxxx: Alright, we need to have a long tal….
Strarxxx stops cold the moment he enters the locker-room on account of what he finds inside. His eyes veer to the hooded sweatshirt and flashdrive lying on the ground behind Dean. His mind connects the dots.
Starxxx: You muttafucka!
There is no more hesitation shown by Starxxx, rushing into the room and blindsiding Dean from behind. The blow knocks Daniels forward into the wall, his head bouncing off the wall. Daniels instinctively gets back to his feet and drives his shoulder straight into Starxxx’s ribs, driving him back across the room and spine first directly into the wall. Both men are now exchanging a barrage of blows based once again off a well-orchestrated miscommunication.
Maroon strobe lights are flickering up and down the stairwell stretching from the stage to the entrance curtains. The LED boards built into the Invictus emblem at the top of that staircase are also flashing with this maroon color, enhancing the aura that surrounds Mya Denton’s entrance. She steps out from the back to a loud chorus of cheers. Cameras then shift to Thomas Boll in the ring, microphone in hand.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, match that follow is elimination Ultimate Opportunity Match with winner to earn shot at Evolution Title!
He finally makes the announcement without interruption. Mya continues towards the ring, slapping the outstretched hands of the fans in the process. The voices of the commentators can be heard in the background.
Greyson: Our Ultimate Opportunity Match at long last getting underway where eight athletes will vie for the right to challenge for the Evolution Championship.
Sparkles: Yeppers, the winner just has to survive.
Greyson: That’s right, because this bout is to be contested under elimination rules. Mya Denton the first of the entrants, and she looks to continue successful ways of her team. Her friends Vanilla Skyy and Chris Davids have managed to pick up some huge wins, can she continue that momentum?
Frankie: If she doesn’t, it just gives credence to the claim that her former stable-mate Danny Darko has been making about her for months, that she’s nothing but a weak link.
Greyson: Comments Mya really took to heart several weeks ago on NewAge, motivating her to assault Darko’s new teammates, Ricky Valero and Derek Marks, who are also part of this Ultimate Opportunity bout.
Speak of the devil…
’Sober’ by Tool is playing over the PA system with subdued white strobe lights flickering up and down the stage. Derek Marks now emerges from the back wearing a sequenced robe tailor-made for Invictus. He proceeds towards the ring in a casual and carefree demeanor.
Sparkles: Sparkles wants that robe.
Greyson: Derek Marks, part of the NEW Pain & Pleasure, commencing to the ring for his IWC debut.
Frankie: What bigger venue for a debut than here at Invictus?
Greyson: With a shot at the Evolution Championship on the line as well.
Derek is about half way into the ring before Mya pounces on him, rushing across the ring and leaping into a knee that cracks the side of his face.
Sparkles: Mya not waiting any longer to get this match started.
Greyson: Things have gotten personal between she and Marks very quickly. Remember in Derek’s first IWC appearance, he blindsided Mya and joined the revamped version of Pain & Pleasure.
Derek tries to cover up as Mya stomps and clubs him repeatedly, beating him like an Eskimo working over a baby seal. Just as she really starts to wind up ‘Cinderella Man’ by Eminem hits the PA system and ‘Pretty’ Ricky Valero comes bolting down the ramp.
Greyson: Here comes Derek’s teammate, another entrant in the Ultimate Opportunity match, and another man who assaulted Mya in the past.
Sparkles: A man of international fame, who looks to make a major impact in only his third IWC match.
As Ricky nears the ring Mya takes Derek around the neck, putting him in a side headlock. Valero leaps to the apron just as Mya rushes across the ring, dragging Derek along beside her, lunges into the air, puts her feet to Valero’s chest and kicks him back. Valero crashes to the outside mats while Mya twists into the springboard bulldog, driving Derek’s face into the canvas.
Mya pops up to his feet, charges across the ring and begins to dive through the ropes at Valero outside of the ring. Valero instinctively drops down out of the way, prompting Mya to grab the ropes and swing her legs into a modified 619 that brings her feet back into the ring. Valero stands back up and breathes a sigh of relief before Mya springs to the top rope and then comes flying off into a huge splash, crushing Ricky beneath her.
Sparkles: This match already getting off to a fast pace and all the entrants aren’t even here yet.
’Intoxicated’ by Lucana Coil is playing over the speakers at this point, meaning that Lilith Evans is embarking to the ring. As her music plays throughout the building Lilith moves towards the ring in a hurry. She joins her friend Mya in stomping away at Valero, who feebly tries to cover up and protect his head.
Greyson: Lilith Evans with a HUGE opportunity tonight.
Sparkles: We haven’t got to see much of her these past few months, but she makes her big IWC return in this Ultimate Opportunity bout.
Frankie: Hopefully she doesn’t get possessed by New Eden again. Because that would, you know, suck and stuff.
Greyson: What wonderful insight Frankie.
Frankie: Someone’s got to carry this team and Sparkles can only do so much.
Sparkles: Thank you!
Lilith and Mya continue to put the boots to Valero while in the ring Marks is climbing a turnbuckle. He then comes flying off into an unsuspecting Mya and Lilith, taking all three of their bodies down with a HUGE crossbody. Valero quickly rolls into the ring to put some distance between he and the two ladies who were victimizing him. He then takes off across the ring, bounces off the far ropes and builds some serious momentum behind a gigantic dive over the top rope, hitting a senton plancha directly into the recovering Lilith.
Greyson: Now Valero goes airborne!
The action is already picking up in the ring before Samantha Raine can even reach it. The next entrant in the Ultimate Opportunity makes her way from the back, the Rogue Element hustling down the ramp with her husband Chance Fortune following right behind her.
Greyson: Samantha Raine, another of the eight combatants in this Ultimate Opportunity bout headed for the ring in a hurry.
Frankie: If I were her, first I’d constantly be motorboating my own boobs, and second I’d wait in the back and let these four destroy one another.
Greyson: Well Raine is a bit more classy than you, Frankie. Actually, I think a crack addicted S&M club member is more classy than you.
Sparkles: Don’t be mean.
Greyson: Hopefully Samantha is not going to be distracted in this match by another of the entrants, Kellen Jeffries, who has been putting the moves on her for months, in spite of the fact that she’s a happily married woman.
Sparkles: She’s gonna find it kinda hard NOT to be distracted considering Kellen assaulted her husband two weeks ago.
The second Marks reaches his feet at ringside Samantha plows into him with a clothesline to the back of the head. She then spins Marks around and drills him under the jaw several times with forearm strikes. She rolls Marks into the ring, slides in after him and immediately pulls him up into position for the Razor Blade. She puts Marks’ head in a front chancery then swings into her version of the Twist of Fate. But Marks counters, putting his hands to Raine’s back at the last second, shoving her straight into a thrust kick delivered by Valero.
Valero slips into the ring just in time to cave in Raine’s jaw with the kick, putting her on her back. He and Marks then put their boots to her body, working her over.
’Cocky’ by Kid Rock is now pumping through the speakers, getting the crowd’s hearts pumping as well. Down the ramp rushes Kellen Jeffries, the Man-God making his entrance alone, his advisor Spencer Klein nowhere in sight.
Greyson: Kellen Jeffries hustling to the ring. Man has this guy been all over the place the past couple of days. I tried talking to him earlier tonight and I couldn’t make heads or tails of anything he was saying.
Sparkles: Sparkles understood him.
Greyson: Of course, because your fluent in crazy.
Valero and Marks only stop stomping away at Raine when Kellen catches their attention. He drops to his knees beside them and clasps his hands in prayer.
Kellen: My children, please let this winch go, for she appreciate not the consequences of her whorish ways.
Ricky and Derek look at each other, shrug, then honor Kellen’s request. They stop working over Raine and instead redirect their boots into Kellen’s face. They knock him on his ass and keep him there. However, they soon find themselves on the receiving end of stereo missile dropkicks delivered from the top rope by Mya and Lilith.
All attention then shifts to the stage as ‘Face Everything and Rise’ plays over the PA system, cuing Dean Daniels’ entrance. The Second Generation Sensation heads down the flight of stairs and to the ramp shaking off the blows he received backstage at the hands of Jeffrey Starxxx.
Greyson: Dean Daniels comes into this match riding quite the crest of momentum. He’s had a number of VERY impressive performances over the past few weeks.
Sparkles: We saw him take Serenity, a World Title contender in tonight’s main event, to the absolute limit just two weeks ago.
Greyson: And he might have pulled off the victory if not for Katelyn Buehler’s interference in that match.
Frankie: Dean looks better with his face tucked under one of those hooded sweatshirts.
Greyson: That is nothing but pure speculation Frankie. Kloe Masters has tried to insinuate that Dean is a member of this group she’s building, one of the men with their identities hidden by those hoodies, which has put him at odds with Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx, another entrant in this match.
Sparkles: Didn’t those damn hoodies cause enough mischief in Hot Fuzz?
Speaking of Starxxx, Mr. Black Hollywood doesn’t wait to make his entrance and to get physical. An unsuspecting Dean is caught from behind on the ramp by Starxxx, who barrels from the back and levels him with a blow. Dean collapses to the ground with Starxxx sitting on his chest, punching him across the brow and picking up right where the two left off backstage.
Greyson: These two STILL going at it after they were pulled apart backstage.
Sparkles: They’ve been beating the hell out of each other for weeks.
Greyson: Which is exactly what Kloe Masters wants.
Dean fights his way back up to his feet, he and Starxxx trading punches as they head for the ring. Inside of it Lilith has Valero backed into a corner, chopping him repeatedly across the chest. In the diagonal corner we see Marks seated and receiving stomps via Mya’s boots. Meanwhile Kellen is helping Raine to her feet, cradling her head in his arms and patting her on the back. She has enough, pushing Kellen back and into the ropes that her husband Chance is standing on the opposite side of. He reaches over the ropes, grabs Kellen’s arms and puts them in a butterfly lock, trapping them behind Kellen’s back. Raine steps in and takes advantage of Kellen’s defenseless position, slapping him across both cheeks.
The bell chimes as Dean and Starxxx roll into the ring still throwing punches.
Greyson: The match JUST NOW getting started in an official capacity and….wait…what is this?
Danny Darko stealthy heads for the ring, crouched as he maneuvers his way down the ramp.
Greyson: What the hell is Danny Darko doing out here?
Frankie: He is Ricky Valero’s and Derek Marks’ teammate.
Greyson: That does not give him validation for being out here.
The referee might not see Darko but Mya does. She rushes across the ring, slides out and immediately goes after him, throwing punches into the side of Danny’s head and driving him back into the barricade. She then kicks him repeatedly to the chest with one buzzsaw kick after another.
Greyson: Mya all over her former teammate!
Sparkles: Light him up Mya!
Mya then backs away and gets a running start behind a knee that demolishes Darko’s ribs. She backs up once more and rushes into another knee only to have Danny move aside at the last second. As a result Mya’s knee crashes into the barrier. A loud pop can be heard followed by the sounds of Mya’s harrowing cries. She falls to her back grabbing at her knee, which may have just been fractured thanks to the impact with the barrier.
Greyson: Oh no, oh God, Mya looks like she might have seriously hurt herself in her quest to pummel Darko.
Sparkles: Her knee hit that barricade the wrong way.
Frankie: Is there a right way to hit it?
Mya grips her knee and wails in agony. All the while Darko stands over her, looking conflicted and troubled by her plight. He finally steps in and grabs Mya under the arm, helping her up to her feet.
Greyson: Darko is actually helping her?
Yep, he helps her up, folds up her injured leg and then drops her knee first right on top of the barricade.
Frankie: HAHAHAHA!
Greyson: This is disgusting! Darko is attacking an injured woman! His former teammate for God sakes.
Mya is now screaming louder than a banshee. She is hoisted by her injured and folded leg, then charged knee first right into the exposed turnbuckle post, Darko driving her maliciously against it. He then rolls Mya back into the ring where she ends up at the feet of Ricky Valero. He stoops down, puts his shoulders to the creases of Mya’s knees and pushes down, folding her up into a pin. The referee, who didn’t see the attack outside of the ring, does see the pin and reacts to it.
1
2
Greyson: No ref, Mya was just attacked outside of the ring!
In spite of the pleas of the commentators and the crowd alike, the three count is made.
Frankie: Mya eliminated!
Sparkles: All thanks to Danny Darko and that assault on her knee. And how classless is Ricky Valero to take advantage of that injury?
Pretty damn classless, but that’s never bothered a man like ‘Pretty’ Ricky before. Nor has exploiting a number’s advantage. He and his Pain & Pleasure teammate Derek Marks join in dropping Raine with clubbing blows over her back.
Meanwhile EMTS are gathering around Mya at ringside, checking on her injured knee. Darko backs up the ramp watching her cup her injured leg in her hands. All the while Darko shakes his head in a contemptuous fashion. The medics get Mya to one foot, her other folded beneath her, unable to sustain any weight.
Greyson: Mya might seriously be injured.
Frankie: And that wouldn’t even be the worst thing that’s happened to her this week.
Back in the ring Ricky and Marks are charging at Kellen and hitting him with a stereo clothesline that sends him flipping back over the ropes. They then charge up behind Daniels, who has Starxxx laid out on the canvas subjecting him to stomp after stomp to the chest. Marks grabs Dean by the shoulder, spins him around into a twisting back kick to the gut, then lifts him up by the back of the legs. He holds him in position just long enough for Valero to spring off the top rope behind Marks, fly over his partner’s back and hit a clothesline to Dean’s throat. The modified Hart Attack puts Dean on his back and keeps Pain & Pleasure in control of this match.
Lilith looks to challenge their dominance. She rushes in behind Marks and hits him with a dropkick to his back, sending him flying unintentionally into Valero. Marks’ shoulder hits his own partner in the ribs, knocking him back through the ropes and to the outside of the ring. Marks then staggers back into Lilith, who leaps into the jumping reverse bulldog. She drives the back of Marks’ head into the canvas before rolling away from him and towards the turnbuckle.
Lilith dashes up the turnbuckle to the top rope, steadies herself and prepares to dive. She takes to the air, though it’s not Marks she crashes into. Instead he flips straight into Valero at ringside with a big splash, taking them both down to the mats.
Greyson: Lilith had us fooled there!
Sparkles: We all thought she was going for Marks, but instead it’s Volero she connects with.
On the opposite side of the ring Kellen is using the apron to reach his feet, still recovering from the stereo lariat he just received from Valero and Marks. Now he contends with something else, a man obsessed with revenge. Chance Fortune is coming straight after Kellen, who instinctively returns to the ring in order to avoid the wrath of the man he assaulted two weeks ago. He stands up and shouts over the ropes at the vengeful Chance.
Kellen: Its okay my child. In my benevolence I can find forgiveness.
Just then Raine step up behind Kellen, lunges into the air and wraps her legs around his neck. Eventually Kellen is flipped off of his feet and driven head first into the ring with the reverse-rana. Kellen bounces off the canvas, flips over to his knees, TRIES to put his hands together in prayer but is unable to when Raine hits him with another hurricarana. Kellen is flipped from his knees and spiked head first into the ring again.
Greyson: Trust me, Kellen can’t take many more shots to the head like that. He’s already one noodle short of a Chinese dinner.
The crowd is going beyond bonkers at the sight of Kellen getting his comeuppance. Somehow he’s rolled along to his feet and staggered into the ropes, ricocheting off and returning to a brutal roundhouse kick by Raine that takes him right back off of his feet.
Meanwhile, Starxxx is pulling Dean up to his seat and whipping him into the turnbuckle. He then rushes in and closes Dean’s windpipe with a lariat. Starxxx backs away and gets a running start behind a forearm only to rush right into a boot to the jaw. Starxxx goes staggering back while Dean is climbing the turnbuckle, reaching the top rope with his back aimed towards his adversary. Starxxx quickly rushes in and delivers a yakuza kick to the back of Dean’s leg though, knocking his feet out from under him. He collapses to his seat and then leans back with Starxxx placing him in a headlock, potentially setting up for the Turn Out the Lights. At the last second though, Dean puts his feet to the top rope and pushes back, flipping over top of Starxxx’s shoulder and landing on his feet in front of him. Starxxx then rushes at Dean only to be caught with a spinebuster. Dean makes the cover.
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Starxxx gets his shoulder up before the three.
Outside of the ring Lilith has Valero backed up into the apron, hitting him with forearm after forearm across the bridge of his nose. She then charges in and goes for a hurricarana but Valero catches her on top of his shoulders and holds her there just long enough for Marks to come diving out of the ring into a suidide headbutt. He crashes into Lilith and sends her flipping back off of Valero’s shoulders to the mats. Valero turns around, climbs the apron and then springs to the top rope, diving back into the ring at Daniels. He flies right into Dean’s shoulder, Daniels dropping his airborne adversary with the spinebuster. Dean makes another cover after the slam.
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Valero barely manages to get his arm up in time to prevent elimination. A frustrated Dean rises to his feet while Starxxx begins to rush towards him to take him out. At the same time Raine is leaping onto Dean’s shoulders, going for a reverse hurricarana. But Dean puts his hands to the back of Raine’s thighs and pushes her over into a reverse leap frog, causing her to come down to her feet in front of him. As a result Raine falls right in the way of the yakuza kick that Starxxx had aimed at Dean’s head. The blow knocks Raine off of her feet and has Starxxx backing away in surprise.
Dean looks to take advantage of that surprise, charging at Starxxx only to get a roundhouse kick straight to the temple, knocking him down flat on his back. Marks starts to climb back up to the apron, but tries to avoid falling prey to the onslaught being delivered by Starxxx. He leaves that role to be filled by Kellen.
Kellen charges at Starxxx and kicks him to the gut, going for the DDT. At the last second Starxxx twists his body out of the front chancery and then flips back into the Pele Kick. The boot nails the top of Jeffries’ head and sends him rolling back, his legs ending up shooting into the air, over the ropes and accidentally wrapping around Marks’ head. He traps Marks in place just long enough for Starxxx to rush in and dropkick him to the skull. The blow sends Marks collapsing to his back on the apron while Starxxx rolls back to the center of the ring looking all fired up. He then twists towards the inbound Valero with another roundhouse kick that is ducked. Ricky not only avoids the kick but catches Starxxx by the tights, pulling him over into the school boy. He keeps pulling on the tights unbeknownst to the counting referee.
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The fans are NOT happy as they see Valero eliminate Starxxx.
Greyson: WHOA-WHAT!?!
Frankie: Oooooh snap!
Sparkles: ‘Pretty’ Ricky Valero just eliminated Jeffrey Alexander Starxxx!
Frankie: Right when Starxxx was on a hot streak.
Greyson: Valero just cooled it.
Starxxx is going nuclear as he rises to his knees in the ring, hands on top of his head in total shock. It takes some convincing to finally get him to leave the match. As Starxxx exits his ex Lilith slides back in. She charges straight at Valero and hits him with a leaping spinning heel kick to the chest, taking him down. She rolls past him and onto her feet before catching Kellen with a forearm, driving him back into the turnbuckle. The moment Kellen hits the corner Raine comes rushing towards him, leaving her feet to hit the big splash. Kellen clears out of the way and Lilith flies past him, splashing the corner instead. Kellen steps in from behind and pulls back on Raine’s chin, whispering into her ear.
Kellen: I absolve you of your sins.
Suddenly Lilith stinger splashes Kellen’s back, driving him into Raine. The collision sends Kellen staggering back into another school boy, this time by Lilith.
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This school boy does not pay off in elimination, Kellen kicking out. He drops to his knees while Lilith puts him in a front chancery, perhaps setting up for the Sinful. The cradle DDT is about to connect only to have Marks ruin it. He rushes in from behind, takes Lilith around the neck and hits a reverse DDT. Marks then rolls into a lateral press of his own.
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Lilith manages to kick out before being eliminated. Marks then stands up and turns towards Raine who is still leaning against the corner. He charges in from behind and wedges a shoulder to her spine, heaving her into the air and then sitting her on the top rope. Marks follows her up the corner and keeps his shoulder pressed to her kidneys, going for a super-back drop suplex.
That’s before Lilith interferes with his plans, clubbing him right in the kidneys. Raine then reaches back, taking Marks around the head. She pushes off the top rope into the sliced bread number 2 at the same time that Lilith is powerbombing Marks down to the canvas.
Greyson: WOW! What a combination!
The powerbomb in stereo with the sliced bread number 2 leaves Marks totally incapacitated. Lilith flips into a jackknife cover.
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The crowd trumpets the elimination of Marks.
Frankie: The Double D squad just eliminated Derek Marks.
Sparkles: Sparkles is sure he’ll practice some Zen and recover from this.
On instinct alone Derek rolls out of the ring, still having no idea where he is at the moment. On the opposite side of the ring Derek’s partner Valero has Dean backed into a corner, laying into his ribs with a series of vicious punches. Lilith and Raine are now going at it as well, the two punching away at one another. Raine sets up for a big shot only to find her ankle caught and her body slid out of the ring. Kellen has dragged Raine out of the ring, takes her by the throat and pushes her spine first into the barricade. Somehow Raine remains on her feet even as she crashes into the barrier. Kellen then turns back towards the ring that Lilith is leaping out of. She flies over the ropes into a crossbody only to be caught in mid-air across Kellen’s chest. He then drops back, flipping Lilith through the air with a fallaway slam, sending her corkscrewing straight into Raine. The two crash into each other before taking the fall to the ground.
Back in the ring Valero has whipped Dean into the far turnbuckle, or at least he tried to. Dean manages to reverse the whip, instead sending Ricky into that corner. Right before he hits the corner Valero leaps into the air, landing on the turnbuckle, springing off then twisting into a crossbody. But Dean ducks and catches Valero in a fireman’s carry. Daniels then turns his side to the ropes and hits Valero with a death valley driver that sends him flipping over the ropes and crashing right into Kellen at ringside.
Dean then steps to the center of the ring listening to the loud ovation he’s getting from the fans. In the process of gesticulating for the crowd though he exposes his back to Lilith. She comes rushing into the ring behind Dean, takes him around the waist and rolls him over into a waist lock roll up. She ends up on her feet sitting on the back of Dean’s thighs, folding him up into the pin.
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Just as it looks like Raine is going to eliminate Dean, Raine rushes in out of nowhere, takes her around the neck and pulls her stooped body off the cover into the Razor Blade. The move connects and leaves Lilith splayed across the canvas, Raine covering her.
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The crowd reacts in shock at the sight of Raine eliminating Lilith.
Frankie: Lilith never saw that one coming. Just like no one can see me coming beneath the announ….
Greyson: SHUT IT!
Sparkles: Lilith Evans eliminated via the Razor Blade.
Greyson: And that means we’re down to the final four in this Ultimate Opportunity match. Either Samantha Raine, Kellen Jeffries, Dean Daniels or Ricky Valero are going to become the number one contender for the Evolution Championship.
Speaking of Ricky, we now see him springing from the top rope, soaring across the ring and launching his knee right upside Raine’s head. The blow sends her spiraling around right into Dean, who catches her against his shoulders. He heaves her up and into the Death Valley Driver. Dean drops her to the canvas but is unable to follow up on his move, considering that Valero is swooping in from behind. He takes Dean around the arms, setting up for the Franchise Tag. The cobra clutch suplex is about to be delivered but Dean is fighting it for all he’s worth. That’s when Kellen comes sliding into the ring, rushing across it and driving his shoulder straight into Dean’s ribs, spearing him back into Ricky and spearing Ricky back into the turnbuckle. Both men end up leaning against each other, looking to be in dire straits. Kellen steps back across the ring and gets the running start behind another spear but Dean manages to move out of the way, causing Valero to take the full impact of Kellen’s shoulder.
Kellen then staggers back right into Dean’s waiting arms. He heaves Kellen up from behind, attempting to deliver the Break Barriers. The Burning Hammer is seconds from connecting, but first Kellen finds himself subjected to a move no one was expecting. Ricky comes flying off the top rope and hits a double stomp right to Kellen’s ribs while he was still draped across Dean’s shoulders.
Greyson: AAAAAH!
Sparkles: That was INCREDIBLE!!
It was also painful, not just for Kellen. The double stomp puts added pressure on Dean’s shoulders, causing his knees to buckle and for him to fall to the canvas. Kellen drops from Dean’s shoulders while he kneels in the ring. In the process of kneeling he finds his head caught in Raine’s head. She now goes for the Razor Blade. The Twist of Fate connects, flipping Dean to his back and putting an end to his run in this Ultimate Opportunity match. Raine scrambles into the cover, hooking his leg and watching the ref slap the canvas.
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The fans find themselves absolutely stunned at the sight of Dean getting his shoulder up in time to avoid elimination.
Greyson: OH WOW!
Sparkles: Dean so determined to make his family proud here at Invictus and leave with that Evolution Title shot.
Raine looks stunned by this kick out. She gets to her feet and pulls Dean over to his knees, placing him in a front chancery. She is about to go for the Razor Blade again, swinging around to hit the move only to spot Kellen stumbling towards her. Raine breaks her attempt at the Twist of Fate then delivers a punch across Kellen’s brow, knocking him back into the ropes…ropes that Chance is standing on the opposite side of. He once again takes Kellen by the arms, pinning them behind his back.
Greyson: Chance again taking this opportunity to help his wife get revenge on Jeffries.
Raine spots Kellen trapped in her husband’s arm. She smiles wide as she rushes across the ring and swings a forearm straight into CHANCE’S jaw. Kellen ducks down out of the way at the last second and causes Raine to mistakenly strike her own husband. The shot knocks Chance to the outside and has Raine watching on in shock. Kellen then rushes in from behind and hits the Man-God Rising. The step up enzugari connects with the back of Raine’s head and knocks her to the canvas Kellen pushes her to her back then makes the cover.
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Greyson: NO-NO!
The referee makes the three count, confirming Samantha’s elimination from the match.
Frankie: Kellen continues to be a pestilence to Samantha Raine, she’s out of this Ultimate Opportunity because of him.
Greyson: After he caused Raine to accidentally strike her husband.
There’s nothing accidental about the strike that befalls Kellen. He stands up laughing only to stop guffawing when he gets cracked in the face with a big running boot by Valero.
The blow knocks Kellen back and into Dean’s shoulders. He stands up, catches Kellen in a torture rack before hitting the Break Barriers. The burning hammer drives Kellen’s skull into the ring and might set him up for the pinfall, but Kellen surprisingly rolls out of the ring, avoiding potential elimination.
.
Valero works his way to his feet grinning ever so pompously. He then turns in the nick of time to catch the inbound Dean with a Samoan Drop. Valero then kips back to his feet before flipping over into the standing moonsault, crashing into Daniels. He hooks Dean’s leg and looks for another elimination.
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Frankie: Dean’s night is OVAH….
No it isn’t…he kicks out right before he becomes another of Valero’s victims.
Greyson: Ricky so close to taking Dean out. How impressive has Ricky Valero been in this match?
Sparkles: He’s eliminated two of the athletes in this Ultimate Opportunity match already. He’s just two more pinfalls or submissions away from becoming number one contender for the Evolution Title.
Ricky has no time to bitch about Dean’s kick out, because Kellen is already dashing into the ring. Valero catches Kellen coming in with an overhead belly to belly suplex though, sending him flipping and crashing right into the still laid out Daniels.
Kellen rolls off of him and into the ropes, leaning against them for support. He now struggles to his feet just as Ricky charges in and knocks the Man-God over the ropes with a spinning back fist. Valero then turns back towards Dean, who is kneeling in the ring. Valero charges at him with a shin aimed for his face. Dean blocks the kick though then stands up and throws a few body shots into Valero’s ribs, doubling him over. Dean spins Ricky around and pulls him into position for the Break Barriers. But then he spots Kellen dashing across the ring to deliver a spear. Dean drops Ricky and punts Kellen right in the face, causing the Man-God to stand up with a glazed over gleam in his eyes. Ricky then steps in behind Dean, attempting a superkick to the back of his head. But Dean ducks and the boots flies over his head, crackling Kellen right in the jaw, knocking the Man-God back into the turnbuckle.
Ricky then spins around towards Dean, leaping into a hurricarana. But Dean counters, reaching up and grabbing the back of Ricky’s head, pulling him down out of the powerbomb predicament into a froth chancery. Dean eventually gets Ricky up into the stalling suplex position only to drop him into the package piledriver. The Pittsburgh Piledriver connects with such devastating force, leaving Valero splayed across the ring and incapable of countering Dean’s lateral press.
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Greyson: That SICK piledriver that Dean calls the Pittsburgh PIlerdriver has done it, it’s eliminated Ricky….
Sparkles: NO IT HASN’T!
Because Kellen breaks up the pin. He rushes across the ring and tries to take advantage of Dean’s preoccupation with Valero, rolling him up from behind into the crucifix.
Greyson: We saw Scott Cannon win with this move earlier!
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But it will not pay off in victory for Kellen this evening, on account of Dean’s kick out. He rolls away from Kellen, who tries his best not to lose patience or waver in lieu of this set back. He stands up and takes Dean by the ear, forcing him to listen.
Kellen: Worship me Dean! WORSHIP ME!
The Man-God slaps Dean repeatedly over the back of the head then places him in a double underhook. He throws Dean up into the tiger bomb. Driving him down viciously into the ring. Kellen then grabs Dean by the arm, pulls him up to his feet and sets him up for ANOTHER tiger bomb. But Dean starts to show his immense strength, beginning to break his arms free from Kellen’s grasp. As a result Dean is able to get lose then stand straight up, back dropping Kellen. In mid-air Kellen twists his body, coming down on his feet behind Dean then taking him by the shoulder, pulling him into position for the burning hammer.
Kellen heaves his opponent into position for Dean’s OWN finisher, the Break Barriers. Just as it looks like Dean’s title ambitions have come to an end, he counters and counters in a big way. He manages to punch Kellen to the back of the head with enough force to make Kellen stoop over, allowing Dean to twist his body and come down to his feet with Kellen’s head tucked under Dean’s seat. Dean then takes Kellen around the waist, hoists him up and drops him via the From Father to Son. The crucifix bomb connects and Dean crawls into the cover.
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The fans are both amazed by Dean’s crucifix bomb and his subsequent elimination of Jeffries. Kellen pops up to his feet and swings his fist through the air, celebrating.
Greyson: Jeffries is GONE!
Sparkles: Daniels takes him out after an amazing count….AAAAH!
As Dean continues to celebrate, Ricky rushes in from behind him and takes him around the thigh, pulling him over into the school boy. He grabs the back of Dean’s shorts.
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Greyson: HEEEEEY!!!
The crowd goes from one emotional extreme to another. They find themselves first screaming in celebration only to turn around and react with dread at the sight of Ricky swooping in out of nowhere to pull Dean into the pin that ALMOST leads to an elimination. However, Dean kicks out to another extreme shift in crowd response.
Greyson: Valero so close to eliminating Dean the same way he eliminated Starxxx.
Valero scrambles to his feet and runs right into a clothesline that drives him down to the canvas. Daniels puts all his strength behind the lariat that drives his opponent down. He then staggers to the center of the ring where he begins to catch his breath. It looks like Dean is about to follow up before he spots three men in hooded sweatshirts closing in on him.
Greyson: Oh what the fuck are these idiots doing here?
Sparkles: It’s those same guys who have been making Dean’s life miserable for weeks now.
Greyson: And we just know they’re here on orders from Kloe Masters.
The trio are almost in the ring but Dean wards them off with his raised fists just waiting to swing at anything that gets near. The hooded men back off, not wanting to tangle with Dean now that his defenses are raised. Suddenly Ricky runs in from behind Dean, takes him around the arms, puts him in the cobra clutch then snaps back into the Franchise Tag.
Greyson: Ricky capitalizing on the distraction!
Frankie: Franchise Tag baby!
Ricky makes the quick cover after the cobra clutch suplex.
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The fans regard Valero’s pinfall over Dean with absolute fury.
Greyson: BULLSHIT! ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT!
Sparkles: Valero! VALERO!!
Frankie: ‘Pretty’ Ricky is our new number one contender for the Evolution Title!
Greyson: He owes a big thank you to Kloe’s damned goon squad.
Ricky sits up reacting like a total jackass. He behaves as if he’s already won the Evolution Title. He rolls out of the ring and almost kips around it in celebration. Back in the squared circle Dean is starting to recover from the Franchise Tag. He sits up and with groggy eyes looks through the ropes at the three men in their hoodies. One has to believe their chuckling as they start to walk up the ramp.
Not so fast.
Dean comes bolting up the ramp and grabs one of the men by their shoulders, spinning him around and dragging him back towards the ring.
Greyson: Dean has got one of those bastards in the hoodie!
Dean rolls them into the ring and then slides in after them. He grabs the hooded man and lifts him into the crucifix before delivering the From Father to Son.
Greyson: TAKE THAT!!
Sparkles: Dean’s had enough of these guys.
Greyson: And now he’s about to take that hood off of one of them.
Dean sits his victim up and begins to pry back the hood. However, that victim’s hoodie sporting accomplices reach under the ropes into the ring, grab his ankles and pull him out. They prevent his identity from being revealed and help him up the ramp to the backstage area. All the while Dean stands tall in the ring shaking in anger.
Greyson: Dean with a little retribution but somehow the hood continues to shroud the true identity of that son of a bitch who just cost Dean the Ultimate Opportunity.
BACKSTAGE
Frustration is clearly seen upon the face of Aiken Frost. The camera zooms away from his jet black eyes and his lips that are twisted down into a sneer. Now a pacing Alana Starr comes into view, working a groove into the floor beneath her feet. She sounds very concerned as she shares words with her fellow New Eden member.
Alana: What do you think their doing to her? What do you think they’re doing to our beloved Mika?
Aiken: I do not want to think what the group known as Tombstone, what the man known as Goddard, is doing to Mika. Do not fear though, my love, for we will liberate Mika. Before the end of the night she will be returned to us in all of her psychotic beauty.
Alana: I just can’t focus knowing that she’s….
Aiken: Krauzer and Kordy will find her, Alana, and they will bring her back to us.
Alana: First Jed, now Alana, who are Tombstone going to abduct next? What if-what if-what if they come after me NEXT?
Aiken: They will never put a finger on you. I wouldn’t allow it. So rest your troubled mind. Put it on the Hell in a Cell and what we will do to those trapped inside of it.
Kloe: You might want to listen to him doll-face.
A quizzical expression overcomes the face of Aiken when seeing Kloe Masters strolling into the locker-room.
Alana: Uhhh Kloe…
Alana is just as vexed as Aiken.
Alana: To what do we owe this interruption?
Kloe: Pardon my intrusion. I didn’t mean to just come barging right in.
Alana: Well you did.
Kloe: I didn’t come here to cause issues, actually, I came to resolve them.
Aiken: Did you now?
Kloe: I know the two of you are upset at the moment over this whole Mika Kozlov abduction, and it’s causing you to take focus off of the Hell in a Cell match against Ethan Von Aaron and Rachel Tatum Lee. Well let me help. I’m offering my services to find Mika for you, that way the two of you can keep your minds on the Cell.
Alana: Now why would you offer us your help?
Kloe: Why wouldn’t I? You and the Sinistry were there for me in the past when I needed your help in taking over the IWC, now it’s time to return the favor. You just let me and my FRIENDS track down Mika.
With that offer made Kloe leaves the dressing room. Aiken and Alana watch her walk away and exchange shrewd glances.
Aiken: She does have a point.
Alana: Hmmmm. I suppose so.
Aiken: As much as we love Mika, we can ill afford to have our focus derailed from the Hell in a Cell match this evening. It is precisely what our enemies want. I will not allow Ethan and Rachel to step into the cell with an advantage over us.
Alana: Nor would I. Not after all those biscuits have done to us.
Aiken: Ethan neglected you. Rachel betrayed the solemn vows of our marriage. Tonight inside of that cell, we will have revenge for these transgression they have committed against us.
Alana: And we’ll dedicate the match to Mika.
Aiken: Yes, to our dearest Mika.
RINGSIDE
We find the well-tailored Greyson Lovejoy, Frankie Paradise and puppet Sparkles seated behind the announce table sipping at large quantities of Mountain Dew to keep themselves going.
Greyson: What a marathon event Invictus has been here tonight.
Sparkles: We’ve seen titles change hands, rivalries end and blood spilt.
Frankie: And there’s still a lot more to come tonight.
Greyson: Including the Hell in a Cell match we just heard Aiken Frost and Alana Starr eluding to.
Sparkles: But first…hahahaha, first we’ve got this!
The feed cuts to a shark cage being rolled down the ramp by stagehands and parked at ringside.
Greyson: The Queen of the Ring Championship about to be up for grabs when Marina Valdivia finally defends her title against Queen Julia Noel. There’s a little wrinkle in this bout though, because Queen Julia’s manager, Mason Van Stanton will be locked inside of that shark cage.
Sparkles: Preventing him from interfering yet again on his client, Queen Julia’s behalf.
Greyson: We caught up with Marina Valdivia earlier tonight during the IWC fan-extravaganza to get her thoughts on this eagerly anticipated title match.
VIDEO
EARLIER TODAY
Footage from the special Meet & Greet before Invictus begins to air, with focus primarily on Marina Valdivia. She is presently at her booth taking selfies with fans. She gives a chunky young lady a hug and a tussle of the hair before returning to a chair situated behind a desk. She now begins to sign some autographs while a disembodied voice from behind the filming camera speaks up.
Voice: Marina, can we get some of your thoughts about tonight’s event?
Valdivia looks up from the autograph she’s signing towards the young man positioned behind the camera.
Marina: Oooh you have no idea how many thoughts I have on Invictus.
Voice: Tonight you at long last go one on one with Queen Julia in a match we’ve been waiting a long time to see.
Marina: YOU’VE been waiting a long time to see it? Well think how anxious I’ve been to actually compete in that match against Julia? The woman forced me to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery after she superkicked me with a mouthful of thumbtacks. She ALMOST kept me from capturing this right here…
The Queen of the Ring Title is lifted form the table at Marina’s side.
Marina: Which honestly, would have hurt more than swallowing tacks.
Voice: You’ve tried to get revenge on Julia….
Marina: QUEEN Julia….
Marina says mockingly with a roll of the eyes.
Voice: Well you’ve tried to attack her numerous times in response for ALMOST taking that Queen of the Ring Title away from you.
Marina: Yes I have, but every chance I’ve had at revenge has been robbed from me by that snake Mason Van Stanton….
Voice: A snake that will be neutralized tonight.
Marina: That’s right, because thanks to my agent’s victory over Mason several weeks ago on NewAge, he’s now going to be forced to watch from the shark cage as I give his client the single worst beating of her entire pathetic life.
Voice: To what ends are you willing to go to beat Queen Julia this evening?
Marina: Over the past few months, she’s superkicked me with tacks in my mouth, and I’ve injured her hand with a palm full of tacks, we’ve attacked one another all around the Manhattan Center, chased each other around the stands and locked one another in that shark cage. Yet all of that will be nothing compared to what I’m willing to do to Julia tonight to retain my Queen of the Ring Championship.
Voice: Thank you for your thoughts Marina, and good luck this evening.
Marina: You betcha.
Before the cameras cut away we see another photograph dropped on the table in front of Marina, one she is just about to sign.
Marina: Who do you want me to make it out to?
Fan: Make it out to Henry….Henry Van Stanton.
At first Marina makes nothing of it, mindlessly going to sign the photo before coming to an abrupt stop. Her eyes shoot up and into the face of GCW owner and brother to Mason, the fun-loving Henry Van Stanton.
Henry: I think the two of us need to talk.
The show cuts back to live action where we already find Mason Van Stanton standing at ringside shouting at the security guards surrounding him. He looks unwilling to enter the shark cage situated behind him with door open to accommodate the disgruntled agent. The commentators pick up on that and discuss it in the background.
Greyson: Mason Van Stanton being forced to honor the stipulations of this title bout as he’s forced inside of the shark cage.
Frankie: He doesn’t look too happy about it.
Sparkles: Yeah, cause now he can’t get involved in this title bout and interfere on his client’s behalf.
Mason is shouting at security as they force his compliance. At last he enters the cage with the door being shut behind him and latched with a padlock.
Greyson: He’s in there. Mason is trapped inside of the cage!
Sparkles: Now we can officially start this title match that has been MONTHS in the making.
”Killer Queen” starts to play in the background as all attention shifts from the trapped Mason to his client’s entrance. Before we see Queen Julia step down the stairs situated on the stage we get a long line of royal guards high stepping out from the back. With their rifles cast over their shoulders and their tall bearskin hats on top of their heads, the guards form two parallel lines on the stage. Both lines turn to face one another, opening a gap just large enough for someone to pass through. The first two people to step between the guards are flower bearers, who are tossing petals to the ground. At long last Queen Julia emerges at the top of the steps, wearing regal red.
Greyson: Another spectacular entrance here tonight.
Sparkles: You should know that Mason Van Stanton would spare absolutely no expense for his client here at Invictus.
Frankie: Yep, it’s sending an intimidating message to her opponent Marina Valdivia in the process.
Ultimately Queen Julia reaches the bottom of the stairs and then the base of the stage. She looks towards Mason trapped in the cage, who in spite of his imprisonment claps for his client. Julia sighs in response to Mason’s forced caging but tries not to allow it to distract her from this huge title opportunity.
Greyson: Queen Julia has been waiting a long time for this title match, she’s made it pretty apparent that she wants to be more than a queen in title, she wants a championship to represent her royal heritage.
Julia now stands with her back to the corner of the ring, waving regally to the heckling fans even while the referee is frisking her for weapons. That’s when a gentle hum starts to play over the speakers, sounding like static. Soon the whole screen is overtaken with the letters TMZ and the voices of anchors superimposed over this insignia.
Voice: In celebrity gossip today, Marina Valdivia undergoes reconstructive jaw surgery.
Now the words Entertainment Tonight extend across the screen while behind the logo we see flashes of Marina competing in the ring captured in dozens of small monitors.
Voice: Marina Valdivia caught on film exiting posh New York night club with Taylor Lautner….
We seem to be pulling back from the rows upon rows of monitors that are showing Valdivia not only in action but in various media appearances. We see the emblem for “Inside Edition” overcome the screen.
Voice: Hollywood juggernaut and professional model Marina Valdivia stepping into the ring with Queen Julia Noel at Invictus.
Finally the camera stops drifting back and settles on Marina Valdivia in the flesh seated on a chair in bright white room. Surrounding her in this circular chamber are wall to wall video monitors playing footage from every single facet of her life. Marina, dressed in a suit just as white as the floor and ceiling, sits in an introspective stance, watching the videos very closely. At last Marina lifts a remote control into the air, hitting a button and causing all the small televisions surrounding her to cut to a shot of Queen Julia Noel…a live action shot of her pacing in the ring. Slowly the chair that Marina is seated in swivels around, her eyes turning to the camera.
Marina: You played a very dangerous game, Queen Julia. But Cali’s All-Star plays it better than anyone else.
We are back live to the Staples Center where fireworks have just shot out of the stage and Marina Valdivia is appearing at the top of the stairwell. She is getting a huge reaction from her fellow Cali community. She then embarks down the stairs, getting a louder and louder ovation with each step she takes. Her agent Tabitha Silverstone steps out behind her, clapping as she follows her client towards the ring.
Greyson: You want to talk about intimidating entrances…
Sparkles: Marina Valdivia just going full on Architect on us.
Greyson: But is Valdivia going to be the ONE tonight?
Frankie: LAME.
Marina embarks towards the ring with the Queen of the Ring Title weighing heavy on her shoulder. She pauses at the bottom of the ramp as she and Tabitha smirk at Mason trapped in the shark cage. He kicks at the mesh walls and tries to spit through them towards the champion. Marina rolls into the ring and hands her championship over to the referee.
Frankie: This isn’t fair, how come Marina gets to have HER agent out here with her?
Greyson: Because Tabitha doesn’t have a proven track record of interfering in other people’s matches, Frankie. She didn’t set any of her client’s enemies up to be superkicked with a mouthful of thumbtacks. She didn’t….
Frankie: Yeah-yeah, she was born without an interesting personality, we get it-we get it.
Referee Arnie Ficklebottom steps to the center of the ring where he lifts the Queen of the Ring Title overhead. At last he calls for the bell to sound and Marina goes straight after Queen Julia, who instinctively takes a powder from the ring. The crowd is all over Julia, who has rolled under the ropes and his now blowing Marina off with a dismissive wave of her hand. Marina shouts at Julia to get back into the ring but Marina has no intention of doing so, not until she’s fully prepared.
The referee starts a ten count, forcing Queen Julia to climb up onto the apron. She STARTS to slide through the ropes before Marina charges at her, prompting Julia to drop back from the ring to the outside mats.
Greyson: Julia FORCING Marina to wait.
Sparkles: Marina’s waited long enough to get her hands on Julia.
Ya damn skippy.
Marina is through waiting. She rolls under the ropes and goes after Julia, who is off and running. Marina chases the challenger around the ring, the two making several laps. Eventually Julia slides into the ring with Marina following behind. Before Marina can get back to her feet Julia stomps her to the back of the head several times.
Frankie: Now you see Julia’s strategy, baiting Marina then subjecting her to this beating.
Julia drops to her knees and clubs Marina over the back with both forearms. She caps this off by returning to her feet and leaving them to deliver an elbow drop right into the canvas. Marina rolls out of the way of the attempted elbow and then charges at Julia, who quickly scrambles from the squared circle.
Greyson: Julia once again running!
Sparkles: We saw her do this at the Last Stand Rumble, she and Marina chased each other around the stands for a solid ten minutes.
Julia escapes to the outside of the ring and now hustles around it with Marina once again chasing her. This pursuit culminates to Julia returning to the squared circle, sliding about half way in before finding her ankle caught in the clutches of her adversary. Marina REFUSES to let Julia run any longer, dragging her back to the outside of the ring then taking her head into her hands. Julia tries to break free as she’s dragged up the ramp towards the shark cage and then thrown face first right into the mesh wall. Julia’s face bounces off the very cage that has her agent trapped inside of it.
Mason is flipping out and throwing a fit, grabbing desperately at the cage door and trying to get out. All he can do is watch helplessly as Marina takes his client’s face and drives it once again into the mesh wiring surrounding him. Marina begins to grind Julia’s face back and forth across the cage. The punctuation on this assault takes the form of Marina pulling Julia’s head back and then ramming her face directly into the shark cage.
Julia collapses to the ground, grabbing at her face while Mason kneels inside of the cage behind her, blowing in her direction, attempting to fan her off. Julia tries to pull herself up with the cage while looking at Mason inside, who is digging into his pockets and slipping something to her.
Frankie: This is just vicious and totes uncalled for…TOTES with all capital letters.
Greyson: If I have to hear you say totes one more time….
Frankie: Totes. Now what ya gonna do bitch?
Marina winks at the despondent Mason before grabbing his client by the hair and forcing her down the ramp. Tabitha is clapping for Marina, who rolls Julia into the ring then climbs to the apron. She works her way up the top rope of the nearest turnbuckle and sets for the Cali Splash. The 450 is seconds from finishing Julia off once and for all, Marina on the cusp of retaining her title against her bitter rival. Only Julia reaches out and grabs the referee, dragging him in between both herself and Marina.
As a result Marina is forced to drop down off the corner and grab the referee, shoving them out of the way. As a result the referee is out of position to see the brass knuckles around Julia’s fist. It swings directly into Marina’s jaw, knocking her out cold.
Greyson: HEY!
Sparkles: Brass knucks to the face!
Frankie: Where’d she get those? I thought the referee frisked her before the match.
Greyson: I think Mason slid those to her when she was being thrown against the cage he’s trapped inside of.
Cameras cut to a laughing Mason inside of the shark cage.
Sparkles: That’s exactly what happened!
The brass knuckles are tucked away inside of Julia’s waistband while she crawls into the cover on Marina.
Frankie: And you noticed her fist nailed Marina right in that surgically repaired jaw.
Sparkles: Could this be it? Could this be the crowning of a NEW Champion?
Greyson: God I hope not, we will NEVER hear the end of it.
The referee turns around after being shoved aside and spots the pinfall being made. He drops down and slaps the canvas to loud cries from the crowd.
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Greyson: Marina about to lose her title here in her home state of California!
The referee is about to make the three count but Marina isn’t about to lose her title. She kicks out to a lung bursting pop from the fans. Julia gets to her knees, looking irate that her cheating didn’t pay off with the win of the Queen of the Ring Title. Her anger leads her to pull Marina up by the back of the head while subjecting the front of her face to a hailstorm of punches. She then drags Marina by the bangs over to her knees and throws her throat over the middle cable. Julia rushes in from behind and launches herself hip first into the back of Marina’s head, snapping her throat against the cable. Marina bounces off the rope and rolls to the middle of the ring. She slowly starts to inch her way back up to her feet before Queen Julia races in and catches her with the swinging neck breaker.
The back of Marina’s head hits off the ring and she pops up to her seat. The moment she sits up she finds her face being cracked with a basement dropkick from Julia.
Frankie: Our Queen turning up the intensity now that she has Marina on the defensive after that shot from the brass knuckles.
Sparkles: She knows this might be her one opportunity to put Marina away.
Marina struggles back to her seat before being knocked from it via the sliding lariat that connects to her throat. Julia puts her down on her back and then drags her by her bangs to her seat, all so that Julia can eventually knock her over with a running knee strike to the jaw. Marina grabs at her face and Julia grabs at Marina’s shoulder, pulling the champion to her back so that she can be pinned.
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Marina manages to get a shoulder away from the canvas and away from Julia. The Queen sits her adversary up then takes off into the ropes, building momentum behind a second running knee strike that blasts Marina under the jaw. The blow knocks her unconsciously to her back. She rolls on instinct and nothing alone into the corner, propping herself against it. Julia now comes rushing and delivers the face wash across Marina’s cheek and chin.
The collision sends Marina twisting to her knees, her throat unfortunately falling over the middle rope. Julia steps in from behind and now stands on top of Marina’s back, choking her against the cable and inflicting even more damage on the jaw. The referee starts a five count, reaching four and prompting Julia to jump off of Marina’s back and over the top rope. She lands on the ground beneath Marina then blasts her across the jaw with an uppercut. The hard blow sends Marina away from the ropes and towards the center of the ring.
Frankie: Julia just dominant…just dominant bro.
Greyson: Only after she hit Marina with a pair of brass knuckles.
Sparkles: That Julia has still got hidden somewhere in her tights.
Frankie: I’ll sniff them out.
Greyson: I’m sure you would love that opportunity.
Julia gets back in the ring then takes off across it, delivering a running kick aimed at Marina’s head. But the Queen of the Ring Champion manages to stand up and side step the blow. She then twists her body so that she ends up back to back with Julia, culminating into a back slide.
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Julia rolls all the way back and onto her knees. She and Marina rush one another to their feet but Marina is taken off of hers. Julia catches her around the neck and drops, bringing Marina’s jaw down into Julia’s elevated knee. Marina bounces off the kneecap of her adversary then goes rolling to the outside of the ring. Julia is following right behind, dragging Marina up to her feet by the hair. Then taking her wrist and launching her at the barricade. Marina crashes into it and leans against it for support, looking gravely wounded. Julia now steps in and pops her right across the jaw, smiling after delivering this devastating blow. She then takes a moment to smile at the laughing Mason trapped in the cage. Julia might just pay for that moment of over-confidence.
She whips Marina into the turnbuckle post but Valdivia makes use of the beam instead of being devastated by it. She lunges into the air, catches the post, swings her body around it and connects with a modified 619 on Julia’s forehead.
Greyson: OOOOH WOW!
Sparkles: That was amazing!
The fans are out of their seats and on their feet at the sight of Marina’s shocking counter. Valdivia then gets to her feet on the apron, rushing across it and diving off the corner into a diving crossbody that fully takes Julia off of her feet.
Sparkles: Valdivia starting to build some momentum.
Greyson: She’s finally getting back into this match after taking that brass knucks shot to her surgically repaired jaw.
Those in the Staples Center are solidly behind Marina, who has Julia stood and her back wedged to the apron. Knife edge chop after knife edge chop blisters Julia’s chest. Marina then takes her by the wrist and launches her into the shark cage. Julia spins around and finds her back hitting the mesh. She leans against the steel now, looking very shaken up. Marina then comes charging in and leaps into a big splash, but Julia moves out of the way. As a result Valdivia crashes into the mesh of the shark cage and almost loses her balance. She remains upright, mainly because Mason is able to get his fingers through the mesh and grab a hold of Valdivia’s hair, holding her in place. He now screams over Marina at Julia, who gets a running start before leaving her feet and lunging into her own big splash. But Marina suddenly pulls her hair out of Mason’s fingers and dives out of the way. As a result Julia crashes into the cage door and knocks it back into Mason’s face. Van Stanton collapses onto his backside, looking frazzled.
Julia is even more stunned, staggering around the ringside area and batting her eyes as she tries to remain conscious. She has no idea that Marina is climbing up the shark cage.
Frankie: What is Marina doing?
Greyson: I’m almost afraid to find out!
Sparkles: I have a feeling, and this time it isn’t gas.
The crowd rises in anticipation as they watch Marina get her balance on the top of the shark cage. She now looks out over the audience and unleashes a loud scream.
Marina: CAAAAALLLIII!
Marina leaps off the top of the cage into a twisting corkscrew back first senton, her spine crashing right into Julia’s shoulder
Fans: HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!
The Staples Center fills with such a loud rabble from the audience. They are going absolutely nuts for Marina as she takes Julia out.
Greyson: AAAAAMMMMAZZZING!
Sparkles: Marina lunging off that shark cage!!
Greyson: What an Invictus moment!
The highlight reel inspiring dive has left Marina and Julia splayed across the mats desperately trying to catch their breaths and recover. It takes a tremendous amount of will power but Marina manages to get to her feet and pull Julia along to hers as well. The two return to the ring where the referee was neglecting to make the ten count, giving these athletes a long leash.
Meanwhile Mason is standing up in the shark cage, longingly looking up the ramp and shouting. He motions repeatedly towards the back. To a very loud groan we now see Leviticus rushing down the ramp.
Greyson: What in the hell is Leviticus doing out here?
Sparkles: Sparkles didn’t even know he was still employed.
Frankie: Is he?
Leviticus hurries to the shark cage and removes a pair of keys from his pocket, starting to unlatch the padlock from the door.
Greyson: No. Come on. Leviticus is unlocking the cage. He’s freeing Van Stanton.
The lock is almost undone and Van Stanton is about to taste the sweet nectar of freedom. In the end though he tastes nothing but the bitterness of betrayal. Tabitha Silverstone has seen enough, dashing from ringside and leaping right on top of Leviticus’ back, applying a sleeper.
Greyson: SILVERSTONE!
Sparkles: She’s preventing Leviticus from freeing Van Stanton!
Tabitha hangs off of Leviticus’ back and pummels him to the side of the head, the two brawling up the ramp to the backstage area. Although Tabitha prevented Leviticus from opening the cage she neglected to remove the keys that are still dangling from the padlock. Meanwhile in the ring Marina is looking over the ropes, watching her agent putting the beat-down on Leviticus. Behind her back she doesn’t spot Julia inching her way to her feet. Finally Marina spins around and rushes right into the gruesome superkick directly to the jaw.
Greyson: The superkick!
Sparkles: The move that has played such an instrumental role in this feud.
Frankie: The move that may have just put the Queen of the Ring Title around Julia’s waist.
Julia twirls into the cover, dropping down on Marina and hooking her leg.
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The crowd cups their eyes, refusing to watch Marina lose her title. And that’s exactly what doesn’t happen, Marina managing to launch her shoulder off the canvas.
Greyson: NO! NOT TONIGHT!!
The fans are screeching loudly at the sight of Marina getting her shoulder up, her kick out leaving Julia sitting up looking beyond frustrated. She now rolls Marina to her knees, places her in the neck cravat and begins to launch her own knee repeatedly into the champion’s jaw.
Frankie: She’s gonna break it! She’s gonna shatter it! Julia is going to snap that jaw!
Knee strike after knee strike after knee strike blasts Marina across the chin, seemingly knocking her unconscious. Finally Julia stops unleashing the knees which leave Marina’s mouth filling with blood. Julia then steps in front of Marina and delivers a SECOND superkick to the chin. Marina falls to her back and Julia falls into the ropes, leaning on them for support. She then dives off the ropes and into the lateral press, hooking both legs.
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NOOO! Marina manages to get her shoulder up again much to the disbelief of the crowd and to the chagrin of Julia.
Frankie: What’s it gonna take!?! What’s it gonna take to beat Marina tonight!?!
Greyson: She will not sacrifice that Queen of the Ring title under any circumstances, even at the expense of her possibly broken jaw.
The crowd WAS cheering but now their booing at the sight of Van Stanton reaching through the mesh of the cage and managing to get to the key still hanging from the padlock. He unlatches it and frees himself from the shark cage.
Greyson: Damn. Van Stanton is free from the shark cage!
Frankie: Should have known he’d get lose eventually.
Julia stands up in the ring, gesturing for Mason to come and help her. That’s precisely what Van Stanton is doing. He’s stepping out of the cage, or at least he gets ONE step out of the steel structure before finding his forward momentum halted by a familiar figure. The fans go absolutely nuts at the sight of Henry Van Stanton, Mason’s BROTHER and GCW OWNER. He steps right in front of Mason, blocking his path.
Greyson: It’s HENRY VAN STANTON.
Frankie: Why is he here?
Sparkles: And why is he stopping Mason, his own brother, from getting involved in this match?
Mason tries to weasel his way out of this situation but lacks the right words to talk himself past his brother. Henry suddenly shoves his brother right back into the shark cage then slams the door shut on him. He puts the padlock back in place to a righteous response from the crowd.
Greyson: Henry putting Mason back in the cage. What a stunning turn of events.
Mason protests and screams as loud as he can at his brother, but all of his words fall on deaf ears. Inside of the ring Julia is standing on the turnbuckle, shouting down at Henry. Her focus finally returns to the struggling Marina, who is trying her best to get back to her feet. Julia takes a second to wave at the fans in regal fashion then takes to the air, flipping forward into the Queen’s Ransom. The flip over neck breaker hits Marina’s superkick! Validiva nails Julia in the back of the head as she goes flipping past her.
Greyson: OOOH GAH!
Sparkles: Marina countering the Queen’s Ransom with the SUPERKICK!
Marina falls into the turnbuckle after hitting the shocking superkick that has put the fans on their feet screeching spastically. Valdivia now flips back and onto the top of the corner. She gets her balance and looks out over the audience, who are savoring this moment. A primal intensity overtakes Marina’s eyes as she stands on the corner and glares at the prone Julia splayed across the canvas in front of her. Valdivia takes to the air and to a standing ovation connects with the Cali Splash!
Sparkles: The 450!
Greyson: It connects…It connects on Julia!
With the fans still standing and showing her support Marina hooks Julia’s leg and puts an elbow to the challenger’s jaw.
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The referee’s hand finally comes down to the canvas for the third time. The Cali crowd is screaming even louder as Marina puts to rest perhaps her greatest IWC rival. She sits up still clinging to that intensity we saw in her eyes before hitting the Cali Splash.
Greyson: After an inspiring effort Marina Valdivia does what many thought she was incapable of. She manages to leave Invictus with her Queen of the Ring Championship.
Sparkles: She survived a grueling defense to leave here with that belt.
Marina manages to work her way up to her feet as the Queen of the Ring Title belt is handed to her. She lifts the title above her head but almost collapses under the weight of the gold. Just as it seems her adrenaline has worn off, Valdivia runs to the nearest corner, leaps to the middle rope and lifts her title aloft. Behind the celebrating champion Julia is rolling to her side, regaining consciousness and looking up at Marina in total shock.
Frankie: The Cali girl retains her gold tonight.
Greyson: A career defining moment for Marina at Invictus.
Marina drops from the corner to the outside of the ring, rushing around and high fiving all the outstretched hands of the fans. She even pauses to take a few selfies with the crowd, lifting up her belt to make sure it’s caught in the photo. Meanwhile back in the ring Queen Julia is fuming. She kneels on the canvas snarling. Her anger only intensifies at the sight of Henry Van Stanton climbing into the ring with her, microphone in hand. The man who just contributed to her loss in this title match, tentatively approaches her.
Henry: Julia the two of us really need to talk….
There is no more room for words, Julia leaping to her feet, grabbing Henry by the lapel of his jacket and throwing him down to the canvas. The irate Julia steps towards him with fists raised and ready to be swung before she spots a familiar figure climbing up onto the apron, a figure that stays her hands.
Frankie: Who the fuck is this guy now?
Greyson: Is that? Is that Glenn Braddock?
Glenn shouts at Julia, trying to get her attention. He’s got it.
Glenn: This isn’t who you are, that’s what Henry is trying to tell you. Listen to him, and listen to me. We’re here to help you.
Julia looks so confused, so conflicted. She finally has enough, rolling out of the ring and approaching he shark cage that her agent Mason has just exited. He puts his palms over Julia’s ears and leads her to the back.
Mason: Don’t listen to them!
BACKSTAGE
Cameras segue to Silas Mason and Blaire McBride standing in the Principle Owner’s office. The two are presently gearing up for the tag match scheduled against Karen McBride later this evening. The viewers catch their conversation in media res.
Blaire: I can’t tell you again how much it means to me that you’ve signed up to be my partner tonight.
Silas: Don’t sweat it shuga’.
Blaire: I mean, even after we hit some rough patches in our working relationship, it feels good knowing that you’ll stick with me through the thick and the thin.
Silas: Yeah-yeah-yeah, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I’ve always respected ya. Can’t say the same about yer sister, or that munchkin she’s teaming with tonight.
Blaire: Glad to see we’re in agreement on Karen too.
Silas: Oh yes. So I got no problem helpin’ ya beat her and showing who the REAL Principle Owner is.
Blaire: Thanks. That puts me at ease. I mean, I’m not the type who likes to solve business disputes in the ring.
Silas: I hear ya. Ole Silas knows the feeling. Still can’t believe ya agreed to Karen’s terms in the first place. I mean ya been baited into a situation where whoever scores the pin in that ring tonight becomes Principle Owner. It’s risky, damn risky.
Blaire: Not with you in my corner it isn’t.
Silas: I like to see yer confidence. So you shouldn’t have any trouble signing this.
A contract is taken off the surface of the desk at their sides and raised by Silas’ gloved hand.
Silas: Karen’s attorney brought this in while ya were gearing up in the bathroom. It makes everything official for the match tonight.
Blaire: Fine, let’s get this formality out of the way.
Blaire grabs a pen and signs the contract while the door to her office pops open and in steps none other than Kloe Masters.
Kloe: Silas…Blaire…
The pair spins to face the inbound Masters, the former IWC President.
Silas: Baby Rose?
Blaire: What can I do for you Kloe?
Kloe: The real question is, what can I do for YOU?
Blaire: Meaning?
Kloe: I want to extend an offer to the both of you, I want to help you with your Karen McBride and Desmond Drake problem.
Silas: Now why would ya go and do somethin’ like that?
Kloe: I have my reasons. Besides Silas, we go way back. I owe you.
Silas: Won’t argue with that.
Kloe: And you’ve shown me such kindness Blaire, I feel the need to return the favor.
Blaire: What did you have in mind?
A sly smile creeps across Kloe’s face.
Kloe: Don’t you worry about it. I’ll take care of everything.
IN-RING
The show cuts back to the ring which has a giant Hell in a Cell descending towards it. The fans rise in anticipation of seeing the giant steel monstrosity put to use in the next confrontation. The commentators sound equal parts excited and apprehensive to see the cell brought into play.
Greyson: And so it begins.
Frankie: Hell in a Cell babay!
Sparkles: Sparkles and friends are finally going to see it, arguably the most anticipated match in Invictus history.
Greyson: Rachel Tatum Lee and Ethan Von Aaron to step inside of the Hell in a Cell with Alana Starr and Aiken Frost. This grudge match has been in the making for a long time.
Sparkles: But before we get to it tonight, we got our broadcast colleague Mark Comeau standing by with two of the participants in the Hell in a Cell, take it Mark!
BACKSTAGE
Mark Comeau, backstage correspondent, stands in the interview area nestled between NHB Champion Rachel Tatum Lee and her man Ethan Von Aaron.
Comeau: Ethan, Rachel, we are mere moments away from the resolution to what has been perhaps the most bitter rivalry of both of your lives.
Ethan: That’s underselling it.
Rachel: Yeah, I mean we’re only facing my abusive ex husband, and Ethan’s two faced ex client.
Ethan: The very same abusive ex husband who had my ribs assaulted at the End of the Year Special and then beat me half to death in a Chain Match.
Rachel: The very same two faced ex client who left Ethan to be mauled while she walked away with my former husband.
Ethan: The very same man who was doing said beating.
Comeau: We get it, there’s a long history behind this match.
Ethan: A VERY long history.
Rachel: For over four months we’ve dealt with Aiken and Alana interfering in our lives.
Ethan: Our happiness made them envious.
Rachel: And their envy has made us vengeful.
Ethan: Tonight, we take that vengeance inside of the Hell in a Cell, at any cost.
Rachel: After boiler-room brawls…
Ethan: After battling through Hell-Hounds and Psycho-Surgeons…
Rachel: After suffering double stomps from black eyed bitches comin’ off the Cartel-tron….
Ethan: After enduring chain matches and blood-lettings….
Rachel: It finally…FINALLY ends.
Ethan: After tonight, the cast offs will stand broken, bloodied, and busted up inside the Hell in a Cell over the bodies of New Eden.
Rachel and Ethan turn to the camera.
Rachel: In the words of Kurt Russell in Tombstone….Tell Aiken, Alana, we’re comin’ for ‘em, and we’re bringin’ hell with us!
The entry way comes into view just in time to catch the lights dimming and an eerie fog rolling in. Now the lyrics of “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones starts to play over the speakers.
This fog, the music, and the near non-existent lighting creates such a haunting effect. If that weren’t enough to put the fans on edge we now see darkly clad figures emerging from the back. These figures wearing black chain mail and cloaks occupy their hands with the reins connected to two horses. Seated upon those horses are none other than Alana Starr and Aiken Frost. The horses, who’s eyes are as black as the ones inhabiting the skulls of their riders, briefly come to a stop on the stage. Their dark skin and main come fully into view. Alana and Aiken are only slightly darker than the steeds beneath them. They are wearing long ebony hooded robes with golden kabuki masks.
Finally their ground based servants lead the horses towards the ring, bringing Aiken and Ethan closer to the Cell. The commentating trio is hard pressed to produce words in response to this chilling entrance, but they at last speak up in the background.
Frankie: This has to be the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve watched German porn before.
Sparkles: Yep. We watched it together.
Greyson: I have goosebumps right now guys.
Sparkles: This entrance has got to be getting into the minds of Aiken’s and Alana’s opponents in the Hell in a Cell tonight.
The horses are dismounted, Alana and Aiken dropping down then proceeding into the Hell in a Cell. Once inside the pair drops to their knees side by side, their servants disrobing and demasking them. We now get a look at their jet black eyes and their altered ring gear for this special match and this special night.
Greyson: The End of the Year Special, that’s where we saw this feud really escalate. It was on that night that Rachel Tatum Lee finally said enough and stopped putting up with the abuse inflicted on her by her husband at the time, Aiken Frost. She demanded a divorce and officially made her relationship with Ethan Von Aaron public.
Sparkles: It was on that same night that Ethan’s client, Alana Starr, dumped him as an agent. She turned her back on him and let him receive the worst beating of his life at the hands of Aiken Frost. Making matters even worse, Alana joined Aiken’s New Eden.
Greyson: Which thus far has been one of the most dominant and prolific factions in all of wrestling. They’ve managed to infest the IWC, infest ULW, and infest SCW. Rachel, Ethan, and the group come to be known as Tombstone have been the only ones to truly oppose them.
Sparkles: Tombstone has been curing all those who have been infected with the “DARK.” Can Ethan and Rachel cure the IWC of New Eden?
Greyson: They get that opportunity tonight inside of the Hell in a Cell.
Alana removes the X-Class Title from around her waist, handing it over to one of her servants who now leave the ring. Aiken just sits on his knees, eyes looking over the cell that surrounds him, mesmerized by the steel mesh. The horses are led away from the Cell while two bodies draw closer to it. The lyrics of “Blue” by Birthday Massacre start to play over the PA system just as Rachel Tatum Lee and Ethan Von Aaron come stepping out from the back dressed in new ring gear for the evening. The pair are sporting matching black wife beaters, with Rachel wearing cut off denim shorts and Ethan thankfully wearing full blue jean slacks. They head down the steps that have been set up on the stage and finally reach the bottom. Once they reach the base of the steps Rachel slams her fist down into the steel beneath her boots, resulting in an explosion of fire from not only the stage, but along the railings of the stairwell she and Ethan just traversed.
Greyson: It looks like Rachel and Ethan truly are bringing hell with them.
Sparkles: God only knows what we’re going to see these two do inside of that cell.
Greyson: Ladies and gentlemen, send your kids to bed right now…actually, get them out of the house. This match is not one for the tikes.
Sparkles: Ethan and Rachel have been through so much over the past four months, all thanks to New Eden.
Greyson: And tonight is finally their opportunity for revenge.
Frankie: The ultimate payback to be served inside the cell.
Ethan and Rachel reach the Hell in a Cell, pausing to overlook the mesh confines where the mightiest of wars will be raged. After exchanging a last second pep talk they enter the devil’s playground and close the door behind them.
Greyson: Here we are ladies and gentlemen, New Eden versus Von Aaron and Tatum Lee in only the second ever Hell in a Cell match in IWC history.
Sparkles: It’s a rarity for a reason.
Frankie: And we’re about to find out why that is.
The building swells with excitement and anticipation at the sight of Aiken Frost and Alana Starr standing across the ring from Ethan Von Aaron and Rachel Tatum Lee, all four bodies surrounded by the enormous cell. Rachel removes her NHB Title belt from her waist, drops it to the apron then turns to look at Ethan. The two nod then take off across the ring, meeting Aiken and Alana in the middle of the cell with a fiery exchange of punches.
Greyson: And we’re off!
Alana and Rachel trade blows while Aiken and Ethan exchange jabs. At last Ethan launches a bionic elbow into the top of Aiken’s head, driving him down to the canvas. At the same time Rachel pulls Alana into a short arm clothesline. Aiken and Alana roll out of the ring quickly and opt to regroup. They begin to strategize outside of the squared circle where Ethan and Rachel are once again nodding towards one another. The pair takes off across the ring then leap through the ropes into stereo suicide diving headbutts. Ethan hits Aiken and Rachel hits Alana, driving the New Eden duo back into the wall of the cell.
Sparkles: Rachel and Ethan ain’t wasting a second!
Greyson: No their not!
Frankie: Wonderful follow up, Lovejoy.
Greyson: Suck it.
Rachel returns Alana to the ring while Ethan is launching punch after punch across Aiken’s brow, keeping his back pinned to the cell he just bounced off of. Rachel slides into the squared circle, glaring across it at the now standing Alana. The fans cheer as the two start to throw blows in the middle of the ring. The exchange of shots end when Alana launches a knee into Rachel’s gut, doubling her over. Alana then takes off into the cables at Rachel’s side, ricocheting off into the Starr Crossed. The scissors kick MISSES, Rachel stepping back out of the way then catching Alana around the neck. Frost drops back into an reverse suplex, slamming Alana down painfully on her face and stomach.
Outside of the ring Ethan is charging at Aiken only to be side stepped, Frost flinging Von Aaron by the back of the head face first into the mesh wall. Von Aaron bounces off to the ground while Aiken leaves it, climbing up onto the apron. He pauses when looking through the ropes into the face of Rachel, his ex-wife.
Greyson: The moment we’ve been waiting for. Rachel and Aiken at long last about to collide.
Sparkles: Who can forget Aiken busting a monitor over the back of Rachel’s head several weeks ago on Riot.
Frankie: Guarantee ole Bubble-Butt hasn’t forgotten about it.
Aiken climbs to his feet on the apron, with his menacing black eyes reflecting the woman who is waiting on him. Rachel urges Aiken to get into the ring already and face her. Just as Aiken starts to slip through the ropes he’s caught from behind around the hips. Ethan drags Aiken off the apron then throws him with a release running powerbomb right into the cell wall.
Greyson: Aiken launched into the cell!
Sparkles: Knew it wasn’t going to take long for the mesh to come into play.
Rachel watches Aiken bash into the cell with a smile forming over her face. But just then Alana steps in from behind, leaps onto Rachel’s shoulders then spikes her on top of her head with a reverse hurricarana. Rachel rolls out of the ring looking glossy eyed as she spills to the mats. Alana kips up to her feet, looking ever so confident. That arrogance fades away when spotting Ethan standing on the apron ion front of her.
Greyson: Ooooh boy, this is gonna be good. Ethan and Alana finally about to fight it out.
Frankie: This collision has been a LONG-LONG-LOOOONG time coming.
Alana motions for Ethan to enter the ring and that’s precisely what he’s about to do. He slips through the ropes and into the squared circle, then motions for Alana to bring it. She starts to move towards Ethan and the two are at last on the verge of tying up before Ethan finds his body being dragged out of the ring. Aiken reaches under the ropes, takes Ethan by the ankle and pulls it out from under him. He then pulls Ethan out of the ring before taking him around the neck and snapping back into a downward spiral that plants Von Aaron’s face into the apron.
Sparkles: So much for that.
Ethan crashes to the floor and Aiken stands over him wearing a twisted sneer.
Inside of the ring Alana is approaching Rachel, who is seated in the corner. Alana charges in with the intent of hitting her with a knee but Rachel launches her legs into the air, wrapping them around Starr’s neck. She leans back against the turnbuckle while lifting her boot up high, driving the heel down right into the top of Alana’s head. She then puts both of her feet to Alana’s chest and pushes her away. The shove is so forceful it knocks Alana off of her feet and sends her rolling over to her knees. She leaps to her feet just in time to almost be decapitated by a clothesline. No…Alana ducks the inbound arm of Rachel, hooking the crease of the her arm and then swinging around behind her back, taking her by the jaw and preparing to hit the reverse neck breaker.
At the last second Rachel twists around though, wrapping her arms around Alana’s waist and snapping back into a release German suplex that sends Starr’s spine compressing against the turnbuckle. The fans grimace at the sight of Alana bouncing off the top turnbuckle pad then flipping sideways over the ropes, crashing to the outside mats.
Rachel then stands up shouting curse words over the ropes at the laid out Alana. Her preoccupation with Alana proves detrimental however, because it allows Aiken to slip in behind Rachel and blast her across the back of the head with a scintillating superkick.
Frankie: Hahahaha, you wanted to see Aiken and Rachel get it on, well now you’re getting it.
Greyson: Is there absolutely no low that Aiken and New Eden won’t stoop to?
Frankie: Of course not.
Aiken grabs hold of Rachel’s leg and drags her lifeless body to the middle of the ring. He rolls her to her back then proceeds to crawl up her starting at her feet and working her way up to her chest. He takes her by the wrist, forcing them down to the canvas in a sensual style.
Aiken: Have you not missed this?
The referee makes the count.
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Suddenly Rachel launches a knee straight up and straight into Aiken’s crotch. His jaw drops and his black eyes widen into an expression of total agony. Rachel lifts her boots into the air, wedges them to Aiken’s gut and connects with almost a modified monkey flip. She then rolls back and finds herself mounting Aiken’s chest now and her fists launching repeatedly across his face.
Greyson: FINALLY! FINALY Rachel has got her hands on Aiken.
Sparkles: Listen to this reaction.
The fans are going nuts, standing and slapping either their chairs or the barricade in response to Rachel’s attack on her ex-husband. She rises to her feet and starts to stomp furiously away at his chest. She then rolls to the outside of the ring and reaches beneath it, grabbing a kendo stick. She slides back in with weapon in her hands, swinging it right down over Aiken’s kidneys. He bridges his back, rising to his knees and roaring in anguish. He stands up and receives a second stiff strike across the spine with the kendo stick. A third blow across the back sends Aiken rolling to the outside of the ring, dropping surprisingly to his feet. He then looks up towards the apron that Rachel is leaping off of. She swings her kendo stick down right into his forehead.
Greyson: Rachel is just wearing Aiken out.
Sparkles: She’s waited so long to get her revenge for everything Aiken subjected her to while they were bound in matrimony.
Those binds are now severed as Rachel throws aside the cane and fills her hands with Aiken’s hair, dragging his face into the cell. His flesh begins to grind across the mesh, tearing his forehead to shreds, and the crowd is loving every last second of it. Rachel finally turns away from Aiken and screams at the top of her lungs. That’s when Alana comes diving off the mats, through the nearest turnbuckle and into Rachel, catching her around the neck in order to spike her on her head via the tornado DDT. The GOOD Eden connects on Rachel, seemingly knocking her out cold.
Starr drags the unconscious body of her victim from the mats then deposits her in the ring. The kendo stick is picked up from the mats and finds its way back into the squared circle, Alana clutching it tight. She steps towards Rachel and cracks her in the ribs with the stick, causing her to curl into the fetal position. Alana then steps over Rachel’s back, puts the kendo stick across her throat and pulls back, putting her in a modified camel clutch. Rachel is gasping for air as her esophagus is crushed by the cane.
Speaking of crushed, that’s exactly how Alana’s head ends up when it finds itself on the receiving end of a steel chair. Ethan swings the chair right into the top of Alana’s cranium, potentially cracking it.
Greyson: And now we FINALLY get to see Alana and Ethan wage war.
Sparkles: After a chair demolishes Alana’s head.
Frankie: That savage. How dare he do that to Alana. How dare he.
Greyson: He was saving Rachel.
Alana rolls away from Rachel, grabbing at her swelling head….which was already pretty swollen via her ego. Ethan throws aside the chair and wraps his hands around Alana’s head, pulling her up into a snap suplex right onto that very chair. Alana bows her back from the chair and grimaces in anguish. Ethan stays on the attack, dragging Alana to her feet and hitting her with a second snap suplex onto the chair. Alana rolls off the chair and reaches for her potentially snapped spine. She ends up in the turnbuckle, resting her traumatized body against it. Ethan approaches her with the chair in hand, driving the edge of it right into her ribs.
He then takes the chair and sets it up before backing away to the center of the ring. Ethan gets a running start, about to step off the chair and launch himself into Alana. But the chair is suddenly taken out of play. Aiken reaches into the ring from the outside mats and grabs the chair, sliding it out of the squared circle.
Instead of abandoning the move Ethan has committed to, he goes through with it. Only now he doesn’t jump off of the chair, he jumps off of Rachel’s back. She assumes the position the chair was just in and Ethan steps off her spine, launching himself into a forearm smash that nails Alana between the eyes. She drops to her seat, leaning against the turnbuckle.
Rachel backs into the far turnbuckle then takes off across the ring, dropping into a baseball slide aimed at Alana. At the last second though Aiken reaches through the ropes from ringside, grabs Alana by the wrist and drags her out of harm’s way. She drops to the mats beside him and Rachel slides past the turnbuckle, under the ropes and to the outside of the ring. She rushes right around it, charging straight into a clothesline that connects to Aiken’s throat, knocking him to the mats.
She then goes after Alana only to have the edge of a chair smacked right into her ribs. Rachel backs away from Alana holding her mid-section. At the same time Ethan is reaching through the ropes to grab Alana only to have her fling the chair she’s holding straight into his skull. The chair bounces off of Ethan’s head and he now goes rolling back to the center of the ring. Somehow he ends up on his knees, where he finds his face smashed with the chair a second time. Alana flings the chair with all of her strength into Ethan’s brow, knocking him to his back.
Alana picks up the chair, leaps into the air and puts the steel under her thighs. She hits a leg drop, planting the chair under her straight into Von Aaron’s face. Her former agent now lies beneath Alana, who still has the chair in hand as she stands up. She then throws that chair a third time, right into the face of a recovered Rachel. She had just climbed back to the apron before finding the steel ricocheting from her skull and her body going right back down to the ringside mats.
Alana picks the chair back up and places it over Ethan’s skull before scaling the nearest turnbuckle. She balances herself then takes to the air, delivering a double stomp right into the chair, driving it against Ethan’s face. Alana then tucks into a forward roll to her feet before leaving them in order to flip into a plancha that connects with Rachel at ringside.
Frankie: OOOOH BABY!
Greyson: A tremendous display of athleticism from Alana with that explosive offense.
Sparkles: The last thing explosive that came out of Sparkles was dia….
Greyson: Shut up now!
Alana and Rachel lay at ringside while Ethan lies a crumpled mess in the middle of the ring. Aiken takes advantage, crawling onto Ethan, not sensually, and making the cover.
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Shockingly Ethan manages to get a shoulder up and off the canvas. This possesses Aiken to climb into the nearest turnbuckle scale to the top rope and take to the air. He eventually connects with the double stomp right to Ethan’s ribcage. Ethan rolls across the ring clutching at his mid-section. He eventually gets to the apron and manages to work his way to his feet. That’s when Aiken rushes in from behind and hits a dropkick to Ethan’s back, launching him off the apron face first into the Hell in a Cell wall. He ricochets off then tumbles to the ground a broken heap.
Somehow he starts to work his way to his feet, standing just in time to be hit with a leaping knee strike off the apron. Aiken dives off the apron and slams his knee right upside Ethan’s brow, knocking his rival to the ground. Aiken then hears Alana shouting at him from behind. He looks over his shoulder at Alana, who has Rachel back on her feet and pressed spine first against the cell.
Rachel is held in place while Aiken takes Ethan by the legs, catapulting him directly into Rachel and into the cell. The two crack into one another and now lie motionless on the mats. Unfortunately Rachel is seated with her back to the cell wall, leaving her susceptible to the running knee from Alana. She charges in and crashes her knee directly into Rachel’s face, driving the back of her head into the mesh. Alana then moves out of the way as Aiken comes running in and leaves his feet, hitting a diving crossbody into Rachel.
The New Eden duo now drags Ethan to his feet by his wrists then launch him back first into the cell wall. They pull him away from the cell then launch him spine first into it again. They then repeat this process a third time, a fourth time, and a FIFTH time. Eventually Von Aaron crumbles to the ground, lying there unconscious and unable to help Rachel.
She is pulled to her feet by her hair and then turned so that her face is pressed to the mesh wiring. Aiken rubs his ex-wife’s face back and forth across the steel tearing and ripping the skin from her body. He then holds her in place just long enough for Alana to run in and dropkick Rachel in the back of the head, further compressing her face against the mesh. Aiken at last returns Rachel to the ring, revealing the blood that is dribbling down her cheeks. Alana climbs on top of her and starts to work over the gash in her face with both fists.
Aiken slowly climbs into the ring with the kendo stick in his hand, swinging it playfully out to his side. Alana pins Rachel’s wrists to the canvas, holding her in place long enough for Aiken to swing the cane, crushing her ribs. Aiken swings the cane a second time into the mid-section, inflicting further damage to the internal organs.
Finally Ethan slides into the ring, trying to protect Rachel, but Aiken stomps him to the back of the head cutting him off. Aiken throws the cane to Alana and takes hold of Ethan’s hair, dragging him into the nearest corner. Ethan is pressed chest first against the turnbuckle and Aiken steps to the apron, grabbing Ethan’s wrists and pulling his arms towards Frost. As a result Ethan is left entirely defenseless against the cane shots being delivered to his back over and over again by Alana.
Greyson: New Eden just methodically decimating Rachel and Ethan.
Frankie: Called it. Knew this is how the match would go.
Greyson: You didn’t call anything. You’ve sat here all night long text messaging on your damn Apple Watch and occasionally only chiming in with a sexist remark.
Frankie: Like there’s something wrong with that?
Another shot across the skin leaves an indelible red splotch on Ethan’s flesh and leaves him leant against the corner looking lifeless. Alana steps up the turnbuckle and stands both above and behind Ethan, taking the kendo stick and rubbing it back and forth across Ethan’s forehead. Finally she and Aiken allow Ethan to fall to his back, where he desperately tries to recover.
Rachel comes crawling towards him and over Ethan, trying her best to protect him. But it’s too little too late. Alana kicks Rachel away then drags her up to her feet.
Alana: You want to protect him, FINE.
Alana places Rachel in what looks like a reverse wheel barrow, suspending her in the air right over the laid out Ethan. Now Aiken comes flying off the top rope and hits a leg drop across Rachel’s throat, driving her down right into Ethan. The Death Sentence has left both Ethan and Rachel absolutely brutalized….and it’s going to get even more brutal from there.
Aiken steps around to Ethan’s legs, hooking them under Frost’s armpits. He then drops back and catapults Ethan right into a kendo stick across the scalp. Alana slams the cane across the inbound face of her former agent, knocking him clean unconscious.
The same fate is about to be exacted on Rachel, who’s legs are tucked beneath Aiken’s arms. He catapults her right into Alana, who swings the cane only to find her ribs crushed by a spear. At the last second Rachel bends down and in mid-air, spears Alana down to the ring. She then rolls through the spear and onto her feet, Tatum ricocheting off the ropes, charging at the rising Aiken and nailing him across the face with the Boot Licker. The blow sends him spiraling around right into a kick to the gut proceeded by a DDT onto the chair that was brought in earlier. Ethan dumps Aiken’s face into the steel, resulting in Frost rolling along into the corner. He sits up looking dazed and then into the chair that is being held in front of his face. Ethan shouts at Rachel, who climbs the far turnbuckle, reaching the very tippy top and then preparing to dive off with a coast to coast dropkick into the chair.
A mere second before the kick can be delivered and shatter Aiken’s face, Alana interferes. She rushes across the ring and pushes Rachel off the corner, sending her crashing down to the apron. Alana then turns towards Ethan, who is barreling in only to be caught with a drop toe hold that sends his face plummeting into the turnbuckle. Ethan bounces off then falls to his back, seated up against the corner. A chair now finds itself wedged in his face, Alana holding it there while calling out to Aiken.
Frost rolls under the ropes, climbs to the top one and prepares to hit a coast to coast dropkick into the chair.
Greyson: New Eden going to continue their display of dominance.
Sparkles: And end this Hell in a Cell match on the most painful note.
Frankie: Their going to let Executioner sing America the Beautiful again.
Greyson: Good lord NO-NO-NO!
Aiken smirks at the fans who plead with him to show mercy. No mercy will be shown to Ethan as Aiken goes flying….not into Ethan, but into the canvas. Rachel leaps to the apron behind Aiken, wedges a hand to his bum and pushes him off the corner, sending him flipping onto his back with a hard crash. Alana reacts, rushing across the ring to stop Rachel only to have Rachel run across the apron and nail her with a clothesline to the throat. Alana is taken down, ending up on the canvas while Aiken ends up on the outside mats. He is now seated with his back to the mesh and his body ravaged with pain. Soon he finds a chair wedged to his face, Ethan holding it in place. Rachel looks around at the cheering fans then leaps off the apron, soaring over the mats and clearing quite a distance before delivering the coast to coast dropkick outta the ring and into the chair, driving it back into Aiken’s face. He finds his head crushed between chair and the mesh of the cell wall.
Fans: THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME!
Greyson: WOW!
Sparkles: Couldn’t phrase it any better.
Aiken sits up against the cell wall looking every bit on dream street, blood seeping from the nostrils of a potentially broken nose. Rachel staggers away from him and towards the ring, grabbing the tarp hanging from the apron and clearing it from her path. She reaches beneath, fetching a table.
Greyson: Now a table coming into play here.
Frankie: Yeah, Ethan and Rachel TRIED to put Alana through a table on the last NewAge, the bunch of sick freaks are probably gonna TRY and do it again tonight.
Greyson: How can you call Ethan and Rachel sick freaks for attempting to put Alana through a table when on Riot, Aiken and Alan attempted to have their Hell-Hounds powerbomb Ethan through a FLAMING table.
Frankie: Because I’m a God damned hypocrite, fucking deal with it.
The table is slid into the ring and before long Rachel and Ethan are setting it up. Ethan then departs the ring to grab Aiken, slowly dragging him back towards the squared circle. It seems he’s destined to go through the table but Alana helps him defy his fate. She rushes across the ring behind Rachel, grabs the back of her head and throws her through the ropes right into Ethan. The two crash into one another and collapse to the ground. They slowly work their way back up to their feet while Alana dashes across the ring and back flips over the ropes into a moonsault, coming down right into the shoulders of her enemies.
Alana staggers back into the cell, leaning on it for support. She then approaches the ring, reaches beneath it and smiles over what she sees waiting there. A plank covered in barbwire is slid from beneath the squared circle.
Frankie: Who in their right mind puts this shit under the ring?
Greyson: Barbwire coming into play. Surprised it took this long to get this violent.
Sparkles: This is what Hell in a Cell is all about.
The plank is slid into the ring and then so is Ethan’s body. He ends up dangerously close to the barbwire, just missing getting himself tangled in the razor sharp cabling. He slowly works his way to his feet, stooped over the plank that may serve to his demise. Alana slips into the ring beside him and then lunges into the air, going for the Star Crossed that will send him plummeting face first into the barbwire. Ethan JUST manages to swing his body out of the way though, causing Alana’s leg to miss the back of his head. She then turns around and finds her face crushed by a right hand, followed by a second and third blow out of Ethan. The shots send Alana staggering back and towards the barbwire plank. She teeters on the brink of falling into the razor sharp wires.
Ethan goes rushing back into the ropes, ricochets off and then goes to clothesline her back into the barbs but Alana bends down and attempts to counter into the back drop. Ethan stops just shy of being flipped into the barbwire, kicking Alana in the face and causing her to stand straight up looking dazed. Ethan stomps his foot then launches it into the Epic Fail, the spinning superkick BARELY missing Alana’s head. Ethan’s momentum behind the missed kick sends him spiraling completely around and into the waiting legs of his opponent. Alana leaps into the air, lands on the back of Ethan’s shoulders and prepares to hit him with the reverse hurricarana into the barbwire.
Starr is right on the verge of finishing her agent off before Rachel comes springing off the top rope in front of her and crashes into Starr with a crossbody. Ethan drops back at the same time as he and Rachel hit a modified doomsday device that sends Alana crashing down into the barbwire.
Frankie: NOOOOOOO!
Greyson: Alana onto the barbwire! Onto the barbwire!!
Alana can’t even cry out in pain, she just bridges her spine off of the barbwire piercing her flesh and extends her open palms out to her sides.
Frankie: This is…this is…
Sparkles: CRAY-CRAY!
Greyson: Been far too long since I heard you say that Sparkles. And this time, you’re right.
Alana rolls to her side revealing the gashes open in her back and the blood spewing out of them. The fans are slapping the barricade and stomping their feet in total shock over the last move that has potentially ended Alana’s run in this match. Ethan now drags her to the center of the ring and sits down on her chest, pulling one of her legs up into the air and hooking it for the pin.
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The referee’s hand is just now coming down for the three before Aiken enters the ring behind Ethan, grabs the plank covered in barbwire and sends it flipping up into Ethan’s back.
Greyson: AAAAH!
The barbwire crashes into Ethan and breaks up the pinfall. Von Aaron drops to his stomach with the barbwire plank coming down top of him. Aiken then begins to stomp the plank over and over again, driving the barbwire down into his flesh. Aiken then grabs the steel chair and slams it into the bottom of the plank, causing the barbs on the other side to rip through the flesh of Ethan trapped beneath it.
Greyson: Stop this! For God sakes stop this! STOP THIS!
Frankie: Aiken’s not going to stop until Ethan isn’t breathing.
Aiken throws aside the chair and starts to back towards the ropes. He climbs up the turnbuckle, readying himself to fly off and crash into the plank, driving the barbwire into his rival. Before he can take Ethan’s life, salvation comes in the form of Rachel Tatum Lee. She dashes across the ring, steps up the turnbuckle, stands in front of her ex-husband, slamming her fist repeatedly into his bloodied nose. Rachel then leaps into the air onto Aiken’s shoulders and prepares to drop back into the hurricarana. However, Aiken counters into a SUPER powerbomb, leaping off the turnbuckle and throwing Rachel down right onto the barbwire plank that Ethan is trapped beneath.
Greyson: HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN!
Sparkles: Rachel powerbombed into that barbwire plank, and-and-and JESUS Ethan was under it!
Frankie: So if he tries to drink a cup of water do you think it will come pouring out of his body through like a thousand little holes? That be hilarious.
Rachel and Ethan lie on the canvas broken, but not broken enough. Aiken grabs Rachel by the hair, drags her up to her feet and towards the opposite turnbuckle, the one situated right beside the table. Aiken climbs up it backwards and pulls Rachel along with him. The two reach the top rope and now Aiken hoists Rachel up to his shoulders before jumping and powerbombing her off the turnbuckle and THROUGH the table!
Greyson: AH FUCK! AHHH FUCK!
Frankie: Now Rachel goes right through the table!!
The wood shatters around the body of Rachel and Aiken just sits there on the canvas with a far off look in his groggy eyes. Finally he pulls Rachel’s legs over his shoulders and leans into them for the pin.
Greyson: It’s academic at this point.
Sparkles: New Eden has just clinched a victory.
The referee makes the count with the fans dreadfully droning on in the background.
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And New Eden secures the fate of Rachel and Ethan. Which would be true if Rachel didn’t kick out of the pinfall.
Frankie: BULLSHIT!
The fans are screaming in total disbelief over that kick out, which leaves Aiken sitting there eyes wider and blacker than they’ve ever been before. With blood gushing down from his nostrils and shock hanging over his face he slowly inches his way up to his feet. He now takes the barbwire plank and drags it into position, placing it diagonally against the turnbuckle. Aiken staggers towards Rachel and grabs her by the hair, dragging her out of the broken table then onto her feet. Alana stumbles in and grabs Rachel by the hair as well. Now both New Eden members rush across the ring and throw Rachel not only into the barbwire but THROUGH the wooden plank it’s attacked to.
The barbwire wraps around Rachel’s body and that very frame goes through the wood as well.
Greyson: This has just went past the point of total and complete brutality.
Sparkles: These four are absolutely murdering one another inside of that cell.
Instead of going for the pin Alana turns around and waves towards the back. Through the curtains steps Krauzer, the Hell-Hound making his way down the steps and then down the ramp.
Greyson: We knew it was only a matter of time before this happened.
Sparkles: New Eden calling in the cavalry.
Frankie: It’s long since past due.
Krauzer stops on the outside of the Hell in a Cell and grabs the door. Instead of simply opening it he actually rips the door off its hinges and then throws it inside of the cell. The monster is starting to enter the devil’s playground himself before stopping when he hears the snarled breaths behind his back. He looks over his shoulder and spots Jed Wayne making his way down the ramp wearing sunglasses.
Greyson: It’s Jed!
Sparkles: We haven’t seen him since he was abducted by Tombstone two weeks ago.
Greyson: I guess they’ve set him free, and at the worst possible time. He’s answering the call of his New Eden masters to help them inside of the cell.
Jed stops at Krauzer’s side, pats him on the shoulder then points into the ring at Ethan. The two begin to make their way towards the beaten down Von Aaron, Krauzer leading the way. It looks like the Hell-Hounds will destroy Ethan but instead it’s Krauzer who is CRUSHED. Jed blasts him over the back of the head with a hammer that he removes from his waistband.
Greyson: What the….?
Aiken and Alana look shocked inside of the ring, glaring to the outside where one of their Hounds has just laid out the other. The New Eden duo seem even more surprised when Jed rips off his sunglasses to reveal that they are no longer puddles of black. His pupils have returned and they are fixated on the very pair who filled him with the DARK.
Greyson: Jed is cured! He’s cured of New Eden’s influence!
Alana and Aiken are so mad their trembling. All they can do at this point is watch as Jed grabs Krauzer by the arm, drags him up to his feet and throws him out of the cell. Jed follows along, beating down Krauzer to a loud ovation from the crowd. Meanwhile in the ring Aiken is going straight after a recovering Ethan, who reveals a huge gash in the top of his head saturating his face with blood. Aiken steps in and launches a right hand at Ethan’s face, knocking him back into the ropes. At the same time Alana is stomping away at Rachel’s body, which is still wrapped in barbwire. Shen stands on the side of Rachel’s face, pushing the barbwire down with her boots into Tatum’s cheek.
Aiken rolls out of the ring and grabs the cell door, lifting it into the air and placing it in front of him as he starts to carry it into the squared circle. Before he reaches the ring the door comes into play, because Ethan comes diving over the ropes and into a crossbody, crashing into the door and driving it back into Aiken. Both men hit the ground amidst a loud scream from the fans.
Inside of the ring Alana is dragging Rachel to the center, leaving her punctured and lacerated body splayed across the canvas. Alana then takes off into the ropes, ricochets from them then lunges into the air, hitting the Starr Crossed on her opponent. Rachel takes a tumble into the ring and Alana lunges back to her feet. She turns and spots Ethan standing up over Aiken and the cell door.
Alana rushes towards the ropes, leaps through them and goes sailing right into the door. Ethan flings it into the air and into Alana’s face. Her skull bounces off the mesh and her body goes spiraling to the ground.
Ethan, who is an absolute bloody mess, approaches the ring and begins to search beneath it. What he finds is another table, this one wrapped in razor wire.
Frankie: What kind of sadists do we employ to put shit like this under the ring? Seriously I want an answer to this right now.
Greyson: As if a regular table isn’t bad enough, this one is wrapped in barbwire.
Ethan agonizes as he pulls the table up from the mats then slides it into the ring. He then approaches the cage door, lifts it and throws it into the ring as well. Ethan finally slides into the squared circle and starts to set the razor wire table up. He gets it into position before turning his focus back to Aiken, who is SOMEHOW climbing up onto the apron. Ethan takes him around the neck at this point, steps across the ring and to the turnbuckle. Ethan steps up the corner dragging Aiken along with him on the opposite side of the ropes. Both men now stand on the highest point of the cable with Ethan lifting Aiken and preparing to superplex him through the table. But Aiken shifts his weight and comes back down onto his feet across the top rope. Ethan tries again to lift him into the superplex but finds his back buckling under the strain of Aiken’s weight.
Suddenly Alana dashes, as fast as her injured body will allow, across the ring and into a clubbing blow straight to Ethan’s lower back. She then slips through the ropes and steps up the turnbuckle. Ultimately she ends up standing beside Aiken, the two of them placing Ethan in a stereo front chancery. They look over their bloodied victim then nod, preparing to throw him from the top rope and through the razor wire table. But Rachel interferes in their plans, limping across the ring and then up the turnbuckle. She stands beside Ethan, throwing punches over him and into the faces of both Aiken and Alana. Suddenly Ethan comes back to life, hitting both of his adversaries with jabs as well. Finally Rachel and Ethan take both Alana and Aiken by their heads, using all four of their arms to apply simultaneous front chanceries. The crowd stands in anticipation as Ethan and Rachel stereo superplex Aiken and Alana through the razor wire table.
Greyson: OOOOH!! OOOH! OOOOH!
Sparkles: DOUBLE SUPERPLEX! DOUBLE SUPERPLEX THROUGH THE TABLE!
The razor wire is tearing through the flesh of both Alana and Aiken while the crowd’s screams are tearing through the Staples Center.
Fans: I-DUBBYA-CEE! I-DUBBYA-CEE!
Ethan and Rachel simultaneous drag their adversaries from the table then fall into lateral presses. Ethan covers Alana and Rachel covers Aiken. The referee makes a double count to a huge outcry of emotion from the fans.
1-1
2-2
And both hands come down one last time to officially declare Ethan and Rachel the victors. Yep, that probably would have happened if neither Aiken or Alana had kicked out. Now the fans are absolutely speechless at the sight of Aiken getting a shoulder up AND Alana getting a shoulder up.
Frankie: STILL!?!
Sparkles: How do these four have ANYTHING left?
Ethan and Rachel are asking themselves that very same question as they rise to their feet and drag their bloodied bodies towards their opponents. Actually Rachel steps past Aiken and towards the barbwire plank, beginning to unravel the barbwire. At the same time Ethan is stepping past Alana and grabbing the razor wire around the fragmented chunks of table, pulling on it until he has a strand in his hands. Ethan steps in behind a now seated Alana and wraps the barbwire around her forehead, pulling back on it and tearing at her flesh. Rachel now stepped over Aiken’s back and has placed the barbwire around his throat, yanking on it and tearing at his esophagus.
Blood is oozing down the faces of both New Eden members as they find their bodies being torn apart by their vengeful rivals. Rachel drops the barbwire and her ex husband before approaching the cage door. She picks up one side and Ethan picks up the other, extending the mesh out between them. They now rush across the ring and drive the cell door into the rising body of Aiken, knocking him down to the ground. They spin around and charge at Alana, driving the mesh into her body as well. Finally they throw down the cell door and Ethan begins to stomp his foot, readying for the Epic Fail. Rachel grabs the body of Alana and pulls her up from the canvas so that she can be drilled in the face with the kick.
Ethan starts to swing around to deliver the Epic Fail only to find himself caught from behind. Ethan is now heaved into the air and the back of his head is driven right into Aiken’s knee with the Desecration. The blow knocks Ethan out and has Aiken collapsing from blood loss and sheer physical exhaustion.
Frankie: Ahhh yes, the Desecration connects!
Greyson: But Aiken can’t make the cover.
Rachel drops Alana and approaches Ethan, stooping down to check on his condition. She finally turns back and spots Alana standing with the aid of the ropes. Rachel charges in to get her hands on the GOOD Girl but Alana hits her with a kick under the jaw, sending Tatum Lee spiraling away from her. Alana then steps to Rachel’s side, takes her around the neck and sets up for the Five Starr. She is just about to hit it before Rachel swings around out of position, then pulls Alana into the Loredo Lasso. But Alana manages to duck it and Rachel goes staggering right into an uppercut by Aiken. The blow sends Rachel staggering back into Alana’s waiting arms, she catches Rachel, hooks her arms behind her back and leaves her exposed. Aiken picks up a chunk of table still wrapped in barbwire then rushes in, swinging right at Rachel. However Rachel ducks and the barbwire smashes Alana straight in the face.
Frankie: FUUUUCK!
Greyson: Aiken just hit Alana, his own partner with the barbwire!
Frankie: That was an accident, it was an accident!
Alana collapses to the canvas and Aiken stands over her with an apologetic expression on his face. He finally turns around and finds the barbwire laced board in his hand being hit with the Epic Fail. Ethan spinning superkicks the barbwire straight back and into Aiken’s face. The shot causes Aiken to drop the table spiral around and then find himself unwittingly walking right into Rachel’s arms. She shows her tremendous strength by scooping him up, holding him upside down then giving her ex husband the Dead in Tombstone right onto the barbwire. Rachel falls across Aiken’s chest and Ethan sits down on her back, giving her even more pressure on the pin.
Greyson: Epic Fail. Dead in Tombstone. If this doesn’t finish the match, NOTHING will!
The referee makes the three count to the loudest screams of the night.
1
2
The Staples Center actually shakes as the count is made, declaring Rachel and Ethan the victors in this…perhaps the most violet and intense match of either of their careers.
Greyson: It’s-it’s-it’s-god it’s over-god it’s over!
Sparkles: Good parmesan in heaven it’s done.
Frankie: WHAT… A …. WAR!
Four bloody bodies lie in the ring but two start to work their way up to their feet. Ethan and Rachel drag themselves out of the wreckage of this match and stand triumphant in the confines of the cell. They embrace in a hug, standing over the wrecked and ravaged frames of Alana and Aiken. They now climb up to the top rope on opposite ends of the ring, lifting their arms high above their heads but almost collapsing due to exhaustion and blood loss.
Greyson: Enjoy this moment Rachel. Celebrate Ethan. The two of you have just earned the biggest emotional victory of your careers.
Frankie: I may think their assholes….
Greyson: Yeah?
Frankie: That’s it. I think their assholes.
Greyson: Well those assholes have finally defeated New Eden in the cell tonight.
Ethan carries the NHB Title across the ring and places it over Rachel’s shoulder before helping her out of the ring. The two finally leave the confines of the Hell in a Cell, where they just fought in maybe the most gruesome and bloodiest of battles. They stumble their way up the ramp, leaving their staunchest rivals behind. It takes a moment for both Alana and Aiken to begin stirring, at last Aiken sits up with blood masking his face. It seems to be setting in on him that he’s just lost this match.
Greyson: That’s right Aiken and Alana, you were beaten! You were beaten you bastards! You finally got what was coming to you.
Alana has crawled into a corner, leaning against it as blood travels down the contours of her face. She looks longingly at Aiken, who sits up with an apologetic expression on his face. Suddenly the lights in the Staples Center cut out.
Greyson: What’s-what’s-what’s going on NOW!?!
The lights remain out for a few moments before returning to illuminate perhaps the most disturbing image in IWC history…no…WRESTING history. Aiken Frost is hanging high above the middle of the ring by a noose attached to the roof of the Hell in a Cell…a noose fabricated out of razor wire. And who has orchestrated this? The very same person standing beneath Aiken and looking up at his blood soaked choking body. That person being….Cindy Todd.
Greyson: Oh-oh-oh my God-oh my God, what is-what is SHE doing here?
Sparkles: That’s Cindy Todd, one of ULW’s most prolific and vicious competitors.
Cindy’s black pupil deprived eyes are fixated on Aiken as he struggles feebly to remove the noose from around his throat. A feint hint of a smile begins to crack her face.
Greyson: This is too much…this is just TOO MUCH. Cut away. Cut to SOMETHING!
Sparkles: Cindy Todd is here in the IWC and she has just strangled Aiken Frost. Someone get out here before it’s too late.
Greyson: Cut away for God sakes!
VIDEO
A video package starts to play featuring a horse’s hooves connecting with the ground, sending sand spewing into the air. The hooves move in slow motion, as does the dirt left dissipating in their wake. In the background we can hear the guttural roars of a crowd, ALSO in slow motion. Finally the camera cuts to the chariot being pulled by the horses and steered by a gladiator in full battle regalia. He lifts a whip and slaps the hides of his steeds. All of this is done in slow motion as well. Finally the whip drops and the Gladiator fills his hand with something else, a spear, one that he flings right at the camera. It spirals through the air, over the horses, through some columns and meets its target, the hands of Katelyn Buehler. She snatches the spear right out of the air with one hand, the blade stopping a mere inch in front of her eye. The camera zooms in on that eye, her pupil not reflecting the tip of the spear but the Nimes Amphitheater.
Words now consume the screen floating above the Amphitheater.
INVICTUS III: COMING TO NIMES, FRANCE 2016
RINGSIDE
We return to the live action with the camera focused on the frazzled faces of the commentators. Greyson Lovejoy is leaning over the announce table with his fingers running through his hair. Frankie Paradise sits back letting out a long breath. Sparkles is just sitting there without a single hint of emotion.
Greyson: Well….Invictus III to emanate from the Amphitheater in Nimes France.
Frankie: Hopefully it won’t be filled with moments like the one we just witnessed.
Cameras cut back to the ring where Aiken has been cut down from the noose that hung him from the roof of the Hell in a Cell. He is now draped across a stretcher which is being led to the back by EMTs. Alana Starr follows beside him, tears running down her blood stained cheeks.
Greyson: Moments ago we saw the most intense Hell in a Cell match I can personally remember.
Sparkles: Ethan Von Aaron and Rachel Tatum Lee pulled out the victory but it’s the aftermath that we’re focusing on right now.
Greyson: Yes, because Cindy Todd, emerged from nowhere and hung Aiken from the top of the cell by the razor wire noose.
Frankie: What was the motivation behind this attack?
Greyson: I don’t even want an answer, I don’t even want Cindy Todd and everything she represents anywhere near the IWC.
Sparkles: Let’s get past this and concentrate on what’s still to come here tonight, namely the main event, which might have been seriously complicated earlier this evening.
Greyson: Yeah, you’re right Sparkles. Because we were scheduled to see Brittany Lohan officiate the Fatal Four Way main event for the championship, but after having a cinder block shattered over her head this evening at the hands of Mika Kozlov, who knows what condition she’ll be in to handle those officiating duties.
Frankie: Well let’s find out. Cause we’ve got Mark Comeau standing backstage with an update on the Yeti’s condition.
BACKSTAGE
A needle and thread slowly work their way through the gash opened in Brittany Lohan’s scalp. She sits in a chair and allows Head Trainer Yvonne Knight to sew her cut shut without so much as a groan, moan or peep. Lohan is entirely stone faced as she occupies the trainer’s office and receives the much needed medical care resulting from the shattering of the cinder block across her brow. Mark Comeau stands beside the pair with his back to them and his focus on the camera in front of him.
Comeau: As you can see the Special Guest Referee for our main event tonight is receiving 12 stitches to close the wound put in her forehead as a result of that cinder block attack at the hands of Mika Kozlov. And as I understand it she has REFUSED impact testing to detect rather or not she has a concussion.
Lohan: I love it when people talk about me like I’m not in the room.
Brittany stands up with the thread still hanging out of her forehead, grabbing Mark’s wrist and yanking the microphone in his hand to her lips.
Lohan: You want to know why I refused impact testing. Because it doesn’t matter if I have a concussion. Nothing is going to keep me from officiating the main event. If I have to be carted to that ring I’ll officiate that four way and make sure the title goes to the person who EARNS it.
Lohan’s furious blue eyes twist to the camera.
Lohan: And anyone who thinks their going to interfere in the main event…think again. Silas World. Dan Douglas, Destiny Nichols, Kelcey Wallace, New Eden, you’re ALL banned from ringside!
Lohan releases Mark’s wrist then turns her back on him looking down at Yvonne, who is rendered speechless.
Lohan: We’re through here.
She wraps her hand around the loose slack of the stitching in her brow then tears it off before leaving the trainer’s office.
BACKSTAGE
A number of objects come flying off the surface of a table, swept aside by an angry William Mason. The No Limits Champion should be celebrating the successful defense of his title earlier tonight, but at the moment he’s in a full-fledged rage. He slaps his hands down on the table situated in the backstage corridor, almost driving his fists right down and through it.
William: Those bastards! Those BASTARDS! How could they interfere in my match!?!
The table finally goes flipping over.
BACKSTAGE
Karen McBride: What were you thinking Drake?
Cameras catch up with Karen McBride standing in front of the diminutive Desmond Drake. At the moment Drake is leaning against the wall holding an ice bag to his forehead. Clearly Drake is still suffering as a result of the kick he received from Silas earlier tonight.
Drake: I obviously didn’t plan this out very well.
Karen: No, no you didn’t. Frist off, you shouldn’t have got in the ring with Silas, and second, you shouldn’t have come here thinking you could ever make things right between us.
Drake: You can’t fault me for trying.
Karen: There’s no way I’m teaming with you tonight Desmond. No way.
Drake: I thought you might be skeptical. I mean, our business relationship didn’t end on the best terms.
Karen: Like it started out any better?
Drake: Fair enough. But I’ve changed Karen. It wasn’t until I lost everything that I realized I didn’t really have anything to begin with. My life has always been empty. Hollow. I want to fill it. Fill it with friendship and with hope. Just give me a chance Karen, that’s all I’m asking. Let me be your partner tonight. Let me help you fight Blaire and Silas and keep your job.
The conviction in Desmond’s eyes at last sways Karen.
Karen: Fine Desmond. Just don’t get in my way.
Drake: You’re not going to regret this Karen.
Christy: There you are.
Karen is grateful to get out of her conversation with Drake. She turns to face Christy Hightower and JaMarcus Avery, her Prestige teammates.
Karen: What’s up guys?
JaMarcus: We want to talk about William (Mason).
Karen: I figured.
Christy: What are we gonna do?
JaMarcus: How are we go going to fix Mason and bring him back to Prestige?
Karen: Honestly guys, I don’t know if there is any fixing William at this point.
Christy: You can’t mean that. You’re not giving up on him.
Karen takes a deep breath.
Karen: Alright, we’ll talk about this after I get my job back, okay?
JaMarcus: Want us to go out there with you?
Karen: No….apparently I got my backup.
All eyes veer over Karen’s shoulder to Drake, who twiddles his fingers into a wave.
IN-RING
Silas: Alllright-alllright already. Nuff of this bullshit.
The crowd is so stunned by what they just saw happen to Aiken Frost, but they are STILL capable of heckling the sight of Silas Mason. He makes his way out from the back with Blaire McBride standing right beside him. Both are wearing matching jogging suits, but only Silas is holding the microphone.
Silas: We’ve waited long enough Karen McBride. Ya ain’t brushing me off no more and ya ain’t gonna go on threatenin’ my business partner.
The pair slip into the ring where Blaire is already limbering up and Silas is using the muscles in his throat.
Silas: Ya want to fight Blaire tonight, then ya gotta go through me. So go ahead and bring yer little ankle bitter on out ‘ere wit ya and let’s get this ‘tag’ match underway already. It’s time to show the world who the TRUE Principle Owner is.
KAREN MCBRIDE VS. BLAIRE MCBRIDE & SILAS MASON:
PRINCIPLE OWNERSHIP ON THE LINE
There is no hesitation shown by Karen McBride. The second “American Dreamgirl’ hits the Pa system she comes marching from the back with Desmond Drake riding her coattails. The two eagerly move to the ring. Almost immediately Karen goes after Blaire, who high tails it from the ring. Silas then steps right in Karen’s way only to get a hard slap right across the cheek. The blow sends Mason spiraling into the ropes, falling against them, looking STUNNED by that strike. Desmond stands back in the corner, looking all fired up. The commentators finally weigh in.
Greyson: Oh how I wish I was Karen McBride’s hand right now….
Frankie: I wish I was Karen McBride’s bra.
Sparkles: Karen just knocked the taste out of Silas’ mouth.
Greyson: She is finally getting her hands on Silas and on Blaire, who were equally instrumental in robbing her of her Principle Owners…..ohhh what’s this now?
The cameras cut to three men in hooded sweatshirts moseying on down the ramp.
Greyson: Why are these three out here again?
Sparkles: Last we saw them they were interfering in the Christian Savior versus William Mason match. And William was NOT happy that they helped him win his match at all.
Greyson: No he wasn’t. And now to make matters worse it looks like they’re coming out here to potentially complicate this match as well.
Frankie: But for who?
Karen spins around looking red hot at the sight of the hooded trio closing in upon the ring. She steps towards the ropes and shouts over them at these enigmatic figures, warning them what will happen to them if they get even one step closer to the ring.
Behind her back Desmond is rushing across the ring and spearing Silas in the gut, driving him back into the ropes. Drake puts all his strength by a series of punches to both sides of Silas’ ribs, but it has little effect. Finally Silas pushes Desmond back and then drills him in the face with a boot. Drake collapses to the canvas and Silas makes the cover.
1
2
The Staples Center is absolutely livid in response to the sight of Drake’s shoulders being pinned to the canvas.
Greyson: Wait-WAAAAIT! What just-what just-WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!
Sparkles: Those three men in the hoods just distracted Karen and her partner was just pinned behind her back.
The building is expressing their total, complete and absolute rage, but it doesn’t even begin to compare to the anger displayed by Karen. She spins around exploding with fury. Her eyes, clouded with vengeful spite are locked on Silas as he and Blaire exit the ring, join on the ramp and exchange a celebratory hug. Back in the squared circle Desmond is still laying in an unconscious heap.
Greyson: The best business partners in the world manage to do it again! They have robbed Karen of her Principle Ownership for a second time.
Karen is trembling, looking absolutely red hot as she stands and kicks the bottom rope. As if she wasn’t angry enough over her loss, now she has to listen to the words of her sister amplified by the microphone Blaire has just taken possession of.
Blaire: See…see that right there is what sets you and I apart, Karen. That’s why I’m a McBride and your just a pretender to my family’s legacy. You will never be a McBride and you will never be a Principle Owner. I’m the boss, and it’s gonna stay that way for a very-very long….
Silas: Erm, ya sure about that?
Blaire looks confused over Silas’ interruption. Not only does he take the microphone right out of her hand but also removes a contract that was tucked in the waistband behind his back.
Silas: Maybe ya should’ve took a closer look at this ‘ere contract I had ya sign before this match got started. Cause ya might’ve noticed that it didn’t come from Karen and ‘er lawyers. Nah, this contract comes straight from MY lawyers and ya want to know what it says Blaire? It says right ‘ere that whoever scored the pinfall in this handicap match would become the Principle Owner. Remind me, who PINNED Karen?
Now it’s Blaire who is steaming. Literally, you can almost see smoke shooting out of her ears and her nostrils.
Silas: Ladies and gents, it’s ole’ Silas’ pleasure to announce that I am your NEW Principle Owner!
Greyson: WWWHHAAAT!?!
Sparkles: No way! NO WAY!!
Silas moseys on to the back with a huge grin on his face, leaving Blaire flipping out at ringside and Karen equally as enraged inside of the squared circle.
Frankie: The snake has done it again. Both McBride sisters now feeling his bite.
Greyson: Tell me this isn’t true. Tell me that Silas Mason is NOT our Principle Owner.
Sparkles: Does anybody truly appreciate what this means for the IWC?
Greyson: I-I-I can’t even begin to digest this.
Frankie: I can’t wait to see the changes that Silas brings to our company.
Greyson: I am just….yeah, I can’t….wow….this is mind blowing.
As if this wasn’t a big enough blow to Karen, she now finds her focus twisting from Mason and McBride to the three men in hoodies who distracted her long enough to lose this match. They climb up to the ring aprons, surrounding McBride.
Greyson: Things just keep going from bad to worse for McBride.
One of the individuals wearing a hooded sweatshirt lifts a microphone to their lips.
Voice: What did I tell you two weeks ago, Karen?
The hood pulls back from the speaker’s face, revealing the smile extending from one of Kloe Masters’ cheeks to the other. The individual standing beside her takes the hood and drags it away from her face as well, revealing her identity as that of Tina Valentine.
Tina: She told you that William Mason needed to surround himself with like-minded individuals.
The third person in the sweatshirt pulls their hood away from their face. The shadows no longer mask their identity, revealing the maniacal gaze of William Mason.
William: And that’s just what I’ve done. Because now I have an AXIS to support me.
Karen is as white as a sheet as she now spots William dropping to the mats and being surrounded by Kloe Masters and Tina Valentine. The trio back up the ramp and away from a floored McBride in the ring.
Greyson: WHAT!?!
Sparkles: My Willie, he’s-he’s been in cahoots with Kloe and Tina Valentine this whole time?
Greyson: This is just plain twisted!
Frankie: Good for you, Willie, good for you.
Mason, Valentine and Masters make their way to the back leaving Karen on her knees in the ring, grabbing at hair she desperately tries to keep from ripping out of her scalp.
Greyson: I’m at a complete loss for words right now. I’m-I’m…
Sparkles: Well let’s get to something else then before Lovejoy has to receive oxygen. The past seven days have been all about Invictus week, meaning that our IWC superstars have been on a full-fledged media blitz, including Andre Jordan. He guest starred on the Jimmy Kimmel show this week and had some pretty interesting things to say about his Invictus opponent in the Evolution Title match.
VIDEO
EARLIER THIS WEEK
A video jumps to Jimmy Kimmel seated behind his desk and looking towards his studio audience.
Kimmel: My next guest is the prolific athlete that on May 4th competes at the big spring-time wrestling event Invictus. Please welcome Andre Jordan.
The footage cuts to Andre making his way out from the back and being greeted by Kimmel. The two shake hands and then Dre slips into the cushioned chair beside Kimmel’s desk. We segue into a later portion of the interview.
Kimmel: So May 4th, big night for you, big night for wrestling in general.
Andre: Yep, that’s right. Invictus is coming up, and it’s pretty much the holy mecca of wrestling events. It’s like our Superbowl without all the pads.
Kimmel: But the protective cups are still mandatory, right?
Andre: Of course. That’s some fragile equipment down there.
Another time lapse in the footage takes us to a few seconds later in the interview.
Kimmel: Now from what the mighty internet has told me, Invictus is going to be particularly significant for you. You’ve got a big title match coming up right?
Andre: Oh yes. I’m taking on Gavin Taylor for the Evolution Championship, in a match billed as over a year in the making.
Kimmel: One year? Jesus I’ve bought cars that haven’t lasted that long.
Another cut in the footage to later in the interview.
Andre: Gavin and I have a unique history, which puts a lot of wrinkles in our match. We’ve been enemies, we’ve been partners, we were even Tag Team Champions at one point, but apparently it was all part of some Star Wars Emperor Palpatine style plot so he could get close enough to me to take my Evolution Championship. And it worked. He played me. He got the Evolution Title. But on May 4th, he finds out I can not only play this game, I can win it. I’ll take back the Championship and put an end to our rivalry, our friendship, our relationship once and for all….
Kimmel: May 4th, Invictus, Evolution Title on the line, don’t miss it. Thank you for joining us Andre.
Andre: My pleasure.
Dre and Kimmel are shown standing and shaking hands to close out this segment.
BACKSTAGE
Backstage correspondent Susie Moore clutches a microphone, standing in front of a camera while Gavin Taylor and his bodyguard Lars Zane are located behind her. The Evolution Title graces Gavin’s shoulder and a confident grin occupies his face.
Susie: In just a few minutes we’re going to see the Evolution Title on the line, and my guest at this moment will be defending his belt in that match.
Susie turns to address her words straight to the champion.
Susie: This is it Gavin, a match you and Andre have been clamoring for. How does it feel knowing that finally, after a year of anticipation, you step into the ring to defend your belt against Andre?
Gavin: Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. Do we have an hour? Can I have an hour? Can the IWC sacrifice a precious hour from Invictus to give me the time it would take to answer this question?
Susie: IIIII….
Gavin: Yeah-yeah-yeah, I figured as much. So I’ll make this sure and sweet. This match should’ve happened at last year’s Invictus, but instead we got gelatinous blobs and steroid infused jackasses thrown in the way, keeping Andre and I from finishing what we started over this….
The Evolution Title rises from Gavin’s shoulder.
Gavin: If the IWC had simply given me Andre one on one at the last Invictus, so much heartache, so much misfortune, so much pain and suffrage could have been avoided. I would have beaten Andre for the title and the two of us would have parted ways, with me going on to make the Evolution Championship the most prestigious belt in all of professional wrestling, and Andre going on to be the thuggish brute who terrorizes all those in the undercard. But no. The IWC had to go and complicate things. They kept Andre and I apart, they refused to give us the one on one match that I deserved for the title. So what did I have to do? I had to work around the system the IWC has set in place. I had to orchestrate an elaborate scheme that hurt a lot of people. It hurt Andre. It hurt his agent Tabitha. Hell, it even hurt me….a little. But in the end I did what I do best, I got my way. Finally we’re seeing Andre versus Gavin one on one for the title. And after everything I put into this match, all the effort it took to set Andre up and to make Silverstone International look like the idiots they are, I’m not about to blow it now. It took me one year to execute this plot to perfection, and finally I’m going to reap the benefits of all my hard-work.
Gavin peers back over his shoulder at his bodyguard.
Gavin: Let’s finish this Lars.
Lars nods and follows, the pair moving towards the ring.
The cameras return to the ring just in time to spot Ring Announcer Thomas Boll standing in the center, microphone clutched in his palm.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, following match schedule for one fall and it for EVOLUTION TITLE!
’We Own It’ starts to play throughout the Staples Center, the music seguing into the entrance of beloved IWC star Andre Jordan. To the confusion of the thousands in attendance the stairwells that cut through the crowd suddenly find themselves occupied by long lines of individuals dressed in Andre hoodies. An endless parade of men adorned in Andre’s apparel head down the steps towards the ring, stopping at the barricade. Every stairwell is now occupied by the Andre doppelgangers, except for one. At the top of this particular set of steps stands the one true authentic Andre. His hood is pulled back to reveal the intense expression on his face. His agent Tabitha Silverstone is right there beside him, matching every step he takes towards the ring. Once the two reach the squared circle Andre sheds his sweatshirt and throws it to one lucky fan in attendance.
Greyson: Andre Jordan, accompanied by his agent Tabitha Silverstone, has been waiting for this match for a very long time.
Sparkles: Gavin touched upon it a few moments ago, he said this bout has been over a year coming.
Greyson: And over that year Andre has put up with one insidious Gavin Taylor plot after another.
Frankie: All designed to put Andre’s Evolution Title around Gavin’s waist.
Greyson: Well he succeeded in getting the title, and in pissing Andre off. Jordan trusted Gavin, only for Taylor’s true colors to show through in the end, resulting in what has to be the most anticipated one on one bout for the Evolution Championship in IWC history.
Andre runs the ropes in anticipation of this title bout. The lights in the building now begin to darken and laser lights shine down from the rafters, producing a ‘star’ shape right over the middle of the ring. These star shapes begin to flash across the stage as well. Now we see several men dressed all in black stepping to the stage, or more accurately we can see the neon glow in the dark words stenciled across their chests. These words spell out Gavin’s many nicknames. “The Franchise Player,” “Best Wrestler in the Universe,” “The Real World Jedi,” “The MVP of Life,”….etc-etc. As ‘Whoa As Me’ plays in the background, the men sporting the glowing Gavin nick-name shirts sway to the music and laser lights creating a star pattern flash around the building. All focus twists to an explosion high above the stage. Pyrotechnics erupt from the front of a lift, and these fireworks form a STAR pattern. Said star, and the lift its erupting from, is lowering down towards the ring. Standing on the lift is none other than Gavin Taylor, the All Star wearing his Evolution Title. Once the lift reaches the stage, the flaming star on the front of it goes out and the door opens, letting Gavin make his exit. He moseys casually down the ramp and finds his bodyguard Lars Zane now joining him. He emerges from the back and follows Gavin into the battlefield.
Sparkles: THAT’S AN ENTRANCE!
Frankie: A fitting arrival for our All-Star.
Greyson: A pretty impressive entrance on behalf of the Evolution Champion Gavin Taylor, who’s ego knows absolutely no boundaries whatsoever, especially since he won that belt back at the End of the Year Special.
Frankie: He’s done everything to keep that belt in his hands.
Sparkles: He’s done everything to keep it, but just think about how much he did to win it.
Greyson: For a solid year he played Andre and Andre’s agent Tabitha to get that Evolution Title.
Frankie: And tonight he’ll do everything in his power to keep that gold right where it is.
Greyson: It’s because of Andre that Gavin is the champion, and tonight, it might be because of Andre that Gavin loses that belt.
There’s the bell and at long last it’s on, Gavin Taylor defending the Evolution Title one on one with Andre Jordan. The two slowly step out of the corners of the ring and meet in the center. Or more accurately, it’s their foreheads that meet. The two wedge their brows together and mouth obscenities so vulgar George Carlin would even feel offended.
Greyson: You can feel it. You can just feel it. The hate between both of these men.
Sparkles: Funny considering they were JUST the IWC Tag Team Champions a few months ago.
That reign has been erased from their memories and now any traces of their past alliance are about to wiped away as well. At last the two stop grinding foreheads and mouthing off, instead they interlock arms in a collar elbow tie. It seems they are starting out the bout with a feeling out process. Gavin gets the better initially, swinging under Dre’s arm then tucking it around behind his back into the hammerlock. Dre is quick to counter though, his elbow meeting Gavin in the cheek. He then reaches back over his shoulder, wrapping an arm around Gavin’s neck and attempting a snapmare. Gavin has other ideas though, pulling on the hammerlocked arm so that Andre comes twisting around into the side headlock.
Gavin really has the submission clinched in at this point, grinding his arms against Andre’s face. Andre attempts to make another escape only to have Gavin swing back around his opponent, transitioning from the side headlock directly into the hammerlock. Gavin produces a big ole arrogant smile as he continues to own Dre with these submission holds.
Finally Andre manages to twist himself around just enough to reverse the hammerlock into one of his own. Andre slips behind Gavin and begins to bend his arm at a totally unnatural and awkward angle. An upset Gavin reaches back with his hand and actually begins to fish-hook Andre’s nostril.
Andre snorts out the fingers in his nose then releases the hammerlock in order to wrap his arms around Gavin’s waist. He heaves him up into the air, turns Gavin’s body and drives him down to the canvas with an amateur wrestling slam.
Andre then swings around to Gavin’s neck, placing him in a front chancery.
Greyson: I didn’t expect to see this in the early going-ons in this match. Taylor and Andre are actually chain wresting one another.
Sparkles: It’s just another example of the one-upmanship these two have been trying to get over one another for weeks now.
Gavin is grounded and his head is tightly clamped in the arms of his adversary, but it won’t stay in that position for long. Gavin is already inching his way back to his feet and is grabbing one of Andre’s wrists, pulling it away from Gavin’s throat. Taylor quickly swings his body out of the front chancery, maintaining possession of Andre’s arm in the process then hooking it around behind his back. The hammerlock is yet again clamped on and Gavin is bragging about it to anyone who will listen. Unfortunately for the defending champion, Andre is not about to listen to another word that emanates from Gavin’s mouth.
Instead Dre launches himself from his knees into a forward roll, escaping the hammerlock. But Gavin keeps hold of Andre’s wrist, so that when both men reach their feet Gavin can pull his opponent in and trap his neck with the side headlock. Gavin now drops straight down to his seat, pulling Andre along face first into the canvas. Gavin rolls over backwards, breaking the headlock, grabbing Andre’s arm and folding it around behind his back, applying the hammerlock yet again. But now Gavin puts his knee on that folded arm, holding it in place. Gavin reaches over Andre’s body and grabs his far arm, lifting up on it slowly and methodically. Andre grimaces in pain, a justifiable reaction considering he’s trapped in a hammerlock while his other arm is being pulled back towards his body an awkward angle.
If that weren’t enough now Gavin reaches out with his one free hand, grabbing Andre’s shin and pulling back on it. Yes, Gavin actually has three of Andre’s vital limbs trapped in this unique submission. One arm is placed in the hammerlock, the other arm is being subjected to a modified arm lock and his leg is being bent back at a nasty angle.
Frankie: Gavin never failing to impress.
Greyson: I have to admit, this is a creative hold on Gavin’s part and an effective one.
It is effective…effective at firing Andre up. He manages to pull his arm free from the armlock and then reach out for the cables, grabbing the bottom one. A five count starts, reaching four and at last getting Gavin to break his multiple submission holds. Andre now works his way up to his feet all the while listening to his agent Tabitha’s advice, and the clapping of Lars Zane at ringside. Andre works his way up and towards another collar elbow. Gavin requests the two tie up and just as they start to. Andre slips around Gavin’s hip, steps behind him and hooks both of his opponent’s arms. He uses those arms to force Gavin down onto his stomach. Andre then flips forward, bridging back into the double chickenwing. The Cattle Mutilation has the Evolution Champion gnawing at his lip to keep from crying out in pain.
Greyson: Now Andre showing off some of his technical skills.
Sparkles: Much to the chagrin of our champion.
The Cattle Mutilation leaves little room for error, no wiggle room for escape. That’s why Tabitha shows such confidence as she yells into the ring at Gavin to tap out. He does not give into the hold, instead he manages to escape it. He extends his foot and drops it over the bottom rope, forcing the referee to call for a break in the hold. Andre releases the Cattle Mutilation at the count of four, milking the hold for all it’s worth. An outraged Gavin sits up next to the ropes, rubbing his shoulder and resisting his base impulse to just lash out and assault Andre.
Instead he stands up and calls for a collar elbow tie. Andre is all but too eager to reciprocate. He steps in and start to tie up with Gavin only to receive a blatant and disrespectful slap straight across the cheek.
Andre’s response?
A straight slap in retaliation. The blow knocks Gavin back, palming his cheek. He then rushes straight at Andre but got a little too overzealous. Andre catches him with a drop toe hold then swings around to Gavin’s arms, lifting them up and attempting to lock in the double chickenwing. Andre flips forward and begins to bridge back into the Cattle Mutilation but Gavin manages to counter into a crucifix roll up before the hold can be fully established.
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Andre rolls backwards out of the pin and Gavin comes racing towards him only to be caught by the creases of his knees. Andre pulls Gavin’s legs out from under him, causing Taylor to drop to his back while Jordan flips forward into the jackknife cover.
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Gavin manages to sit up rolling Andre over backwards and onto his shoulders.
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Andre rolls out of the pin and onto his knees while Gavin stands up over top of him, grabbing his arms. Gavin transitions around behind Andre and snidely smirks as he attempts to apply his own version of the Cattle Mutilation. He is just about to flip forward into the hold but Andre stands up, arms still trapped behind his back and pushes his way into the ropes. The two hit the cables and the referee starts a five count, finally forcing Gavin to relinquish the hold. He breaks the hold but then reaches out and takes Andre around the waist, lifting him up into the German suplex that sends Jordan flipping backwards over the ropes.
Greyson: GERMAN over the ropes!
Sparkles: So much for this being a match of finesse huh?
Greyson: Knew it was only a matter of time before this stopped being about a battle of one-upmanship and transitioned into a brawl.
Tabitha dashes to Andre and checks on his condition after being flipped over the cables and ALMOST coming down on top of his head. He struggles to his feet while Gavin waits on him in the ring, backing into a corner and smiling. Lars climbs up onto the apron with a bottle of water in hand, spraying some precious H20 into Gavin’s mouth.
Andre struggles to his feet on the outside of the ring and finally begins to roll inside. He only manages to get to his knees before Gavin steps in and steps over his back, pulling him up into a full nelson camel clutch combination. Tabitha slaps the apron and shouts into the ring at Andre, who is inching his way up to his feet. He reaches his feet but then Gavin turns his back to the ropes, preparing to deliver the dragon suplex over the ropes. But Andre manages to pull his arms down and out of the full nelson. So Gavin transitions into the rear waistlock, setting up to deliver the German, sending his rival flipping out of the ring. But Andre counters that as well, managing to pry Gavin’s arms apart from around his waist. He then throws a back elbow at Gavin’s face only to have the champion duck under it. He then catches Andre around the waist and snaps back, belly to belly suplexing Andre over the ropes and causing him to take a header to the outside of the ring.
Frankie: That ring is Gavin’s yard and he’s protecting it like a pitbull.
Sparkles: Gavin’s definitely got the lock-down on that ring.
Greyson: Another suplex to the outside. The human body isn’t designed to take the type of impacts Andre’s is.
Gavin casually leans forearms first against the top rope, looking over them at the laid out Andre. Tabitha is stooped over him and trying to help Jordan to his feet. He puts the bulk of his weight on the apron though. He looks up into the ring where Gavin is laying on top of the turnbuckle, with his cheek resting against his knuckles.
Gavin: Things are getting tough for you, Andre. Go ahead and walk away. Go on. I can’t think any less of you anyway.
Andre backs from the apron and tries his very best to compose himself. Finally he blows off the scathing comments and comes rolling back into the ring. He barely manages to reach a knee before Gavin is on top of him, catching his arm. He pulls it back and into the overhead top wrist lock. Gavin transitions behind Andre, folding the arm over across the back of his neck. Andre remains kneeling and grimacing from the pain coursing through his shoulder, elbow and forearm. He remains grounded for only a moment or two though, quickly getting his feet under him. He twists his body back and forth, trying to get his arm out of his rival’s clutches. Once that proves an ineffective means of escaping the hold Andre employs a different tactic. He drops to his knees and flips Gavin over his head. Gavin rolls forward across the canvas, his hold broken. He then stands up and turns towards the inbound Andre, catching him around the neck, preparing to vertical suplex him over the cables. Andre counters though, putting his hands to Gavin’s gut and shoving him back into the ropes. Andre then rushes in and goes for a clothesline only to have Gavin duck under it, swinging around behind his opponent. Andre falls into the ropes but then goes flipping back over them when Gavin hits him with a clothesline across the throat.
Andre crashes to the outside mats while Gavin stands in the ring above him shaking his head. Gavin approaches the nearest turnbuckle and sits himself on top of it. He begins to dismissively brush off Andre by swiping the back of his fingers through the air.
Gavin: Go on Andre, just walk away…take the easy route like you always do.
Frankie: Gavin is taking full advantage of this opportunity to finally show Andre who the superior athlete is. He’s been waiting for this chance a very-very-very long time.
Sparkles: A year actually.
Greyson: He’s just digging himself into a deeper and deeper grave.
Frankie: Really? Cause in my opinion he’s owning Andre. And my opinion is the only one valid in this entire industry.
A moment or two is taken by Andre to regroup, refusing to lose his cool. He works his way back into the ring when Gavin comes racing in. He grabs Andre by the arm and begins to trap it in a submission hold, but Andre has it scouted this time. He stands up and pulls Gavin forward into a forearm smash straight into his jaw. The blow has Gavin spiraling around, his back now facing Jordan, who puts him in a rear waistlock, setting to deliver a German suplex over the ropes. But Gavin quickly drops down to his knees and slides through Andre’s legs. He stands up behind Jordan and pushes him forward into the far ropes. Andre turns around just before connecting with the cables while Gavin comes racing in after him only to be caught around the waist. Andre is about to belly to belly suplex Gavin over the cables and dump the champion directly on his head.
Gavin manages to counter that with a headbutt to Andre’s forehead though, sending the challenger stumbling back. Gavin then races into a clothesline that Andre manages to duck under. Gavin falls into the ropes, spins around and ALMOST finds his throat on the receiving end of a lariat that would send him flipping over to the outside. Gavin manages to get his boot up and into Andre’s jaw, sending the challenger turning away from him. Gavin then rushes in behind Andre, grabs the back of his head, charges him at the ropes and throws him through to the outside of the ring.
The arrogance now displayed by Gavin is unrestrained and unfiltered. He throws his arms out to his sides and confidently strides around the ring. Outside of it Andre is kneeling on the mats and running his trembling fingers over his scalp.
Frankie: How’s it feel Andre? How’s it feel knowing that all this time Gavin was right? He is the better athlete.
Greyson: Gavin has been pretty impressive in this match I have to admit.
Andre returns to his feet outside of the ring, cupping his hand over his mouth and eyes displaying pure dread. It looks like he’s losing his patience and has totally lost that typical Andre cool. Gavin leans over the ropes above him and is now pointing towards the backstage area.
Gavin: Go ahead Andre, just walk on up that ramp. Take another sabbatical. Run on home, cry to yo momma.
Andre whips around with his flesh actually pulsating in anger. He now rushes at the ring and Gavin catches him with a front chancery before he can get to his feet. Gavin then swings around behind Andre and puts him in a hammerlock, getting the match right back to where it started. Only this time Gavin just doesn’t apply the hammerlock, but he also slaps Andre repeatedly across the back of his head.
Gavin: Walk away Andre. Just take your ball and run to Daddy.
Andre swings his body around behind Gavin and doesn’t reverse the hammerlock, he just breaks it and takes Gavin under the arm. He now lifts a horrified Taylor into the Tide Turner. But the Olympic Slam does not connect, Gavin slipping off his rival’s shoulder at the last second. He then takes Andre by the back of the head, charges him at the ropes and throws him over. Gavin turns his back on Andre and swaggers arrogantly to the middle of the ring.
Gavin: Just quit Andre, just quit.
Gavin learns HE’S the one who should have quit, quit running his mouth. He’s so busy spouting off that he doesn’t see Andre grabbing the top rope and hanging off of it. He then skins the cat back over the ropes and back into the ring. Gavin comes racing towards him and throws a big jab at Andre’s face only to have the challenger duck his head in the nick of time to avoid it. He then puts his head under Gavin’s armpit and hoists him into the air, hitting him with the Tide Turner that sends Gavin corkscrewing over the cables.
Greyson: Gavin FINALLY getting a taste of his own medicine.
Gavin collapses to the mats. Eventually he works his way up to his knees and glares into the squared circle where Andre is mocking him with a pouty expression, rubbing his hands against his eyes as if he’s wiping away tears.
The explosive anger of Gavin begins to show, reaching into the ring, grabbing Andre’s ankle and dragging him out under the ropes. Andre drops to the mats and now Gavin launches a punch at his rival only to have Andre duck yet again. He then catches Gavin under the arm, hoists him into the air and hits him with the Tide Turner into the steel turnbuckle post.
Frankie: That damned THUG!
Greyson: Tide Turner! Tide Turner into the post!!
The crowd’s reaction is explosive. Everyone leaves their feet and gasps at the sight of Gavin’s spine crushing the post. He bounces off the steel then tumbles to the ground screeching in agony. His bodyguard Lars steps around the ring and tries to lend aid to Gavin only to have Andre cut him off at the pass. Lars backs away from the challenger to his employer’s title. Andre drags Gavin back into the ring then slides in after him, crawling to his rival’s side and throwing punches across his brow. Andre then drags Gavin to his feet and absolutely demolishes his chest with a knife edge chop.
Gavin is staggered by the blow and then almost cut in two by ANOTHER knife edge chop. The blow sends Taylor spiraling along into the ropes, leaning on them for support. Andre then rushes in and knees Gavin straight to the gut before shooting him off into the far ropes with an Irish whip. Gavin bounces from the far cables and comes charging straight into a big back body drop. The crowd squeals as Gavin catches tremendous height then ultimately comes down into the canvas with a devastating crash. Gavin sits up, hollering in pain and reaching for his kidneys. He slowly works his way up to his feet and walks unconsciously right into a belly to belly suplex. Andre flips Gavin over into the slam, driving him down with such force into the ring.
It feels like Gavin was just hit with a car and now he’s about to feel like he’s been run down by a locomotive. He just stands up before finding a shoulder wedged to his aching spine and his body hoisted into a back drop suplex. Andre slams Gavin down into the ring with as much force as he can possibly muster.
Greyson: Andre is just decimating Gavin!
Frankie: Only after the THUG hit him with the Tide Turner into the turnbuckle.
The agitated and aching Gavin rolls along to his knees with his hand falling into Andre’s clutches and his body being launched along into the ropes. Gavin ricochets from the cables and then comes charging right back into a big back body drop. Once again Gavin is sent flipping through the air and plummeting from a tremendous height directly into the canvas.
Frankie: Just stop this Andre. Stop being so merciless.
Andre leads a traumatized Gavin to his feet and launches him into the cables, going for a third back drop. But Gavin grabs the ropes and refuses to bounce off them, instead diving through them to the outside of the ring. Gavin drops to the outside mats and then blows off Andre. He walks around the ring, grabs the Evolution Title and begins to make his way up the ramp.
Greyson: Typical. So damned typical. What a hypocrite! Gavin has been ridiculing Andre for weeks about walking away from the IWC, and now look at what Gavin is doing, he’s walking away from this title defense.
Every ounce of Gavin’s body is hurting as he makes his way up the ramp with his title in hand and no intention of returning to the ring to finish this bout. Lars steps in behind him to follow Gavin to the back. Both men come to an abrupt halt though when they spot a familiar figure traversing the ramp, headed in the opposite direction. The crowd goes nuts at the sight of Sebastian Knight, another member of Silverstone International.
Greyson: Look who’s here! It’s Sebastian Knight! Andre Jordan’s friend. We haven’t seen him for a few weeks.
Sparkles: He warned Andre for months that Gavin was a lost cause, that he couldn’t be trusted. Knight was right and he’s finally about to do something about Gavin.
Gavin looks more than a little concerned regarding the presence of Knight and now directs Lars to do something about him. Zane heads up the ramp and goes nose to nose with Knight, the two exchanging insults. Meanwhile Tabitha, Andre’s and Sebastian’s agent, rushes up behind Gavin, grabs him by the back of the head, turns him back towards the ring then rushes him down the ramp ultimately rolling him back into the ring. The fans go nuts as Tabitha returns Gavin to the squared circle. He immediately pops up to his feet, screaming through the cables at Tabitha while backing into the waiting arms of Andre. He heaves Gavin into the air and plants him to the ring with the Tide Turner. The Olympic Slam connects and now Andre is making the cover.
Greyson: How fitting that Tabitha, the woman who Gavin played as a fool for months, would be the one who threw Gavin back to the wolf.
Sparkles: It looks like Dre is about to regain his Evolution Title as a result.
The referee slips into position and makes the count.
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It seems referee Marcus Mayfield is about to bring an end to this bout before he finds his ankle caught and his body dragged out of the ring. Lars has dashed back to ringside just in time to pull the official out of position to make the three count. Mayfield just starts to argue with Lars before Gavin’s bodyguard is struck down with a clothesline from behind by Sebastian Knight.
Lars rolls to his feet as he and Knight begin to trade punches. All the while Tabitha is cheering her client on only for her screams to be drowned out by the orders of Mayfield.
Mayfield: You (points at Lars), you (points at Knight), and you (points at Tabitha)….GET OUT OF HERE! I’m ejecting all three of you from ringside!
Tabitha, Knight and Lars are all protesting as Mayfield continues to direct them from ringside ot the backstage area.
Greyson: Mayfield doing the right thing here, he’s ejecting Tabitha, Knight and Lars from ringside. This means we’re finally going to see Andre and Gavin settle this the way it should be settled, one on one.
In spite of all their protests, Zane, Knight and Silverstone make their way to the back. Inside of the ring Andre is stalking Gavin, stooping down and waiting for him to stand. Gavin has hold of the ropes desperately using them to drag his body up to his feet. At last he reaches his feet and stumbles back into the waiting arms of his adversary, Andre hooking his arm and hoisting him into a third Tide Turn….nooo…Gavin manages to gouge Andre in the eyes, then slip off of his shoulder. He lands beside Andre then takes him around the neck, placing him in a side headlock. Gavin then drags Andre towards the ropes, puts his eyes against the top cable and grinds his pupils across the it. As a result Andre is blinded and is now turning his back on Gavin, who pushes him through the ropes to the outside of the ring. Andre lands on the apron where he remains for only a moment before starting to return to the ring. Gavin is right there waiting for him though, catching Andre in mid-entrance, placing him in a three quarters face-lock then setting up to deliver the Cubic Zirconium Cutter.
Andre is just about to deliver the elevated cutter only to have Andre pull his feet off the middle rope and put them on the canvas. He blocks the attempt at Gavin’s dangerous cutter then stands up, back dropping his rival over the top rope. But Gavin grabs the top rope and prevents crashing to the outside mats, instead he lands directly on the apron. Gavin turns his back on Andre, who reaches over the ropes, grabs his rival’s arm and places it over his neck. The fans pop at the sight of Andre lifting Gavin back into the ring and into the air, going for the Tide Turner once more. But Gavin manages to counter by taking Andre around the neck then dropping straight to his seat, pulling Andre’s throat down into the top rope. Gavin drops to his seat on the apron and pulls Andre’s esophagus into the ropes.
Andre not only finds his Tide Turner reversed but his throat swelling shut. He backs across the ring gasping for air while Gavin climbs to his feet on the apron. He starts to pull himself over the ropes only to have Andre step in and crack him under the jaw with a kick. The shot ALMOST knocks Gavin off the apron, but somehow the champion hooks the top rope with the crease of his elbow refusing to go down.
Andre takes off into the far ropes, ricochets from them and then charges into a spear. He dives through the ropes directly into Gavin…directly into Gavin’s waiting arms. The champion counters Andre’s momentum into a diamond cutter. Andre and Gavin go flying off the apron with Taylor pulling Jordan down into the cutter across the mats.
Frankie: HOLY SHIT!!!
Greyson: Gavin countering! Gavin countering into a friggin Cubic Zirconium Cutter!! Dear God he might have broken Andre’s neck!
Sparkles: Can Sparkles see that again?
We get a quick instant replay of Andre going for the spear, diving through the ropes only to be caught with a cutter by Gavin pulling his challenger all the way down to the outside mats. We cut back to live action where Gavin and Andre are splayed across the mats and the fans are on their feet screaming at the top of their lungs.
Fans: THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME!
Official Mayfield is making the ten count in the ring while outside of it neither champion or challenger are moving. Finally Gavin starts to show a little movement, rolling away from Andre and into the barricade. He stands up with help from the barrier then steps past Andre, returning to the irng. He rolls in under the ropes, shouting at the official to make the ten count.
Greyson: First Gavin tried to walk away from this match, and now he’s going to be content with Andre getting counted out.
Frankie: Which is gonna happen, cause there is NO FRIGGIN WAY that Andre is recovering from that cutter.
Referee Mayfield continues to make the ten count.
Mayfield:….4, 5, 6, 7, 8….
Andre begins to squirm, rolling along towards the ring.
Mayfield:….9…..
Here comes the ten but here comes Andre back into the ring before he could be counted out.
Greyson: Through some type of miracle Andre manages to get back into the ring before the count of ten.
Andre gets to his knees in the ring with Gavin watching him try to stand up, looking on total disbelief. Clearly we can see Gavin mouth the words ‘you motherfucker.’ He then rushes in and delivers a hard basement dropkick straight to Andre’s jaw, knocking him back and beneath the ropes. Andre valiantly climbs back to his feet on the apron, starting to slide into the ring through the cables. At the last second Gavin steps in and takes Andre around the neck, pulling him into the Cubic Zirconium Cutter. Andre’s head snaps back and his body goes into full paralysis.
Greyson: Now the traditional Cubic Zirconium Cutter.
Sparkles: Ending what has been one of the most intense rivalries in IWC history.
Gavin crawls into the lateral press on Andre, confidently hooking both of his challenger’s legs.
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And here comes the…nooo..Andre manages to roll his shoulder, kicking out a second before he could be bested.
Frankie: Did Andre get into a batch of friggin super-solder serum or something?
Sparkles: Are you implying that Andre is juicing?
Greyson: That’s not the case at all fellas. Andre just refuses to let a year’s worth of issues between he and Gavin end with him being pinned with the Evolution Title on the line.
An emotional Gavin begins to unravel his wrist tape, extending it out between his hands. He wraps it around Andre’s throat, pulling back on it and choking the life from the body of his challenger. Andre gasps for air as he is dragged up to his feet by the cable wrapped around his throat. The official starts a five count before Gavin throws the tape aside and then throws Andre down into the turnbuckle. Andre’s face ends up pressed against the turnbuckle and now the back of his head is repeatedly slammed with a knee. Gavin rushes in and drives his knee into the back of Andre’s head, then does so again, and again. Shockingly Andre begins to work his way up to his feet, standing just long to be hit with a leaping knee between the kidneys, knocking him forward and into the turnbuckle. The back of his head hits the corner and now Andre goes flipping up onto the top rope. He then falls back, rolling down the corner, landing on his feet then spiraling around into Gavin, who hits a springboard knee strike right into Andre’s temple. The blow sends Jordan twisting down to the canvas while Gavin lands on the canvas huffing and puffing.
Andre looks like he’s taking a snooze that may be more like a dirt nap if Gavin has his way. The Champion drabs Andre to the middle of the ring then falls into the cover, grinding his forearm across Andre’s face.
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Jordan manages to pop his shoulder from the squared circle much to Gavin’s chagrin. Gavin is red hot as he pulls Andre around and places his head over the apron. Gavin then exits the ring and takes Andre around the neck, preparing to give him the Cubic Zirconium to the outside mats. Gavin drags Andre into position for the move only to have Jordan slip out of his adversary’s clutches, drop down behind him and then spin Gavin around into the Get Got….He grabs Gavin by the wrist and begins to pull him into the spinning powerslam but Gavin manages to reach back, grabbing the apron. He prevents falling prey to the spinning slam while Andre falls to his seat, unable to connect with his move. He quickly begins to stand up only to find his face crushed when Gavin flies off the apron and hits him with a devastating knee strike to the forehead.
Greyson: Gavin taking a cue right out of his sister-in-law’s playbook with that diving knee.
Frankie: And it’s working. It’s kept Andre grounded and that title around Gavin’s waist.
Gavin slides back into the ring then shouts at the official to once again start counting Andre out. That’s exactly what Mayfield is doing, starting the ten. The official reaches a count of five before Andre reaches his feet at ringside, his knees almost buckling. He scales to the apron and eventually begins to slip through the ropes, beating the official’s count. He is about half way through the ropes when Gavin’s elbow comes crashing into the back of his head. Gavin leaps off the middle rope of the nearest corner and drives the point of his elbow across Andre’s skull, knocking him flat on his back in the ring.
Gavin could follow this up with a pin, but instead he chooses to run his mouth.
Gavin: You should have walked while you had the chance. Did you think I was going to leave anything….ANYTHING up to chance? If you thought that, then you clearly don’t know me.
Gavin watches Andre struggle to his seat and then the champion stops rambling and starts running. He takes off into the ropes, bounces off to build momentum and goes for another running knee. This one catches…no…it’s CAUGHT….Andre grabbing it right before it nails him in the face. Andre gets to his feet showing the fire in his eyes as he clutches Gavin’s knee and may very well be on the verge of snapping it. That is untuil Andre launches his free leg into the air and nails an enzugari to the back of Andre’s head, knocking him from his feet right back down to his seat. Gavin then stands up and takes off into the ropes a second time, bouncing off before ultimately returning to Andre with the shining wizard. The All-Star Maker crushes Andre’s face and this move is one that Gavin follows up with the pin.
Greyson: Andre manages to avoid another knee strike, but not the All-Star Maker!
Sparkles: The biggest All-Star Maker that Gavin has ever hit in his entire career.
Greyson: Is it enough? Is it enough for Gavin to retain his Evolution Title?
Mayfield is about to confirm it as he makes the count.
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Much to the champion’s chagrin he does not hear the sweet sound of the bell chiming, but the deafening roar of the fans. Everyone reacts with an outlet of raw emotion at the sight of Andre kicking out. Gavin sits up and tries to calm himself down, tries to keep his mind focused on his strategy. That strategy involves taking Andre’s arm, folding it over backwards and attempts to lock in the All-Star Stretch. Somehow Andre is fighting it though, refusing to be locked in Gavin’s submission hold, twisting and squirming across the canvas. Andre launches his knee over his body and into the back of Gavin’s head. He then hits a second knee and a third, finally forcing Gavin to break his attempt at the submission.
With the crowd unanimously amassed behind him, Andre tries to stand up but Gavin forces him right back down to the canvas and attempts to lock in the All Star Stretch. Gavin is determined to get the hold applied, at any cost. It takes Andre spilling under the ropes to finally break the All Star Stretch attempt. But Gavin won’t let go of Andre’s wrist, standing up on the apron above Dre, who is on his feet on the mats below. Gavin tries to pull him back into the ring but instead Andre drags Gavin off the apron and into the Get Got. The spinning powerslam drives Gavin’s spine forcefully into the mats, leaving him grimacing in pain.
Greyson: Andre nails the Get Got!
Sparkles; He hit all of it.
Greyson: And look now, we’re seeing the difference between he and Gavin. Instead of allowing Gavin to be counted out, Andre is returning him to the ring to PIN him.
Frankie: Yeah, cause Andre is an..ugh…HONORABLE man. I think I just threw up in my mouth.
Gavin is dragged up to his feet then returned to the ring, Andre following him in but not going for the pin. Instead he climbs the nearest turnbuckle, getting to the top rope with his back aimed at the laid out champion. Andre leaves his feet, flipping back into the moonsault, but to the surprise of everyone, Gavin manages to roll out of the way and straight into the very corner that Dre just jumped out of. As Gavin pulls himself up the turnbuckle he has NO Idea that Andre landed on his feet after missing the moonsault. Gavin takes to the air, soaring towards Andre only to be caught by the stomach and driven to the canvas via the Thrill Ride. Andre hits his sit out slam but does not go for the cover. Instead he rolls past the laid out Gavin and into the ropes, climbing to the top rope. He has his back aimed towards Gavin, who he now goes soaring into, successfully connecting with the moonsault. He crashes right into the champion, driving all the wind and energy out of his body, but has he successfully crushed Gavin’s competitive spirit? We’re about to find out as the challenger hooks a leg.
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Gavin is too arrogant to allow himself to be pinned, kicking out of the moonsault. Andre rolls away from him, asking himself what it’ll take, what it’ll take to finish Gavin off. He reconciles himself with the fact that it’s time for the kill move. He drags Gavin up to his feet and hooks both of his arms, setting to deliver the pedigree. But Gavin manages to surprise Andre by sticking his arms out, hooking them around the back of Andre’s thighs and lifting them into the air. He throws Andre over his head and sends him flying towards the turnbuckle, but to the shock of everyone Dre lands on the top rope. He then springs off and flips back into ANOTHER moonsault. Gavin spins around and finds his body crushed as Andre crashes into him. Both men hit the canvas with Andre coming down on top. He then hooks both of Gavin’s legs for the pinfall.
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Yet again the moonsault is not enough, Gavin kicking out of it and rolling away from his bitter rival. He ends up rolling under the ropes and onto the apron, where he is gasping for oxygen and recovering from all the brutality he’s suffered in the course of this match. Andre follows right after him, slipping through the ropes then stooping down to grab Gavin. To Andre’s dismay though, Gavin puts his boots to his rival’s gut and kicks him back, right back into the turnbuckle post. Andre bounces off the steel then loses his footing, landing on his seat across the steps. As he sits there on the stairs reaching for the back of his head he realizes that the pain in his back isn’t anywhere near as bad as the pain in his jaw. Gavin races across the apron and dives into the All-Star Maker. The shining wizard connects with Andre’s face, sending him flipping back off the stairs and hitting the mats.
Greyson: OOOOH WOW!
Sparkles: Gavin with the All-Star Maker! The All Star Maker off the apron!
Greyson: I’ve never seen it hit from that angle before!
It may be excruciating but Gavin manages to get to his feet, grab Andre around the neck and roll him into the ring. Gavin slides in and slips into the pin. He feels it, the fans feel it, the world feels it, Andre’s pursuit of the Evolution Title has come to an end.
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A celebrating Taylor sits up, sweat dripping from his body, as the perspiration falls, Gavin’s arms rise. He rolls to his knees in the middle of the ring where he waits for Mayfield to raise his arm..and keeps waiting…and keeps waiting. Marcus never lifts Gavin’s arm, because Andre kicked out.
Gavin: WWWWWHHAAT!?!
Andre managed to barely…BARELY get his shoulder up a mere second before Gavin could retain his Evolution Title.
This compels Gavin to go for the guaranteed kill. He pulls Andre up from the canvas, takes him around the waist then heaves him into the single shoulder powerbomb position. This is all a set up for the Highlight of the Night, the reverse neckbreaker from this awesome bomb angle. Gavin is about to snap Andre’s neck to retain the title but Andre shifts his weight and escapes calamity. He throws his legs up and towards his chest, causing him to flip back over Gavin’s shoulder, coming down on his feet right in front of the champion. Andre is stooped forward though, his head tucked under Gavin’s seat. He then stands up, holding Gavin in an Alabama Slam position. But Gavin takes Andre around the waist and counters into the sunset flip. Both men come down to the canvas but Gavin doesn’t go for the pinfall, instead he slips to Andre’s side and traps his neck. The crowd screams as Gavin locks in the All-Star Maker.
Greyson: Oh my-ooooh my-Gavin’s finally got him trapped…he’s finally got that Anaconda Vice variant applied on Andre!
Frankie: TAP! TAP OUT NOW!
Andre’s hand is lifting into the air, shaking above the canvas on the cusp of slapping the ring and giving up his pursuit of the title. That trembling hand balls up into a fist though and swings over Andre’s body into the side of Gavin’s head. He punches him again and again across the cheek, but Gavin won’t let go of the All-Star Stretch, not under any circumstance.
Well, there’s one circumstance Gavin wasn’t counting on, and that’s Andre rolling over backwards, right out of Gavin’s arms and straight onto his feet. Andre now steps in and goes for the superkick on his seated opponent, but Gavin drops down to his back, avoiding the kick. Andre misses the superkick then spins around to face the boot hurling into his gut. Gavin doubles him over with the kick and then takes Andre around the waist hoisting him up into the Highlight of the Night. He steps forward to connect with the cutter variant but Andre manages to slip off his adversary’s shoulder at the last second. Andre lands on his feet behind Gavin, who turns around and receives a kick to the gut, doubling him over. Andre then hooks both of Gavin’s arms, going for the pedigree.
Greyson: Is this the Opinion Changer at last about to connect?
Frankie: Fight it Gavin! Fight it!
That’s precisely what Gavin does, successfully countering the Opinion Changer by grabbing Andre’s legs, pulling them out from under the challenger. Andre falls to his back and pops instinctively back up to his feet, His eyes then narrow on Gavin charging into the ropes in front of him, ricocheting off and returning to Andre with the All-Star Maker…..nooo…Andre leaps to his feet and catches the airborne Gavin with the GET GOT!
Sparkles: WHAT A COUNTER!
Greyson: And now Andre’s looking to follow it up! He’s looking to follow it up with something HUGE!
Andre then rolls past Gavin and into the corner, starting to scale it. He reaches the top rope and prepares to flip back into the moonsault. But to the astonishment of the crowd Gavin is back on his feet and is looking to prevent the moonsault from connecting. He rushes up the corner and sticks his head under Andre’s armpit, preparing to drag him down from the turnbuckle and into the Tide Turner.
Greyson: Gavin’s going to finish Andre off with Jordan’s own finisher off the top rope!
Frankie: This is so sweet it has to be diabetic.
Gavin is about to fall back into the top rope Olympic Slam but Andre is fighting it…fighting it with everything that he is worth. He begins to punch Gavin repeatedly in the forehead before finally turning around to face Gavin. The Evolution Champion now places Andre in a front chancery, looking to superplex him instead. Before Andre can fall prey to the suplex he shoves Gavin back, sending the Evolution Champion crashing down to the canvas but rolling backwards across it straight onto his feet. Gavin quickly charges straight across the ring, straight up the turnbuckle and straight into Andre’s arms. The stooped Gavin unwittingly finds his biceps hooked and his body being dragged off the turnbuckle, Andre coming down on top of him with the Opinion Changer from the top rope!
Frankie: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!
Greyson: Gavin…Gavin just-he just ran right into the top rope Opinion Changer!
Sparkles: Andre caught him totally off guard.
The Staples Center fills with an awe stricken cry as Gavin’s face bounces off the ring and his body finds itself pinned beneath Andre’s body. Andre hooks Gavin’s leg and the official makes the count to a reaction that is shaking the building to its core.
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The response is indescribable as the official’s hand slaps the canvas and Andre’s arms launch high above his head. Everyone in the building gives a standing ovation to this, the end to a year of hostilities, set ups and betrayals, a year that culminates to Andre just pinning Gavin to become the NEW Evolution Champion.
Sparkles: It’s over…IT’S OVER…good lord in heaven it’s OVER!
Frankie: There went my appetite….and strangely my sex drive…nope, there it is again.
The fans bask in this highly emotional moment, showering Andre with the adulation that he deserves. Something else he deserves? The Evolution Title that is being handed to him at this very moment. Andre takes the belt into his hands staring at it with almost a tear in his eyes. He lifts the belt above his head now to a reaction that threatens to blow the roof off of the Staples Center.
Greyson: What a career moment for Andre Jordan here tonight, After a year of battling Gavin Taylor as both friend and foe, he hits the top rope Opinion Changer and emerges from Invictus as the Evolution Champion.
Sparkles; But it took a war…an absolute WAR for him to finally, at long last, defeat perhaps his greatest rival.
Greyson: And reclaim that Evolution Title.
Andre can barely stand but is still able to lift the belt he has long been denied into the air. Andre celebrates with the gold, staggers across the ring and falls into the ropes. He continues to lift the belt above his head to a response that can probably be felt miles from the Staples Center. Andre now rolls to the outside of the ring and leans backwards into the crowd, who are patting him on the shoulders and the back, embracing the new Evolution Champion.
Greyson: Take nothing away from Gavin Taylor, he gave Andre an honest and competitive match here tonight and ALMOST defeated Dre on numerous occasions.
Sparkles: But in the end it came down to a split second mistake…some over zealousness….and that’s what it took for Andre to hit that top rope Opinion Changer to become the new Evolution Champion.
Greyson: Another outstanding Invictus moment here in the city of angels.
At the moment Andre feels like he’s in heaven as he holds the belt aloft and finds himself hugged and given celebratory slaps from the screaming fans.
BACKSTAGE
All attention now shifts to the World Championship belt. It hangs from a hook in a locker. Before long it’s taken from that hook and finds its way into the hands of its owner, Taylor Chase. She stares down into the belt takes a deep breath and then throws the gold over her shoulder before heading for the door. Once again the commentators are overheard in the background.
Frankie: If its abuse you want, its abuse you’re about to get.
Greyson: Our World Champion Taylor Chase is headed our way, because she is about to defend her belt in the biggest defense of her wrestling career.
Sparkles: Taylor puts the belt on the line in a Fatal Four Way.
Greyson: Our main event is finally here.
BACKSTAGE
Mika Kozlov: Let me go!
Two men in matching hoodies have hold of Mika Kozlov’s arms, trying to drag her down the corridor. A third hooded man has Mika’s fiancée Aaron Harrison splayed across the ground, subjecting his chest to stomps.
Hooded Man: We have orders from Kloe (Masters) to return you to Aiken Frost.
Mika: I won’t go back to him, you can’t make me!
Hooded Man: You’re coming with us one way or another!
Suddenly a forearm comes slamming into the back of the man who was beating down Harrison. The shot is delivered by Christian Savior. The blow knocks down Kloe’s henchmen. The other two go to respond and lash out at the vengeful Savior. However, Mika grabs one of them by their wrists and launches them into the other. The two fall to the ground with Harrison rising from it. He stomps at the hooded man who was assaulting him moments ago. That thug desperately crawls towards his accomplices, the trio joining together. Christian then barrels in from behind them, putting a hurting on the three who cost him his match against William Mason earlier tonight.
Mika: My Cowboy, are you okay?
Mika steps towards Harrison, helping him straighten up.
Harrison: I will be as soon as we get you as far away from this building as possible.
Mika: And you will, just not yet.
Harrison: What do you mean?
Mika: I have to make things right with my sestra.
Harrison: Taylor wouldn’t want you to risk being caught by New Eden again.
Mika: It’s a risk I have to take. I remember all the horrible things I did to Taylor while I was under New Eden’s spell. I have to make it right. I have to….
Mika starts down the hall with Harrison hurrying after her.
Harrison: Mika stop….MIKA!
All cameras cut back to the ring just as “My World” by Brand New Sin starts to play over the PA system. All eyes in the building instantly cut to the stairwell leading down from the backstage area to the stage. However, the attention of the fans should have been on the area beside that stairwell where a number of motorcycles are cruising along. What looks like a full fledged biker gang are headed for the ring. Each member wears a black leather vest and a mask over their mouths. Bringing up the rear of this biker group is Serenity, who drives her motorcycle down the ramp wearing a red leather ensemble and a mask that matches the unique color scheme she’s unveiling for this momentous event. The commentators sound quite excited to see her, considering her entrance marks the commencement of the World Title bout.
Greyson: The first of three challengers to the World Championship now on her way to the squared circle.
Sparkles: With the greasiest entourage Sparkles has ever seen.
Frankie: A biker gang leading Serenity to the ring for this huge title opportunity.
Greyson: Another of these lavish Invictus entrances.
The masked bikers circle the ring on their hogs, revving them up to hype the crowd. Serenity parks at ringside, disembarks her bike and enters the ring where her ominous, haunting black eyes look out over the crowd jeering her name.
Frankie: Serenity had a rough route to this title match.
Greyson: Rough route?
Frankie: Yeah, considering the injustice that was committed against her at the Last Stand Rumble.
Greyson: There was NO injustice.
Frankie: The hell there wasn’t. Serenity and Marie Jones had a very real possibility of winning the Rumble and by virtue challenging for the World Title here tonight, but Katelyn Buehler ruined all of that. She ILLEGALLY eliminated Serenity and Jones to ‘win’ the Rumble herself.
Greyson: There was nothing illegal about it. Katelyn won the match fair and square and then Serenity and Marie pissed and moaned their way into this title bout.
The motorcycle motorcade drives away, leaving Serenity alone in the ring to fight for the belt. “Satisfied” by Social Code starts to play over the PA system at this point and draws Serenity’s attention to the entry way. A twisted grin consumes her face in anticipation of Katelyn Buehler’s arrival.
Greyson: There’s the entrance theme of Katelyn Buehler, Serenity’s former fiancée and the RIGHTFUL winner of the Last Stand Rumble.
Sparkles: Serenity looks very eager to feast those black evil eyes of hers on Katelyn, and even more anxious to get her hands on Buehler.
Suddenly the screen cuts to a video featuring the sun rising above the city of Las Angeles. In a flash we cut to the famed ‘Hollywood’ sign nestled in Mount Lee. A small black dot can be seen in the far corner of the giant letter ‘H.’ The camera slowly begins to zoom towards that dot. In the background we can hear the disembodied voice of Katelyn Buehler.
Katelyn: When they were asked if Katelyn Buehler would ever achieve anything in this industry, they said…’no.’
The camera gets closer and closer to that black splotch parked high above the Hollywood Hills.
Katelyn: When they were asked if Katelyn Buehler could win the big one, they said….’no.’
Closer and closer the camera draws to that dot, which now begins to take shape…human shape.
Katelyn: When they were asked if Katelyn Buehler could win the Last Stand Rumble, they said…’no.’
The viewers are getting ever so much closer to what is now revealed to be a figure standing on the tip of the letter ‘H’ in the Hollywood sign.
Katelyn: When they were asked if Katelyn Buehler would ever main event Invictus, they said…’no.’
Now we’re zoomed in close enough to the figure to see that it’s Katelyn Buehler…duh….and she is presently overlooking the city from her heightened vantage point.
Katelyn: When they say no, I remind them that I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
Cameras cut back to the live action in time to catch the opening instrumental of ‘Satisfied’ by Social Code. The track is being performed LIVE by Social Code itself, enhancing the epic vibe behind Katelyn’s entrance here tonight. They really get into the heavy tracks now as Katelyn Buehler, her friend Destiny Nichols and her agent Dan Douglas, appear at the top of the stairwell. Buehler is adorned in new ring gear for the evening, selling the magnitude of this night and the importance of this match. She leads the trio down the ramp and towards the ring, the crowd getting louder with every single step she takes.
Greyson: And there she is ladies and gentleman, the woman who survived through the toughest odds imaginable to win the Rumble and guarantee her shot at the World Championship here in our main event. This is her dream ladies and gentlemen, this is what Katelyn’s whole life has been building to. Her quest for redemption started over a year ago, will she, can she achieve it here tonight?
Sparkles: It was her loss to Taylor Chase in a one on one match that started this climb, this journey to the title. Now she faces Taylor in this Fatal Four Way, can she at long last overcome Taylor in route to winning the title?
Katelyn enters the ring and is hard pressed to stay away from Serenity, who smiles at her from a distance. Dan Douglas and Destiny Nichols climb to the apron standing behind Katelyn and providing some last minute encouragement. They then honor the rules announced by Special Referee Brittany Lohan earlier tonight, the pair vacating the ringside area and headed for the back.
Greyson: Dan Douglas and Destiny Nichols leaving Katelyn to fight this battle on her own. Remember, Special Referee Brittany Lohan announced earlier tonight that all outside parties were banned from ringside for this title bout.
The sounds of ‘Haunted’ by Taylor Swift starts to play over the PA system. Now cameras shift to the entrance ramp with both edges lined by figures, all of which being legendary political icons from the past. Individuals like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. etc. But something is off about each of them, the fact that their hair and their beards are bright red. Yes, these key historical figures have been turned ‘ginger.’ They wave flags above their heads with the words ‘GINGER NATION’ brightly written on their surfaces. The leader of that nation now appears from the backstage area, Marie Jones, who’s red hair shines like fire. She stands on the top of the stairwell, soaking in the atmosphere. She heads down the steps to the stage then proceeds along towards the ring pausing only briefly to grab a Ginger Nation sign out of the crowd, lifting it above her head.
Greyson: Marie Jones, the final of three World Title challengers tonight.
Sparkles: And my Sparkles pick to win it all.
Greyson: Why’s that?
Sparkles: She named Sparkles an honorary member of her Ginger Nation.
Greyson: Yeeeeeah. Well I’m not going to discredit Marie’s talents, she’s a phenomenal athlete, but the methods she employed to get herself into this title match are just downright disgusting. She and Serenity both should really be ashamed of themselves.
Frankie: Pull your head out of Katelyn Buehler’s ass, Lovejoy. Marie, Serenity, they’re both right, Katelyn doesn’t deserve to be in this match, THEY do. Besides this is Marie’s birthright. As a member of the Jones wrestling family it’s her destiny to be a World Champion.
Greyson: You’re on the Jones bandwagon too?
Frankie: Yeah, erm, she did name me an honorary member of the Ginger Nation as well. Now make the Ginger Nation happy, Marie, AND please Silas World as well.
Greyson: Kind of surprised to see Silas World isn’t out here with Marie at the moment. They’re probably too busy celebrating Silas’ ‘victory’ earlier tonight.
Somehow Serenity, Katelyn and Marie keep their cool and maintain their distance as they await the arrival of the fourth and final entrant in this title bout. It’s at this point that we cut to another interesting video. Right from jumpstreet we are inundated with as deluge of celebrities. First we have rapper Wiz Khalifa standing on the red carpet and talking to the camera.
Wiz: At Invictus, our girl Taylor Chase, she gonna win the whole thing boi!
Now we cut to Donald Trump seated behind a desk on the set of Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump: Taylor Chase, you’re the champ.
Then we see Mike Conley Jr. on the court sporting his Memphis Grizzlies jersey and staring into the camera.
Conley Jr.: Taylor Chase, all the way.
A who’s who of actors and actresses flash quickly across the screen. Although they walk different paths in life and come from different backgrounds, they all share one thing in common.
Adam Levine: Are you crazy? No one can beat Taylor Chase.
Wesley Snipes: Always bet on Taylor Chase.
Freddie Prince Jr.: Taylor Chase, she’s the greatest, and she’ll prove it at Invictus.
Bette White: Taylor Chase….she’s golden.
Jerry Springer: Have to say Taylor Chase, winning is in her DNA.
All these celebrities flash quickly across the screen before the video montage cuts to the leader of Tombstone, the man known simply as Goddard. He stands in the forefront with the background blotted out in blackness.
Goddard: She has survived New Eden, she has survived the Sinistry, she has survived the Black Crusade. You cannot conquer her soul, and you cannot match her strength both in mind and heart. We in Tombstone protect our own, but Taylor Chase, she has all the tools to protect her title, which is exactly what she’ll do here tonight at Invictus.
The show transitions back to the entry way just as “Boss’ Daughter” hits the PA system, leading to a huge outpouring of emotion from the fans. Everyone lunges out of their seats when spotting the World Champion Taylor Chase stood at the top of the stairwell. All the spotlights in the building race to her just in time to catch sight of Taylor lifting the World Championship above her head. As she does this an explosion of pyrotechnics shoot from the stairs, from the stage, from the rafters, and from the turnbuckle posts. Cameras then cut to an aerial view of the Staples Center as fireworks launch from the roof and explode in the night sky. Cameras then cut to the ‘Hollywood’ sign as fireworks launch into the air from the hills behind it and light up the sky. Finally we cut back to the champ inside of the Staples Center and presently traversing the stairs on her way to her impatient opponents in the ring.
Greyson: The World Champion is here and boy is she ever making a grand entrance.
Sparkles: How come they didn’t get my Taylor Chase quote for that whole video? Sparkles IS the biggest celeb of them all.
Frankie: Totes.
Greyson: Right now the biggest star on the planet is our World Heavyweight Champion Taylor Chase. It’s as Goddard stated, this woman has overcome literally everything that has ever stood in opposition against her. She has proven herself to be the most dominant World Champion in the history of wrestling. I have the distinct feeling that won’t change tonight.
Frankie: That feeling your getting is probably the five cheese conies you ate before the show started, it’s just gas. And that’s all Taylor Chase is too, just a big ball of hot air.
Greyson: Still sore she kicked you’re ass to the curb? Let it go man.
Frankie: I like to hold it….for a long-long time. Would probably explain the chaffing.
Greyson: That’s not even…never-mind. Taylor is about to prove to you what she is and what she stands for when she puts that belt on the line against three of her greatest rivals. I know I’m supposed to remain unbiased, but Taylor Chase is my pick to win this.
Sparkles: Well there it was, the kiss of death. You’re support pretty much guarantees that Taylor will not be leaving her tonight with the championship.
All four athletes occupy all four corners of the ring. Announcer Thomas Boll is in the middle of the squared circle holding a mic to his lips.
Boll: Lady and gentlefolk, follow match is a Fatal Four Way match schedule for one fall and it for Heavyweight Title of World.
Boll pauses to give the fans time to react.
Boll: Introduce first, challenger, she weigh in tonight at 130 pounds, and she hail from Boston, Massachusetts, she is leader of Ginger Nation, she represent Silas World…MARIE JONES!
Marie steps out of her corner and lifts the titanium knee brace around her leg into the air, giving it a slap. She then points across the ring at Taylor, who is unshaken by the threat of having her old brace used against her.
Boll: Her opponent, she weigh in tonight at 115 pounds, and she hail from LOS ANGELES, CALIFNORNIA!!
Katelyn smiles at the reaction from her hometown crowd.
Boll: She is the winner of the 2015 Last Stand Rumble, she is Katelyn Buehler!
Katelyn spirals out of the corner and throws her devastating forearm through the air to a raucous response from the crowd. Serenity sneers at Katelyn from her corner of the ring.
Boll: Her opponent, she weigh in tonight at 145 pounds, she hail from Las Angeles, CALIFORNIA!!
Another pause is taken to give the crowd time to react to their hometown girl.
Boll: She represent New Eden, she is Abigail Lindsey, she is SERENITY!
The fans show Serenity little love as she casually leans back in her corner and emotes a pouty face.
Boll: And finally, the reigning and defending champion. She weigh in tonight at 122 pounds, and she hail from Beverly Hills, CALIFNORNIA.
Predictably the crowd erupts for a third time given Taylor’s place of residence.
Boll: She is The Scarlet Socialite, she is the World Heavyweight Champion, she is TAYLOR CHASE!
The World Title slips into Taylor’s palms and she lifts it above her head to a deafening ovation from the Staples Center.
Greyson: There we have it, the introductions are out of the way, meaning it’s time…time for the biggest World Title match in IWC history.
Sparkles: Four of the absolute best in all of professional wrestling are about to collide. It doesn’t get any more huge than this.
The title finds its way into the hands of referee Michelle Blacker but just as she is about to lift the belt into the air, “I Am Machine” hits the PA system. There is quite the ovation at the sight of Brittany Lohan making her way down the ramp with a trickle of blood streaming down her cheek and a referee shirt binding to her body.
Greyson: I knew there was something missing.
Frankie: Is she serious? Is she seriously coming out here? The crazy bitch had a cinder block broken over her head earlier.
Greyson: Yes, but she was named the Special Guest Referee for this World Title match and she’s determined to fulfill that role.
Frankie: I don’t know what Drew Bryant was thinking naming her the referee considering she has a vested interest in destroying just about everyone competing in this match.
Lohan gets into the ring, takes the World Title from Blacker’s hand then shoos the other referee from the ring. Brittany then looks around at the four ladies surrounding her and lifts the belt into the air.
Lohan: Let’s get it on….BITCHES!
The bell chimes and both Serenity and Katelyn rush across the ring, meeting one another in the middle and exchanging punches. At the same time Taylor and Marie find themselves trading blows. The bell rings in the background and Lohan is tossing the title out of the squared circle.
Greyson: We’re underway!
Sparkles: It’s already off to a cray-cray start.
Frankie: Taylor and Marie going at it, while Serenity and Katelyn trade shots as well.
Greyson: Seems fitting. Marie stole Taylor’s titanium knee brace and joined with Silas World, Taylor’s old agency that has been hell bent on destroying the Champion. While Katelyn and Serenity are former lovers turned against each other, conveniently by the very leader of Silas World, Silas Mason.
Frankie: Who is very conspicuous by his absence at the moment.
Greyson: He should know better than to be at ringside when three out of four of the ladies in this match want his blood.
Marie finally manages to launch her titanium braced knee into Taylor’s gut, doubling her over. Marie then steps in for a right hand that Chase manages to avoid, slipping under the inbound fist then behind her opponent’s back. She places Serenity in a rear-waistlock then takes off across the ring, pushing her along towards Serenity.
Serenity steps away from Katelyn and then slips around the sides of both Marie and Taylor, catching the champion around her hip. Serenity pulls Taylor down into the school boy while Taylor maintains the waist lock on Marie, dragging her into a reverse roll up. Marie finds her shoulders wedged to the canvas while Taylor bridges her own body into the air thanks to the school boy by Serenity. Taylor’s legs are kicking above her head before finding Katelyn’s shoulders pressing into the creases of her knees, pushing down on them. The crowd cheers at the sight of three simultaneous pins all happening at once. Brittany just stands there though and refuses to make the count.
Greyson: Serenity pinning Taylor with the school girl, but Taylor pinning Marie with the bridging reverse waist lock, and Katelyn trying to pin Taylor by applying force to the back of her knees.
Sparkles: But Lohan isn’t making the count, refusing to let this match end with even the slightest bit of ambiguity.
All three pins are broken and so is Serenity’s face. Katelyn nails her ex with a thrust kick directly under the jaw, knocking her down from her knees and sending her rolling into the corner. Katelyn then turns towards Taylor, who sits up and receives a thrust kick under the jaw as well. The blow sends Taylor rolling into another corner. Marie slowly sits up and she gets a thrust kick too. The devastating blow sends Marie rolling across the ring and into the ropes. Katelyn turns towards Serenity, who is standing up with the aid of the ropes. Buehler rushes in and crushes her jaw with a forearm before turning around and glaring at Taylor standing in the opposite corner. Katelyn barrels straight towards her and lunges into another forearm smash that connects. Katelyn then turns towards Marie, who is standing with the aid of a turnbuckle.
Katelyn rushes right at her and lunges into a THIRD diving forearm that Marie manages to avoid. She ducks out of the way and Katelyn ends up hitting the corner instead of hitting her opponent. She then turns around just as Taylor and Serenity rush out of their respective turnbuckles delivering simultaneous mafia kicks to Katelyn’s face. The blows to the brain take Katelyn off of her feet and to her seat, looking all shaken up.
Greyson: YOUCH. Katelyn forced to pay for those kicks she just used to lay out all of her opponents.
Sparkles; One of the rare occasions we’ll ever see Serenity and Taylor ever work together. These two absolutely despise one another on so many levels. Remember, it was Serenity who cost Taylor to lose the championship back at Last Stand two months ago.
Greyson: Only for Taylor to return and capture the belt back from Serenity’s friend, Mika Kozlov a few weeks later.
Mere moments after laying Katelyn out, both Serenity and Taylor turn on one another. The two throw wild and vicious haymakers into one another’s faces before finding their throats engulfed via simultaneous lariats at the arms of Marie. She rushes in and lays both of her opponents out. A smile creeps along Marie’s face after dishing out the punishment on her opponents, only one avoiding her wrath thus far.
Katelyn has worked her way to her feet with the use of the turnbuckle but soon finds her spine compressed against it when Marie delivers a big leaping splash right into her. Marie then takes Katelyn around the neck, bending her over into a side headlock. All the while Serenity is standing up in front of her and now the top of Katelyn’s head is being used as a battering ram. She drives Katelyn’s skull square into Serenity’s ribs, knocking Serenity back and into the waiting arms of the World Champion. Serenity spirals into Taylor’s fireman’s carry, and now Chase is preparing to deliver the True Story. But Marie isn’t about to let that happen, taking Katelyn by the back of the head and throwing her stooped body shoulder first right into Taylor’s gut. A shoulder block connects to Taylor’s ribs, causing her to bend forward and drop Serenity from her shoulders right down onto Katelyn’s back. Serenity quickly hooks both of Katelyn’s arms and pulls her over into the crucifix pin.
Greyson: Oh that was so cool!
Lohan reluctantly follows protocol, dropping down and making the count.
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Taylor rushes in to break up the pinfall only to have Marie step in her way and catch her with a drop toe hold. As a result Taylor’s head comes crashing down right into Serenity’s back, forcing the pin to be broken but also damaging Taylor in the process. Chase now rolls away holding her forehead while Marie sits up grabbing at her back. She puts herself in perfect position for the move that Marie has in store next. Marie slaps the brace around her knee and then takes off into the ropes, using them to build momentum behind the running knee strike. But Serenity drops to her back at the last second, avoiding the knee that goes sailing over her head and right into the rising Katelyn. But Buehler catches the knee before it hits her, now hooking Marie’s leg.
Marie lunges into the air with her free foot, placing it Katelyn’s gut and then dropping back into a monkey flip. Katelyn is sent soaring right into the rising Serenity, crashing back first into her former lover’s chest and knocking them both to the canvas.
Frankie: Marie doing a damn good job thus far of using her opponents against one another.
Taylor gets back to her feet and now comes charging at Marie, who drops down catching the World Champion with another drop toe hold, attempting to send her flying into Katelyn and Serenity, who are still stacked on top of one another. Taylor prevents it though, swinging her arms and refusing to go over. Meanwhile in front of her Serenity is wrapping arms around Katelyn’s torso and starting to bridge both of their bodies up off the canvas.
Right at the exact same time Marie is rushing to her feet then into the ropes. She ricochets off and comes back in at Taylor only to be caught with a back drop sending her flipping over and ultimately crashing down right on top of Serenity and Katelyn, knocking the two down out of their bridging positions.
Greyson: PAAAINFUL!
Sparkles: That could’ve caused a few broken ribs!
Greyson: And been the very move that ensured Taylor’s victory.
The Champion presses her advantage, pulling Marie by the bangs to her feet then punching her across the face. The shot sends Marie staggering into the ropes, leaning on them as a crutch. Taylor then chops her viciously across the sternum before jabbing her to the brow a second time. Taylor then begins to launch knee after knee into Marie’s gut. She grabs the back of Marie’s head, bends it forward and starts to launch one knee after another into her face. Marie slides down the ropes and finds herself seated on the middle rope. That’s where Taylor hits her with a straight kick to the gut that launches her through the cables to the outside of the ring.
Chase twirls towards Katelyn, who is crawling across the ring, The Champion rushes in and kicks Katelyn to the gut, sending her corkscrewing through the air. Chase turns towards Serenity and rushes into a spear to her gut, driving her back towards the ropes then through them. Serenity crashes to the outside mats while Taylor backs across the ring towards Katelyn.
Katelyn gets to her feet just as Taylor swings around into a punch across her cheek. Katelyn is disorientated but plants her feet just long enough for Taylor to take her down via the running lariat. Taylor takes off into the ropes at her laid out opponent’s side, bouncing off then leaping into a big knee drop. The point of her knee nails Katelyn straight in the face and has her convulsing as a result. Taylor then stands up and swipes her arms through the air, indicating that the end is not only near, it’s here.
She drags Katelyn to her feet and then into her shoulders, going for the True Story already. Before her version of the Go to Sleep can connect, Taylor finds her finisher countered via Katelyn’s fast thinking. She slips off of Taylor’s shoulders, landing behind her back and then spiraling around into the KTFO. The roaring elbow never connects with its target, but Taylor stoops down and catches Katelyn coming in, hoisting her into the fireman’s carry. Once again Taylor is going for the True Story.
But just then Marie rushes into the ring behind Taylor, takes her around the waist and hits a German suplex. As a result Taylor unintentionally hits Katelyn with the Samoan Slam.
Greyson: Marie just continues to use her opponents against one another, culminating to that German suplex, Samoan Slam combination.
Katelyn and Taylor roll around on the canvas in obvious pain. At the same time Serenity is slipping into the ring through the ropes, but Marie cuts her off. She rushes in and blasts Serenity across the back of the head with an elbow. She then pulls Serenity to the center of the ring, hooks both of her arms and snaps back into a bridging double underhook suplex. Lohan apprehensively drops to the canvas, making the three count.
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Serenity manages to kick out. Marie takes her around the neck, rolls to her side and places Serenity in a side headlock. Serenity works her way to her feet and now finds herself caught in position for the Ava Marie. Jones is just about to hit the side headlock driver but Serenity provides a surprising counter. She wedges her shoulder to her long time rival’s spine and heaves her into the air for the back drop suplex. But Marie flips over and lands on her feet instead of on her back. She stands behind Serenity, who is rushing into the cables in front of Marie, then springing from the middle cable into the roundhouse kick. She launches her foot straight at Marie’s face only to have Jones duck at the last possible second. Serenity lands on her feet and Marie steps in behind her, applying another side headlock. It seems the Ava Marie is about to connect only to have Serenity shove Jones off and into the waiting arms of their common foe. Katelyn stands just in time to catch the inbound Marie with the SLO.
The lighting spiral slams the back of Marie’s head off the canvas, leaving her splayed across the canvas. Katelyn rolls to her knees, watching one opponent from the corner of her eye, Marie, and another out of the corner of her opposite eye, Serenity.
Serenity is making her way towards Katelyn, who instinctively pulls back her forearm, ready to unleash the KTFO. But Serenity stops and lifts her hands defensively in the air.
Serenity: Whoa-whoa-whoa lover. Why attack ME? You want to be World Champion, well let’s do something to increase BOTH of our odds.
Katelyn looks confused before Serenity turns her boots to Marie’s body, stomping away at her. She now gestures for Buehler to help her lay into Marie. However, Katelyn looks reluctant to trust Serenity, and for good reason.
Serenity: Come on lover.
Someone does take Serenity’s invite. NOT Katelyn. Taylor steps in behind Serenity and spins her around into a straight punch across the jaw. Taylor then turns and slams a fist across Katelyn’s jaw as well. Taylor hits a back elbow to Serenity’s lip, knocking her down to the canvas. Taylor then turns back towards Katelyn and receives a running lariat that fells the World Champion. Serenity recovers and steps to one side of Taylor while Katelyn stands on the other, the two join together in stomping away at the champion.
Greyson: I’m pretty shocked by this.
Frankie: Serenity and Katelyn are working together.
Greyson: Mind blowing.
Serenity now drags Taylor up to her feet and places her in a front chancery. Katelyn joins in, trapping Taylor in the head lock as well. Both ladies now hit a stereo snap suplex on Taylor. They turn their focus to the aching Marie, putting her in a stereo front facelock then delivering a double snap suplex on her as well.
Greyson: This is just…..weird.
Sparkles: Seeing Katelyn and Serenity work together is like seeing a monk at a strip-club. It just doesn’t jive.
Serenity shouts instruction at Katelyn, who pulls Taylor back up to her feet while Serenity is springing to the middle rope. Serenity unleashes a springboard roundhouse kick, or at least THAT was her original target. However, Taylor grabs Katelyn by the wrist and pulls her into the way of the roundhouse kick instead. Katelyn’s face is demolished by the kick and Serenity is landing beside her, immediately shrugging her shoulders. Her head is almost taken off of those shoulders though when Taylor pulls her around and attempts the clothesline. But Serenity ducks her head down and drives the top of it right into Taylor’s mid-section, doubling her over. Serenity then turns to take off into the ropes and takes advantage of Taylor’s injuries but the World Champion grabs Serenity’s hair, refusing to let her get very far. Serenity then leaves her feet though and hits a Pele Kick, her shin nailing Taylor in the top of the head. The blow sends Taylor staggering back into the ropes, falling against them for support. Marie pops up at ringside though, reaches beneath the cables and grabs Taylor by the ankle, dragging her out of the ring. Marie then lays Taylor out with a DDT into the thin protective mats.
Back in the ring Serenity is kneeling over the still unconscious Katelyn, patting her former fiancée on the top of the head. That’s when, to a thousand jeers from the crowd, Serenity falls into a lateral press, hooking Katelyn’s leg.
Greyson: It looks like the alliance is dead.
Frankie: Knew it wouldn’t last between these crazy chicks.
Reluctance is again shown by Lohan as the Special Referee drops down and makes a half-hearted three count.
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But Lohan’s count does not anoint her baby sister the World Champion on account of Katelyn kicking out. Serenity stands up and predictably wags a finger at her sister, letting official Lohan know that she was not pleased with the cadence of the count. Though she’ll probably be less pleased with the speed of the punches nailing her across the cheek. Marie spins Serenity around and slams a fist upside her face, the shot sending her staggering back. Marie then puts Serenity in position for the very same DDT she just laid Taylor out with at ringside. But Serenity puts her hands to Marie’s ribs then shoves her back into the ropes. Marie bounces from the cables and returns to Serenity, who is stooped in anticipation of hitting the back drop. But Marie stops just short of her, catches Serenity around the head then pulls her down into Jones’ raised, titanium knee brace wrapped leg. The knee smash has Serenity flying back, clutching at her face and rolling into the turnbuckle.
Typically Marie would follow up with the pin but instead alters her course when spotting Taylor climbing back to the apron. Marie charges in and nails Taylor with a running knee, employing the titanium brace to knock her adversary right back down to the outside mats.
Marie goes back after Serenity, stomping away at her sternum and ribs repeatedly. All the while behind the aggressor’s back, Katelyn is returning to her feet, recovering from the springboard roundhouse she received moments ago. She steps in beside Marie and sets up for another SLO, but Jones won’t fall prey to this attack a second time. She swings her body out of position for the lightning spiral then twists into a back heel kick that nails Buehler in the ribs, knocking her back into the ropes. Marie charges at Katelyn, leaves her feet and goes for the leaping knee strike. But Katelyn ducks and Marie flies right over her and right into the ropes that Taylor is presently low bridging. Taylor reaches up from ringside just in time to pull down the top rope and send Marie flying over it. She plummets to the ground right in front of Taylor, who catches Marie around the head before delivering a swinging neck breaker.
Inside of the ring Katelyn is approaching a laid out Serenity, who shocks everyone by lifting her hand into the air, asking to be helped up. Katelyn takes Serenity by the hand and aids her to her feet.
Sparkles: These two are STILL working as a team.
Greyson: In spite of the fact that Serenity just tried to pin Katelyn.
Once upright Serenity pats Katelyn playfully on the cheek then goes to turn her focus back on her rivals. She gets one step before finding her progress halted, her hand remaining caught in the grip of the woman who just helped her to her feet. Serenity looks back at the smirk on Katelyn’s face and the boot traveling straight into her jaw. The big boot knocks Serenity into a turn, her back aimed towards Katelyn, who swoops in and takes her former lover down with the lightning spiral.
Greyson: There goes the alliance.
Frankie: Stupid-stupid-stupid. Katelyn should take advantage of Serenity’s willingness to carry her dead weight throughout this match.
Greyson: Katelyn does not need to be carried by anyone, and she just proved that again by taking Serenity out.
As Katelyn prepares to take advantage of the SLO, crawling into the cover, Taylor Chase prevents the pin from happening. She steps in behind Katelyn and grabs her legs, pulling her back from Serenity. At the same time Marie is climbing up the turnbuckle behind the back of the World Champion, looking to catch Taylor off guard.
Taylor’s preoccupation is with Katelyn, who rolls to her back, puts her feet to Chase’s gut and pushes her back towards the very corner that Marie is standing on top of. Marie leaps off the corner, over Taylor and comes crashing down with the elbow drop into Katelyn’s chest.
Greyson: Nicely done!
Sparkles: Wonderfully executed elbow.
Frankie: A move that brings Marie a crucial step closer to the title.
Marie rolls off the elbow and back to her feet before slapping the brace around her neck and aiming it at Taylor’s face. The Champion is still standing in the corner, turning just as Marie charges in and leaps into the step up knee strike. The brace nails Taylor under the jaw and seems to completely incapacitate her. Somehow she’s still on her feet as Marie remains stood on the middle rope above her, slapping Taylor playfully to both cheeks. She then wedges her feet to Taylor’s abs, about to monkey flip her out of the corner. Somehow Taylor manages to put her hands to Marie’s stomach though and push her off…push her off with enough force to send her flipping backwards and crashing with a moonsault right on top of Katelyn.
Marie instinctively hooks the leg.
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Taylor dives out of the corner, dropping a forearm across the back of Marie’s head and breaking up the pinfall.
Marie rolls away from Taylor and to her feet before beginning to take off in the direction of the crawling champion, knee brace aimed at her face. Marie only manages to make it one step before finding one of her feet caught by Serenity.
Marie’s age old nemesis is latched onto her and latched on tight, not allowing Marie to take another step. This allows Taylor to get back to her feet, climb the turnbuckle and launch herself off the middle rope into a clothesline to Marie’s throat, knocking both athletes down to the canvas.
Serenity stands up, taps Taylor on the shoulder then points between them before ultimately redirecting her finger to the laid out Marie.
Greyson: Are you serious? Is Serenity actually suggesting that she and Taylor team up now?
Sparkles: First it was she and Katelyn, now it’s she and Taylor.
Frankie: If Katelyn teamed with Serenity, I don’t see why Taylor won’t.
Greyson: Erm, how about the fact that Serenity COST Taylor the World Title back at Last Stand against Mika Kozlov.
Taylor seems to contemplate Serenity’s offer for a second before seemingly agreeing to it. The two put their boots simultaneously to Marie’s body before finally Serenity drags Jones up to her feet and holds her in place before Taylor’s punches. One shot after another rattles Marie’s ribs and has her stooped over almost coughing up blood. Taylor then leaps into the air and catches the prone Marie with the code breaker. Marie’s face bounces off the steel plate under the skin of Taylor’s knee. She bounces off that knee and collapses to the ground. Serenity stands over Marie laughing at her misfortune before finding herself on the receiving end of the back stabber. Taylor pulls Serenity down and drives her knees into Serenity’s spine.
The crowd is giving Taylor quite the ovation as she rolls to her knees and smiles, knowing she just suckered Serenity right into a trap.
Right now Admiral Ackbar should be popping up to warn Taylor that she’s the one positioned for a TRAP. She stands up just as Katelyn swoops in from behind and cracks her directly to the back of the head with a thrust kick. The shot sends Taylor tumbling to the ring flat on her face. Katelyn then spins around towards Marie, who is the first of three to begin stirring. Katelyn slaps her forearm against her palm repeatedly, signaling that it’s now time to deliver the KTFO.
Katelyn spirals around towards an unsuspecting Marie to hit the roaring elbow only to suddenly have Serenity lunge in and wrap her arms around Katelyn’s waist, holding her in place and preventing her from taking Marie out. Jones turns around and leaps into the air, nailing a knee strike under Katelyn’s jaw and putting her on her back.
Serenity stands up over top of Katelyn and begins to point between both she and Marie.
Sparkles: Now it looks like Serenity is trying to form a partnership with Marie.
Greyson: Shocking considering what both these ladies have been putting each other through for months.
Much to everyone’s surprise Marie actually agrees to Serenity’s offer. The two now grab Katelyn by the hair, forcing her up to her knees and taking turns hitting her with headbutts. Finally Serenity just hauls off and hits a roundhouse kick upside Katelyn’s temple, knocking her flat to her back. Marie and Serenity now go after Taylor, who is scooting away from them and into the nearest corner. The champ isn’t allowed to get any further. She’s spun around and Marie nails her with a knife edge chop across the chest. Serenity then delivers the exact same move. Both ladies and long terms rivals retract their hands and hit simultaneous chops across both sides of Taylor’s chest.
Frankie: This team looking pretty good thus far, and not just because Serenity is wearing that leather…yummy.
Greyson: If you take a moment and draw back to everything that’s happened throughout 2014 and 2015, you would understand why it’s so surprising to see Marie and Serenity working in collusion.
Sparkles; It’s the World Title, Lovejoy. It drives people to make these types of strange alliances.
Shockingly Taylor starts to fight back, battling her way out of the corner. At least she was until her body fell prey to a straight knee lift from Serenity. The collision knocks Taylor back into the corner where Marie is lifting her up into the air and placing her in a tree of woe around the turnbuckle. She and Serenity now kick the exposed mid-section of the World Champion. Serenity actually rolls under the ropes, reaches back into the ring and takes Taylor around the chin, pulling back on her jaw, choking her slightly while Marie is driving shoulders into Taylor’s ribcage.
Serenity eventually returns to the ring where Marie is now sitting Taylor on the top rope and climbing up after her. Serenity climbs up as well, both ladies reaching the top rope and wedging their shoulders to Taylor’s spine, going for a stereo super back drop. They connect but only after Katelyn dashes across the ring, steps up the turnbuckle and hooks them both around their thighs. Katelyn stereo powerbombs Serenity and Marie off the corner and causes them to drag Taylor down with a stereo back drop superplex.
Frankie: The dreaded tower of doom.
Sparkles: And it’s got everyone laid out but Katelyn.
And Katelyn is stepping to the center of the ring sizing up all three opponents, figuring out which one is going to be on the receiving end of her roaring elbow.
Greyson: Buehler setting up for it, here comes the KNOCK OUT.
Sparkles: And it looks like Marie is going to be the one on the receiving end of it.
Marie inches her way to her feet, staggering around almost drunkenly. All the while Katelyn is still slapping her forearm against her palm, establishing that she’s seconds from clocking Marie, pinning her and then becoming the World Champion. But just then Silas Mason, who had been conspicuous by his absence, pops up at ringside. Silas leaps onto the apron, intentionally drawing Katelyn’s attention.
Greyson: Now what is Silas doing out here? Didn’t he get the message that Lohan had barred all outside parties from ringside?
Sparkles: Silas is the NEW Principle Owner though, he can do what he wants when he wants it, and right now he wants to save his client Marie’s title ambitions.
Silas is standing on the apron shouting over the ropes at Katelyn, who swings around to try and decapitate the man who ruined her life. Mason drops down from the apron in the nick of time to avoid the blow and to give Marie just enough of an opportunity to attack Buehler. She rushes in behind Katelyn but Buehler side steps her adversary, causing Jones to go running right past her into the ropes. She bounces off and staggers back into Katelyn’s waiting arms. Buehler rolls her up from behind into the pinfall. Lohan drops down and makes the count.
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Serenity steps in to break up the pinfall, taking Katelyn around the neck and dragging her off the pin into a front chancery. She then wraps her legs around Katelyn’s waist, applying a body vice in combination with the headlock. The hold is wearing Katelyn down, the oxygen deprivation taking its toll on her. That’s when Marie rushes in behind Buehler, placing her in a rear waistlock then snapping back into a bridging German suplex. At the same time Katelyn is flipping Serenity into the bridging Northern Lights Suplex.
Lohan begrudgingly drops down and makes a double count.
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Taylor manages to step in and grab Katelyn by the ankle, pulling her out of the pin and then onto her feet. Katelyn falls back into the ropes and then Taylor clotheslines her over the cables, sending her twisting to the outside mats. Taylor then whips around just as Marie comes hustling towards her, but Taylor manages to throw a punch at the face of her inbound opposition. Marie instinctively drops into a baseball slide under that fist though and then under the ropes, ending up standing outside of the ring. For only a moment that is. Because Katelyn grabs Marie by the waistband from behind, pulling her back and spine first right into the Spanish announce table. Katelyn stands over Marie shouting insults at her. Meanwhile in the ring Serenity is charging straight at Taylor, who stoops down and catches Serenity with a back drop, sending her flipping over the ropes ultimately crashing down right into Katelyn.
Greyson: I don’t know if Taylor did that on purpose or by accident, but she just took out two with one well timed counter.
Sparkles: And now it looks like she’s about to take out more than two, she’s taking out the whole friggin kitten caboodle.
Taylor is climbing the turnbuckle while down below Marie, Serenity and Katelyn are recovering. The trio stands just as Taylor takes to the air and knocks them all three right back down via the crossbody.
Greyson: Chase doing something we don’t see out of her very often. High risk dive into all three of her biggest rivals.
The crowd is standing and slapping the barricades while also stomping their feet, revved up by all this action in the four way. It’s action that Lohan is just letting go, idly standing in the ring and refusing to make a ten count to disqualify any of the combatants in this match. Taylor drags Marie up to her feet and then deposits her in the ring, the Champion sliding in after her. Taylor stalks Marie, waiting for her to stand up while slapping her knee, setting up to deliver the TKO.
At the same time Serenity is slipping into the ring behind Taylor and rushes right past her into a clothesline attempt at Jones. But Marie ducks it, causing Serenity to run right past her into the far ropes. Taylor then takes off towards Marie, launching her knee into the TKO only to have Marie duck her head at the last second. Taylor flies over top of her and in mid-air finds her face the recipient of Serenity’s springboard roundhouse kick. Serenity nails the airborne Taylor in the face with the kick, knocking her out. Serenity then rolls past her and into Marie, launching her shin into the air, cracking Jones square in the mouth. Marie falls back while Serenity remains on her back, ultimately rolling to her side and into the lateral press on Taylor.
It looks like it pains Lohan to do it, but she drops down and prepares to make the three count. However, Silas climbs up onto the apron, shouting at Serenity, doing everything in his power to prevent her from scoring the pinfall and costing Marie the World Title. Serenity lunges to her feet and charges across the ring, scaring Silas off the apron.
Greyson: Silas again antagonizing the athletes in this match, much as he’s done throughout the year building into this title bout.
Lohan is also shouting over the ropes, insisting that Silas leave the ringside area, but Mason reminds her that he is now the Principle Owner.
Silas: I’m the boss around here Baby Blue, what I say GOES!
Marie recovers from the kick she just received to the face in order to rush across the ring and catch Serenity around the waist. Serenity is pulled down into the rear waistlock roll up. Eventually Marie ends up seated on the back of Serenity’s thighs, folding her up beneath her. It looks like Marie has just snuck in the doggy door and won the title, but at the moment the referee Lohan is too busy shouting at Silas.
Finally Marie breaks the pin, steps up behind Lohan and spins her around, getting right in the referee’s face.
Sparkles: Uh-oh.
Greyson: Marie and Lohan squaring up on one another. They use to be tag team champions, but that whole relationship disintegrated and these two turned against each other.
Frankie: Which is why Lohan NEVER should have been named the referee for this match.
Lohan and Jones go on bickering with one another before Serenity puts an end to the argument via the sit-down reverse DDT on Marie. The back of Marie’s head creams the canvas and now Serenity is about to crawl into the lateral press. She only manages to inch a little closer to Marie before Katelyn comes dashing into the ring then leaping over Jones’ back. She catches Serenity around the thigh and the neck, rolling her over into the Mahistrial Cradle. Lohan takes a deep breath then drops down to make the count.
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Serenity manages to kick out, rolling back to her feet then leaping into the ropes, springing from the middle cable into a roundhouse kick. But Katelyn ducks, causing Serenity to fly over her and right into Taylor’s TKO!
The fans scream at the sight of the Champion knocking Serenity out of the air with the leaping knee strike.
Greyson: REVENGE!
Frankie: Make the cover champ! Make the cover!
That’s precisely what Taylor is doing, crawling into the cover only to have Katelyn cut her off. Buehler hits a basement dropkick directly to Taylor’s cheek, knocking her onto her back and away from the prone Serenity.
Katelyn crawls into the cover on Serenity and now Lohan debates rather she wants to make the count or not. Finally she drops down and slaps the canvas.
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Serenity manages to just BARELY get her arm up in time.
Katelyn doesn’t look very thrilled with the speed of the official’s count, expressing as much right into Lohan’s face. The two go nose to nose with neither Lohan nor Katelyn stepping back. Katelyn finally returns her focus to Taylor, who is inching her way up from the canvas. Katelyn steps in and pops her across the jaw, sending her stumbling back and around into a European Uppercut from the recovered Marie. The blow sends Taylor down with Marie spiraling past her and charging at Katelyn only to have Buehler catch her with the Lou Thez Press. Katelyn comes down on top of Marie, nailing her repeatedly in the face with closed fists. The series of punches only stop when Taylor comes barreling across the ring and nails Katelyn directly in the temple with a running knee strike. The steel plate beneath the flesh on Taylor’s knee crushes Katelyn’s skull and sends her twisting to her back. Taylor then falls into the lateral press, hooking both legs.
Lohan hesitates for a moment to make the count but finally drops down and slaps the canvas.
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Katelyn manages to barely roll her shoulder from the ring, kicking out before she could taste the bitterness of defeat. Taylor immediately lunges to her feet after the kick out and airs some grievances to Lohan, demanding to know why she was initially hesitant to make the count. Lohan doesn’t even give a response, her body language doing all her talking for her.
That’s when Marie rushes in behind Taylor and knocks her forward right into Lohan. The two bump noggins, knocking the Special Referee to the canvas then sending Taylor staggering back, looking disorientated. Marie looks to capitalize on this, rushing into the ropes in front of Tay, bouncing off then leaping into her own TKO. Marie soars through the air to hit the diving knee only to have Tay spiral out of the way and catch her challenger in a fireman’s carry. Marie screeches as she’s thrown into the True Story. Taylor’s knee smashes Marie’s nose, knocking her instantly unconscious.
Greyson: That True Story just hit completely out of nowhere on Marie!
Frankie: Shit. Does that really mean we have to put up with even MORE of Taylor as the champion? Booo.
Taylor falls into the pin on Marie, but Lohan is still lying on the canvas clasping at her skull. Obviously Brittany is suffering the ill-effects of not just the headbutt with Tay, but the cinder block she took over the skull earlier in the night. That means there is nobody to make the count for Taylor…but there is someone to break up her pinfall. That someone is Silas Mason. He comes crawling into the ring, steps over Taylor and digs his fingers into her eyes, gouging them.
Greyson: Silas breaking up the pinfall!
Sparkles: Saving his client and the title.
Silas cackles with insidious laughter as he pulls Taylor up off of the pin and onto her knees. But the moment that Silas stands up straight behind his languishing opponent he finds his face demolished via the KTFO. The roaring elbow sends Silas twisting right into a superkick from Serenity.
Sparkles: Even more payback on Silas!
Greyson: He destroyed both Serenity’s and Katelyn’s relationship by forcing Katelyn to sleep with him months ago. Now he’s being forced to suffer the consequences of that infidelity.
The blow rattles Silas’ teeth and rocks his brain. The agent spills to the canvas then under the ropes to the apron. He somehow starts to get to his knees before finding the lapel of his jacket grabbed and his body being pulled down to ringside. Lohan has recovered from her headbutt with Taylor and is now the guest referee is dragging a near unconscious Silas up the ramp to the backstage area.
Greyson: It doesn’t matter if Silas is the new Principle Owner or not, Lohan is showing no qualms about removing his ass from ringside. Get that son of a bitch out of here!
Sparkles: Jeez, did Silas pee in your oatmeal or something? Cause I thought that was Sparkles’ job.
The moment Lohan makes her way to the back, dragging the rag doll Silas along with her, Serenity is exiting the ring fetching a steel chair.
Frankie: Good Serenity, good, make use of Lohan’s preoccupation with Silas.
Brittany has walked away from the ring but Serenity is stepping into it with the chair in her clutches. Or at least she gets half way into that ring before finding her progress halted when Katelyn rushes across the ring and dives over the top rope. She crashes right into Serenity, taking her off the apron and to the outside mats with Katelyn coming down on top with the Lou Thez Press.
Greyson: OH LORD!
Amazingly the moment the two hit the outside mats Katelyn begins to unload on Serenity’s face with punch after punch. Back in the ring a blinded Taylor is staggering around trying to regain her vision. She finally makes out the form of Marie getting to her knees recovering from the True Story. Taylor steps in and takes hold of Marie’s wrist, pulling her up and into the fireman’s carry, setting to deliver the True Story.
Greyson: If Taylor hits this! If she just delivers this True Story she retains that World Title.
Here the True Story comes, but there it just went. Katelyn charges into the ring and catches Marie around the neck, pulling her off of Taylor’s shoulders into the Twist of Fate. Taylor whips around looking outraged. Katelyn rises to her feet with Taylor swooping in from behind, spinning her around and now dragging Buehler into position for the True Story.
Sparkles: Tay-Tay is gonna hit this move one way or another dammit!
Frankie: But Katelyn is fighting it! She knows Taylor is trying to take her destiny away from her.
Katelyn won’t let one True Story undo all the work she’s put in to get to this moment. She manages to twist her body, slide down Taylor’s back and try to counter into the sunset flip. Taylor tries to resist but eventually falls back into Katelyn’s clutches, and it’s not a pin Katelyn is going for. She stands up, hooks the champion’s legs around one another and then rolls her to her stomach before lifting her into the modified scorpion crosslock. The KATasrophe is locked in and Taylor is fighting for all she’s worth not to tap out to it.
Frankie: What the fuck is that?
Greyson: That’s Katelyn’s unique submission the KATasrophe. We’ve seen her use it on the house show circuit to earn several tap out victories.
Sparkles: But this ain’t no house-show, this is the main event of Invictus, and that’s Taylor Chase, our World Champion she’s got locked in the submission.
Taylor is screaming at the top of her lungs as a release for all her emotions while Katelyn lets out a roar for the exact same reasons. At last Taylor starts to force her way out of Katelyn’s grips, managing to tuck her chin to her chest. She somehow gets her legs unlocked and then wrapped around Katelyn’s waist, countering into a forward roll up. But there is no one to make the three count, Lohan still backstage dealing with Silas Mason, so Katelyn has plenty of time to kick out. Taylor and Katelyn bolt to their feet and the World Champion then spirals around nailing Katelyn right under the jaw with the KTFO.
Greyson: DID I JUST SEE THAT!?!
Sparkles: KTFO! KTFO! KTFO!!
Greyson: From Taylor…TAYLOR CHASE!
The fans are screeching so loud their lungs hurt at the sight of Taylor taking Katelyn out with her very own finishing move. Tay now drops down into the pin, lying across Katelyn’s chest and slapping the canvas, demanding that someone, ANYONE make the count. Unfortunately there is STILL no Brittany Lohan anywhere to be seen. Taylor stands up and cries to the back, trying to get a referee out here. Marie charges up behind Taylor though and takes her around the neck, dragging her up to her feet and setting her up for the Ava Marie. The headlock driver is about to connect but Taylor backs to the ropes and then lifts Marie into a back drop suplex over them. Marie goes flipping to the outside of the ring while Taylor turns around, shouting over the cables at the woman who not only stole her knee brace but now just tried to steal her title. All the while behind Taylor’s back, Serenity is climbing up from the ringside area to the apron then springing to the top rope and taking to the air with a shooting star press that connects with Katelyn.
Serenity then hooks Katelyn’s leg, realizing that the title is in her grasp. Yet STILL Lohan is nowhere to be found, meaning there is no one to make the three count.
Greyson: Where is Lohan!?!
Sparkles: She had to have dealt with Silas by now.
At last we get an answer as to Lohan’s location.
Cameras cut to the backstage where a huge brawl is currently ongoing. Brittany Lohan is valiantly defending herself against Mrs. Budde and Lenore Price-Mason of Silas World. The commentators sound absolutely spastic in the background.
Greyson: SILAS WORLD JUMPING LOHAN BACKSTAGE!
Frankie: The stupid Yeti should have known better than to put her hands on Silas.
Speaking of Silas, we now see him stagger into the background, leaning against a wall and shouting at Mrs. Budde and Lenore to continue working over Lohan. Somehow Brittany keeps on fighting back even though she’s been leveled to her knees. The Referee for the World Title match does her best to fend off Silas’ clients.
Back to the in ring action we find Serenity and Taylor exchanging punches in the middle of the ring.
Greyson: Who’s going to officiate this match!?!
Sparkles: We need a referee out here now! Someone give me a referee jersey, child’s petite size if ya got one.
There remains no official to count the three but that doesn’t stop the athletes in the ring from softening one another up to take the eventual pinfall. Serenity takes one punch after another at this point, driving her back from Taylor, who then mockingly slaps her forearm against her palm. She quickly spirals around into the KTFO only to have Serenity duck and for Taylor to go twirling past her right into Katelyn’s KTFO!
The fans screech at the top of their lungs as Katelyn almost knocks Tay out of her boots with the roaring elbow. She immediately follows that up by catching the inbound Serenity by the back of the head then using her own momentum to toss her over the ropes. Katelyn quickly throws herself into the cover on Taylor, realizing that she may very well have the three count.
Greyson: Come on already! Where’s a referee!?!
Sparkles: We are just a three count away from Katelyn becoming World Champion.
At long last referee Arnie Ficklebottom comes racing down the ramp and sliding into the ring. The crowd counts along as he slaps the canvas.
Greyson: Ficklebottom making the count! Katelyn’s gonna do it! She’s gonna do it! She’s gonna become World Champion!!
Sparkles: DESTINY!
All eyes are glued to Ficklebottom’s hand hitting the canvas.
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The fans have to pick their jaws up off of the floor at the sight of Katelyn pulling off the impossible, oh wait, that should be, getting PULLED away before she manages the impossible. Serenity reaches into the ring at the last second and drags Katelyn off of Taylor. A flustered Katelyn rolls to her back with her legs pulled under the ropes and still trapped in Serenity’s hands. Now Katelyn bends her knees, pulls Serenity towards the ring and then pushes her off, sending her spiraling down to the mats. Katelyn then turns back towards Taylor, who is trying her best to work her way up to her feet. She just manages to stand up when Katelyn goes spiraling towards her into the KTF-NO! Taylor catches Katelyn coming in with a fireman’s carry, now preparing to deliver the True Story.
A last second counter prevents that from happening, Katelyn kneeing Tay in the cheek. Katelyn then slides off Taylor’s shoulders, and lands beside her. An opportunistic Marie then dashes into the ring, catches both athletes around their heads and drops forward into a DOUBLE AVA MARIE!
The simultaneous headlock driver sends both Katelyn and Taylor flipping to their backs, looking absolutely brain dead.
Greyson: WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!!
Frankie: Never count out the Ginger Nation!
Greyson: A double Ava Marie on BOTH Taylor and Katelyn. That is one for the highlight reel ladies and gentlemen.
Sparkles: Especially if it’s about to pay off with Marie winning the World Title.
A very real possibility now that there is a referee on hand to make the count. And that is just what he’s about to do as Marie crawls into the cover on Katelyn. Wait a tick, Serenity stops for some reason, hesitating when she spots Serenity climbing the nearest turnbuckle, presumably to break up the pinfall. Marie wisely goes to thwart Serenity’s plan of attack, rushing up the corner and throwing a punch against Serenity’s ribs. Marie now stands on the middle rope and prepares to superplex Serenity out of the corner, but the blonde vixen floats over Jones’ shoulder and shockingly lands on the middle rope right beside her. Marie turns around quickly and throws a punch at Serenity, but Serenity sidesteps the blow, maintains her balance on the middle rope and takes her bitter nemesis around the neck. Marie’s eyes widen as she’s dragged off the turnbuckle into the SUPER Ava Marie!
Greyson: AHHHH JESUS!! JESUS!! I mean…JESUS!!
Frankie: WOOOO! WOW!!
Greyson: Not only does Serenity steal Marie’s finisher, but she does so while dragging Marie off the middle rope!
Marie lays on the canvas with a potentially broken neck and Serenity draped over her sternum, desperately hooking a leg. Ficklebottom is right there to make the count.
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To a thunderous, no…a TORNADIC response Marie fails to kick out!
Not that she had to considering Katelyn has just dragged Serenity off of the pin at the last possible moment.
The fans are absolutely hyperventilating at this point. Their emotions have not only been played with, they’ve been treated like a mouse caught by a cat. They watch as Serenity sits up and SCREAMS at Katelyn.
Serenity: Tonight you WILL die for me!
The words, which echo the phrase that Serenity spoke to Katelyn at Last Stand before trying to break her arm, take particular significance here tonight when Serenity drives her foot into Katelyn’s face. The blow knocks Katelyn down off her knees and to her back, lying dangerously close to the turnbuckle. Serenity steps over her at this point and to the outside of the ring before fetching the steel chair she tried to bring into the match earlier.
Frankie: She’s got some bad-bad-bad things in store for that chair. Come over here Serenity and I’ll give ya a spankin’ for being such a bad girl.
Greyson: Where’s Lohan when we need her? You know Brittany wouldn’t let that chair come into play.
Serenity rolls into the ring and puts the chair down right on top of Katelyn. Although Referee Ficklebottom may not be Lohan, he will put his foot down in Lohan fashion, though it’s a much smaller and far less intimidating foot. He steps in front of Serenity and warns her, resulting in an open hand slap right across his face. The frail and meek Arnie is knocked on his ass, sent spilling to the outside mats. Serenity then approaches the corner, climbing it in anticipation of hitting the shooting star press onto the chair, onto Katelyn’s face. Serenity reaches the top rope, looking around at the pleading crowd, who are BEGGING Serenity not to do it.
Greyson: Don’t do this Serenity! DON’T DO THIS!
Frankie: Katelyn already looks like a ghost, might as well as have an outta body experience.
Serenity looks to end Katelyn’s career as she flips through the air into the shooting star press. It connects, not against the chair, but against Taylor Chase’s shoulders. The Champion steps in just in the nick of time to catch Serenity flipping through the air. And where does Taylor catch her? Right on top of Taylor’s shoulders with the fireman’s carry. The crowd absolutely blows out their lungs at the sight of Taylor hitting the TRUE STORY!
Greyson: TRRRRRRUEEE STOOOOOORRRRRY!!!
Frankie: How?
Sparkles: She caught Serenity in mid shooting star press!
Frankie: HOW!?!
Greyson: And dumped her right onto that steel plated knee!
Frankie: HOOOOOWWW!!??!!
The fans are one more reaction away from dropping dead from a heart attack as Taylor falls into the lateral press on Serenity, longingly hooking the leg. It is totally academic at this point, there is no way on earth that Serenity is kicking out of the True Story. But once again, just like when Tay hit the True Story on previous occasions in the match, there is no referee available to make the count. Ficklebottom is laid out at ringside as a result of that vicious open hand palm strike across the face.
Greyson: Dammit to all hell and back again. There’s no referee out here to count the three.
Sparkles: Taylor screwed again.
Frankie: She had a chance to get screwed every ten seconds if she didn’t deny my advances….
Greyson: Hold that thought Frankie….
Frankie: Don’t have to ask me twice, the thought of screwing Taylor is ALWAYS held in my mind.
Greyson: Look who’s on their way to the ring.
Cameras cut to Mika Kozlov making her way down the ramp with her fiancée Aaron Harrison following right behind, desperately trying to stop her.
Greyson: Mika Kozlov is on her way out here now.
Sparkles: And look at her face.
Frankie: Why? It’s so much better admiring her body.
Sparkles: Her eyes…Sparkles means her eyes.
We now see that much like Jed Wayne earlier tonight, Mika no longer wears the symbol of New Eden’s influence over her. The black eyes that once ominously gleamed in Mika’s orbital sockets are gone, replaced by her sparkling diamond pupils.
Greyson: She’s been CURED. Tombstone has cured Mika!
Sparkles: And it looks like she’s here to right the wrongs of her past.
Mika stops at ringside, looking into the ring at her sister, shouting at Taylor.
Mika: Come on sestra! Get up, you can do this.
Taylor looks absolutely stunned upon spotting Mika, her estranged adoptive sister, the woman who has been out to ruin her since joining New Eden, now standing at ringside, CURED of the DARK and rooting her on.
Taylor: Mi-Mi-Mika?
Taylor swipes the sweat out of her eyes to make sure she’s seeing this.
Mika: Yes Sestra, it’s……me.
A smile slowly begins to creep across Taylor’s face as she inches her way to her feet still wearing a total expression of shock. That surprise is increased exponentially when Katelyn steps in from behind her and catches the World Champion with the roaring elbow to the back of her skull. A SECOND KTFO has just laid Taylor out, the roaring elbow almost beheaded the beloved title bearer. Katelyn stumbles around looking dead on her feet but finally possessing the awareness to fall into the cover. She hooks Taylor’s legs and screams out for a referee. Finally Ficklebottom comes crawling back into the squared circle, looking a little worse for wear but still making the count.
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Greyson: The dream has finally come true For Katelyn Buehler here at Invictus.
The referee turns Katelyn’s fantasies to reality, but then Mika turns Katelyn’s dreams into nightmares. She drags Ficklebottom out of the ring at the last second then pushes him along face first into the turnbuckle post.
Greyson: Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!
Sparkles: Now its Mika thwarting the pinfall.
Frankie: This shit is fucking nuts.
Harrison approaches his fiancée, asking her what she’s doing.
Mika: I have to do this…I have to make things right with my sestra.
Harrison: What do you mean?
Mika gives her answer through actions.
She starts to climb into the ring only to have her progress halted when Katelyn dashes in to cut her off. Mika drops back at the last second, avoiding the kick that Katelyn launches through the ropes. Buehler then turns around and walks right into a steel chair shot between the eyes. The fans are all over Marie Jones, who recovers and busts Katelyn’s head wide open with the blow from the chair.
Frankie: Marie just went Sammy Sosa on that ass!
Katelyn collapses flat on her ass, looking up at the stars circling her head. The woman who put her in this altered state continues to stand over Katelyn with the dented chair in hand. She then turns that chair and drives the edge of it right into Serenity’s mid-section, knocking her back into the ropes. Finally Marie begins to urge Taylor to stand back up while holding the chair in anticipation of caving in the champion’s skull. Taylor valiantly climbs back to her feet with the aid of the ropes before turning and finding herself on the receiving end of a gruesome chair shot. No…wait, Mika leaps to the apron and grabs the chair right out of Marie’s hands. Jones spins around looking furious and giving Mika a shove, knocking her off the apron and back into Harrison’s waiting arms. Harrison catches Mika and Marie catches the TKO right between the eyes. Taylor lunges into the diving knee strike, the blow connecting with enough force to send Marie flipping over backwards.
Greyson: TKO! TKO! That’s it! Its over-It’s got to be over!
If Taylor could pin Marie the four way may very well have just come to an end, but the World Champion is still too shaken up by that last KTFO to cover her challenger. She and Marie lie side by side, the former Silas World member splayed out right next to its crown jewel. A frustrated Mika breaks away from Harrison and slides into the ring with the steel chair in hand. She then stands up and pulls the chair back as Marie begins to stand up in front of her. Finally Mika unleashes all her pint up frustrations, putting it all behind the chair shot that goes swinging right into TAYLOR’S face.
Sparkles: WWWWWHHHAAAAT!!?!!
A hushed silence overcomes the crowd at the sight of Mika bashing her own sister in the face with the chair and knocking her out cold.
Greyson: What has Mika just done?
Suddenly Mika cocks her head back and erupts into laughter. All the while her eyes are becoming clouded by that black substance that has become a staple of New Eden’s dark, soul corrosive influence. She then swings the chair into Marie’s head, laying her out as well right beside Taylor.
Katelyn comes crawling past at the most inopportune time, finding her back smashed with the chair as well. As Mika lays out all those in the Fatal Four Way she laughs and laughs. Her laughter only stops when she turns to spot Harrison standing in stunned silence on the apron.
Harrison: Why?
Mika: Do you think some backwoods hocus pocus is going to CURE me? No-no-no. Because there is nothing to cure me of. I’m not infected with the DARK…hehehehe…I AM THE DARK!
Mika throws the chair aside, grabs Serenity by the arm and drags her over on top of Taylor, laying the arm across the World Champion’s chest. Harrison can’t watch this. He drops to the mats and walks to the back with his face as white as a ghost and his paralyzed hands sitting lifelessly on the top of his head. Mika watches him leave with a smile on her face while rolling out of the ring, grabbing Ficklebottom and sliding the referee back into the squared circle.
Greyson: This can’t be happening again. At Last Stand Serenity helped Mika win the World Title from Taylor, and now tonight here at Invictus, Mika is helping Serenity take the title from Taylor!
Sparkles: Taylor is getting shafted by New Eden again.
Frankie: We all should have known better. There is no cure for Mika. She’s evil to the core.
Mika puts her chin on her knuckles while her elbows are placed on the apron and her eyes blink playfully. In the ring the referee a damn near brain dead Ficklebottom is making the count.
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The fans are absolutely crestfallen. Never in a million years did they think this World Title match would end this way. For very good reason, cause it doesn’t. Taylor throws her arm into the air just a split second before the referee could finish his count. Mika STOPS laughing at ringside, her cheeks twitching and her black eyes widening at the sight of her sister kicking out.
Greyson: Words can’t even begin to describe this.
She now climbs back into the ring and picks up the chair, lifting it over her head and slowly approaching her sister, as if savoring this moment. But just then Taylor launches herself from her knees and into the spear, driving Mika back then through the ropes. Both ladies go crashing to the outside mats, rolling across them and exchanging punches. The brawling sisters fight their way up to their feet and then up the ramp, Taylor so consumed with rage that she has completely lost track of what she was initially fighting for.
Sparkles: Taylor and Mika continuing the war that has been waging between them for years.
Greyson: But it’s drawing Taylor away from the ring. You’re World Title Tay! You’re World Title!
Mika and Taylor fight into the backstage area while in the ring Serenity is struggling to her feet, standing up just over top of the steel chair. Serenity stoops down to pick it up when Marie moves to her side, takes Serenity around the neck then hits her with the Ava Marie. Serenity’s head crashes into the chair and her body goes totally flaccid as a result.
Frankie: AH-HAHA! AVA MARIE INTO THE CHAIR!
Greyson: But once again Ficklebottom is out cold.
Marie is draped over Serenity’s chest, going for the pin only to realize that there’s no one making the three count. She yells at Ficklebottom, but the ref used up what little strength he had left just to deliver the last two count that NEARLY declared Serenity the World Champion. Marie is throwing a fit, getting to her knees and SCREAMING at Ficklebottom as loud as her winded body will allow. She stands up, approaches Ficklebottom and kicks at him with her foot, trying to wake him up. All the while Katelyn is struggling to her feet behind the Ginger Nation representative, lifting a forearm into the air as if to signal for the KTFO.
Frankie: Stop toying with the referee and look out behind you Marie!
Half of the crowd is watching Katelyn set up for the KTFO and the other half are reacting to the sight of a battered Brittany Lohan limping down the ramp. Although her referee jersey is as torn and tattered as her body, Lohan makes her way towards the squared circle to fulfill her duties.
Frankie: What is she doing back out here?
Greyson: NOTHING, not even a cinder block to the head and a brawl with Silas World backstage is keeping Brittany Lohan from fulfilling her oath to officiate this title match.
Although Lohan had a rough night, Marie is about to have an even rougher evening. She has no idea that Katelyn is now spiraling in behind her and delivering the KTFO. She swings right along into Marie’s ARMS…Jones catching Katelyn around the head and driving her skull first into the chair with the Ava Marie.
Greyson: NOOO!
Sparkles: The KTFO countered! COUNTERED INTO THE AVA MARIE!
Frankie: Onto a chair baby…onto a chair!
Greyson: And now Lohan is sliding back into the ring! She’s gonna make the count! She’s gonna make Marie the World Champion!
Marie covers Katelyn and watches as Lohan rolls into the ring, the referee bringing herself to make a three count to declare a member of Silas World the Heavyweight Champion.
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Lohan takes a long look at Marie then lifts her hand into the air. But it doesn’t come down into the three, instead that hand comes up into a middle finger aimed right at Marie’s face.
Greyson: OH-HO! HO! HO!
Frankie: What are you doing Brittany!?! Make the fucking count!!
Marie’s skin has just gone as red as her hair at the sight of Lohan refusing to make the last count that would declare Marie the World Champion. Jones gets to her knees trembling with rage. Her eyes are almost shooting out of their sockets like they’re loaded on springs. Lohan continues to go right on flipping Marie off.
At last Silas World responds with more than a harsh glare out of Marie. Down the ramp bolts Mrs. Budde and Lenore Price-Mason, followed by an aching Silas Mason, hand still nursing his sore jaw. Lohan spots Silas World coming, rolling out of the ring and going straight after them. Another brawl commences between Lohan and Silas World at ringside while Silas is picking up the chair that Marie threw to the outside of the ring and sliding it into his crown jewel. Marie approaches the chair, picking it up and readying it for use. She turns around and approaches Katelyn only to have the chair hit with a KTFO that drives it right back and straight into her face.
Greyson: Yes! YEEESSS!!
The chair goes flying and Marie goes falling. She then rolls across the canvas and somehow, instinctively gets right back to her feet before walking into Katelyn, who unleashes a loud scream.
Katelyn: THIS IT MY HOOOOOUSSSSEEEE!
Katelyn spins into another KTFO, smashing Marie right in the bridge of the nose and bringing her down to the canvas.
Greyson: Feel it…Feel this moment guys. This is effin’ amazing.
Katelyn can certainly feel it, as do the fans, watching this magic, career defining moment finally happen. Katelyn now goes for the cover, stooping down and pinning Marie. She begins to fall over Marie before Serenity rolls her up from behind into the school girl, holding the tights and putting her feet over the middle rope.
Greyson: Wait-no. Wait-no. Wait-no.
Frankie: Serenity just slipped in the back door. She’s took Katelyn out and is capitalizing on all of Katelyn’s hard work.
The building begs and pleads, then begs and pleads some more for someone to stop the travesty occurring in the ring. But no one is there to prevent referee Ficklebottom’s hand from hitting the canvas. He snaps back into consciousness just in time to make the count.
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Thousands of mouths hang open and thousands of voices cry out as the official’s hand meets the canvas for the third and the last time.
Greyson: I-I-I-I-I…
Sparkles: Me too Lovejoy, me too.
Cameras cut to the absolutely mind fucked expressions on the faces of the fans as Serenity sits up with the most gigantic of gigantic smiles. Her black eyes are wider than saucers at the moment and every bit as full. She immediately crawls across the canvas, reaches through the ropes and grabs the World Title belt right out of hands of the time keeper standing right beside the squared circle. She pulls the belt into her chest, cradling it in her arms and rolling to the middle of the ring just as ‘My World’ by Brand New Sin, her entrance music hits to properly highlight this moment. A few feet removed from her, Katelyn has rolled to her seat and is leaning against the ropes, holding her back and holding back the flood of emotion that is hitting her harder than the chair shots she received earlier in the match.
Greyson: This is…without a shadow of a doubt, the most shocking moment in IWC history.
Sparkles: The Champion has been crowned in one of the most backhanded ways imaginable.
Katelyn, who did all the heavy lifting, now watches as Serenity takes the credit. The World Title hangs from Serenity’s hand, her dark eyes reflected in the gold plate of the belt. She now staggers along into the ropes, leaning back into them and screaming at not only Katelyn but the fans.
Serenity: I did it lover! I did it!
She lifts the belt above her head once again, celebrating with her newly won championship. Katelyn has seen enough, dashing across the ring and sending Serenity rolling out of it. Katelyn spits out curse words and kicks the ropes in frustration, now forced to do nothing but watch as Serenity dashes up the ramp still celebrating with the title.
Frankie: DUDE….DUDE!
Sparkles: Me too Frankie, me too.
The fans are screeching in anger as Serenity drops to her seat on the stage and pulls the World Title belt to her cheek, swaying with it from side to side.
To say the fans are in a state of perpetual shock would be like saying that Minnie Driver’s forehead is of average size, it would be a gross understatement. No one can quite grapple with what they’re seeing as Serenity stands on the stage holding the World Title above a head that is producing black tears. The commentators sound almost hoarse in the background.
Greyson: This is….GOD…what a stunning end to a stunning Invictus.
Sparkles: A new world Champion crowned here tonight. Serenity at long last takes the title.
Greyson: She screwed Katelyn….Katelyn had the title won.
Frankie: If anyone was screwed it was Marie Jones. She had the championship. I’m telling you, she was going to win if Brittany Lohan had just made the three count.
Sparkles: Right now it doesn’t matter who screwed who, Serenity is our World Heavyweight Champion.
Both hands continue raising the World Title over Serenity’s head while fireworks shoot from the stage to her sides and the Cartel-tron behind her back. Cameras cut to an aerial view of the Staples Center where fireworks are shooting up in a circular fashion from the roof. The feed goes back to the stage where pyrotechnics continue erupting all around the celebrating Serenity.
Marie Jones rolls to her side, coming too and realizing what just happened. Her skin trembles and her eyes lock on those who now surround her. Mrs. Budde, Lenore Price Mason and Silas stand above Marie spewing curse words and airing their fury for all to hear. They collectively glare at the special referee Brittany Lohan, who after brawling with Silas World now kneels at ringside fuming.
Greyson: Marie can certainly make a valid claim that she would be champion if not for Lohan.
Sparkles: In the end though, after all the insanity look who is standing on that stage holding the championship, it’s Serenity and damn if she didn’t earn it tonight.
Greyson: Earn it? EARN IT!?!
Frankie: Don’t crap on this moment Greyson. This is without a doubt the biggest moment in not only Serenity’s career, but maybe in IWC history.
Serenity goes on lifting the belt and listening to the murderous response from the crowd while confetti falls over her and her entrance music wails in the background. The show slowly fades into blackness with the final image fittingly being Serenity celebrating the biggest moment of her career.
FADE TO BLACK
IWC 