Jessie Love: The following is the AWF Fired Up Battle Royale! Every few minutes, a new competitor will enter the match. A competitor is eliminated when they are thrown over the ropes and both feet hit the floor. The winner will get to choose their partner on the next episode of Prestige for AWF: Fired Up!
Taylor: I’ve been waiting all week for this! Do you know how many people are going to be in it?
Romano: I’ve heard of maybe seventeen or eighteen, we’ll have to see!
The lights go dark for a few moments as the titantron shows a bright moon illuminating the room, then the song starts with an eerie twilight glow in the arena.
Oscillate yourself tonight
When you’re in your bed
Simulate the dopamine
Passing through your head
Romano: Who in the world is this?
Taylor: Fired Up is open to wrestlers from all companies, and joining us first is the #1 contender to the AXW Undisputed Championship!
Jessie Love: Introducing first, from the Darkness, weighing in at 205 pounds, VINCENT DRAAAAVEEEENNN!
Vincent Draven emerges from the back and makes his way towards the ring with an evil smile on his face. His eyes survey the crowd, grinning. He hisses at the camera, baring his sharp fangs as a threat.
When you get back on a Saturday night
And the room is caving in
Do you look like me? Do you feel like me?
Do you turn into your effigy?
Do you dance like this forever?
Romano: Oh I don’t like this guy at all. Unsettling, Tommy. I hope someone dumps out creepy vampire guy right away.
Taylor: One of the core members of the Cure, Draven has been making an impact in AXW and now sets his sights on becoming a double champion.
Draven laughs with amusement at their reaction. He slowly crawls through the ropes once he reaches the ring, raising his arms and then bowing his head in a mocking manner towards the crowd before getting ready.
Taylor: Who’s next?
“Knights of Cydonia” by Muse plays on the arena speakers. We see the lovable loser known as Copycat standing at the top of the ring, pounding his chest.
Jessie Love: Introducing second, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, weighing in at 165 pounds, he is COPPPPPPPYYYYYCATTTTTTTTT!
Romano: I was hoping for more of a knight in shining armor, but I guess we’ll have to do with---
Copycat raises his arms, and is immediately struck from behind with a steel chair! The crowd boos the chair holder loudly as he unloads on Copycat’s back and legs, trying to cripple him before the bell even rings. He seems to succeed in doing so as Copycat can barely crawl away from his opponent.
Romano: What the hell? Drago is taking down the competition with a steel chair here!
Taylor: I don’t know if I’d consider Copycat competition at this point, but Drago’s out here looking like a man on a mission!
Drago picks up Copycat and looks over at the chair with evil intentions in mind. He lines Copycat up just perfectly, smiling a sick smile before he plants Copycat with his Hammerlock DDT, the K-Zoo Krash, straight into the chair with a brutal thud. The crowd boos loudly. Drago gets up and looks very pleased with himself before yelling at the technicians to play his music.
I made the news today/
/Because I hurt my friends/
/They scribbled down my name/
/Tied both hands behind my head/
The opening chords to 'Machine Gun (Fuck the NRA) by Yungblud plays as black smoke begins to rise from the entranceway. Red lights begin to flutter from above, cutting through a darkened arena as Drago makes way down to the ring.
Taylor: Draven and Drago are teammates as a part of the Cure, along with Killa Kai. Drago’s taking Copycat’s spot here to get in the ring with his partner first!
Romano: They say you should know your enemy, and these two happen to know each other very well!
/They made me meditate/
/To analyze my mental state/
/They looked inside my brain/
/Turns out I'm not okay/
Drago drops to his knees and presses his hands to the ground as to breathe it all in. All of his nails sink begin to dig and tear into the walkway, and the heavily tattooed man gabs two desperate handfuls of his long, black hair while pointing his chin upwards for a bestial snarl.
/Wanna see my machine gun?/
/That I bought for fun?/
/I don't give a fuck about myself/
/All they do is analyze my mental health/
Taylor: Not the best spot for Draven to enter from, but if there’s anyone who could win from a spot this early, it’s definitely the Surgeon of Death.
Romano: He’s picked his spot, let’s see if he can put his money where his mouth is.
As soon as the verse ends, the man stands... and after the lights briefly black out, they return to Drago, sitting in the center of the ring, staring off into the crowd obsessively. He quickly whips to his feet. Jessie Love snaps out of a trance of sorts and introduces Drago.
Jessie Love: Introducing next, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, weighing in at 210 pounds, DRAAAAAAAAAAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Taylor: These two men have vowed to bring change to the XHF together, but tonight could we see them on separate sides?
Romano: If either wins, they could turn around and pick their partner for Fired Up. Imagine being on the same wavelength as your partner already, and the advantage that has over all of these random pairings!
The bell rings. The two members of the Cure respectfully walk up to one another, with Drago saying something to Draven, perhaps a taunt of some sort. They both look over at Copycat, admiring Drago’s handiwork. Drago dips behind and teases the idea of throwing Draven over, but when Draven turns around, he instead proposes a test of strength. Drago obliges, locking up in the center of the ring.
Or at least, they do so for about five seconds total. The two men immediately break the hold, laughing at the audience for buying into the idea that they would do anything but work together for this match. They stare up the ramp, pacing back and forth, waiting for the clock to tick down to the next entrant.
Romano: No point in hurting your own partner before the rest of the roster shows up. This could be a long one, these two have to pace themselves.
Taylor: The last time these two men squared off, Drago took home the Rise of the Rookies briefcase that allowed him to challenge Raiden. I would have loved to see them do battle once again!
The crowd keeps booing before beginning to count along when the countdown finally appears to signal the next entrant. The airhound sounds.
“EXCUSE ME! I AM HERE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF!”
The members of the crowd familiar with Master Class Championship Wrestling immediately begin to boo loudly as an eighty year old man appears at the entrance ramp. His immense swagger and powerwalk can be seen as he actually makes good pace in getting down to the ring for being eighty. “Bismarck” by Sabaton plays on the arena speakers as he moves.
Jessie Love: Introducing fourth, from Cologne, Germany weighing in at 268 pounds, the Bismarck, BERNHARDT DENNNNNZIIINNNNGEEERRRRRR!
Romano: Good God, this guy must be eighty and he’s walking down to the ring like he’s sixty. I’ll give him credit, he has no fear of the Cure!
Taylor: I’d love to see him fight Corndog Wallace! Imagine it, Cassius! An 80 year old against a 95 year old! It has Match of the Year potential written all over it!
Romano: Oh mercy. We need an age limit.
Denzinger makes his way down to the ring as the two members of the Cure chat with each other, mocking the old man. Drago proposes rock paper scissors with Draven to determine who will take him on, but is immediately volunteered for the job when Denzinger drags his old ass into the ring and connects with his stiff forearm strike, the German Facebuster, right to the back of his head! Drago goes down hard as Denzinger turns his attention to Draven, who immediately connects with a flying lariat to send Bernhardt to the ground.
Taylor: The old timer’s got moves -- or, uh, had moves.
Romano: Someone should get him out of there before he breaks a hip and sues our company!
Drago makes it back to his feet and looks immediately annoyed at his opponent, and then even more annoyed at Draven mocking his initial effort. He gets Denzinger back up and has Draven hold his feet as he bounces off the ropes, before finally absolutely nailing Bernhardt with a Bone Cold Ice Pick, his running elbow. The impact of the move opens up the old man, causing him to begin to bleed all over the mat due to the stiffness of the strike. His competitors are not amused, choosing instead to pick him up and dump him over the ropes without mercy. The old man almost seems to go splat on the floor.
Jessie Love: Berndhardt Denzinger has been eliminated!
Taylor: Back to Master Class he goes!
Romano: Someone’s going to have to sweep up the pieces left of him on the outside of the ring there as the Cure picks up their first elimination tonight.
Taylor: Who’s next?
Romano: Preferably someone a little closer in age to these two men!
Taylor: Draven might be thousands of years old, are you sure about that?
Draven and Drago bump fists as they look up the entrance ramp, waiting for their next opponent to be announced. The countdown clock appears on screen and the fans continue counting down with it until the sound of the airhorn pierces the arena.
Evil green mist bellows out of the ring entrance as a woman screams and the next competitor laughs maniacally. "Welcome To Your Death" by Annihilator plays as the arena becomes increasingly unnerved by the laughter and the sight of a man in chains.
Jessie Love: Introducing fourth, from the Depths of Hell, weighing in at 235 pounds, he is PSYCHOTIIIIIIIIIIC GOOOOOOOTTHHHHHH!
Romano: Oh man, this guy, this guy’s messed up too. He murdered his parents and burnt their house down.
Taylor: Allegedly, Cassius. We can’t go accusing him of murdering his parents.
Vampira leads Psychotic Goth to ringside in chains while holding Psychotic Goth's homemade weapon. He ignores the ringsiders and stops at the ring for Vampira to unlock the chains.
Romano: The chains, demonic tattoos, cold-hearted eyes, and “Satan is God” t-shirt tells a different story, Tommy.
Psychotic Goth rubs his wrists hard as he climbs the ring steps and stands on them, looking in at his competitors as the crowd boos loudly. He slowly takes off his trenchcoat and jewelry before he lowers his head and raises his arms. He throws his head back, revealing his pale handsome gothlike looks, but also looking and snarling like a demonic maniac. Crazed and intimidating as he is, the effect is strengthened as he is given his homemade weapon. He caresses it before handing it back to Vampira to hold until it's time for Psychotic Goth to use it.
Romano: What a sick freak. Where the hell do we find guys like him and Draven?
Taylor: I don’t know, but I know right now I want to see those two fight!
Goth looks at Draven as he steps into the ring, and the two immediately get face-to-face, seemingly staring into each other’s souls as the crowd builds for the first punch to be thrown. It’s from Goth, who fires away with a right hand, but Draven strikes right back with a left. It quickly becomes a match up of cheering and booing as Goth gets the upper hand, sending Draven into the ropes. He catches Draven and lifts him up for an Airplane Spin, half of his Wheel of Misfortune signature, but Drago kicks Goth low, obviously not respecting the rules. The crowd boos again as the two men stand over Goth and look to the ropes.
The two members of the Cure attempt to throw Goth over, but he lands on the outside apron. He strikes back with more punches to both men and springboards off the ropes, landing a flying dropkick that takes both men down! He makes it back to his feet as the crowd cheer.
Taylor: Give Goth some credit here, he’s hanging in against this two on one!
Romano: SWAT’s made of a bunch of tough-as-nails wrestlers, I’m not surprised.
The countdown clock appears again. The crowd in the audience count down, and the lights fade to black when the count hits zero. The lights start blaring red along the entrance gate. That's when the opening riff to "Revolution Begins" by Arch Enemy begins to play.
Jessie Love: Introducing fifth, from Boston, Massachusetts, weighing in at 270 pounds, KUROOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIII!
Kuroi walks into view with a scowl on his face. He looks left and right, pitying those in the crowd. Those who claim to care about action and excitement, but stay in chairs and judge while sitting on their fat asses.
Taylor: Still early in this match, but if there’s anyone who can run on the power of being pissed long enough to win, it’s Kuroi.
Romano: His trophy case is missing the AWF Prestige Championship. This could truly make him if he can win tonight and pick his partner, and then go on to win Fired Up.
Taylor: He’d have to pick one of the Legion as his partner, right?
Romano: Certainly not bad choices either way!
Kuroi shifts his attention to the ring then marches his way down. As he climbs the stairs, he jumps up and down, preparing himself to demolish. He steps into the ring and takes aim at Goth, absolutely decimating him with a Kuroi Kut big boot! Goth goes down hard as Kuroi raises an arm above his head. The two members of the Cure in the ring take a hard look at Kuroi, who is almost goading them into stepping to him. They instead take the easier way out, focusing on Goth who is still down. They lift him up and position to throw him over the ropes. Kuroi isn’t having it.
Shoving Draven and Drago out of the way, Kuroi wraps his hand around the neck of Psychotic Goth. Vampira tries to jump up on the apron to distract him, but Kuroi isn’t having any of that either. He delivers a chokeslam with authority, the Dark Halo, eliminating Goth from the match.
Jessie Love: Psychotic Goth has been eliminated!
Taylor: There goes Goth! He’ll have to save his weapon for another day!
Romano: Don’t look now Taylor, but the Cure has snuck up on Kuroi!
The two men have done just that. They grab his legs and use the leverage to send Kuroi over the ropes. One of his feet immediately hit the floor, but he manages to survive and lay on the apron. Draven and Drago step towards him and begin kicking at him, but Kuroi rolls backs into the ring and gets back up to his feet to fight back. He grabs both of them by the necks and looks for the double Dark Halo!
Taylor: Double Dark Halo! Double Dark Halo!
Except the Cure aren’t going to get chokeslammed so easily. Drago delivers a thumb to Kuroi’s eye, and Draven takes him from behind, grabbing his arm and using the pulling motion to drive Kuroi’s face straight into his knee! It’s the Luna’s Kiss!
Taylor: Luna’s Kiss! The numbers are too much for Kuroi, as he falls victim to the finisher from Draven!
Romano: I’m not sure anyone’s going to be able to stop these two at this point. They’re like Whack-a-Mole, when one goes down, the other is right back up and ready to kick your ass again.
Drago does the honors of getting Kuroi back to his feet this time. Kuroi is definitely dazed, as if he had just had a shot of pure Ambrosia. He stumbles as Drago jumps onto his shoulders for a hurricanrana, looking for the ropes. He finds them and grabs on, trying to send Kuroi over the ropes, when the countdown clock reappears. The crowd begins to count down, and the elimination is halted by the sound of the airhorn and the lights darkening completely. The crowd divide into a mix of boos… and cheers, cheers for someone to stop the Cure as the opening chords begin to play.
Taylor: Is that… is that who I think it is?
Romano: Yes!
The haunting melody of “Gently” by Slipknot can be heard through the arena. Hyperion’s worshippers cheer even louder.
Jessie Love: Introducing sixth, from New York, weighing in at 310 pounds, he is the Mad Titan, he is HYPEEEEEERIOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Hyperion appears from a distance, walking through the crowd, tall and fierce. A single golden spotlight shines on him as he makes his way to the ring until he climbs over the barrier and approaches the ring steps. Draven and Drago have both shifted their attention over to the walking AWF legend as he makes his way down to ringside.
Taylor: There are rumors of Hyperion losing his power, folks, but if you ever get a chance to come see an AWF show in person, you’ll know damn well the 6’9” 310 pounder still commands any ring he’s walking toward.
Romano: He has a crazy army cult ready to follow him to the edge of the Earth for a reason, Tommy. That man could break a lesser human just by staring at him.
He pauses at the side, looking into the crowd with a scowl on his face, before raising his fist over his head to shouts from the audience. He stands on the apron for a few extra seconds to judge his competition before stepping into the ring.
Draven charges, only to get immediately down by the First Principle! Draven is flipped inside out by the brutal clothesline!
Taylor: Wow! The power of Hyperion on full display here!
Romano: Just think about it: there’s at least ten other guys that have to get through THAT. Can I call an early favorite here?
Credit where credit is due, Drago Santiago doesn’t waste a second in trying to sneak in a cheap shot on Hype, delivering a hard kick to the back of his head. The thing is, Hype doesn’t go down to the ground. Drago grabs his arm and tries to get a finger on Hype’s fingers, but Hyperion sends him bouncing off the ropes and delivers a hard shoulder block, popping the crowd as Drago also goes bouncing off Hype’s shoulder like a ball bounced against concrete.
Hype looks around, settling down and setting his feet. He looks for his partner and finds him, pulling Kuroi back up. Kuroi is still dazed and a bit out of it.
Taylor: Can you imagine this team against a bunch of random pairs? You have Kuroi’s aggression paired with Hyperion’s power, and I don’t think these guys can be stopped.
Romano: Neither Kuroi nor StormCrow are the most loyal of Hype’s followers, but he’s got them under his wing in Legion. They’d certainly be a favorite.
Suddenly, Hype delivers a hard smack to Kuroi’s face. The crowd, unsure of what the hell just happened, let out a loud “OOH” sound.
Taylor: Wait, what the hell was that?!
Romano: He popped him!
Kuroi shakes off the slap and the kick from Draven earlier. He feels his face and immediately gives Hype a look, also confused. Hyperion just nods back at him, telling him to focus. The two men turn to Drago, who is now outmatched two against one. Or at least, he would be, if he wasn’t busy in the process of picking up Draven and getting Draven back to his feet. It is unclear whether Drago is trying to will his partner back into the match or use him as a meatshield, but after snapping his fingers in Draven’s face a few times, Draven swats Drago’s hand away, indicating that he’s now conscious and mentally back in the match. The two stare across the ring at the Legion. The crowd comes alive.
Taylor: Legion vs. The Cure, who’s got the edge here?
Romano: I’m not sure, but I want to see these two teams battle it out right here.
It quickly becomes clear that the crowd had come alive for the countdown clock, as the airhorn sounds and the lights in the arena quickly turn red. “I’m Scum” by IDLES begins to play on the arena’s speakers as the crowd cheers for one of the first guys they can truly get behind to enter the match.
Jessie Love: Introducing seventh, from Reading, Berkshire, England, weighing in at 190 pounds, he is Bloodied Fox!
Taylor: One of our newer signees, Bloodied Fox is not a man of many words, but he’s also a man of few excuses, and that’s why the audience is starting to get behind him.
Romano: Sure, he’s without excuses, but right now he’s got The Cure and Legion staring at each other, and I’m not sure he’d like his odds in a four-on-one situation.
Bloodied Fox steps through the curtain, followed by his boyfriend Brendan Harding. They fist bump before heading down the ramp. Fox takes a deep breath as Harding is whispering something in his ear and pointing at the guys in the ring. Whatever he’s saying, Fox seems to vehemently disagree. He jumps up on the ring apron and realizes this could be his big moment.
Taylor: A potential world of hurt awaits this newcomer, what’s he going to do here?
He shakes his head with an attitude that clearly indicates to just go for it, and decides to scale the turnbuckle! He looks down at the ropes for balance real quickly before testing the springiness of the ropes, and springboarding off of them! He lands on all four men with his springboard frog splash, the Air Vulpine! He takes most of the men down with him as the crowd launches into more cheers!
Taylor: Air Vulpine, clear for takeoff!
Romano: That’s one way to make a statement! Good for the young English lad!
Fox pops back up to his feet to survey the damage: one, two, three opponents down… and then he looks up, realizing where the fourth is. The impact of the splash has knocked Hyperion into the ropes, smacking him against the turnbuckles instead of the mat. He takes advantage of the opportunity, charging into Hyperion and connecting with a high knee strike, before being sent WAY UP over the ropes! He manages to catch himself on the steps!
Romano: You have to be careful about leaving your feet in a match like this for that exact reason! Hyperion just powered him up and over the ringpost!
Taylor: Look at the air he got!
Romano: The kid’s gotta slow down the heart rate and pace himself, we still have over half this match’s competitors to go!
Fox wisely avoids Hyperion on re-entry to the ring, but stumbles into a new corner of the ring he might not have wanted to be in either: both members of the Cure are now doubleteaming him. He can only crawl in the corner as the two men stomp a mudhole into him and begin the process of walking it dry. He is without allies and stuck in a bad way, only meeting some sweet relief when Kuroi comes in and clobbers Drago with a lariat. The two men begin brawling into their own corner as Hyperion emerges from his. Draven sees this and decides to pull an underhanded maneuver, sending the up-and-comer straight into Hyperion’s path. Fox bangs into Hyperion and loses his balance. The Mad Titan is a little less than amused, lifting Fox up into a military press, holding Fox high above his head. The sound of the airhorn and a woman singing in a foreign language break up the action.
花を焼べて 詩を焼べて
誰より険しく美しく
あの日の傷ももらった愛も
全て焼べて 光の方へ
Jessie Love: Introducing eighth, from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan, weighing in at 122 pounds, she is NAAAAAAAAAAAUSICAAAAAAAAAAAA SUZUKIIIIIIIIII!
With those words, "Tsuki to Hanataba" continues to play in the arena. Shortly afterwards Nausicaä, holding a stuffed cat she calls Charles in her right hand. She appears upon the stage with a bright, proud, smile and blows the cheering audience a kiss before heading down the rampway.
Taylor: From Sakura Shoujo Stampede, Suzuki’s a former X-Crown competitor and ready to get on it tonight.
Romano: ...be still my beating heart…
Taylor: Focus, Taylor! Suzuki’s a master of the craft, don’t count her out early.
Once at ringside, Suzuki blows smiles and waves at the crowd. She sets Charles down for safekeeping, looking at her competition in the ring, and then rolling herself into the ring. The crowd’s attention is finally averted back into the ring, where, incredibly enough, Hyperion still has Bloodied Fox up in the military press The rest of the people in the ring just seem to stare at him as he launches Fox, but Fox manages to catch a lucky break by catching the ropes. He turns around and Hype goes for a big boot, but Suzuki ducks under the boot and delivers a Leap of Faith missile dropkick to Draven, sending him into the bottom corner! The big boot on Fox connects as well!
Suzuki goes to strike Draven, but is turned around by Drago, who immediately grabs Suzuki’s much smaller fingers and drops down, locking in the FInger Breaker in the center of the ring! Suzuki screams out in pain as Drago rips at her fingers, but she turns over and locks a leg around his neck, before turning over and locking him in Destiny, her grounded Octopus stretch!
Taylor: Destiny is calling! Open up your eager eyes, Cassius, because there’s no bright side to being locked in that hold!
Romano: Drago can’t tap! There’s no submissions in this match!
Drago screams out in pain as he looks for the ropes, trying to shake and roll around and break free of the hold, but there’s no escape for him. Luckily enough for him, he still has a partner in the match, who breaks the hold with a double axe handle. Suzuki makes it back up to her feet and waves at Draven to bring it, which he proceeds to do, sinking his teeth into her neck with the Vampire Bite! The crowd boos loudly!
Taylor: Vampire Bite! Vampire Bite!
Romano: No disqualifications, no partners to bail out Suzuki, and now she’s got Draven’s fangs trying to suck out her blood!
Suzuki goes down hard. Draven makes it back to his feet as the countdown clock reappears. He turns around right into a spinning bodyslam from Hyperion. Everyone but Hyperion is down right now as the crowd begins to count to zero.
Taylor: They’re beginning to come out a little faster now!
Romano: Can’t be here all night, Tommy! The city will kick us out if we stay past midnight!
The airhorn sounds as “UFC Remix” plays. Tong Fairtex emerges from the back, accompanied by his brother and accomplished tag team partner, Phantam Fairtex.
Jessie Love: Introducing ninth, from Bangkok, Thailand, weighing in at 235 pounds, he is TOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG FAIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRTEEXXXX!
Taylor: Also from SWAT, Tong Fairtex is one half of the Fairtexes, two brothers who have been a world class tag team all over the world.
Romano: If he wins here tonight, he can just team up with his brother and go on a tear. That kind of chemistry should make them an unstoppable pair.
He does a brief dance before going to each corner, outside of the ring, to say a brief prayer. He then walks up the steps, jumping up and down, slapping his body and chest. His face glares as his corner gives him last minute pieces of advice. He steps into the ring and immediately goes for Hyperion, slingshotting off the ropes and locking him for his sitdown faceplant DDT, the Bangkok DDT. There’s just one problem for the six foot submission specialist: Kuroi is now back on his feet as well.
Kuroi grabs Tong by the throat, looking for another chokeslam. Tong counters by getting behind him to lock in the Bangkok Lock, his Octopus Hold/Tazzmission combination, but Kuroi is having none of it, punching Tong square in the jaw. Tong backs up and fires off the Thailand Blaster, a Cranium Kick aimed at Kuroi, but he ends up completely nailing Bloodfied Fox with it instead!
Taylor: Thailand Blaster! This ring is filling up with so many people, it’s getting hard to tell who’s where and what the hell’s going on! We’ve got Fairtex, Fox, Suzuki, Kuroi, Hyperion, Drago, and Draven all in there!
Romano: Something has got to give here! Hopefully it’s not the ring supports!
Having avoided a move that could’ve easily evicted one of his teeth from his mouth, Kuroi smirks again. Tong comes at him, but it doesn’t matter as Hyperion comes in from behind, clubbing away at him. The two grab Tong by the throat and look to chokeslam him, but Phantam Fairtex jumps up on the apron to distract the two men. In one way, it works. Kuroi breaks his hold on Tong. In another way, it doesn’t. Kuroi then slams into Phantam with a Kuroi Kut, knocking Phantam off the apron and into the barricade! Draven quickly uses this momentum against Kuroi, trying to pull down the ropes, but Kuroi manages to catch his balance and begins to fight back and forth with the vampire. Hyperion, on the other hand, still has Tong by the throat.
Tong Fairtex goes up for a ride. The rest of the competitors in the ring kind of all just stop what they’re doing to watch as Tong is sent over the ropes and chokeslammed straight to the floor with Hyperion’s version, the High One! Both of his feet hit the floor!
Jessie Love: Tong Fairtex has been eliminated!
Taylor: Thanks for coming, Tong! Did you see the height on that chokeslam?
Romano: I did indeed. The ring thins down as we get closer to our tenth competitor of the night.
Taylor: How do you keep your stamina going at this point? The first competitors, Draven and Drago, have been in this match for over forty five mintues now!
Romano: It comes and goes in spurts. It’s probably best to do as Kuroi just did there, where you lay low. There’s no shame in hoping that people will forget about you until the end, especially if it helps you stay in the ring longer!
The countdown clock reappears once more, much to the crowd’s delight. They begin to countdown in unison as both members of Legion look up at the clock. The Cure takes advantage of this to smack them from behind with steel chairs.
Taylor: Chair shots from The Cure!
Romano: Brilliant strategy! It’s all legal, and Draven and Drago may have found the great equalizer to their Hyperion problem!
The sound of the airhorn is heard throughout the arena again. The crowd pops as “Ghost Riders in the Sky” begins to play on the speakers and a fancy graphic for Dixie Southern appears on the screen.
Jessie Love: Introducing tenth, from Point Blank, Texas, weighing in at 140 pounds, she is the Roughrider, DIXIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SOUTHERNNNNNNN!
The Roughrider emerges, sporting her wrestling short chaps and cowboy hat. She walks down to the ring highfiving the fans, ready for the chance to make her grand debut in the AWF.
Taylor: This is the independent that entered the match, Dixie Southern. It’s her first match on a stage this big, and what a way to start, entering number ten.
Romano: As happy as we are to see the first of a few debuts tonight, that doesn’t change the fact that The Cure has CHAIRS. If I were her, I’d pack it in and call it an early night.
As she walks down to the ring, she surveys the action happening in the ring, knowing she’s got a lot of competition, and also knowing that she and Suzuki are the only women in the match. She takes a deep breath to ease away the butterflies and tips her hat, taking it off and handing it to a ringside technician. She slides into the ring and is immediately greeted by the two men brandishing chairs.
Taylor: Yeah, you might be right, Cassius…
She manages to convince the two men to bring the chairs down, confidently standing her ground. The members of The Cure look at her with skepticism, but slowly bring the weapons down as Dixie reaches behind her… and then ABSOLUTELY SMASHES A LIGHT TUBE OVER DRAGO’S HEAD! The crowd roars!
Romano: Holy shit! That’s one way to make an impact in your debut, smack a guy with a light tube!
Taylor: She’s spent years smashing those tubes and jumping off roofs, she’s a hell of a competitor, that’s for damn sure!
We can hear Dixie say “Let’s go, fellas”, as she charges into Draven, knocking into him with a Lou Thesz press and hammering away with lefts and rights. She turns around and makes eye contact with Suzuki, who locks up with her and wins the test of strength, sending her off the ropes. Dixie jumps and strikes with a jumping calf kick on the way back, knocking Suzuki down to the mat as well.
The man known as Bloodied Fox makes his way back to his feet. He charges in for Boom, Headshot, his Superman Palm Strike, but Dixie sidesteps the impact and grabs him, before sending Fox over her head with a Northern Lights suplex! The crowd cheers as she quickly scales the ropes, not taking a moment to waste a single motion, except to draw finger guns and get the audience even more on her side.
Taylor: What’s Dixie got planned now?
Romano: She’s come in here like a house of fire, I would hate to be Bloodied Fox right about now!
Dixie leaps… and connects with a Shooting Star Press! The crowd cheers as she makes it back to her feet, reeling on the feeling of the adrenaline of performing in front of this capacity crowd. Unfortunately for her, Vincent Draven has other plans, grabbing her arm and locking it around her throat, before lifting up her for Nevermore!
Taylor: Quoth the raven, we’re about to see Nevermore!
Dixie spins out of the Nevermore, turning into a hurricanrana, and sending Draven over the ropes! Draven quickly has to catch his balance and is hanging on by the rope! Both of his feet are dangling, but he manages to pull himself back on the apron, much to the disappointment of the crowd. He slides into the ring and lays on the mat, trying to catch his breath and recover.
The countdown clock begins once again as Dixie surveys the situation. She’s currently in the ring with Bloodied Fox, Nausicaä Suzuki, Hyperion, Kuroi, Vincent Draven, and a currently heavily bleeding Drago. She waits for the eighth competitor to make his way down to the ring, and once the counting stops, the crowd gets an idea of who’s coming next.
“Die Buying” by Blindside plays in the arena as the crowd cheers again. One of Destiny Wrestling’s bigger stars stands at the top of the ramp.
Jessie Love: Introducing eleventh, from Detroit, Michigan, weighing in at 185 pounds, he is JOE NOOOOOOOBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOODYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Joe Nobody makes his way down to the ring, doing some last minute stretches as he surveys the action happening in the ring. He points to one of his potential opponents and makes a cut throat gesture as he moves down the ramp.
Taylor: This is Joe Nobody from Destiny Wrestling, and he’s on a quest to Beat the Best!
Romano: He beat their World Champion, and almost beat Subject #42 for the X-Crown Championship on the same night. He’s got stones and heart, and that carries him pretty far.
He stands on the apron and stares at the guy he made the gesture towards. Oh no, it wasn’t Dixie, or one of the competitors who’s been in the match for a very long period of time. Instead, he made it towards Hyperion. He walks up to Hyperion, who has a disapproving look on his face, knowing how many wrestlers have stepped into him in his career to try to make their name at his expense. Nobody greets him with a hard right, and the brawl is on.
Hyperion gets the upper hand in the brawl, sending Nobody hard into a corner. Seemingly out of nowhere, Dixie jumps on his back, locking in a sleeper hold on the Mad Titan. He immediately tries to claw at her, but with grit and determination, she hangs on. Joe Nobody rears up in his corner, waiting for his moment, and then tackling both Hyperion and Dixie to the ground!
Taylor: A hell of a tackle from Nobody! It’s a challenge to knock Hype off his feet, and he just took him along for the ride with Dixie!
Romano: She’s still got the sleeper hold applied! It’s a good idea in theory, but how are you going to get his 300-plus pound frame over the ropes if he’s been knocked unconscious?
Taylor: That’s for them to figure out, not me!
Nobody turns his attention towards Bloodied Fox, who after taking beating after beating, is somehow still crawling up to his feet, ready to have more punishment inflicted. Nobody whips him towards the ropes, but Fox counters to whip Nobody, before catching him back with his Ripcord Cutter, A Hustle, Sweetheart! The crowd pops loudly for the Englishman as he makes it back to his feet, beating his chest.
Taylor: The hunt is on for Bloodied Fox, who’s feeling it now!
Romano: He’s gotta be careful, though! Don’t turn around Fox, you might not like the view!
Standing behind Fox is an angered Kuroi, who wraps his fingers around his throat, and attempts to deliver a chokeslam, but Fox turns it into a tornado DDT! Fox looks around, the only man on his feet, as the countdown clock once again appears on the screen. He realizes his potential error as the clock strikes zero as “Johnny Sniper” by Enter Shikari hits the speakers. The crowd comes alive for their American hero, Johnny Sniper.
Jessie Love: Introducing twelfth, from Parris Island, South Carolina, weighing in at 217 pounds, he is JOHNNNNNY SNIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!
Sniper appears on stage holding an American flag before placing it in a a holder on the stage. He salutes it, then turns around and salutes the audience. He takes a good, hard look at all of the people in the ring before finding his target. He runs down the ramp, sliding in under the bottom rope. He takes a knee and performs a hand gun gesture at Bloodied Fox, who is unamused, to say the least.
Taylor: Sniper has wasted no time at all seeking to get payback on Fox after attacking Nobody, his Saga stablemate!
Romano: Did you see that sprint? I don’t think I’ve seen someone get down to the ring that fast before!
Bloodied Fox charges, and gets met with a Killshot, Sniper’s superkick! Suzuki turns around, and is also met with a Killshot! Dixie Southern, who has long since released her sleeper hold on Hyperion after he’s managed to strike his way out of the hold, dodges the third Killshot in the set, striking back with a hard elbow to the nose. Sniper responds by ducking the next elbow, getting behind Southern and absolutely unloading with Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome, his german suplex into a uranage slam!
Taylor: Sniper has taken out three other participants with three moves! He’s crushing it out there!
Romano: Sure, he’s crushing it, but he’s got to actually get them over the ropes and out of the match. That’s easier said than done, especially for most of the nine men and women in the ring right now.
Sniper spots Nobody and lends a hand, pulling his Saga partner back up. He turns around to see that Kuroi has helped Hyperion back to his feet. In between the two teams, a third team emerges, as Drago and Draven have gotten back to their feet as well. We finally see the wicked cut Drago has above his left eye, a direct result of being brained by a light tube by Dixie Storm. The three teams all exchange glances as the audience begins to build toward an explosion.
Taylor: Saga vs. Legion vs. Cure, only here in the AWF, right on the XHF network! Who ya got, Cassius?
Romano: I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell about to enjoy this fight!
Sniper strikes first by tackling Draven! Nobody and Hyperion go back to trading shots as Drago and Kuroi fight into a corner. The crowd roars as the six-way slugfest breaks into three smaller groups, the cameras struggling to capture all of the action as punches and kicks are traded by the pairs. Of all people, the action focuses on Drago and Kuroi. Kuroi has hammered Drago into the corner, but Drago avoids elimination by raking his eyes. Kuroi responds by trying to level his head off his shoulders with a standing clothesline, but Drago ducks the shot and grabs his hand, looking for a finger to break. He finds the finger and begins fighting like hell to break Kuroi’s finger!
The action moves to Hyperion and Nobody, where Hyperion has come a lot closer to succeeding in decapitating his opponent, leveling Nobody with the First Principle! He stands over his competitor, amused as Draven pulls Sniper in and levels him with the Luna’s Kiss!
Taylor: It’s hard to follow what the hell is going on! All of these competitors want the right to choose their partner for Fired Up!
Romano: The AWF Prestige Championship is a big deal to everyone involved, no one’s going to sell themselves short to win this thing!
SNAP!
Kuroi screams out in pain as he clocks Drago with a hard right on the spot where his face was cut, knocking Drago back to the ground. The camera catches Kuroi’s ring finger and the one hundred and twenty degree angle it’s now bent in. The crowd grimaces and boos as an audience member has to shield their eyes from getting sick looking at it.
Taylor: We’ve seen that so many times now, and I’m still not comfortable looking at it!
Romano: You’d really wish he’d pick up something other than breaking people’s fingers, but it’s damn effective, that’s for sure! Oww!
The audience, caught up in sharing Kuroi’s pain, almost miss the countdown clock hitting zero. The airhorn strikes sounds and the lights immediately dim.
Taylor: Who’s next?
"Undeniable" by Seckond Chaynce begins to play as the lights dim. The crowd boos as they know The Prince of Pain is about to come out.
Jessie Love: Introducing thirteenth, from Brooklyn, New York, weighing in at 221 pounds, he is MICHAEEEELLLLL STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
Romano: Michael Storm! One of the early favorites, the most decorated African American wrestler in XHF History… and he’s on a hell of a mission to make everyone pay.
Taylor: Business just picked up, Cassius!
As the music kicks up, Michael Storm breaks through from behind the curtain. As he jumps out, he takes a moment to have a full view of his audience. He jumps up and down with the balls of his feet as he soaks up the energy. Michael Storm takes off his shirt and throws it into the crowd as he turns back to the ring in front of him. Storm runs down the ramp toward the ring. He stops just short, pounding his chest. He’s ready. He slides in the ring and sets his sights on… Nausicaä Suzuki, who’s still down from the Killshot earlier. He grabs her brutally by the hair and sends her up and over the ropes.
Jessie Love: Nausicaä Suzuki has been eliminated!
Storm sets his sights next on a more formidable target: Kuroi. Kuroi charges with his Big Boot, the Kuroi Kut, but Storm pulls down the ropes, scoring another fast elimination as Kuroi’s broken finger renders him unable to grab onto the ropes and save himself!
Jessie Love: Kuroi has been eliminated!
Romano: Two quick eliminations in a row! Michael Storm is showing no signs of ring rust here tonight.
Taylor: He knows the only way to win is to throw people over, and that’s exactly what he’s doing!
Storm finds his footing and yells at the crowd about how it’s his time as the crowd boos him loudly. He turns around and almost gets caught with a Killshot for his efforts, but he catches the boot and sends Sniper to the floor, all in one fluid motion.
Jessie Love: Johnny Sniper has been eliminated!
Taylor: The former X-Crown champion making a statement tonight! Three eliminations, just like that.
Romano: Perhaps more importantly, look at how he just eliminated. He just took out Suzuki, but also Kuroi and Sniper, a member of Legion and the Saga. Hyperion and Nobody are left alone in there for their respective teams, and meanwhile, The Cure has still has both members of their team.
And that’s where the Cure take their opportunity to double team Storm. The crowd boo their underhanded tactics as Drago, rubbing blood out of his eyes, seems to direct traffic. Drago lifts up Storm for a facebuster, but Storm fights his way out with a stiff forearm. Draven, who was preparing to springboard into the ring and onto Storm, is knocked to the floor by a brutal running knee strike. Storm works Drago in the corner.
Taylor: Elimination number four for Michael!
Romano: No! Draven was knocked to the floor after exiting underneath the top rope, so Draven’s still in this match!
The camera catches Bloodied Fox and Dixie Southern fighting in another corner. It looks like Fox is about to eliminate Southern, having propped her up in the corner! However, a closer examination reveals that Dixie has locked Fpx into a modified version of her Southern Comfort Butterfly Lock!
Taylor: Is that… yes it is! Southern’s not the biggest one in the fight, but like hell that woman is bound to choke out every man in this match.
Romano: Fox is fading fast! He looks like he’s out on his feet.
Dixie, realizing this information for herself, adjusts her submission, grabbing onto the second rope and pulling Fox with her as she lowers herself towards the ground on the outside of the ring. The crowd cheers the show of strength as Fox goes over the ropes and hits the floor, with Dixie landing safely on the apron.
Jessie Love: Fox has been eliminated!
Taylor: The Roughrider notches an elimination! Fox is out!
Romano: She’s been very impressive here so far, dealing out and taking all sorts of punishment, that’s for sure.
Taylor: The Englishman’s got a promising future, I’m excited to see how he bounces back.
The countdown clock begins once again as the crowd counts down. When it hits zero, the airhorn hits. “Blood, Tears, Dust” by Lacuna Coil begins to play in the aren as Infinity Realm Wrestling fans roar for the World Champion!
Jessie Love: Introducing fourteenth, from Boston, Massachusetts, weighing in at 232 pounds, he is the IRW Heavyweight Champion, DYLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN BLAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
Taylor: I heard this guy took a portal to get here tonight, Cassius! After getting Feargal Nukebuster’s permission, the IRW Champion begins his quest to become a double World Champion here tonight.
Romano: When Dylan gives it his all, there are few men and women in the entire federation that can touch him. I wish he was just wrestling for the AWF, damnit. We’ll see what he can do.
Dylan Black waits a while, letting the crowd soak it all in, before slowly strolling out to hear the roar of his fans. He holds the IRW Heavyweight Championship high above his head before throwing it over his shoulder and heading down to the ring. He reaches out to a few of them and touches their hands, with a few of them seeming to react as if they had just touched hands with their God. The edgy son of a gun walks down the ramp, taking his sweet, sweet time, making the rest of the competitors in the match wait. Eventually he reaches ringside, and he even walks around the ring a few times, surveying who’s still left in the ring: Joe Nobody, Dixie Southern, Drago, Hyperion, and Michael Storm. Right before he’s about to step in the ring, he spots Vincent Draven, and delivers his curbstomp, the Blackout Menace, on the outside!
Taylor: Blackout Menace! Dylan just sent Draven’s head right into the floor!
Romano: He’s a crafty one, that’s for sure. He’s already taking out one of his opponents before he even sets foot in the ring.
Dylan finally slides into the ring after handing off his championship, and he’s now looking for a fight. He’s in the ring now with Joe Nobody, and he delivers the Bounty Collection, a hard knee straight to his face, sending Nobody down in a bloody heap in the corner. Mr. IRW is in no mood to screw around tonight, helping Nobody into a corner and onto the second rope, where he connects with Blunt Force Trauma, another double footed stomp, right to Nobody’s chest cavity.
Dylan keeps moving, striking Drago and getting into the mix between him and Michael Storm, but Hyperion hasn’t had enough of Joe Nobody. He scoops Nobody off of the mat and chokeslams out of the ring, delivering a vicious version of The High One to eliminate Nobody.
Jessie Love: Joe Nobody has been eliminated!
Taylor: Nobody was just eliminated!
Romano: No, clearly Joe was just eliminated. He hit the floor with both feet after being spent over the top in a dominating display by Hyperion.
Taylor: That’s what I meant, Nobody was eliminated.
Romano: Yeah yeah. What’s on second, I don’t know’s on third, Who’s on first.
Hyperion turns around and spots the IRW Heavyweight Champion. He lifts Dylan up for a chokeslam as well, but Dylan spins out and counters. Dylan ends up still on the move, where he gets absolutely rocked by Michael Storm’s Termination Projectile, a jumping, spinning, and running elbow! Storm gets back up immediately only to be introduced to Drago and Drago’s affinity for breaking fingers. Storm isn’t about to become Drago’s next victim, instead dropping him to the mat and locking him in his version of the Crossface, the Bad Blood!
Taylor: Bad blood! But there’s no submissions in this kind of match!
Romano: Drago’s been through hell tonight! Someone’s just got to get him up and over the ropes! Keeping him on the mat is not the way to do it, but Storm is sure as hell going to make sure he’s ready to be eliminated.
Drago is visibly in pain as he reaches out and grabs the bottom rope. He looks for a rope break, but can’t get one because there’s no breaks in a battle royale. He summons the strength to pull himself, but Storm keeps his grip fully secured. The hold is still locked in as the countdown clock reappears on screen. Drago is stuck in a bad way as the airhorn sounds, signaling the next entrant.
The lights in the arena blink with the beat of the intro to Fozzy's "Sandpaper", then are brought up in a blinding momentary flash as the lyrics kick in and Rocco Rose steps through the curtain to a hail of boos. The arrogant wrestler has won himself no love before his debut with his interview segment this past week.
Jessie Love: Introducing fifteenth, from Venice Beach, California, weighing in at 224 pounds, he is ROCCCOOOOOOOOOO ROOOOOOOOSEEEEEE!
Taylor: Rocco Rose is making his debut tonight as well, and as you can tell, he already does not have friends!
Romano: Saint Rocco’s coming to purify us all, Tommy. I’m a big fan of this guy’s swagger and confidence, let’s see if he can back it up in the ring.
Rose has a swagger in his step as he walks the aisle, daring the fans behind the barricade to throw a punch, knowing full well that they are unable to get to him. Meanwhile, Draven reaches into the ring and grabs Drago, pulling him to the floor to free him from Storm’s crossface.
Rocco walks the steps slowly and deliberately, wiping his feet on the apron before stepping through the ropes. In the middle of the ring, he has some space to move, and he goes around, trying to goad anyone he can into throwing the first punch. Some of the other wrestlers in the ring are a little wary of the invitation, but finally, the IRW Heavyweight Champion steps up for the challenge, but he stops short of punching Rocco when Rocco offers his hand for a handshake instead of squaring up.
Dylan, knowing better than to shake the man’s hand, slaps it away. The crowd cheers the move, but immediately boos as Rocco POPS him with a superkick, sending a tooth flying out of the back of Dylan’s mouth! Before Dylan can even grab his face in pain, Rocco lifts him up on his shoulders and drops his face straight onto his knee, making the pain that much worse with the Kiss from a Rose!
Romano: Saint Rocco is manhandling the IRW Champion!
Rocco gets back to his feet and picks Dylan off the mat. There is no three hour Ironman showing from Dylan tonight as he gets thrown over the ropes and fails to catch the ropes, with both feet hitting the floor. The crowd, initially shocked, begins to furiously boo Rose.
Jessie Love: Dylan Black has been eliminated!
Taylor: Rocco Rose just eliminated IRW’s Heavyweight Champion!
Romano: A huge, huge start for the newcomer! This crowd can’t believe it!
Taylor: Back to the Infinity Realm for Dylan! How is he going to stand up to Big Drag Dark after his performance tonight?
Rose bows for the crowd, who continue to shower him in boos. He looks over at his opponents, noticing that two of them are outside of the ring. The Cure, Drago and Draven, have their eyes on him as they recover on the outside of the ring. Storm and Dixie Southern are fighting in a corner, and Rose turns around to discover he now has a powerful adversary to deal with: Hyperion. More specifically, Hyperion’s head. Hype delivers a running headbutt, knocking Rose to the mat. He puts a boot to Rose’s throat, who has to squirm and kick and roll to finally get out from under the larger man.
Meanwhile, Dixie has grabbed a chair that the Cure had left behind earlier when they had taken down the Legion. She taunts Drago and Draven to come back into the ring for round two, with both men outside of the ring but not eliminated. The countdown clock reappears as Draven seems to consider doing so, but they decide to wait for the sound of the airhorn and the next competitor in the match. The airhorn sounds. Their evening does not get better.
"Aw, fuck yo' headphone!"
The crowd ROARS for the next entrant in the Battle Royale. "Timebomb" by Beck blasts into the arena and all the lights change to a cool shade of neon blue. Seth Dillinger struts out to the top of the ramp wearing sunglasses, jeans, and a button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, showing off just a bit of his pecs.
Jessie Love: Introducing sixteenth, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 215 pounds, he is SEEEEEEEEEEETHHHHHHHHH DILLLLLLLINGEEEERR!
Taylor: The former X-Crown Champion is in the building! Listen to this crowd’s reaction! They can not wait to see the man they stan for, Seth Dillinger.
Romano: Never use that word again, but you’re absolutely right, Tommy. And to make matters worse for Drago, he’s now caught in between a rock and a hard place. It’s put up or shut up time for him with what he’s been saying about Seth lately, does he have it what it takes to get the job done?
After the countdown timer hits zero, Seth skips his usual rituals of smiling and smirking at the crowd, instead deciding to charge down to the ring, but more importantly, towards the members of the Cure. They make their decision to quickly slide right back into the ring, and Dixie Southern immediately blasts Draven with a chair for taking his eyes off the ball. Drago manages to get his head on a swivel and has his cut reopened by the chair as well. Seth, on the other hand, has stopped short of the ring, and is greatly amused by having sent his adversaries to Southern’s guillotine. He hops up on the apron and steps into the ring with his arms raised, indicating he’s not really looking to fight her. It’s hard to catch what Dillinger is actually saying, but instead of balling up a fist, he puts out a hand as well. Southern looks at it, then at the crowd, and then back to the hand, before shaking Dillinger’s hand.
Taylor: Well you know what they say, Cassius. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, and it looks like Dixie and Seth may have reached some kind of truce!
Romano: They’re going to need a truce or something similar to stop the Cure. Both of those guys have been in the ring for over an hour. They’ve endured a lot of punishment, but both of them are hanging on and hanging in.
The Philadelphian directs traffic, pointing to a turnbuckle for each of them to jump off. The two scale the ropes in unison, with Dixie Southern wearily shooting finger guns, which Dillinger replicates. The two leap off a second after one another, Dixie with a Shooting Star Press to Draven, and Dillinger with a Frog Splash to Drago! The crowd cheers as the makeshift team make it back to their feet. They look for the opportunity to keep building their momentum as they exchange a fist bump, but Michael Storm isn’t having any of it, kicking Seth from behind, straight in the family jewels. The crowd boos loudly.
Taylor: What a cheap shot from Michael Storm!
Romano: That’s one way to break up a team!
Storm takes one of the chairs off of the ground and nails Dixie with it, opening her up similarly to how she opened up Drago. He finds Seth on the ground and then immediately locks him in his North South choke, the 52 Seconds of Hell! He begins immediately fighting like hell to get out of the hold, but Seth quickly finds himself trapped in the hold! He tries to make it to the ropes, but again, without breaks, there’s nowhere for him to go!
Taylor: 52 Seconds of Hell, the amount of time Michael Storm was legally dead! If you find yourself locked in this move longer than that, it’s also not going to go well for you!
Romano: Seth’s fighting this hold with everything he’s got, but Storm’s got it locked in tight! There’s nowhere for him to go!
Seth’s flailing motions begin to get shorter and shorter as he begins to run out of air. He looks to pull himself and Storm along the mat, desperately inching closer and closer to freedom, but then all of a sudden, he stops moving! The crowd boos wildly as Storm sees this and decides to keep the hold applied even longer, much longer than the standard fifty two seconds needed for the hold to be truly effective!
Taylor: Let him go, Storm! You got what you wanted! I don’t think Dillinger’s even moving!
Romano: Someone has to stop this, but none of the battle royale participants are doing anything about it!
Taylor: They can’t! Most of them are down, except for Hyperion, who is fully content to watch Dillinger suffer!
Suddenly, “Good Luck (You’re Fucked” plays on the arena speakers! ‘Technical Perfection’, dressed in his street clothes, emerges from the back, eyes sight set on Michael Storm. He charges down the ramp as the crowd cheers!
Taylor: It’s Chris Card! The former Prestige Champion had the night off tonight, but he’s not going to stand for Michael Storm’s heinous behavior!
Romano: Get him, Chris! Get him!
Card slides in underneath the bottom rope! Storm breaks the hold and gets back up, immediately trying to apply the same choke to Card, but Card strikes back with the first kick of the Gathering Storm, slamming a thunderous roundhouse kick into Michael’s ribs! He follows it with the Question Mark Kick, and then a Teep Kick as well! The audience is loving Storm getting what he had coming to him as Card delivers the spinning backfist! Storm is staggered on his feet as Card regains his balance and delivers the final kick of the series, the Maritime Hurricane! Storm immediately falls backwards, but over the top rope, where both of his feet hit the floor with a thud!
Jessie Love: Michael Storm has been eliminated!
Taylor: Michael Storm pays the price for his behavior, getting himself eliminated by Chris Card!
Romano: But if I know Storm, there will be hell to pay for Card’s action tonight. These two men absolutely hate each other!
Card acknowledges the cheering crowd, nodding to them. He bends down to check on Dillinger, but Dillinger is out like a light. The fuming Card grabs one of the chairs from the ring and slides out of the ring with it, going after Storm again! Storm quickly gets back to his feet and hops the barricade, hightailing it out of the arena! Card gives chase as the countdown clock reappears on the screen. The crowd miss the opportunity to count along with it, and the airhorn sounds soon after. They pop loudly as they here the opening of the next competitor’s theme song.
"Xiaolong’s here and I'm ready for a fight!"
Jessie Love: Introducing seventeenth, from Hong Kong, China, weighing in at 225 pounds, he is the NEEEWWWW AWF PHOENIX CHAMPION, XIAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOLLLLOOOOOONNNGGGGGG!
Taylor: The new AWF Phoenix champion is out here, ready to begin his quest to become a double champion!
Romano: It was a great match from Xiao, but I have to question his being out here! He’s clearly in no condition after that brutal assault to his left shoulder from Izumi.
Taylor: You’ve got to admire the heart and fighting spirit of the champion, though. He’s not ready to give up just because he’s hurting.
“Kung Fu Fighting" plays and Xiaolong appears at the top of the ramp. His left shoulder is heavily taped after his match earlier with Kira. He tries his best to rotate the arm and get some feeling into it, but he’s aware he’s basically flying into this match with one good wing. Still, he’s going to give it his all. He charges down the ramp, and as he reaches the ring, he leaps over the top rope Luchador style and forward rolls to his feet in a dragon stance.
The artist formerly known as Little Dragon gets back up and locks eyes with a bloody Dixie Southern, who is more than game to give him a good fight. The two deliver stereo running dropkicks, countering each other out. Dixie gets back on her feet and dodges Xiaolong trying to hit a springboard back elbow, she jumps up for a flying headscissors, but instead of hitting the mat, Xiaolong flips forward, landing on the mat feet first! Dixie shakes her head in disbelief as the two lock up and the crowd cheers the display of athleticism.
Taylor: Where is he finding this energy?
Romano: Dixie’s more than matching him step for step, and she’s been in this match for just under an hour as well!
The two would continue their set, but Hyperion’s not having it. He comes in and slams Dixie with a big boot, knocking her down. Xiaolong strikes Hype with a few kicks, but that only seems to anger the Mad Titan. He lifts Xiaolong up in a military press… and TOSSES HIM into the SECOND ROW!
Taylor: Holy shit! Xiaolong just got air! What a throw from Hyperion!
Romano: That’s enough of his night! I admire the champ, but he just couldn’t do it. I hope the fans are okay out there!
One of the referees assigned to judge the match slides over the barricade to go look at Xiaolong and confirm that he’s out. Surprisingly, he landed on a bunch of fans and the chairs they were sitting in, instead of the floor. He crawls back up onto one of the chairs and apologizes to the fans around him as he grabs his shoulder, letting out a scream through gritted teeth as the agony is very painful. He looks back at the ring though, knowing his chance to pick his partner is not as out of sight as it looks to everyone else. He stares at the ring, trying to think of something as the crowd takes selfies around him. He snaps his fingers, having thought of what he needs.
He seems to communicate his idea to the fans fairly quickly, as a few of them immediately vacate their seats… and hand them to him! One by one, like the world’s weirdest assembly line, they hand him a chair, and he unfolds the chair to put it in front of him, before stepping onto it. This trick works to getting him up to the barricade! The crowd cheers as they watch him work!
Taylor: I’ve heard of a Bridge of Spies, but how about a Bridge of Chairs?
Romano: You can tell how much the fans love him by how willing they are to give up their seats! This is incredible!
Xiaolong stares at the barricade, not really sure what to do with it, as a fan hands him another chair. He carefully does his best to set one up on the other side of the barricade, and then he realizes what he has to do to get back in the ring. He takes a deep breath and steps on the barricade before using the chair below as a launching pad, leaping onto the apron from it! He ducks under the top rope and gets back into the ring!
Taylor: That was great! Our new champ doesn’t quit, that’s for sure!
Romano: I don’t know if that’s always a good thing, but I’ll applaud that effort.
Xiaolong waves at Hyperion when he makes it back in the ring. The crowd laughs, Hype does not. He charges and connects on a hard elbow, knocking the high flyer down as the countdown clock counts down once more. The fans, eager to keep counting with it, even make the airhorn sound as it hits zero.
“Pervert” by the Descendents plays on the speakers. The crowd immediately divides into two, the wrestling purists booing “Guttertrash” Greg Adkins, and the fans that wonder what the walking freakshow has today.
Jessie Love: Introducing eighteenth, from Tuscola, Illinois, weighing in at 165 pounds, he is “GUTTERTRASH” GREEEEGGGGG ADKIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNS!
Adkins emerges from the back with his shopping cart of fun, ready for the Battle Royale. As he pushes it down to the ring, we can hear the sounds of what’s probably a cat meowing from a sack. There are more than a few questionable objects in the Dirty Hobo’s cart of atrocities, including a strange purple… thing, and a questionable brown paper bag. Greg himself doesn’t really fully look like he’s all here, as the white line underneath his nostril also indicates.
Romano: It’s that gross cart again. I can’t believe Greg still has it!
Taylor: I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out he was living out of that thing. Good lord, the stench.
Adkins climbs into the ring and surveys his surroundings. The members of the Cure are stirring, Xiaolong and Hyperion are doing battle, Seth Dillinger has shown a good sign of his consciousness by managing to turn himself over, Dixie Southern is down, and the only person currently standing in his way is Rocco Rose, who has been chilling in his own corner, avoiding the attention of the other wrestlers in the match. Adkins immediately grabs Rose, locking him in the Crotch Claw of Doom!
Romano: That damn Adkins is a menace!
Taylor: I’m going to have to agree with you there!
“Guttertrash” Greg Adkins lives up to his nickname as Rocco screams in pain. Rocco rakes Adkins’ eyes to get out of the hold, and the crowd goes from cheering to immediately booing Saint Rocco. Rocco spikes him into the mat with a double-armed DDT to readjust himself. The crowd comes alive as Seth Dillinger finally begins pulling himself back up on the ropes, beginning to realize where he is and what match he’s in. He’s coughing up a storm, and to make matters worse for himself, both members of the Cure are now back to their feet as well. They immediately attack him like hungry dogs to meat, striking and clubbing him. He gets his hands up to defend himself, but the onslaught is a little much for someone who just realized where the hell he even is.
Xiaolong sees this though, and takes a break from being beaten mercilessly by Hyperion to defend Seth, paying back the favor for his friend after he saved him last Prestige. He ducks under another clothesline from Hyperion and quickly jumps up to the top rope. He leaps off in Draven’s direction for his top-rope backstabber, the DSD, but Draven manages to dodge out of the way, causing Xiaolong to splat in the center of the ring with a thud. Drago smirks and takes this opportunity to hoist him up by his ring attire, throwing him up and over the ropes. Xiaolong somehow still catches himself on the apron!
Taylor: Drago throws Xiaolong out and over—no! Xiao is still hanging on!
Romano: How does he keep doing this?
The AWF Phoenix Champion’s luck seems to run out as Rocco Rose takes a few steps back and charges at him, knocking him off the apron! But incredibly, he lands in Greg Adkin’s shopping cart! Both of his feet do not hit the floor, but the impact sends the cart reeling away from the ring. The crowd move to their feet as they realize the situation. Xiaolong grabs his left shoulder in pain as it bangs right into the hard metal.
Taylor: Oh God, Xiaolong’s still in this match, but he landed right in Adkin’s hobo cart!
Romano: Why do bad things happen to good people, Tommy? I’ve never felt bad for someone managing to stay alive in a match like this!
After getting over the initial terror and disgust of being in Adkins’ hobo cart, Xiaolong looks around for his options. He doesn’t seem to have too many of them, the only thing escaping the cart at this point is the cat that he kindly lets out of the bag. The cat goes running through the AWF fans in attendance, which catches Adkins’ attention. He shouts for the cat to come back, and Vincent Draven swoops in from behind to hit him with a knee to the face and send him over the ropes.
Jessie Love: Greg Adkins has been eliminated!
Back in the cart, Xiaolong has few options. He tries to reach down and use his arm to propel himself off the floor, but the angle is not the best for doing so, and he only has one good arm to really push off with in the first place. He reaches out of the cart and grabs onto the barricade, and then begins to use the barricade to push off towards the steps. The cart bangs into the steps and the crowd smiles as he gets ready to make his move. He stands up in the cart and positions himself ever so carefully… but Drago slides underneath the rope and comes in, flipping the cart over with Xiaolong still inside! Both of Xiaolong’s feet hit the floor!
Jessie Love: Xiaolong has been eliminated!
Taylor: Damnit Drago!
Romano: The fairytale run of our AWF Phoenix Champion is over, but a resilient performance from him! I can’t wait to see how his reign shakes out.
Drago laughs at the misfortunes of Xiaolong as Xiaolong realizes what’s happened. Instead of striking back, the honorable Xiaolong instead grabs his AWF Phoenix Championship from the timekeeper and holds it up to Drago, bowing to the former champion as he makes a gesture about singles gold. He heads towards the back as the countdown clock begins to count down once more. The airhorn sounds.
The lights go for a light shade of pink as "Save That Shit" by Lil Peep begins to play for everyone to hear.
F*** my life, can't say that girl
Don't tell me you can save that shit
All she want is payback for the way I always play that shit
You ain't getting nothing, now I'm saying
Don't tell me you is
Nothin' like them other motherf******
Jessie Love: Introducing nineteenth, from Anaheim, California, weighing in at 227 pounds, he is The Messiah of the Knee Strike, RYAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN YOUNNNNGGGG!
Taylor: The final newcomer of the night, Ryan Young has been turning heads as he’s ready to make a big career leap onto the national stage.
Ryan Young walks out from behind the curtain and is followed by his girlfriend, Selena. He stands atop of the stage and looks out to the crowd, bending over, adjusting his kneepads before shooting up and stretching his arms out.
I can make you rich (I can make you rich)
I can make you this, baby, I can make you that
I can take you there, but baby, you won't make it back
Growing sick of this and I don't wanna make you sad
Do I make you scared? Baby, won't you take me back?
Romano: He thinks he’s the best, but so does everyone when they set foot in our company. I think he’s ready for the challenge, but let’s see what he can do.
Young makes his way down the ramp and to ringside where he runs at the ring apron and slides along it on one knee, entering the ring.
He takes a few moments to soak in the atmosphere of everything: he’s finally made it to the big stage after years of training and watching others pass him by. Unfortunately for him, this moment of wonder and awe is met with a stiff right from Hyperion, looking to get out in front of the rookie before the rookie tries to make his name at his expense. Making the save for Young is Dixie Southern, though, who delivers a running dropkick to Hype’s leg. Hype is taken down to one knee, and Young bounces off the ropes, nailing him with his Bicycle Knee Strike, the California Dream! The crowd is stunned as Hype goes down!
Taylor: Wow! A big shot from the newcomers, taking down Hype in the center of the ring!
Romano: They have a big problem on their hands, though. How do you get all 310 pounds of Hype over the ropes and to the floor?
This struggle immediately dawns on Dixie, the smallest competitor still in the match, and Ryan Young as they have to team up to even get Hype back to his feet. Dixie bounces off the ropes to deliver a running strike to Hype, but Drago manages to escape the beating Dillinger has been giving him in the corner to pull down the ropes! Dixie goes over the ropes!
Drago jaws to the crowd about scoring another elimination, but Dixie’s still hanging on, both of her feet dangling. She summons all of the strength she has to skin the cat and flip herself back into the ring before punching Drago right where his exposed cut is. She barely has time to get out of the way as Seth Dillinger leaps back into the ring, connecting with his springboard somersault stunner, the South Philly Stunner, and absolutely planting Drago!
Taylor: Incoming! Seth flies in and nails Drago with the Stunner!
Romano: He’s looking a whole lot better after being choked out earlier!
Before Dillinger can celebrate, though, Draven is ready to make him pay. He goes to sink his fangs into Seth’s neck, but Seth fights him off. The two battle into the corner.
Dixie asks for her hat from ringside as she notices Drago has managed to crawl himself into the corner. She shoots finger guns once again before charging and jumping onto Drago, getting the crowd going with a Bronco Buster! She rides hard and smiles as she gets back up, launching her hat into the crowd as the crowd roars for the maneuver.
Taylor: Dixie has been absolutely having her way with Drago tonight!
Romano: First the lighttube, and now this! Maybe it wasn’t a wise move for Drago to enter so early after all!
The countdown clock sneaks up on the crowd for the last entrant of the night. Eventually, it goes down to zero and the crowd mimics the airhorn. “The Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson plays on the arena speakers. The Destiny Wrestling fans in attendance roar loudly for the surprise entrant.
Taylor: Is this who I think it is?!
Jessie Love: Introducing our twentieth and final entrant, from Tampa, Florida, weighing in at 163 pounds, he is the Destiny Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, he is MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEE LIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Romano: The Destiny World Champion is in the building!
Mike Lio walks out slowly from the back with a huge grin on his face, with the Destiny Wrestling world championship around his waist. He unhooks the belt and slowly raises it into the air for everyone to see. He charges down to the ring.
Taylor: The biggest surprise of the night, a man known for going all or nothing, Mike Lio has been shouldering the load for Destiny for the past few months!
Romano: He’s instantly a threat to win it all at Fired Up, let’s see what he brings to this match!
Ryan Young waits for Michael Lio to enter the ring, chomping at the bits. He bounces off the ropes, and as soon as Lio enters, he’s eliminated!
Jessie Love: Mike Lio has been eliminated!
Young eliminates him with the California Dream!
Taylor: WHAT?!
Romano: Ryan Young just eliminated the DW Heavyweight Champion! This has to be some kind of record!
Lio lands on his feet on the outside, and realizes what the hell just happened. He is irate, to say the least. He kicks the barricade and storms up the ramp with his championship as Ryan Young waves him goodbye. Lio tries to object to the call, but it’s clear as day that his feet did indeed hit the floor.
Young turns back to the ring and looks at the competitors left: both members of the Cure in Vincent Draven and the bloody mess that is Drago, Seth Dillinger looking like he could kill either one of them at any time, the master of stealth Rocco Rose avoiding punishment, Dixie Southern seeming to actively seek it out at every junction despite already bleeding, and the towering Hyperion, who can’t do any towering from his position face down on the mat.
Taylor: We’re down to our final seven participants! One wrestler will walk away right the right to choose their partner for Fired Up on the next episode of AWF: Prestige! Who do you got at this pivotal moment, Cassius?
Romano: It’s hard to say, Tommy. For the most part, every man and woman left in that ring has been on the receiving end of finishing maneuvers, weapon shots, and the general chaos that goes with one of these kinds of matches. And not a single one of them is showing any signs of letting up anytime soon. It’s a testament to these competitors to make it this far, but there can only be one winner.
The camera cuts to the back, where we see Copycat being loaded into an ambulance. Even though he was never truly eliminated, Copycat will not have an opportunity to steal the spotlight and score the biggest win of his career. The doors shut and the ambulance drives away.
Taylor: I almost forgot about Copycat! Such a shame that Drago would go and beat him so brutally, this could have been his moment!
Romano: The Cure started this match about two hours ago and they still have something left in the tank. I know Hyperion’s still in this match, and so is the former X-Crown winner in Seth Dillinger, but I’d have to worry about them going forward. They are the only two really working together as a team, and they’re willing to resort to any means to get the job done.
Dillinger is the first to move when the camera cuts back, focusing on hammering away at Drago and trying to keep him separated from Draven, knowing that’s going to be the only possible way to get The Cure actually out of the match. He grabs Drago by the back of the neck and flips him over the ropes, but Drago safely lands on the apron. Dillinger works on getting Drago to break his grasp, and then has a genius idea: he grabs Drago’s other hand and looks to break Drago’s middle finger instead! Drago screams out in pain!
Taylor: Seth turning this one on Drago! Drago’s losing his grip!
Romano: If Drago’s not careful, Seth’ll break his finger AND eliminate him from the match!
There’s a commotion coming from the crowd as Seth works Drago’s fingers. A hooded figure slides into the ring behind Seth as the crowd boos. Out of instinct, Seth turns around, before getting decked with a Shotgun Kick! Seth goes down!
Taylor: Is that the mystery attacker? Are we finally going to figure out who attacked Dillinger before his X-Crown match?
Romano: Who’s it going to be, Tommy? He just nailed Seth!
The figure slowly pulls its hood down… revealing himself to be Killa Kai!
Taylor: Killa Kai, the undefeated sensation, has just made his presence known in this Battle Royale!
Romano: I don’t know if he attacked Seth, or if he’s just out here to support the other two members of the Cure, but what a kick!
The crowd boos even louder as Kai exchanges a highfive with Drago and Draven. Drago steps back into the ring and helps Draven, with both men grabbing Seth off the mat and lifting him up in a back suplex position. Kai climbs up to the top rope and leaps off as the two men holding Seth turn it into a facebuster, and Kai spikes Seth’s head into the mat with a brutal DDT!
Taylor: Blood Transfusion! A nasty piece of business, and that might be all she wrote for Seth Dilinger!
Romano: Damn these guys! Who the hell is going to stop them?
Drago and Draven grab Dillinger and toss him into the floor in unison. Both of his feet hit the floor, and the crowd is booing at their absolute loudest.
Jessie Love: Seth Dillinger has been eliminated!
Taylor: That’s huge! We’re down to six, but Kai is also still in the ring!
Romano: Damn these guys! Who the hell is going to stop them?
The crowd pops as a certain 310-pound volunteer steps up to the plate. Ryan Young is too busy punching away at Dixie in the corner to dedicate his energy to the fight, and Rocco Rose is way more than content to watch his adversaries eliminate each other. But Hyperion steps up, knowing what he has to do. The Cure stands across from him, and Hyperion looks them dead in the eyes. People take pictures as they believe in their hearts that this is going to be one hell of a fight.
But it isn’t, at least at first. Draven and Drago immediately grab Hyperion’s legs, locking him into place. Kai bounces off the ropes and connects with another Krash Kick, this time striking the back of Hype’s head instead of the front! Hype immediately falls to the ground, unable to keep his balance with his competitors literally at his ankles. The three men all agree in unison on their next move before bouncing off the ropes in three different directions, with Draven and Kai hitting unison Shotgun Kicks, and Drago hitting his decapitation elbow! Hyperion gets rocked!
Taylor: Hyperion is no match for these guys tonight. He’s been in there for such a long time, and almost everyone has tried to make themselves at his expense!
Romano: Finisher after finisher, but that looks like it should be enough.
They notice the rest of the competitors in the match and begin to yell at all of them to help. Ryan pulls himself off of Dixie to answer the call, and Rocco Rose, not really willing to help, is coerced by force into helping the men get the heavyweight over the ropes. Each man, Drago, Draven, Kai, Young, and Rose, grabs a limb.
Taylor: This isn’t right! They’re all ganging up on Hyperion!
Romano: Everyone in this match has tried to take Hyperion down in one way or another, he’s gotta be exhausted by now! This is the only way they’re all going to be able to get him out!
Looking more like pallbearers carrying a casket, the men lift in unison, pulling him back up off the mat. They reposition themselves, looking similarly to a group of men trying to move a heavy couch, as they all get positioning, and then in unison all push him over the ropes, out to the floor. The crowd boos this act of working in unison.
Jessie Love: Hyperion has been eliminated!
Taylor: Whoah! Hyperion is gone too! Just like that, two of the pillars of the AWF have both hit the floor! That’s huge, he was definitely one of the early favorites.
Romano: His power might be waning after all.
Taylor: None of the legal five competitors left in this match were in the federation a year ago, Cassius. Is this the sign of a changing of the guard, or are the rookies just opportunists?
Romano: This could definitely be a change, Tommy. The Cure looks dominant here, but the other debuting upstarts in this match are more than holding their own tonight.
The crowd begins to rise from their seats and cheer as the only wrestler to not go along with the Cure’s plans stands on the top turnbuckle. She looks on, getting in one way exactly what she wanted: an opportunity to jump in the fray and prove herself. The group turns around, and she leaps, knocking the whole group down at once with a crossbody!
Taylor: Crossbody from the top! Dixie is not going to play nice with others!
Romano: She might be the only one to root for left in this match for a lot of people! She’s got a mountain to climb with five men in her way, we’ll have to see if she can keep bending like that slinky she talked about, or if they’ll break her!
Dixie gets back up and mimes a lasso as the crowd cheers for her. She looks for a target and finds one in Ryan Young, grabbing him and immediately locking him in the Southern Comfort! Young is trapped in the center of the ring with no one around to help him!.
Taylor: Dixie picks on the freshest man in the match in Young with that Butterfly Lock! She entered tenth, he entered nineteenth!
Romano: With everyone down, it’s a good opportunity to rip apart Ryan and test his ability to withstand punishment!
Young tries to shake his way out of the hold, but Dixie has him trapped tight! He reaches for the ropes, but there’s no ropes anywhere for him to grab onto. He rolls again, but there’s no escaping the hold. Luckily for him, Kai takes this opportunity to deliver a devastating Krash Kick to Dixie!
Taylor: He doesn’t even work here!
Romano: The Cure’s secret weapon is crushing the competition for them tonight, one kick at a time!
Kai gets set up with Drago and Draven, ready to hit the Blood Transfusion for a second time. The two legal competitors in the ring lift up Dixie for a back suplex as Kai climbs the ropes, jawing at the crowd about how much better the Cure is than everyone else. He is all set to leap, when out of nowhere, he is rocked by a flying steel chair!
The camera pans to see who threw the chair: it’s Seth Dillinger! The crowd roars!
Taylor: Seth Dillinger has had enough!
Romano: He was eliminated, Tommy! Talk about a sore loser!
Taylor: He was eliminated by someone who wasn’t even in the damn match!
Seth hops on top of the apron, waiting for Kai to make it back to his feet. When he does, he leaps off the apron and flips, delivering a South Philly Stunner on the outside! The crowd cheers as he pops back up and grabs the chair, banging on it and firing up!
Taylor: Seth takes Kai out of the equation!
Romano: Someone needs to get him to the back!
The line of referees coming down to stop Dillinger are too late to prevent him from getting back in the ring with the chair. He starts by brutally driving the chair right into Drago’s ribcage. Draven immediately grabs him from behind though, and sinks his fangs into Dillinger’s neck! Seth doesn’t go down though, as instead he runs at the ropes, breaking free and flipping over Draven with a variation of Sliced Bread!
Taylor: He’ll take out the Cure all by himself if he has to!
Romano: They need to stop him! He’s been eliminated, fair and square!
Seth gets Draven back up and looks over at the ropes. Draven tries to fight back, but Seth pops him with a spinning heel kick, and then throws him over the ropes! Draven goes bouncing off the apron, and then hits the floor!
Jessie Love: Vincent Draven has been eliminated!
Taylor: One half of the Cure has been solved! Seth can’t win, but at least we’re closer to a fair match now!
Romano: It is an outrage that he’s been allowed to still be in the ring! As much as the Cure needs to be stopped, the rules are the rules, Tommy!
Taylor: Draven tonight proved he’s a powerful force in the XHF. He’s going to be watching that Undisputed Championship match very closely on Monday, and he’s shown he’s a threat to win, regardless of who he ends up fighting for it. He was in the ring for just about two and a half hours tonight!
Seth grabs the chair again and looks at Drago, knowing how satisfying it would be to crack the chair over Drago’s back. He lifts it over his head to smack Drago, but the referees have slided in the ring this point and get between the two men, separating them. The crowd, who has been cheering throughout Seth’s entire rampage, boos loudly as the referees tell him that he has to stop. This moment of realization seems to snap Seth out of his rage, as he finally lowers the chair.
Romano: About time! Get him out of here, refs!
Seth takes the chair with him as he leaves the ring, mostly satisfied with his retribution on the members of the Cure. Draven and Kai have headed back up the ramp and out of sight, and that’s where Seth begins to walk as well as the crowd cheers his efforts for the night.
Taylor: A valiant effort from Seth. This clearly isn’t over between him and the--
Drago has slid out of the ring and attacks Seth from behind! He quickly grabs Seth and plants him with the K-Zoo Krash on the outside!
Taylor: Damnit! That was uncalled for!
Romano: Drago gets his payback! These two men can’t stand each other! I hope we get these two together in the ring very soon.
Drago stands over Seth, taunting his opponent as he heads back towards the ring. The crowd is showering him in disapproval as he stands on the apron and looks at the other three competitors in the ring. He gets back to his feet and notices that his three competitors have each taken a corner, and he takes his own, but not before pointing at an AWF: Fired Up sign.
Taylor: Our Final Four is set, Cassius! Nathan Drago, Dixie Southern, Rocco Rose, and Ryan Young have outlasted sixteen other wrestlers, and now one of them has a shot at winning this Battle Royale and being able to choose their partner for Fired Up.
Romano: At this stage of the game, it’s one wrong move and you’re out! Four competitors left, and only one of them can win. Who’s it going to be?
Taylor: A month ago, three of these four wrestlers weren’t even on the roster! Will one of the newcomers score the best debut in XHF history, or will Drago cement his status as still being the next big thing?
Romano: Each of these four have the traits to go on to become AWF Prestige Champion. Drago has the tenacity, Dixie’s has the courage, Rocco has the brains, and Young has the skill!
The crowd cheers loudly as they know we’ve entered the final four. The eyes in the ring slowly all turn back to Drago, who is all alone in this match for the first time. He realizes that he has suddenly moved from being the hunter, seemingly in an instant, and is now the hunted. The blood on his face has long since dried, but his opponent still attack him like sharks, beating down on him as the crowd cheers.
Rocco Rose, still surprisingly fresh, takes the lead on Drago as Young and Dixie battle it out in the corner. He stomps right on Drago’s cut, not screwing around with the opportunity. He waits for Drago to get back up and tries to deliver a superkick, but Drago ducks under. He tries to grab a finger and twist, but his own dexterity has been compromised by Dillinger trying to break his own fingers. Rocco responds with a double-arm DDT, planting Drago into the mat.
Meanwhile, Young and Dixie continue to battle. He jumps up and tries for a Superman Forearm Smash, but she responds with a dropkick knocking him to the mat. He gets back up and still has a speed advantage on his tired competitor, so he lifts her up for a spinebuster, but Dixie fights out of the hold, locking his legs around Young and sending him over the ropes! One foot immediately hits the floor, but he’s managed to plant a foot back on the apron.
Taylor: Young’s almost out! Young’s almost out!
Romano: One foot is the difference between the rookie staying alive in this match or going home! Can he hang on?
Young barely manages to get hit foot back on the apron when Rocco comes over and tries to take the opportunity to knock him into the floor. Young manages to get a knee up and buy himself some space, succeeding in finding the moment to get back into the ring. He looks around at his competitors and decides to slow things down with a basic armbar.
Dixie, on the other hand, is speeding up, bouncing off the ropes and delivering a low kick to Drago upon the rebound. Drago is knocked down to one leg, and Dixie manages to jump back on his shoulders and deliver one more hurricanrana, sending Drago over the ropes with her. He drops to the floor!
Jessie Love: Drago has been eliminated!
Romano: Drago’s gone! Dixie got him!
Taylor: After two and a half hours, this match’s Iron Man hits the floor! An incredible showing for Drago, but he’s out!
Romano: He came in with a master plan, but I don’t think he was prepared for all of the talent we’ve seen in the ring tonight!
Dixie uses her hold on the ropes to skin the cat and flip back into a superkick! Rose superkicks her and sends her right back over the ropes and to the floor!
Jessie Love: Dixie Southern has been eliminated!
Taylor: Ever the opportunist, Rocco Rose takes advantage and sends Dixie to the floor!
Romano: A phenomenal showing for the Roughrider, getting all the way this far in her first match here the XHF, but alas, Saint Rocco just showed why he’s lasted so long, picking his spot and striking like a vulture to remove another wrestler from this match.
Rocco Rose jaws a bit at the crowd as they boo the only wrestler left that they liked being eliminated. He turns around and instinctively ducks, expecting to get kicked in the face, but Ryan Young just stares at him instead. Rocco points up at the Fired Up sign, knowing damn well what the stakes are as the two men get ready to do battle.
Taylor: Final two! Rocco Rose and Ryan Young are the last ones left in this incredible match!
Romano: One of these two men is going to come away with the biggest debut in the history of the AWF! Who’s it going to be?
Taylor: Not only that, but they’re going to earn the right to pick their partner, and become one of the biggest targets to beat in the tournament. Who will they pick?
Romano: We’ll find out on the next episode of Prestige, but the biggest target of them all is still the champion, Raiden Ishimori. Wherever he is, he has to be watching this with full attention, knowing both of these men are coming for his Prestige Championship!
Rocco and Young exchange strikes, and it becomes clear from the beginning of their fight that the two men were fresher than the rest of their competition. They both understand that the lights are shining brightest at this moment. Rocco gets the early advantage and quickly tries to send Young over the ropes, but Young bounces off them and tries to nail him with the California Dream. Rocco catches the foot and tosses it aside, instead going for Ryan’s eyes. He jabs a thumb into Ryan’s eye as hard as he possibly can as the crowd boos.
Taylor: A cheap shot from Rocco!
Romano: Rocco’s doing whatever he can to turn us all into converts tonight! We’re going to be kneeling at the church of Saint Rocco if he gets his way!
He grabs Young and throws him over the ropes. Young misses the apron and the top rope!
Taylor: Up and over! Rocco’s done it!
Romano: Hang on, there’s no announcement yet! The bell hasn’t rung!
Rocco celebrates in the ring as the camera cuts to a different angle. Young has not grabbed the top, but he has grabbed the middle rope. In an incredible show of strength and grit, he’s got the rope and has crunched his body in as much as possible. The referees stare at his footing on the outside of the ring, but it’s not happening, he still hasn’t hit the floor with both feet. He manages to pull himself back onto the apron and sit on it. Rocco spots this and bounces off the ropes, looking for a diving baseball slide!
Taylor: Young somehow stays alive, but Rocco’s coming in hard to eliminate him!
At the very last possible moment, Young grabs the top rope and manages to pull himself up! Rocco goes flying out of the ring, with both feet hitting the floor! and Ryan celebrates!
Romano: Ryan’s done it! Both of Rocco’s feet just hit the floor! He did it!
Taylor: They did, but Rocco leaped through the middle!
The crowd cheers for Saint Rocco hitting the floor and Ryan takes a few deep breaths, shocked that he’s pulled it altogether and won, but his big moment is ruined by the bell not ringing and the announcement not being made. Rocco gets back up and grabs Ryan’s foot, but Ryan kicks him away. Rocco slides back into the ring and decides to push on Ryan, but Ryan immediately grabs him by the back of his head, pulling him over!
Romano: Both men are on the apron now! One false move, and the other has won it!
Taylor: Back and forth, back and forth! Who’s going to win?
The two men fight back and forth, the crowd booing and cheering, not knowing how to root for. Ryan Young spots an opening and kicks Rocco low! The crowd boos loudly as Rocco drops to his knees!
Romano: Ryan Young goes low! Rocco’s doubling over in pain!
Taylor: That’s even cheaper than the eye gouge!
The crowd boos even louder as Ryan Young lifts Rocco up in a firearm’s carry for his version of the GTS, Moonlight!
Romano: Moonlight! This could be it!
He goes to propel Rocco for the move, but Rocco shoves himself away, landing on the apron and quickly death gripping the ropes!
Taylor: No!
Young charges, but Rocco lifts him up for his version of the move, the Kiss from a Rose!
Taylor: Kiss from a Rose! Kiss from a Rose!
Romano: Rocco lifts him up!
Rocco drops Young onto his knee, but can’t do it! Young slips out the back and charges, nailing Rocco with the California Dream! Rocco falls to the floor, knocked out by the impact! Both of his feet hit the floor! The bell rings!
Jessie Love: Here is your winner of the AWF Fired Up Battle Royale, RYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN YOUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!
The crowd boos fiercely. Ryan could not give half a damn what they think as he pulls himself up with the ropes, celebrating.
Taylor: Young did it! What a debut!
Romano: Saint Rocco came this close, but the Messiah of the Knee Strike showed us all why he earned that moniker! What a match!
Ryan Young steps back into the ring as he is showered by booing fans. The referee raises his arm, and Young takes his moment to soak it all in, a big sign that after watching everyone around him hit it big, it’s finally his time to shine.
Taylor: Ryan Young, in his debut match, backs up everything he said and gets the job done tonight! A relative unknown, plopped down into a major stage, and he outlasts 19 other competitors to win the Battle Royale!
Romano: What a showing! Rocco had snuck all the way to the end, showcasing his intelligence, but in the end, Young was that much better than him tonight!
Confetti cannons shoot a shower of confetti everywhere as fireworks explode over the night sky. Young climbs up to the top turnbuckle and stands there for a few moments, soaking it all in. The last thing we see his smiling face.
Taylor: Thanks for watching, everyone! Join us on the next edition of Prestige to find out who our Battle Royale winner, Ryan Young, picks at his partner!
Romano: I can’t wait to find out! Thank you, and goodnight!