The AWF Presents: Prestige 54 - LIVE from Phoenix, AZ!
Jun 28, 2020 21:05:59 GMT -5
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Mongo the Destroyer, Kira Izumi, and 5 more like this
Post by MYŌJIN on Jun 28, 2020 21:05:59 GMT -5
Ascension Wrestling Federation Presents:
Live at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
(Phoenix, Arizona)
(27th June 2020)
Attendance: 0
The cameras cut to ringside where Cassius Romano and Tommy Taylor are on hand to welcome us to Prestige Fifty-Four.
Romano: Evening, AWF Fans, we’re just one show away from Beach Blast!
Taylor: I can’t wait! What we saw coming out of the gate from Clash of the Icons was lit!
Romano casts a side-eye to his broadcast partner.
Romano: Really?
The graphic changes to the four competitors in the XHF Phoenix Number One Contenders Match.
Taylor: C’mon! We’ve got four guys facing off tonight to see who will take on the now, longest-serving XHF Phoenix Champion in HISTORY!
Romano: That is true, Merric though will need to get past Copycat first…
Taylor: Stranger things have happened. But then we’ve got a stacked card, as always for tonight!
Next up is the main-event that sees Draven team up with Dillinger to face off against Bloodied Fox and Dakota Jennings.
Romano: We’ve got two teams headlining tonight who, on paper, you can’t see how it’ll last!
Taylor: Dillinger seems willing to put the past behind him and offered to help Vincent Draven when we last saw them.
Romano: But then they’re facing Dakota Jennings and Bloodied Fox, two fighters going after the same prize in the United States title!
The shot changes to one of Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine.
Taylor: Given that the match before will see current US Champ, Tommy Strychnine go toe-to-toe with Steve Awesome - they’ll need to keep their focus on that match!
Romano: Awesome could make that conversation real awkward for everyone if he comes out of that match with his arm raised!
The screen now shows the teams of the Awesome Bastards and High Finance.
Taylor: Well, Awesome is pulling double-duty of sorts, he’ll be ringside when his partner, rat Bastard, faces-off against Cross Recoba, with fellow High Finance member, Chris Card as his second.
Romano: The Awesome Bastards have shown in a short space of time just how cohesive and clinical they can be!
Sniper and Alexander Shaw fade into view.
Taylor: Then we have the marine and the debuting Shaw square off in a match that might not be for the purists!
Romano: Look, Shaw’s mantra of hit ‘em, then hit ‘em again is tried and tested!
Taylor: You know that Johnny Sniper isn’t going to let that happen willingly!
Chris Chamber and Sylvester Calvin now fill the screen.
Taylor: Calvin made a point in the last If The Walls Could Talk column of stating his ambition and his drive to succeed here in Ascension Wrestling. He takes on Chris Chamber and, I’ll say it, he could be the favorite in this match!
Romano: Calvin hasn’t had the most consistent record but when he’s on, he can make his opponent pay for any small mistake they make!
Taylor: I’m getting word that we’re ready for our first match!
Jessie Love: The opening contest of Prestige is a Fatal Four Way match set for one fall!
Crowd: ONE FALL!
"Texas, Our Texas" begins playing and the crowd erupts in boos (minus any native Texans in attendance; They stand and remove their caps). Dallas Houston emerges from the back saddled up on his horse Trigger. Dallas and Trigger slowly make their way towards the ring as he keeps his nose turned up at the people as they pass by. Trigger makes a lap around the ring and stops at the base of the ramp. Dallas steps off of the saddle and a ringside attendant leads Trigger to the back. Dallas steps up to the top of the ring steps and onto the ring apron. Prior to entering the ring, Dallas wipes his feet on the apron and then steps through the ropes. He walks over to the center of the ring and removes his cowboy hat, placing it over his heart as he waits for the entirety of "Texas, Our Texas" to finish playing. Once finished, Dallas walks over to the corner and hangs his hat on the ring post. He removes the towel from around his neck and drops it onto the floor on the outside as he waits.
Jessie Love: Introducing first... wrestling out of Lubbock, Texas and weighing in tonight at two hundred and seventy-five pounds... DALLASSSSS HOUUUUUSTONNN!!!
Taylor: He impressed us at Call to Arms in a debut for the brand, but tonight he shows us what he can do in this match, looking to finally get that momentum back up and running.
Romano: He's no show stallion, he's all about getting paid and making Texas proud.
The lights go down, as the sound of marching comes across the PA system. The whistle blows just as a confetti cannon pops and the lights come back to normal to usher out Athena from behind the curtain. ‘One Woman Army’ continues as Athena makes her way down toward the ring, high fiving the odd fan as she goes.
Jessie Love: His opponents... Wrestling out of Seattle, Washington and weighing in at one hundred and sixty pounds... She is the "Icon of Innovation"; AAAAAATHEEEEEENAAAAA!!!
Taylor: The Icon of Innovation looking to switch things up here tonight and get her first win in AWF!
Romano: She'll be going through a very tough challenge with the competition she's facing.
As "Fearless" by Josh A begins to play throughout the building, all the house lights shine a bright purple hue as they circulate around the stage area. A figure emerges from the smoke with his hands raised up high, signalling the arrival of ARYX. With Tasha Pierce by his side, they both make their way slowly to the ringside area as ARYX walks around the ring, he climbs the steps and brushes his feet onto the apron, climbing up onto the turnbuckles and raising his arms up high, to soak in the crowd's reaction.
Jessie Love: Being accompanied to the ring by Tasha Pierce... wrestling out of Salem, Massachusetts and weighing in tonight at two hundred and twenty-seven pounds... He is "The Messiah of Ascension Wrestling Federation"; ARRRRRRYXXXXXXX!!!
Taylor: The man formerly known as ORION has been rebirthed to ARYX, a more dominant and devious side to Alexander Rickard.
Romano: He does look damn impressive with this new look, but another Messiah in AWF? There's too damn many going around.
NOTORIOUS, SO NOTORIOUS...
SO NOTORIOUS...
Jordan Cassidy walks down to the ring, slapping the odd hand and looking for fans to pose with holding signs for him (there won't be any, but he can always hope!)
Jessie Love: And FINALLY... wrestling out of Greenville, Ohio and weighing in tonight at one hundred and eighty pounds... He is "The Notorious" Jordan Cassidy!
Taylor: And here's Jordan Cassidy!
Romano: ...and that's all there is to say.
Athena vs ARYK vs Jordan Cassidy vs Dallas Houston
DING! DING!
The bell has rung and it's an instant charging Shotgun Dropkick coming from ARYX that sends Jordan Cassidy flying back into his corner whilst Dallas Houston catches Athena charging at him and delivers a Spinebuster down onto the mat, both men meet in the middle and ARYX holds his hand out in front of Houston's face, the hand of his singular black glove. Dallas has a confused look on his face as he looks ARYX up and down before grabbing him by the wrist and spitting on the hand!
Taylor: That’s sick! Disgusting behaviour from Dallas!
ARYX slowly brings the hand back to himself and looks down at the saliva that came from the throat of Dallas Houston, there's a slight little nod to his neck movement but a sudden slap across the face of Houston with the hand from ARYX takes him back! Dallas rebounds and almost comes back into a Superkick but he grabs the foot and pushes ARYX forward. ARYX rolls and gets to a knee as Houston comes charging in with the boot but he's blindsided by a Roundhouse Kick square on the chest by Athena, and then another before the last connects right on the head and leaves the Texan on one knee. A running Bicycle Knee connects on the side of his head from ARYX and off the top is Jordan Cassidy, going for the elbow drop but it's ARYX that stops him dead in his tracks with a Superkick in mid air!
Romano: From the heavens went Cassidy but ARYX was just waiting for him to come down, and like the silly boy he is, he got his jaw rocked.
Taylor: The kid had the heart to even go up top, make no mistake about it.
Athena pushes ARYX but he's not taking that shove too well as a Spinning Back Fist drops from Athena rocks him again but a Bicycle Knee from ARYX puts her back as she rebounds with a Tornado Kick but once the kick lands, ARYX turns to fall but catches Athena with the Spinning Hook Kick! Dallas is able to get to his feet, using the ropes for leverage, as does Jordan Cassidy on the opposite side of the ring from Dallas. Houston swings his arm forward for the Lariat but Cassidy ducks the arm and he comes bouncing off the ropes RIGHT INTO THE LONGHORN AND IT NEARLY CUTS JORDAN CASSIDY IN HALF! HE FOLDS LIKE AN ACCORDION!
Romano: Kid had the heart of a lion but he got put down like The Tiger King did with his tigers.
Taylor: The Longhorn went right through Cassidy as if he was a leaf in the wind.
Dallas goes for the cover on Cassidy
...One!
...Two!!
ARYX is there to stomp down onto the back of Dallas to break the pinfall up, and ARYX is laying in the stomps onto the back of Dallas who’s still laying on top of Jordan Cassidy. Athena comes running in, and it’s the Step Up Enzuigiri! Decaffeinated!! Pike’s Place is coming but ARYX is able to push himself back and get Athena in the backpack position, ARYX runs to the corner and turns just in time for Athena to go back first into the turnbuckles. She falls off of ARYX’s back and is left in the corner as he rebounds off the far ropes and comes back with a Bicycle Knee to the head! ARYX rebounds again, and another Bicycle Knee to the head! And now ARYX runs to the opposite corner, and charges at full speed to Athena with the Yakuza Kick in the corner! Athena stumbles out of the corner as ARYX bounces off the ropes with the Fade Away! Sling Blade connects!
Taylor: Athena has now faded away to ARYX’s clutches! The cover and the count!
...One!
...Two!!
Dallas deadlifts ARYX up and German Suplexes him across the ring! Dallas then picks up Athena for The Texas Ranger but Cassidy is back in with the Axe Handle to the back of Dallas, who turns to MIDNIGHT ZERO!!
Taylor: ARYX WITH THE HOOK KICK OUT OF NOWHERE!!
Cassidy is all that’s left standing with Athena in her clutches, he sets her up for the CassiDDT!!!
Romano: Cover her! Cover her!!
The quick cover on Athena!
...One!
...Two!!
...Thre-
ARYX slides Cassidy off and drags him to his feet, and begins to stomp away at Jordan Cassidy. ARYX picks up Athena and brings her to the middle of the ring… MERCURY RISING!!! The count is made!
Romano: ARYX just made the sneaky play, big brain moves from him tonight...
...One!
Romano: ...as he looks to cleanse...
...Two!!
Romano: ...the entire...
...Three!!
Romano: ...AWF roster just like that.
DING DING DING
Jessie Love: Here is your winner -- ARYX!!
ARYX raises to his feet and stretches his arms out as Tasha Pierce enters the ring to join his side. They roll out of the ring and head up the ramp, as the feed cuts to commercial.
Xiaolong is in a dark room surrounded by flames his head down and his fingers steepled the sounds of a dragon growling as he slowly and dramatically raises his head. There is an intensity in his breathing as he is focused on his four way match to determine the top contender.
Xiaolong: "In a matter of moments I, Xiaolong, shall be vying for the top contender's spot for the XHF Phoenix Championship. A championship that I took pride in holding not once but twice. A championship that has an excellent tradition of wrestlers defending the championship whether they are faces or heels, heroes or villains, good guys or rule breakers or if you are a luchador techno or rudo. The Phoenix Championship has been an honor to hold no matter who had the championship. The exception is the current champion Aiden Merric."
A growling laugh is heard coming from Xiaolong.
Xiaolong: "One step away Aiden and you'll be mine along with the championship that you never truly defeated me for. However, tonight I have three other opponents I have to face in this four way match. The first opponent is Keith Williams who calls himself 'The Paragon of Sleaze.' You know Keith if I didn't know better you fit the nickname quite perfectly the way you twirl your mustache. In fact, you should have also worn a black tuxedo, black top hat and black loafers and cackle like Snidely Sneegly. I know you and your Reverent tag team partner are going to probably draw straws and see who gets to win the four way match to face Aiden Merric. Then again you'll probably treat this match like a joke and screw each other as long as one of you gets that top contender spot and then make nice to each other since you two dogs and Rob Garcia are best of pals."
Xiaolong laughs as the flames rise and ebb.
Xiaolong: "Then there's your partner, the egomaniac, named Neo James Carner who seems to care more about his image and all that money and endorsements which sounds quite familiar if you think about it. Now where have I heard this story before or even saw it before...."
He breathes thoughtful as he assumes a Thinker's pose.
Xiaolong: "I remember now. In the old NWC where my parents Dragon Belt and Dragonatrix wrestled before being ceremoniously fired for some unknown reason. The end result was so much fun as my mother and father laid waste to all the wrestler's vehicles and NWC broadcast equipment including the broadcast trucks. The justice of it all..."
Xiaolong continues to think.
Xiaolong: "And then there was the XPW and the biggest screw job that happened. Yeah they helped Trendkiller after joining them along with my ally Psychotic Goth as well as Team Fairtex and look where it got them. They saved his ass and look what happens he screwed them and got them unceremoniously fired because he was acting like a spoiled brat. He also enjoyed attending board meetings and raking in millions in merchandise profits but when it came to wrestling he was a complete loser. Where is he now you ask. Who fucking cares since he's insignificant and too scared and arrogant to apologize to them. He reminds me of you Neo and I'm going to not lose focus on this match while taking all my rage out on you as if you were Trendkiller. It's going to be a very controlled anger and one where I shall make sure you don't make it to the top contender's spot. You see money and endorsements don't matter to me. What matters is actually caring about the ringsiders and my fans who come to see real wrestling and not the joke you call wrestling."
He sighs deeply as smoke comes from his nostrils.
Xiaolong: "Then there's Adam Sandler. Did you receive my texts and my phone calls apologizing for the misunderstanding. Did you also receive the phone calls and texts from The Dark Stars and Commandrix as well. It was a misunderstanding since they thought I was wrestling Keanu Reeves and the comedian of the same name. They misunderstood and thus I apologize for them and their mistake. It's the least I can do Adam. I do respect your abilities. Oh and for your information I wrestled in small promotions all over the world and in this country so there should be plenty of information on me and yes I do know about you Adam."
A light flashes and Commandrix and The Dark Stars appear and they point their wristbands at the fire and put it out.
Commandrix: "Are you okay Xiaolong."
Xiaolong sounds angry.
Xiaolong: "What did you just do Commandrix."
Commandrix: "We saved your life."
Xiaolong: "I was shooting a promo and the fire was part of it."
Commandrix: "We didn't realize it."
Xiaolong: "Don't let it happen again."
Commandrix: "It shall never happen again."
Xiaolong: "Did you apologize to Adam Sandler."
Commandrix: "We attempted to locate him and apologize but he wasn't there. We tried to call and text him again but we could not get an answer. We would have located him by our methods but it would have frightened him."
Xiaolong: "Well we can't change history now or we'll make it even worse."
Commandrix: "Agreed since two timelines will appear in total conflict with each other and it would make things worse."
Xiaolong: "Yes it would."
Commandrix: "Are you ready to go out and contend for your shot at the Phoenix Championship."
Xiaolong: "I'm psyched up."
Commandrix: "Psyched up. A term that means you are psychologically ready and prepared to compete with confidence and won't let anything stop you."
Xiaolong: "That's how I'm feeling right now."
Niko: "Don't worry we have your back."
Xiaolong: "Just don't interfere in the match since I want to win this on my own and earn my top contender's spot."
Kono: "Don't worry Xiaolong we keep our word of honor."
Niko: "Which is what we live by since we're gladiators."
Xiaolong: "From another world."
Niko: "Same thing different world."
Kono: "We still have the right to intervene if necessary."
Xiaolong: "Just make sure it doesn't cost me the match and make Adam Sandler upset since I have plenty of respect for him since he respects me. I wish to return the respect with the same respect and honor he has shown me."
Niko: "Don't worry The Dark Stars always refrain from intervening unless it's necessary."
Commandrix: "What we mean is we stood by the owner Cosmo Kid and remained loyal even when PSW was subjected to a hostile takeover by CEO Ryan Cullen. Our loyalty is as eternal to the end and we shall do the same for you too. There shall be no wavering from our word or vow to you."
Xiaolong: "I trust in your word. Right now I have my match and take one more step to fulfilling my destiny."
Commandrix: "We wish you well and the blessing of our leader Shaakar."
Xiaolong looks at her still dumbfounded by what she said but shrugs it off and they leave the room as the scene slowly fades to black.
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! Featuring first the challenger...Sylvester “the Prophesiser” Calvin!
“Shine” by Michael Sweet begins playing as the roar of a motorcycle is heard. Sylvester Calvin comes riding out onto the entrance stage in his custom built Harley Davidson. He rides it down to ringside, putting the kickstand down and parking it before stepping into the ring.
Taylor: Hasn’t this bike been down to ringside before?
Romano: Yeah. Why?
Taylor: Didn’t it get ruined?
Romano: One time the bike was broken. Doesn’t mean that it’ll happen this time.
Taylor: Alright.
Jessie Love: And his opponent...Chris Chamber!
“Kick in the Teeth” by Luka Skate begins playing as Chris Chamber walks out from the back, followed closely by his coach. The coach walks alongside Chamber, showing him something on a clipboard as they walk toward the ring. The coach stands outside of the ring opposite of where Sylvester’s bike is while Chris Chamber rolls into the ring to get ready for his match.
Taylor: I wonder what Chamber’s coach was showing him on the clipboard?
Romano: Probably dirty pictures.
Taylor: You think so?
Romano: No. It’s probably strategies for this match. Duh.
Taylor: No need to be rude.
Romano: No need to be a doofus.
Sylvester Calvin vs Chris Chamber
As the bell sounds to start the match, Sylvester Calvin bows his head in prayer. Chris Chamber looks at him curiously, staying back while looking on in some confusion.
Taylor: Shouldn’t Calvin had said his prayers before the match started?
Romano: You would have thought that he would have had his affairs in order by now.
Taylor: Affairs in order? He’s not dying!
Romano: We’re all dying slow deaths.
Eventually, Chris Chamber crosses the ring and sends a punch Sylvester’s way, but the praying man catches the fist without even looking up. Sylvester pulls Chris into an arm trapping bear hug before he starts headbutting Chris over and over again.
Sylvester releases Chris, watching him stagger backwards groggily. Sylvester clotheslines him to the mat and begins stomping the downed Chris Chamber before pulling him to his feet and whipping him into the ropes. On the rebound, Sylvester runs at Chris and jumps into the air to bring him down with a leaping clothesline!
Sylvester hits a quick knee drop, kneels by Chris, and pulls his arm way back before striking Chris in the chest with a heart punch that he drives straight down. He goes for the cover!
One
Two
Thre- Chris Chamber gets a shoulder up!
Taylor: Chamber has a little bit left in the gas tank!
Romano: Weird that he's worn down already. Though he hasn’t gotten a lick of offense in yet.
Sylvester stands up and hits a somersault senton. He jumps to his feet again and hits a garvin stomp, finishing the series of stomps with a mighty stomp to the face that brings some activity out of Chris when the stomp breaks his nose to send a splatter of blood across the mat.
Chris Chamber rolls away to his feet, dripping blood everywhere across the mat. He snarls as he rushes at Sylvester to attack him with both fists a flailing, but Sylvester drops down, bringing the enraged Chris down with a leg sweep. Chris falls down to the mat, hitting face first with a splatter of blood.
Taylor: Chris Chamber turning the mat red here.
Romano: He’s not much of a wrestler, but he’s a heck of a monocolor artist.
Taylor: He’s not that good of an artist either.
Romano: I was trying to be nice, but true.
Sylvester rolls the bloody Chris over and apples the mandible claw. It doesn’t take Chris long to tap out to the excruciating pain of the move. Sylvester Calvin stands up, his hand raised into the air by the referee.
Jessie Love: Winner of the match via submission...Sylvester Calvin!
Taylor: This was certainly a one sided affair.
Romano: I wonder if Chris Chamber even knew how to wrestle. I mean, was he trained?
Taylor: He got himself a contract with AWF. Doesn’t that mean he’s trained?
Romano: He could have lied on his application.
Taylor: guess he could have done that. If so, he won’t be here for long.
Romano: That’s what I’m thinking.
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! Featuring first the challenger...Alexander Shaw!
Repetitive distorted bass and punched drums funeral march forward as the opening guitar stabs of "Lean on the Ghost" by Young Widow blast over the PA.
As the lights fade up from black to icy blue, Alexander Shaw steps from behind the curtain. adjusting the leather glove on his right hand, he checks his hair making sure it is well out of his way before marching to the ring, ignoring the fans.
Those who reach out to slap his biceps, and those throwing out insults.
Circling the Ring once, he slides in as the song hits its first refrain of noisy guitar minimalism, waiting for the match to begin.
Taylor: Alexander looks ready for this match.
Romano: He better be ready, he will have to be facing Johnny Sniper.
Jessie Love: And his opponent...Johnny Sniper!
Sniper appears on stage holding an American flag before placing it in a holder on the stage he salutes it then turns around and salutes the audience after running down the ramp and sliding in under the bottom rope he takes a knee and performs a handgun gesture at Alexander Shaw.
Johnny Sniper vs Alexander Shaw
Alexander responds by running across the ring and kicking Johnny Sniper down to the mat. He continues to kick and then stomp the downed Sniper, who rolls out of the ring as the bell sounds to start the match.
Taylor: That was a rude opening to the match.
Romano: Sniper started it by pointing a gun at Shaw.
Taylor: A finger gun. Totally and obviously fake.
Romano: Not if he was a Z Fighter.
Taylor: What?
Romano: From Dragonball Z!
Taylor: That’s a cartoon!
Johnny Sniper reaches into the ring for Alexander Shaw’s feet, who jumps back to the middle of the ring to stay out of reach. Sniper rolls into the ring and to his feet as Alexander Shaw rushes at him and the two exchange punches. Alexander shifts gears, grabbing Johnny by the arm, and whipping him into the ropes. He goes for the lariat on the rebound, but Johnny ducks under the outstretched arm, and bounces off of the ropes on the other side. On the next rebound, Johnny hits a drop kick that sends Alexander staggering back to the ropes. Johnny is up again, hitting a second drop kick that nearly sends Alexander over the ropes.
Taylor: Johnny on the offensive!
Romano: Alexander nearly went for a ride there.
Johnny is back on his feet again, taking a swing at Alexander, who backs against the ropes to get away from the punch. He quickly rebounds into a lariat, taking Johnny down to the mat.
Alexander kicks Johnny a few times, but Johnny rolls away and to his feet. Alexander is on him, hitting a few European uppercuts, and taking Johnny down with a belly to belly suplex. He palms the side of Johnny’s head and pummels him with the other fist. At least until the ref yells at him to stop and begins a five count.
Alexander stands up, taking Johnny with him. He nails a few punches before whipping Johnny into the ropes. On the rebound, he hits a massive lariat that sends Johnny for a flip.
Taylor: He just turned Johnny Sniper inside out!
Romano: That was a heck of a clothesline.
Alexander backs up a bit as Johnny gets up before going back in to smash Johnny with a few lefts and rights. Johnny fires back and the brawling is on. They go back and forth for a few minutes before the ref gets in between them and makes them go to their separate corners.
Taylor: Why did the ref get involved there?
Romano: Because this is a wrestling match and not a boxing match?
Taylor: I suppose.
Romano: You remember that you’re a wrestling commentator and not a boxing one?
Taylor: Right.
Alexander runs across the ring, nearly taking down the referee in his haste, and clotheslines Johnny to the mat. Johnny tries to sit up, but gets kicked in the chest hard enough to lay him back to the mat. Alexander does a quick knee drop and goes for the pinfall.
One
Tw-Johnny kicks out!
Alexander pulls Johnny up, going for a suplex, but gets taken down in a jawbreaker instead! Johnny hits a cradle piledriver and goes for the cover.
One
Two
T-Alexander kicks out!
Johnny pulls Alexander up, steps back, and goes for the superkick! Alexander steps back and catches the foot. He drops the foot, grabs an arm, and pulls Johnny in for a short arm lariat to the throat that sends Johnny back down to the mat.
Taylor: Alexander with the Throatruiner!
Romano: True, but can he do a bit more than punch, kick, and lariat?
Taylor: Does he have to?
Romano: I suppose not.
Alexander goes for the pinfall!
One
Two
Three!
Jessie Love: Winner of the match via pinfall...Alexander Shaw!
Taylor: It was a hard fought match, but Alexander Shaw came out the winner.
Romano: Still. He’s not much more than a brawler. Is he?
Taylor: Sometimes being a basic brawler still gets it.
Romano: It did this time, but it might not next time.
Taylor: True that.
Static.
The camera shot begins from a shot pointing upwards as we see the newest signings to the XHF and the AWF in The Age of The Fall, the team and couple of Remy Ordox and Maria Banks are seen as Remy rubs his hands together whilst Maria places her hand on his shoulder.
REMY: Today, we have been blessed. Today, we have been honored to be standing here inside of an AWF show, watching everyone work their asses off to impress… to improve… to adapt… to be the best. Many have asked what is the end goal for The Age of The Fall, and well, there is no end goal in sight. There is no hope for the many that would try to stand up to us, we’re just going to knock you down.
MARIA: For the hopefuls, there are some that I just know are willing to join the cause. The Age of The Fall are willing to accept you with open arms if you just let us in, it’s simple. All you have to do is be with us and not against us, we’ve pledged this for years that we would change the wrestling landscape on a dime, and now with us being in the biggest federation within the XHF Network, we can fully show it to you.
REMY: The Age of The Fall isn’t just a brand name, it isn’t just a name to live by… It’s a way of life, it’s how we strive in the wrestling business, in and out of the ring. The Age of The Fall isn’t about the politics, we’re quite far from the opposite. We’re known best for being the disruptive, the deviant, and the downright disgusting. We come on our terms, not anyone else’s terms. For us, this is how we roll, and if you don’t like it… then I suggest you move the fuck out of our way, or we’ll put you on the hit list.
MARIA: Believe what Remy is speaking, this is a way for us to connect with others… or a way to find out who truly needs to be eradicated from this god forsaken place. We’re not here to become the best, again, we’re quite far from that. We know we’re the best, it’s up to the rest of them to decide if we’re the best right now. Of course, we don’t need to tell them that, all I ask of you to do is to look behind you.
The camera turns a full 180 degrees, showing the prone body of Travis Monroe, the AWF Around The Clock Champion. Remy and Maria take a few steps forward, passing by Monroe as they step over him and then turning back to the camera.
REMY: Take this man for example, Travis Monroe. For a very long time, he had to fight by other people’s sides. The Saga is what they called themselves. For a very long time, they couldn’t lace themselves up to other people’s boots. For a very long time, he needed to see things in a different light, a different aspect, a different vantage point. If we had came here sooner, we would have given him the opportunity to give him life in The Age of The Fall, but he didn’t seem up to it when we approached him.
MARIA: So we did what we did, and the results… well, you can see them for yourself now, can’t you?
She laughs.
MARIA: The Age of The Fall isn’t something to be taken lightly, more so, to be taken seriously or you’ll end up like poor Travis Monroe here. A shame really, because I would have expected him to be with his brother in arms, The Saga… or they must have finally parted ways, and they left their boy to be exiled. Poor Travis has gone M.I.A; missing in action, and where’s the rest of them to save him? A shame, Travis, it seems as if they’ve all forgotten about you.
REMY: Of course, The Age of The Fall wouldn’t forget you, but you left us with no choice but to take action and consequence when you declined our offer. Now that you didn’t release, we’ve come to take a piece.
Maria places a foot down on the prone Travis Monroe as a darkened figure drags a referee into the shot and throws him down onto the floor, he counts for the one… two… and three. A new champion has been crowned as Maria Banks picks up her newly won Around The Clock Championship. She places it right onto her shoulder as she continues to look down onto Travis Monroe. Remy looks right into the camera lens and places a finger on the golden center plate of the Around The Clock Championship that rests on Maria’s shoulder.
REMY: This is exactly what we’ve set ourselves out to do, this right here is just the beginning for The Age of The Fall! It starts with the gold, a set piece to be more precise. It ends with the gold, the end game to be more distinctively honest with everyone watching. Whether that is Tag Team gold or that is the Prestige Championship, the United States Championship or even the Phoenix Championship… It doesn’t matter, they’ll all be in our possession very soon.
MARIA: For we are The Age of The Fall, for we are one, and the end is near.
The feed quickly cuts to static for a few seconds and then to black before we hear the final words of…
MARIA: Fall and Pray.
...the feed then takes us back to ringside, ready for the next match to continue.
The arena is plunged into darkness as "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin echoes out of the speakers, triggering the attention of those in attendance to the stage where dark blue lights have started to flash in rhythm to the music.
Taylor: One of the members of the ReVenants, Keith Williams has shown a lot of promise in this tournament- but tonight, in this four-way match, he’s going to have to face another member of the same team- Neo James Carner. How do you think that’s going to work out, Cassius?
Romano: Both of them definitely are hungry to become the number one contender to Merric’s Phoenix Championship- They might build an alliance, but I doubt it’ll last long tonight. Do I think it will affect their cohesiveness as a team afterward? No, they’re good friends.
Taylor: One could only imagine what it would be like if Garcia made it to the finals as well.
As the tempo of the song picks up, it can barely be seen that someone has made their way out in the pitch black, planting themselves in the middle of the stage. The lights return and we're shown the back of Keith Williams as he's pointing at what's on his clothing. He's noticeably wearing a black denim vest with patches of bands on the front, the words "Paragon of Sleaze" printed on the back in a death metal/black metal stylized font, and directly below this is a giant mustache graphic.
Williams spins around, stroking his mustache and gleefully taking a look out at the crowd. He slowly saunters his way down the rampway to ringside, taking his time to taunt fans on either side of him. As he reaches the ring, Keith goes to enter by rolling under the bottom rope, but hesitates for a moment to thrust against it to the beat of the song, eventually getting to his feet and treating everyone with another round of mustache strokes for good measure. He mounts the turnbuckle nearest to him, hopping up to the middle rope and posing with his arms spread wide. As the music dies down, KW abandons his post and tosses his vest to a company stooge on the outside, taking to practicing his elbows in the corner before turning to the entrance ramp.
The drum fill followed by the opening guitar riff for the title track off the fourth studio album by Canadian punk band Sum 41 begins to blare on the Ascension PA system. The fans begin to cheer as the lights go dark and a single spotlight appears on the ramp.
One, two, three, four-
The rest of the band joins the guitar as Adam Sanders emerges behind the curtain. The fans give the Awkward One loud cheers as the spotlight follows his trek towards the ring. He begins walking down the ramp but the curtains reopen again, with a figure staring down Sanders from behind.
Taylor: Wait… Who is..-?
Romano: Hold on a second! IT’S NEO JAMES CARNER!
Carner sprints down the ring as a smirk on Williams’ face slowly grows. Sanders wonders what’s funny- CARNER NAILS SANDERS IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD WITH A BRUTAL BICYCLE KNEE! THE AWKWARD ONE CRUMPLES TO THE FLOOR AS THE REF STARTS YELLING AT CARNER!
Taylor: NO! NEO-CLASSICAL KNEE STRIKE! THAT WAS A SNEAK ATTACK, THEY HAVEN’T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE RING YET!
Romano: From the look on Williams’ face he was in on it! Pretty clever of the ReVenants!
Taylor: Clever?! It’s cowardly!
Romano: They’re only seizing an opportunity, it’s strategic.
Carner picks up the limp Sanders and throws him into the ring! Williams wastes no time, using the ropes’ assistance to stomp a mudhole into Sanders’ chest while ignoring the referee’s outraged scorn! The ref tries to pull the Paragon of Sleaze off of Sanders, but he simply pushes the referee back!
Taylor: The match shouldn’t even start
Romano: It’s a four way- no disqualifications, what is the referee gonna disqualify for? Not playing fair? Speaking of it being a four-way, where is...
As Carner rolls into the ring as well, both ReVenants pick the practically unconscious Sanders up.- BUT DOWN THE RAMP XIAOLONG IS RUNNING IN! BOTH MEN DROP SANDERS AND TURN TO GET XIAOLONG AS HE LEAPS INTO THE RING WITH A DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE, XIAOLONG DODGES- REBOUNDS OFF THE ROPES AND HITS THEM BOTH WITH A RUNNING DROPKICK! Williams falls out of the ring and Carner drops to the mat! Xiaolong briefly looks down at Sanders and tells the ref to ask him if he can still compete. Sanders, trying to shake off the cobwebs, says yes! The bell rings and the match officially begins!
XHF Phoenix Championship Number One Contender Final
Fatal Four-Way
Keith Williams vs Adam Sanders vs Neo James Carner vs Xiaolong
Xiaolong quickly walks over to Carner as the Menace of Opulence begins to stand- ROLLING SAVATE KICK TO CARNER AND HE GOES BACK DOWN!
Taylor: What a kick to the chest of Carner!
Romano: What is Xiaolong doing?! He should be focusing on Sanders and finish him off for the easy win. He’s the most hurt out of all of them.
Taylor: He’s giving Sanders time to recover- He wants a fair fight.
Romano: He’s an idiot for it.
Carner rolls out of the ring to catch his breath. Xiaolong follows him outside, he goes to lift Carner up and drops him with a SNAP SUPLEX on the floor! Xiaolong gets back and looks at the downed Heaven Sent Essence before Williams grabs him and turns the Super Dragon around! DISCUS ELBOW INTO THE CHIN OF XIAOLONG!
Taylor: QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE! XIAOLONG IS OUT LIKE A LIGHT!
Romano: HE MAY BE OUT FOR THE REST OF THE MATCH!
Williams climbs back into the ring to see Sanders climbing in the corner, still dazed! The Paragon of Sleaze winds up a STIFF Knife-Edge Chop to Sanders’ chest! Sanders falls out of the corner, holding where a red handprint is on his skin. Williams then delivers a harsh stomp to the Awkward One’s back and he goes down completely! Carner climbs back into the ring and looks down at Sanders, then over to Williams. Both smile at each other as Williams lifts Sanders UP… and DROPS HIM FACE FIRST WITH A GOURDBUSTER. Sanders sits up on his knees, stunned as Carner rebounds off the ropes- SLIDING LARIAT TO SANDERs! The ReVenants take in their work as Xiaolong begins to move on the outside.
Taylor: They’re ganging up on Sanders!
Romano: Just doing the logical thing, working on the most hurt one in the match.
Carner rebounds off the ropes again- does a little dance, then drops the knee onto Sanders’ face! Sanders writhes in pain!
Taylor: NEO SYMPHO-KNEE!
Romano: The Awkward One, god I can’t believe I just said that, is hurt bad.
Carner begins lifting Sanders up again for a flapjack! Williams about to spike Sanders with the DDT- but SANDERS ELBOWS CARNER ON THE TOP OF THE HEAD AND WIGGLES OUT! WILLIAMS RUNS AT SANDERS BUT GETS CAUGHT DEVASTATING SPINEBUSTER ONTO THE MAT! HE THEN TURNS BACK TO CARNER WITH A GLARE!
Taylor: Sanders is LIVID!
Romano: Carner better get the hell outta there for his own sake.
Carner, realizing how screwed he is, begins backing up and trying to plead with Sanders. He then SNEAKS FOR A PUNCH, BUT SANDERS CATCHES IT- AND SMILES. HE THEN PUMMELS CARNER WITH A FOREARM THAT ECHOES THROUGHOUT THE RING. CARNER GOES LIMP!
Taylor: JESUS!
Romano: I think I saw a tooth fly out of his mouth!
Sanders holds onto him and puts him into a front facelock with a double underhook! DDT TO CARNER AND IT SENDS HIM FLIPPING OVER ONTO HIS BACK!
Taylor: MOTOR CITY CIRCUIT!
Romano: RIGHT ON TOP OF THE SKULL! HE NEEDS TO GO IN FOR THE PIN!
The Awkward One quickly goes to hook the leg. The ref drops to count.
ONE!
TWO-
WILLIAMS BREAKS THE COUNT AND TACKLES SANDERS OFF OF CARNER! He delivers a strong European Uppercut to Sanders, sending him leaning against the ropes! He then sits him up on the top ropes and climbs up- DIVING LARIAT TO SANDERS, SENDING HIM BACK INTO THE RING WITH A THUD!
Taylor: OFF WITH HIS HEAD! OFF WITH HIS HEAAAD!
Romano: THE AMOUNT OF PUNISHMENT SANDERS HAS TAKEN IN THIS MATCH IS TOO MUCH- HE MIGHT NOT MAKE IT!
Carner begins to recover and both men begin walking over to Sanders. Both begin to stomp a mudhole into him but wait.. XIAOLONG COMES BACK IN WITH A KENDO STICK TO THE BACK OF WILLIAMS- HE GOES DOWN INSTANTLY! CARNER TURNS AROUND TO GET WHACKED IN THE FOREHEAD!
Taylor: XIAOLONG WITH A KENDO STICK?!
Romano: It’s not illegal in a match without rules!
Xiaolong looks down at Sanders, who begins starting to move. He raises the kendo stick, though seems.. Conflicted. Once Sanders looks up at him, Xiaolong falters… and THROWS THE STICK OUT OF THE RING!
Taylor: A great sign of sportsmanship!
Romano: He should’ve taken the shot!
Xiaolong waits for Sanders to get up and hits him with a forearm! Sanders stumbles back and responds with one of his own! Xiaolong stumbles back as well, but trades another! They begin going back and forth! Sanders! Xiaolong! Sanders! Xiaolong! They both keel over, but Xiaolong grabs Sanders by the wrist and catches him with A RIPCORD LARIAT!
Taylor: THAT’S ONE! HE’S GOING FOR THE DESALATOR!
Xiaolong goes for ANOTHER AND GETS IT, KNOCKING SANDERS BACK DOWN! He then lifts Sanders by the wrist one more time and goes for THE SUPERKICK- SANDERS DODGES OUT OF THE WAY! Xiaolong realizes he’s missed and turns the kick around into a roundhouse, hitting Sanders and sending him stumbling back, holding his jaw- BUT THEN CHARGES AT XIAOLONG! The Dynamo Dragon counters with a Japanese arm drag! Sanders gets back up and gets caught with ANOTHER arm drag! Xiaolong goes to leap at the Awkward One but gets CAUGHT INTO A ELEVATED POWERBOMB!
Taylor: NEEEEERD OUTTTTTTTT!
Romano: DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO LOUD, TAYLOR?!
Taylor: SORRY!
Carner manages to get back up and charges at Sanders, NEO-CLASSICAL KNEE AGAIN!
Taylor: HE GOT HIM WITH THE KNEE STRIKE!
Romano: QUICK! PIN HIM!
CARNER QUICKLY GOES FOR THE PIN!
ONE!
TWO!
THR-!
WILLIAMS BREAKS UP THE COUNT! Carner can’t believe it! He stands up and looks at the other ReVenant! Sanders falls out of the ring under the bottom rope, unresponsive.
Taylor: Uh oh..
Romano: Well, we knew this was going to happen eventually.
Both men begin to argue! Carner points at Sanders, telling him that they should work together! Williams raises his hands in surrender, grimacing slightly as they both turn back over to Xiaolong and Sanders.
Romano: Maybe they’re more cohesive than I tho-
WILLIAMS GOES FOR A ROLLUP ON CARNER SUDDENLY!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE- NO, KICKOUT AT THE LAST MILLISECOND! CARNER GETS UP AND GLARES A HOLE INTO WILLIAMS! WILLIAMS, WITH A NERVOUS SMILE BACKS AWAY! He points back over to the other two unconscious men in the ring! Carner seemingly gets over it.
Taylor: He almost betrayed him and he’s going to forgive him!
Romano: Never took NJC as the forgiving type.
As they both walk over to Xiaolong, SUDDENLY CARNER TURNS AND LIFTS UP WILLIAMS INTO A FIREMAN’S CARRY- GOING FOR HIS TRADEMARK REVERSE THROW DVD!
Taylor: WHAT?!
Romano: YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO!
BUT WAIT- WILLIAMS MANAGES TO WIGGLE OUT OF IT AND GET BACK TO HIS FEET! BOTH REVENANTS STARE AT EACH OTHER WITH SHOCK- then suddenly start throwing fists at each other!
Taylor: Looks like their temporary alliance in this match is over!
Romano: Thanks for the obvious!
WILLIAMS LIFTS CARNER UP FOR THE EMERALD FLOWSION, BUT CARNER SLIPS OUT- WILLIAM MANAGES TO TURN AROUND AND SEND CARNER BACKWARD WITH A BICYCLE KICK!
Taylor: PUMP KICK!
Romano: Wait, look at Xiaolong!
Xiaolong stealthily climbs up to the top rope behind Williams- about to go for the DSD! BUT SANDERS SHOWS BACK UP ON THE APRON WITH A FOREARM TO THE SIDE OF XIAOLONG’S CHIN! He climbs back into the ring and up to the top tiredly, seemingly going for superplex! Williams eventually notices and goes over, reaching under Sanders to go for a powerbomb!
Taylor: Oh no..
TOWER OF DOOM SUPERPLEX! XIAOLONG FLIES INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE RING AND SANDERS GETS POWERBOMBED! WILLIAMS CRUMPLES IN THE CORNER TIREDLY!
Taylor: That took out both Sanders and Xiaolong!
Romano: But it also took the wind out of Williams’ chest!
Williams tiredly rolls over onto the apron, trying to catch his breath. Carner reemerges, holding his head and looking over toward Xiaolong- then Sanders- and Williams who’s not paying any attention! He realizes the opportunity at hand!
Carner quickly goes to lift Xiaolong up into a Fireman’s Carry- AND DROPS HIM BACK DOWN WITH A SPINEBUSTER!
Taylor: SPATIAL REND!
Romano: THAT HAS TO BE IT!
CARNER GOES FOR THE COVER!
ONE!
Sanders isn’t stirring. Williams realizes what’s happening.
TWO!
WILLIAMS TRIES TO CLIMB BACK IN AND BREAK THE COUNT, BUT GETS CAUGHT UP IN THE ROPES AND SLIPS OFF THE APRON!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
Jessie Love: AND THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS….. NEO! JAMES! CAAARRNEEERRRRRRR!
Taylor: What a match!
Romano: Now THAT’S how you seize an opportunity,. Taylor! NJC saw his chance and took it!
Taylor: Look at the entrance, it’s Aiden Merric!
As the referee helps Carner up to raise his hand. Carner looks over to see Aiden Merric with the Phoenix Championship around his shoulder at the entrance! Merric simply crosses his arms, staring down Carner from the ramp as Carner climbs up to the top turnbuckle. Staring back at Merric, he does a belt gesture around his waist.. And then points at Merric’s title.
Taylor: He’s making it clear what he wants- the Phoenix Championship!
Romano: And after the performance tonight, I won’t be surprised one bit if he becomes the next Phoenix Champion at Beach Blast!
*"Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" hits the arena as an imitation sandstorm is created in the entranceway and Aiden Merric emerges from it chewing nicotine gum and wearing his XHF Phoenix Championship on his waist. He spits the gum and puts a patch on his arm before stretching and walking to the ring with a purpose. He rolls into the ring and calls for a microphone.*
Aiden Merric: Right, I’ve been sitting on the sidelines while the company puts a bunch of new talent through the ringer to find out who should get their face caved in by yours truly. But I didn’t come here to sit on my arse and rest on my laurels. This belt here is my trophy but it deserves to be fought over to raise its prestige.
Romano: Seems the Phoneix Champion is a little antsy Tommy.
Taylor: But what do you think he wants out here Cassius?
Aiden Merric: And it’s been a while since I fought Rob Garcia and caved his head in. Bloke didn’t even make it to the second round. Like I said would happen …
Taylor: Well it was a hard fought battle between Garcia and new recruit Adam Sanders.
Aiden Merric: But the way I see it there is plenty of meat in the locker room who wants air time on this show so I am hereby issuing an open challenge to the first lucky son of a bitch who steps into this ring. Come show me the vaunted fight of the AWF locker room and give me the challenge I yearn for.
*”Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse hits and we see the champion’s smile visibly fade as he puts his head in his hands. Out onto the stage steps Terry Bradshaw in full football attire.*
Romano: Well … he did ask after all.
Bradshaw: Well if it isn’t Mr. Andrew Merken.
Taylor: Aiden Merric … oh who am I kidding he doesn’t care.
Bradshaw: We’ve been running around challenging for that Around the Clock title so I could get my revenge on that bastard clock for a while now! But if it’s a challenge for another title you are issuing then I HAVE THE FIGHT FOR YOU BUDDY!
Aiden Merric: I need to choose my words more carefully next time. So you intend to take my title … dressed like a sodding American footballer? Or more accurately …
*Aiden spins around and catches Copycat popping him up and catching him with a massive European Uppercut sending him sprawling on the mat.*
Romano: What a Tranquilizer from Merric.
Taylor: I think the AWF faithful are getting tired of seeing poor Copycat put out to pasture week in and out by Terry Bradshaw.
Copycat:AHHHH! MISTER BRADSHAW HE KNEW THE TACTIC! I think he broke my jaw. How will I eat my gruel now?
Bradshaw: STOP WHINING COPYCAT YOU GOT HIM ON THE ROPES! NOW FLOAT LIKE AN ELEPHANT STING LIKE WHEN I PEE!
*Aiden sighs and hands his belt to the Steve Tyrell who has slid into the ring. He then backs up to the ropes.*
Jessie Love: This match is scheduled for one fall and is for the XHF Phoenix Championship! In the ring are the challenger, COPYCAT! And the champion, AIDEN “OUTBACK” MERRIC!
XHF Phoenix Championship Match
Aiden Merric (c) vs Copycat
*The bell rings and Copycat gingerly gets to his feet and turns to see the champ charging in for a superman punch to the face.*
Taylor: Ouch the Stun Gun from Aiden Merric.
*Aiden shakes his head and extends his hand to Copycat. Copycat looks at it then up at Merric with tears in his eyes of joy for someone helping him. Aiden helps him to his feet … then doesn’t let go. He shoves him back and pulls in for the ripcord rainmaker lariat! Copycat is turned inside out and lays in a heap on the mat.*
Romano: Oof. Well Target Neutralized by Merric. It’s academic here.
*He pins. Tyrell counts. One! Two! Three!*
Jessie Love: Your winner and still XHF Phoenix Champion … AIDEN MERRIC!
*Aiden turns to Terry Bradshaw who looks at him.*
Bradshaw: You think you’re a tough guy Crocodile Dundee? COPYCAT NOW PIN HIM! IT’S 24/7!
*Aiden sighs and picks up the limp Copycat. He then fires him like a lawn dart over the ropes at Terry who moves out of the way and lets Copycat slam head first into the entrance ramp where he stands on his head briefly before falling to the side in a very undignified manner. Aiden then exits the ring and feints a lunge at Bradshaw as he then shakes his head and moves up the ramp with his title.*
Aiden Merric: Bloody hell we can do better than this …
Taylor: Certainly an authoritative win by the champion.
Romano: Yes but he was less than enthused. Hopefully, he gets his wish for a fight from the Neo James Carner at Beach Blast!
Jessie Love: The following match is scheduled for ONE FALL
Taylor: ONE FALL!
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, is that greed, for a lack of a better word, is good.”
The harsh beat to the intro of “NWO” by Ministry is joined swifty by the electronic siren sound. The Tron is filled with images relating to the stock market. Chrid Card and Cross Recoba walk out of the entrance gate, a confident, almost cocky grin forming on both of their faces.
“I'm in love without the tears of regret
Open fire 'cause I love it to death
Sky high with a heartache of stone
You'll never see me 'cause I'm always alone “
Jessie Love: Introducing first, accompanied by "Le Champion des Champions" Chris Card, he hails from Las Vegas, Nevada and weighed in tonight at two hundred and thirty pounds, The Man Worth One THOUSAND Bullets, CROSS RECOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBAAAAAAAAA!
Taylor: Cross Recoba has been impressing many in his short AWF career.
Romano: This young man has a bright future and his association with the AWF's savviest business mind is only going to help.
Taylor: These guys were tag teaming years before winding up in AWF!
Romano: Savvy businessman with an eye for talent. Never said I didn't know about their past, Taylor.
High Finance walk down to the ring, soaking up the atmosphere and crowd reaction, positive or negative they are getting. Both men slide under the bottom rope and climb to adjacent turnbuckles, standing on the second rope, smiling crocodile smiles and rubbing their thumbs across the inside of their fingers as if flipping notes off a stack they’re holding.
The intro riff of Flying High Again by Ozzy tips through the speakers.
Oh No. Here We Go Now
Rat Bastard and Steve Awesome come strutting out into the stage. Rat has a beer in his hand and is trash talking the crowd on his side. Steve is crotch chopping and showing off his abs to taunt the crowd.
“Momma's gonna worry
I been a bad bad boy
No use sayin' sorry
It's something that I enjoy”
Jessie Love: And his opponent, being accompanied to the ring by "The Awesome One" Steve Awesome, ALSO fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, he weighed in at two hundred and eighty five pounds, RAAAAAAAAAT BAAAAAASTAAAAAARD
Taylor: Rat Bastard, from the sleazier end of the Vegas Strip.
Romano: You mean there's a non sleazy end? Colour me surprised.
Rat insults a fan and threatens to slap them before gulping some beer and getting into the ring. Steve flirts with some guys thirsty wife then laughs in the dudes face before sliding into the ring.
If you could be inside my head
You'd see that black and white is red
Flying high again
Flying high again
Both men hit their entrance poses in the ring as pyro spray from the turnbuckle. Steve provocatively strips down to his ring gear and Rat chugs the rest of his beer.
Rat Bastard vs Cross Recoba
Rat and Cross step up to each other in the center of the ring. Rat smirks, looking at the size advantage he has and considering his far greater experience. Rat grins a sickening grin, all washed with dirt and sleaze as he raises his hand up high for a test of strength, knowing that it's too high for Cross Recoba to reach. Recoba immediately grabs Rat's other arm and wrenches it out into a wristlock. Cross applies a little torque to Rat's wrist but Ratty muscles him round using a ton of strength and slings Cross off into the ropes. Rat squares up and shoulder blocks Cross down to the canvas, earning a round of applause from Steve Awesome.
Taylor: Rat has a lot of power behind that attitude of his.
Romano: The more Ratty McB can exercise that power, the better chance he has.
Rat sneers as he lays a couple of boots into Cross, but Recoba is a smart man and picks the leg on Rat's third swing of his boot. Rat faceplants to the mat and The Man Of A Thousand Bullets uses his mat wrestling to work round into a grounded side headlock. He punctuates the hold wtih a couple of stiff elbows to Rat's head before bending Ratty into a pinning combination.
ONE!
Rat sharply kicks out.
Taylor: Cross showing his mat skills there.
Romano: If you've known Rat for as long as I have, you'll know that outclassing him on the at is a sound strategy.
Looking vaguely annoyed by this, Rat jumps to his feet and runs his fingers through his greasy hair, making a flicking motion at Cross. Recoba's facial expression doesn't change as he smashes a stiff kick into Rat's ribs. Rat sucks up the blow and responds with an overhand right that staggers Cross back a couple of steps and Rat charges in quickly, hooking Cross's head and turning it over into a neckbreaker. Rat covers...
ONE!
Cross easily kicks out. Steve Awesome claps again at the move. Chris Card, meanwhile, is impassive as he seems to be studying everything that is going on very closely.
Taylor: Rat Bastard looking to go for Cross' neck right away.
Romano: When your finish is cranking back on a man's face hyperextending his neck, it's a sound strategy.
Rat rolls away to his feet. As Cross gets to a seated position, Rat punts him in the face. Following up immediately, Rat grabs cross by his perfect hair and hauls the smaller man up. Rat back elbows Cross in the stomach, doubling The Box Office Sensation up before Rat grabs the head and drops, smoothly planting Cross' head into the mat with a DDT. Rat swirls round on the mat to get the right angle and covers, planting both of his feet on the bottom rope.
ONE..
Chris Card causally saunters across the referee's sightlines, naturally drawing his gaze to the illegal pin and the referee stops the count.
Taylor: You know how you usually say "If the ref didn't see it, it's not cheating?"
Romano: Chris Card just made sure the referee saw the cheating.
Taylor: Without getting physically involved and risking a DQ!
Romano: It's the little things.
Steve Awesome is apoplectic at the interference and calls over the referee to get Card thrown out. The ref shrugs at Awesome but Rat knows that this is his moment. He lines up Cross and wings his arm directly ad Recoba's crotch. AND CROSS RECOBA GRABS RATTY'S WRIST AND STEPS OVER INTO AN ARMBAR!
Taylor: ANTI THEFT DEVICE!
Cross torques on the arm, but Rat reaches out with his legs towards the ropes. Awesome strides over and places Rat's leg back on the bottom rope before gesticulating to the referee to break the hold. Card checks his watch as the referee counts...
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
FOUR!
And Cross breaks the hold at 4.99999. Rat rolls away, shaking blood flow back into his arm. Awesome and Card face off outside the ring, Awesome looking smug and superior and Card... looking worryingly professional. Meanwhile, back in the ring Cross closes on Rat and fires off a quick triple of roundhouse kick, roundhouse kick, spinning sole butt to Rat's ribcage. Rat stumbles forward a half step and his head drops to within Cross' reach. Cross hooks in a 3/4 facelock and backflips, landing on his butt and driving the back of Ratty's head into the mat HARD.
Taylor: SICILIAN TYPEWRITER!
Cross leans forwards and locks in a steaded pin
ONE!
TWO!
TH... Rat Bastard kicks loose.
Now Rat is pissed off. He grabs Cross by the hair again and pulls him down into a standing head scissors and points towards the other side of the ring. After flicking his hair again, Rat lifts Cross up and spreads his arms wide before kneeling down and THROWING CROSS A CLEAR TWO THIRDS OF THE WAY ACROSS THE RING!
Taylor: THE PLAGUE! THE PLAGUE!
Rat follows up quickly and grabs straight for Cross rather than attempting a pin. Ratty flips Cross' body over and stands over his head, adding a little boot for effect. The Ratty One reaches down with his long musclur arms and DEADLIFTS CROSS OFF THE MAT! Rat clutches tight and lifts Cross up high, exposing Cross' back to the mat before DRIVING HIM DOWN HARD WITH A POWERBOMB!
Taylor: BASTARD BOMB!
Rat covers this time...
ONE!
TWO!
TH.. Cross kicks out. Steve Awesome hops up onto the ring apron and motions for Rat to come over for a "strategy meeting." Awesome reaches into his trunks for something and the cameras (but not the ref) catch Awesome palming a pair of brass knuckles to his Awesome Bastards partner. Rat Bastard loads up his fist and waits as Cross Recoba slowly stumbles to his feet. Rat cocks his fist back and prepares to strike...
Chris Card: CHECK HIS FIST, REF!
Rat Bastard pauses for a second at Chris Card's shout and the referee, showing an unhcaracteristic level of vision actually SPOTS the brass knuckles that Rat had put on. The referee orders Rat to take them off and Rat has to comply, through gritted teeth. The referee grabs the knuckles and walks over to a neutral corner as Awesome shrugs at the ref, indicating that he had NO idea how the knuckles got there. Meanwhile Card is up on the ring apron and as Cross turns to him, Card throws a small, familiar spray bottle into to his tag team partner. The ref is busy dealing with the knuckles as Cross in one swift motion, SPRAYS A FINE MIST INTO RATTY McB'S FACE AND FLINGS THE BOTTLE OVER HIS HEAD BACK OUT OF THE RING! RAT CLUTCHES HIS FACE IN AGONY!
Taylor: THE AEROSOL EQUALIZER!
Romano: If you're going to cheat, cheat well.
Steve Awesome screams at the ref to disqualify Cross for the shenanigans, but with no evidence left lying around (Card has already caught and repocketed the bottle) the referee can't do anything against Cross. Rat stumbles around the ring in pain and Cross hooks his legs with a simple Inside Cradle...
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Jessie Love: The winner of this match, CROSS REEEECOOOOOOBAAA!
Taylor: That was daylight robbery!
Romano: Did you expect a clean match with these competitors?
Taylor: I hoped for one.
Romano: Hopes and dreams rarely coincide with reality, Taylor.
Taylor: Let's go to commercial before this situation gets any further out of hand.
Planet Earth, 1,250 years from now…
Camera fades in showing a city in flames from a high altitude angle. The camera then zoomed in to buildings collapsing, hundreds of thousands of corpses falling from hovering ships that were set up as floating neighborhoods where the rich lived for hundreds of years.
Then it zoomed in further to a sector in a city in the ground showing people dropping dead after being consumed by what seemed to be a rapid plague turning the bodies black and subsequently disintegrated. The camera then shoots what seemed to be a giant metal wall with a name written on it “Stellia”.
Then a journalist showed on camera completely frightened by the events in that city and started telling the story of the same.
Journalist: For all the gods in this universe, thousands of people are dying LITERALLY every second, the devastation is overwhelming, the entire city is being devoured by a… plague, or by a truculent nano-organism or black magic, who knows! All we know is that it all started as soon as one man! raised his hands to the sky and recited a few words in an unknown language, while meditating in the center of the city's central park!
The journalist sounded very scared, her words gasped, her eyes wide with terror. Suddenly someone spoke to her on the plug in her left ear and she was even more scared.
Journalist: I just got word that the same thing is happening here in Dei Milites city as well as the other two mega cities! This is the end… THIS IS THE EEEEND!
The camera goes dark and then shows a woman of approximately 26 years of age and a man whose appearance was that of a 35-year-old human, boarding a spaceship in a hurry.
The spaceship was relatively small, it only had space for six people in the cabin, in the body of it there were 9 residential compartments, six of them were the residential spaces for the crew, a kitchen, a bathroom equipped with technology to convert organic waste to alternative energy and the last space could be assigned for different purposes such as an emergency room or a gym. The next section in the body was a modest storage space, then the engines that were powered by Exaxicilium, a component found in the crater that a 10-meter rock that fell from the sky, left. Just one gram of it, could power a city as big as Los Angeles for 20 years.
Guillotina: I was late, I couldn’t stop him in time!
MIA: My calculations conclude that you had a 0.000000000012 chance at ever finding what was going on according to the information I gathered from the events that led to the attack from that human.
Guillotina: But if we do this, if we go to the past, we will be able to stop him from ever getting captured by CHILLION and make him into a biological weapon, right?!
MIA: If everything goes right, that is affirmative. There is something that you must know however.
Guillotina: What is that?
MIA: Time traveling requires a huge amount of power that this spaceship cannot provide even with Exixicilium, with our current source of power, we would only be able to go back in time six months. However…
Guillotina: However? Said with an exasperated voice.
MIA: We do count with such power but I have to harvest it from my core and enable the engines to process dark matter.
Guillotina: Wait what? You are powered by Dark Matter? Hold on! Super Intelligent Humanoids powered by dark matter are extremely expensive and if I remember correctly, I purchased you for cheap.
MIA: The vendor made a mistake that surely cost him his life. With the current amount of dark matter that I got in store, I could operate for 24,875 New Earth years. In other words, I would outlive you by several millennials of years. But! To time travel into the past I would have to use 95% of the dark matter stored in my core.
Guillotina: Just to go back 20 years?!
Guillotina leans his head down and nodes in frustration.
MIA: That means…
Guillotina: That I will be stuck in time since you will not have the energy to bring us back to the present.
MIA: That is correct.
Guillotina: A small price to pay to save everyone. Do it!
MIA: I already did.
Guillotina: Then why even bring it up?!
MIA: You are my owner, I had to get confirmation of action from you. Initializing procedure.
The camera zooms out to show the spaceship slowly taking off from the ground to hovering position. Then the engines powered up and the spacecraft was surrounded by a black cloud that deployed electromagnetic shocks. A few seconds later the machine vanished from the space it occupied.
The camera fades to black and then fades back into the couple getting off the ship as MIA sets the spaceship to camouflage mode. Guillotine however showed a puzzled face as the world they spawned in was completely different from the world he expected to see only 20 back in time.
Guillotina: MIA… WHEN the hell are we?
MIA: We seem to have spawned in the year 2020, exactly 1,250 years into the past.
Camera fades to dark as Guillotina grabbed his head with both hands and kneeled in the ground.
Romano: Well, that was strange…
Taylor: I’m not sure quite what to make of it, to be honest.
Romano: With luck, we’ll know more in the next week or so.
Taylor: Anyways, Jessie Love is in the ring, ready for our next match!
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! And is a non-title match!
All the lights in the arena die out and the piped in sounds start chanting
his name.
"AWE-SOME! AWE-SOME! AWE-SOME!"
Dramatic Pause.
"REGRETS I'VE HAD MINE!"
The lights in the arena explode to life as they flash green and black to the beat as Steve Awesome comes running out with intensity to the hyped up chorus of "Full of Regrets" by Danko Jones.
Lonely nights/ and a whole lot of wasted time!
If you see her wont you tell her for me/
It's better this way to avoid all the misery
Jessie Love: Introducing first, he is one half of The Awesome Bastards, The Blast of the Past, The Only One That Matters, The Self-Proclaimed Face of the Franchise...STEVE ...AWESOME!!!
Romano: He’ll be hoping for a better result than he just witnessed his partner get out of tonight!
Taylor: There’ll be time to get their revenge on High Finance, for now though he has a great opportunity to make the conversation about the United States title and who should face Strychnine next very awkward!
Romano: A win, in his first solo outing in the AWF, would make for an extremely impressive debut!
The chorus plays again as Steve walks down to the ring. The guitar starts soloing and Steve hops into the ring and he provocatively slips off his jacket and then spins and drops into a kneel and he flexes his arms. He gets a slow motion effect as pyro sprays behind him.
Jessie Love: Introducing his opponent…
The lights go down and the sound of people cheering starts to play. Spotlights come up in pairs, focused on the stage until Stagefright starts to play as fog covers the stage and strobing purple lights play along with the song. Slowly a platform rises from the center of the stage, revealing a figure in an elaborate velvet robe, with "Tommy Strychnine" signed on the back in flickering LEDs.
Tommy spins around when the lyrics start and shrugs off the robe, lip-synching along to the song and imitating playing guitar as he makes his way down the ramp.
Jessie Love: Standing at five feet and ten inches, and weighing in at a hundred-and-seventy-five pounds...He is THE CURRENT AWF UNITED STATES CHAMPION...TOMMY!!! STRYCHNINE!!!
Romano: Tommy got that awkward first title defense out the way last time around at Prestige where he put away Dakota Jennings before all hell broke loose!
Taylor: You’ve got to say that the belt in Tommy’s possession is the most packed in terms of contenders to take it away from the rocker.
Romano: He’ll be watching on intently after this match, but first he needs to make sure he isn’t creating another contender for that belt in Awesome!
When he gets to the ring, he poses on the turnbuckle with his guitar, pretending to play along with the song, before handing off the guitar to the ring crew and doing a flip off the turnbuckle into a powerslide as pyro goes off from the corners of the ring.
Non-Title Match
Tommy Strychnine vs Steve Awesome
The bell rings and both Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine stare one another. Without breaking eye contact, Tommy points to the commentator's desk, where his AWF United States Championship lays there. With no fear in his eyes, he says aloud, "THIS IS MINE." Steve Awesome smiles. He doesn't feel threatened - and if he does, he certainly doesn't show it. He extends his arm and motions to the belt, but quickly bends his elbow and SLAP - sends an open hand that spins Tommy around. It's a lightning loud CRACK that echoes so loud that even despite the empty arena, is quite impressive still, nonetheless. Tommy turns around with a red outline of a hand splashed out on his left face cheek and his mouth agape in utter disbelief. With barely a second thought, the AWF United States Champion TACKLES down Steve Awesome and sends him down for a series of strikes. Awesome tries to defend by closing the guard and defending his face with his arms.
Taylor: What such utter disrespect! The champion did not like it!
Romano: It's something that someone like Awesome would do. This is not just about wrestling for him. This is about making a statement.
Strychnine is filled with vitriol, making sure he gets his punches in. The issue here is that while he's certainly landing strikes onto Awesome, Awesome's protection allows him to minimize the damage, preventing an automatic knockout. Adjusting the way he needs to be, Awesome catches a strike, pins it to the ground and flips the champion onto his back. With a middle finger, Awesome sends one more SLAP across his opponent's face and gets up. He then runs the ropes. Upon his rebound, he hops over Strychnine, who himself is rising up. As he gets up, he finds Awesome faced away and at the ropes. He's planning on making this moment memorable. As he finds Awesome approaching the ropes, Tommy Strychnine launches a dropkick with VERY HIGH ALTITUDE. HE'S GOING FOR THE FACE! ...But he hits nothing but open air. As he hits the ropes without even seeing behind him, he grasped the ropes. He finds Strychnine on the ground, trying to rise up. Awesome takes this moment to send a punt kick so hard, he's showing his NFL career potential. Strychnine grasps his stomach in pain. Steve Awesome, however, laughs at his misfortune.
Taylor: What a crummy thing of Steve! He's making himself to be the biggest jerk in the world!
Romano: He's doing this intentionally to make Strychnine look bad. See, most wrestlers just try to attack their opponents' bodies. Steve Awesome wants to attack his spirit as well.
Steve Awesome bends down and grabs Strychnine by his long, 80s style hair, and forces him up to the feet. He brings him over to the ropes where he lays his neck over them. He begins to lay on them. Junior Referee Steve Tyrell begins to count: ...ONE! ...TWO! ...THREE! ...FOUR! ...FI- Awesome lets go. Tommy Strychnine gasps for breath. Steve Awesome poses for the crowd while Tommy recovers. There's no one in the audience, but that doesn't stop the member of The Awesome Bastards from wanting to show himself off at every moment he possibly can. Without a care in the world, he ds himself over the ropes. He takes his sweet time. After all, Tommy Strychnine is on the floor and defensele-Wait. He's not on the floor!
Taylor: TIGER FEINT KICK!
Romano: Steve Awesome should NOT have been there!
Steve Awesome is knocked off his feet and lands in the middle of the ring. This leaves Steve Awesome open for his finisher, Kiss Me Deadly! It's his slingshot springboard V trigger! Tommy Strychnine is tired. He's actually quite famished, but he's not going to let himself go like this. Strychnine jumps. He goes for it and Steve Awesome for the dear life of him BARELY dodges the attack! Tommy Strychnine recovers quite well from the attack, but Awesome wipes the sweat from his brow and breathes heavily. But what's this? THE REFEREE IS DOWN!
Taylor: Things are NOT looking good!
Romano: Oh boy. Oh no. Oh, Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine. Both are cheaters. Who's going to do it first?
Steve Awesome looks to the side, to the fallen referee. And he smiles. He looks over to the other side of him and there, Tommy Strychnine is right next to him. He actually doesn't see him quite as well as he sees his fist. Steve Awesome hits the ground hard. Tommy actually yells, "FUCK! THAT FEELS SO GOOD!" Tommy feels even better with a kick to Steve! He then decides to capitalize by climbing up to the top rope. Awesome begins squirming and climbing to his feet, but Tommy Strychnine follows up with a reverse facing senton. STAGE DIVE! IT HITS! He'd stay for the pin, but he looks over and... Well, the referee is still down. Steve Awesome is down and Tommy Strychnine is pissed.
Taylor: Here lies the problem.
Romano: Let's see what happens.
Tommy Strychnine goes for the next steps but that's when...
Taylor: Oh no.
Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones plays and it's none other than.
Romano: Damn it, Rat Bastard. This isn't your match! Get out of here!
Rat Bastard comes out and he has a metal pipe in his hand and a sniveling grin on his face. Tommy Strychnine is waving his hands away and saying, "Get the hell out of here!" Rat Bastard is smiling and laughing. He replies, "I'm just checking on the piping here! There's an issue somewhere." Tommy, however, isn't afraid of a fight. He bends his knees into a battle a stance, ready to take on Rat Bastard. He'll beat the entire tag team, hell. The entire world! He's not afraid to punch out a creep. That's when a leg comes from between his legs and from behind. It's Steve Awesome. SCHOOL BOY! Tommy Strychnine is kicking. What's worse - Steve Tyrell is back. He delivers the count.
...One!
...Two!
...THREE! AND STRYCHNINE KICKS OUT A MILISECOND TOO LATE!
Jessie Love: Here is your winner of the match - Steeeve Awesomeeee!
Taylor: Steve Awesome cheated! Tommy should have won this!
Romano: Technically no one cheated, but it was a cheap victory. Maybe Rat is right. Something here is leaking, and it'd certainly explain whatever the hell is wrong with him.
"Spyderpussy" hits, and the arena lights flash through pink, yellow and purple. AWF Commissioner Jackson Steele walks out through the curtain, and looks directly into the camera. He starts talking to the fans at home, pumping himself up as he heads down to the ring.
Taylor: Steele isn’t down to wrestle, he stepped out and won against Hardcore Harry at Clash of the Icons so this can only mean one thing…
Romano: Now, is the announcement kill or cure for its intended recipient?
Walking up the steps, he shimmies his way along the apron before wiping his feet one last time and steps through the ropes. He reaches out to grab a microphone.
Steele: Now, we are only one show away from Beach Blast and let me tell you all - we’ve got a great card lined up for you, just need to dot a few more i’s and cross a few more t’s...in the meantime, I’m sure you’re all aware that we need to send a representative to XHF’s Overheated event. There they’ll compete to get a shot against the X Crown Champion at Night of Champions.
Steele pauses for effect.
Steele: Now, we thought long and hard on this. After all, they will be our CHOSEN entrant into the match. Copycat, simmer down and hit the bricks - it’s not you. They need to have competed at the top level and shown us what they can do not just in one match but in the entire time they’ve been with the company...now, we’ve butted heads over this but when someone put the name we’ve chosen forward, it was a done deal. Our number one pick for the spot is …. RYAN YOUNG!!!!
Steele smiles as he speaks.
Steele:So, Ascension fans - we’d like to encourage you to show your support to the official and preferred AWF representative at Call to Arms! Now, let’s get on with the show!
We cut to the back where Jack Diamond can be seen watching intently. The man who earned his shot at Overheated looks ready to tear the Commissioner’s head off. The coffee cup that was in his hand has quickly been crushed as we see Steele exit the ring.
Romano: Steele might well have placed a target on Young’s back there!
Taylor: Diamond already has his shot but did the praise Young just received inadvertently set off Jack on a path to destroy the former LGBTKO member?
Jessie Love: It’s time now, for your MAIN EVENT!!
"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 with a towel tucked into the waistband, and a button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, showing off just a bit of his pecs.
Jessie Love: Introducing first, hailing from Philadelphia. Standing at six-feet and weighing two-hundred-and-fifteen pounds...THE CURRENT AWF PRESTIGE CHAMPION….SETH DILLINGER!!!!!
After the countdown timer hits zero, Seth starts to stroll down to the ring, smirking at the camera and soaking up their applause.
Romano: He knows that he’ll be facing an opponent who has been itching to step into the ring with him for over a month now.
Taylor: It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.
Romano: Having only been on opposing sides of the ring in what many saw as an exhibition match, this could answer a lot of questions!
When he reaches the bottom of the ramp, he rolls into the ring under the bottom rope, then paces around to each side of the ring, smiling at the crowd.
Jessie Love: His tag-team partner!
The lights and titantron go pitch black for a few moments as the sound of recording about the play goes through the speakers. Suddenly, the lights come back on- albeit in a royal purple, tinting the arena in purple light. The soft, distorted synth echoes for a few moments. The guitar and drums kick off as the purple lights fade into black, and a single spotlight falls on Draven as he heads down to the ring.
Jessie: He stands at six-feet even, he weighs two-hundred-and-three pounds, HE IS...THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS….VINCENT!!! DRAVEN!!!
I'm looking at a face, a pointed chin
Towards the sky in arrogance
It easily betrays the closest friend
A moment lost, no consequence
His eyes surveying the crowd quietly as he undoes his cloak. A glare resting on his face as he climbs up the steel steps, standing on the apron while throwing his cloak onto the floor. He places his hands on the top rope and walks to the side of the ring facing the hard camera. Suddenly looking up and spitting a red mist into the air, as a wicked grin slowly grows on his pale features while he wipes the blood from his lips.
Taylor: Draven looks ready for the match, he wants to avenge the loss that he suffered against Tommy Strychnine.
Romano: The result of his match will have given Vincent a spring in his step, now he needs to make sure he gets his own match to go the way he intends!
Taylor: With Dillinger offering to advise him on reaching the next level, you’d be confident in their ability to get the job done tonight!
A circle starts again, away from you
Deception pulls us in, away from you
Away from you, away from you
Jessie: Now, for their opponents…
The arena lights pulse red as 'Riot' starts up. Bloodied Fox steps through the curtain, a look of determination on his face.
Jessie Love: Firstly, hailing from Reading, England. With a height of five feet and nine inches and weighing in at one-hundred-and-ninety-five pounds, he is THE WITCHER OF FOX SCHOOL….BLOODIED...FOX!!!
He heads to the ring, saluting the camera as he walks down the ramp.
Romano: Fox might not have been seen in competition here for a while but he’s been busy competing across the world!
Taylor: He’s a tag-team specialist, it’s a tag he might want to step out from but for this match, it’s a great bonus!
Romano: True, but neither team have spent a great amount of time being able to put a strategy together or even work on becoming cohesive!
He turns to the camera and fist-bumps it before sliding into the ring.
Jessie: Lastly, his partner…
As the word “Firecracker” appears on the large screen, red and green laser lights spin around the arena as Lzzy Hale begins to sing the opening to the song. Then the word fades and is replaced by the name “Dakota” as the redhead makes her way out to the stage area, a look of sheer scorn etched across her beautiful features.
Jessie Love: Making her way to the ring. Hailing from Scottsdale, Arizona. She is the Powder Keg of Ascension Wrestling...DAKOTA!!! JENNINGS!!!
She looks out around the arena and turns her nose up at the camera before making her way down the aisle.
Romano: Dakota knows that she needs to break this losing streak she’s found herself on and from what she’s been saying in the lead-up to this, she sees this match as the perfect platform to kick on!
Taylor: She ran Tommy close last time out, and his guitar suffered for it. At Clash of the Icons you could have split that match with a cigarette paper!
Romano: You could but it wouldn’t change how she’d see the result. No chairs this time out she says, let’s see how long that lasts for!
Reaching the ring, she confidently strides up the steps before stepping under the second rope before climbing up one of the turnbuckles, flipping the bird to the camera as she climbs onto the apron and into the ring.
MAIN EVENT
Tag-Team Match
Seth Dillinger & Vincent Draven vs Bloodied Fox & Dakota Jennings
Romano: We’ve already had one shock tonight, can Fox and Jennings keep the trend going?
Taylor: Steve Awesome played his hand well, you underestimated him and Tommy seemed to. Now, with that win, it muddies the waters of the United States Contenders further. That win might well have added more pressure to the team of Bloodied Fox and Dakota Jennings!
Romano: Well, the question is - if you’re in either of their shoes, does a damaged partner tonight work for you down the road?
Nate Biggs walks over to the team of Fox and Jennings and gives his instructions for the match. Bloodied Fox listens intently, nodding as Nate explains what will and won’t be tolerated. In comparison, Dakota Jennings stares a hole past Biggs in the direction of her opponents; the only movement in her face being to chew gum and rolling her eyes as Biggs is talking.
Taylor: Jennings is looking determined...Fox hasn’t been seen in a fighting capacity here since he pulled off an impressive win against Kuroi back at Prestige Fifty! He’ll be looking to put his mark on this bout.
The camera cuts to their opponents, the Prestige Champion looks as confident as ever and looks to be giving his tag-partner a last-minute pep-talk. Draven looks focused as Biggs approaches them. He leans into Seth and says something the cameras don’t pick up, Dillinger smiles and steps between the ropes while Biggs is still delivering his final words to Draven. Seth moves the towel off the ropes and to the apron. He claps his partner as Nate signals for the bell.
Taylor: You have to hand it to Seth, looking at him you could be seeing him backstage, not one sign that he sees anything but victory tonight!
Romano: You heard him, he’s the longest-reigning Prestige champ in history. The mark of a champion is treating each match with the same importance.
Taylor: Wouldn’t you love to be a fly-on-the-wall to that talk?
Romano: He knows, like we do, that Draven isn’t any less of the competitor we’ve seen time and time again, he’s offered him help to find his way once more.
Draven remains in his corner, the camera flashes to Dakota who has taken the lead for her team. She bounces on the balls of her feet before walking to the center of the ring, Draven now steps out to meet her.
Romano: Draven not rushing into things tonight.
Taylor: Both of these guys are strike-based fighters, he’s not going to get suckered into being pulled into a brawl if he doesn’t have to.
Dakota looks to start with a straight-right but Draven ducks down and pulls an arm-drag! Jennings gets right back to her feet and cuts off Draven as he steps towards her with a fluid dropkick! She tries to push on with her offense but AN UPKICK KNOCKS THE GUM CLEAN OUT OF HER MOUTH!
Taylor: DID YOU SEE THAT?
Romano: The more measured approach seems to be working for Draven at the outset.
Reeling back, Jennings finds herself unable to block a quick one-two kick combo that starts on the ribs and then connects with the side of her head. The Prince of Darkness wastes no time closing the gap with a knee to the stomach and a European Uppercut that puts Jennings up against the turnbuckle. Draven fires of a quick knife-edge chop before whipping her to the turnbuckle, Jennings reverses and take him down to the mat with a drop-toe-hold. The Powder Keg leans into the ropes and charges at the former United States Champion...SPINNING HEEL KICK! She drops down for the early cover..
Taylor: Jennings is looking to get the job done early...
O-KICKOUT!
Romano: Too early it seems.
Keeping the pressure on, Jennings grabs a headlock and tries to bring the tempo down.
Taylor: Interesting change of pace from Dakota here...
Leaning all her weight onto Draven she continues to work the hold, the quick wits of Vincent kick in and he goes for a belly-to-back suplex but Jennings rolls down, he turns round and eats a high kick from Dakota. She grabs his arm looking to send him to the ropes but Draven spins into it with an elbow to the head followed up by a Switchblade kick. Draven runs to the turnbuckle...CORNER SPRINGBOARD ENZIGURI!!
Taylor: HAVE WE SEEN THAT BEFORE?
Romano: You need to change things up in the ring, with the availability of footage and highlights on the internet it’s all too easy to forget that the exposure also gives your opponents the inside-edge on your game!
Jennings drops to her knees before falling to the mat. The Prince of Darkness wraps his arms around her waist...DEADLIFT GERMAN SUPLEX! He bridges into the pin..
Romano: Impressive strength on display from the Prince of Darkness.
ONE…
T-KICKOUT!!
Taylor: Not impressive enough to get the job done right now though.
Romano: This match isn’t going to be a sprint...
Draven drops a quick knee onto the arm of Jennings before lifting her back to her feet and twisting the arm. He walks her over to his corner as Seth tags in.
Romano: Now, we’ll see how Jennings fares against the Flashy Party Boy, Seth Dillinger!
Still holding the arm for his partner as Dillinger springs onto the top-rope and drops down with an elbow to the shoulder of Jennings. As she doubles over, Dillinger brings a knee up to her face and finishes the combo with a neckbreaker to take her to the mat.
Taylor: Some excellent chain-moves on display
Romano: You don’t get to be Prestige Champ without some talent, Tommy...
Instead of keeping on top of her, he walks to the center of the ring and points towards Fox before goading him to get involved.
Romano: He’s trying to get into the head of Fox!
Taylor: If you’ve seen any of the message board or SmackTalker, this face-off has dominated the talk between the fans!
Dakota gets to her feet and wins a body slam followed by an elbow to the head for a prize. Dillinger lifts her back up and sends the Powder Keg to the corner and tags in Draven.
Taylor: Jennings needs to be careful not to get isolated.
The Prestige Champion manages to land a knee to the sternum of Dakota as he exits the ring. Biggs admonishes him but is met with the spread upturned arms of a man who isn’t taking him seriously.
Romano: Cheap shot by Dillinger but it’s in the rules.
Taylor: Biggs knows he has a challenge on his hands trying to control the personalities in this match!
Draven leaps up and monkey flips Jennings out of the corner. Dakota tries to recover quickly but The Prince of Darkness runs towards her and takes her down with a meteora!
Romano: Draven seemingly back on form with that combo!
Taylor: If alarm bells aren’t ringing in Jennings’ head, they should be!
The Prince of Darkness seems to be in control as he shoots off a kick to the shoulder of Jennings before picking her up. He sets her up for the half-and-half suplex…
Romano: Dakota needs to find something, and fast!
JENNINGS MULE KICKS DRAVEN!
Taylor: The cheatin-...Biggs had no line of sight on that low-blow!
Romano: That’s why you do them...
Trying to cover her tracks, she locks on a side-headlock and takes him down with a running bulldog.
Romano: Smooth way to dispose of the body, so to speak!
Taylor: You mean covering her tracks?
Romano: Biggs doesn’t know, didn’t happen!
Wanting to build on the good fortune, she grabs Draven by the hair and yanks him back up before BARRELLING HIM SHOULDER-FIRST INTO THE CORNER POST!
Taylor: TRY DISGUISING THAT!
Romano: Cheap move from Jennings but you got to do what you got to do to make it in this sport!
Taylor: Draven hasn’t moved!
Biggs once more intervenes, this time to lay down the law to Jennings. Draven is still slumped over the middle-turnbuckle and Dillinger can be heard protesting from the ring-apron, clearly unhappy at the move from Dakota!
Romano: Dillinger’ll have a target on Jennings’ back if that costs them the match!
Taylor: There seems to be plenty more to come in this fight.
Using her head, Jennings grabs Draven and twists the arm into a wringer and walks him over to the corner, leaning back so Fox can tag himself in.
Romano: Smart thinking from the Powder Keg.
Taylor: Well, a lot of talk before the match was about how well these two would play together but if you look at it - both competitors have seen gold in their careers from tag-team competition!
Jennings drives an elbow into the shoulder before leaving the ring and Fox follows up with a Question Mark kick that keeps his foe stunned. He grabs a quick hold...SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX!
Romano: Fox wasting no time in announcing his entrance to the match.
Taylor: Draven needs to think of an exit strategy and quickly!
Draven is sprawled on his front, Fox looks to hook the arm…
Romano: Could we see Lament Configuration?
Taylor: No! Draven has it scouted!
Scrambling to the ropes quickly, Draven avoids the patented hold of Bloodied Fox. Once more, the encouraging claps of Dillinger can be heard as the Psycho Scavenger takes two steps and springs up...JUMPING ENZIGURI!
Taylor: You don’t get a nickname like the Vulpine Scavenger without breaking some rules!
Romano: Draven had a hand on the rope but it’s a borderline call..
Leaving no time to recover, Fox whips Draven back into his corner. Jennings slaps the shoulder of her partner and slingshots into a front-dropkick to the chest of Draven. Grabbing the arm of The Prince of Darkness, she twists it once more before sitting out to the floor, bringing the limb down onto her shoulder.
Taylor: Lots of quick tags from the team of Fox and Jennings.
Romano: They’ve isolated Draven, now they just need to wear him down and find a way to keep Dillinger out of the picture!
She leans back towards the corner and extends her arm, Fox tags back in again and immediately sends a kick to the isolated shoulder of Draven, he teams it with a jaw-breaker and lastly...SUPERMAN PALM STRIKE!
Taylor: HE GOT ALL OF THAT ONE!
Romano: Excellent chain from Fox, there!
Draven drops down to the mat. Fox looks square at Dillinger and returns the taunting to his former stablemate. Dillinger looks as if he is about to step into the ring but thinks better of it and instead stamps rhythmically on the apron to gee on his partner.
Taylor: Fox returning the goading!
Romano: You have to think, what Fox has witnessed in the dissolution of LGBTKO...what more can Dillinger do to him?
Turning his attention back to the match, Fox picks up Draven but HE GETS CAUGHT WITH A LUNGBLOWER!
Romano: Draven showing off why he became the United States Champion with that opportunistic move!
Draven get to his feet but the shoulder slows his movements. The audio picks up the calls of Dillinger for the tag.
Romano: Can he make it?
Taylor: Fox!
Fox grabs at the leg of Draven and clings on, the Prince of Darkness kicks him off and frees his leg BUT DAKOTA RUSHES PAST AND LEVELS THE PRESTIGE CHAMP WITH A SPINNING HEEL KICK!
Romano: Smart move from Jennings!
Taylor: Is it? Dillinger has a long memory and it’s a short distance in that ring!
Jennings marches back to her corner without even a glance to Biggs who threatens to throw the match out.
Romano: She’ll have to watch out, Biggs has thrown out matches for less!
Taylor: Draven’s stirring...
Draven, in no-man’s land turns round and is met with a BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX!
Romano: Big impact move but Fox didn’t go for the pin!
Bloodied Fox tags out to Dakota who rushes in and starts to lay boots to the body of Draven. She lifts the arm of The Prince of Darkness and spins round it...DRAVEN ROLLS HER UP!!!
Taylor: Jennings is paying for Fox’s hesitation!
ONE…
TW-KICKOUT!
Romano: Now, Draven needs to make the mistake count!
Draven and Dakota get to their feet at the same time, The Prince of Darkness swings a kick BUT DAKOTA CATCHES THE LEG AND GRABS AN ANKLE LOCK IN THE CENTER OF THE RING!!
Taylor: We could be seeing an upset!
Dakota tries to cinch in the hold BUT DRAVEN TWISTS AND THRUSTS A BOOT STRAIGHT INTO HER FACE!!!
Romano: Draven once more showing the resilience and tenacity that got him where he is today!
Taylor: Can he get to Dillinger though?
Reeling backwards, she doesn’t see Draven until the last second, too late to stop the roundhouse kick that is quickly joined by a spinning back kick that keeps her at distance.
Romano: Does that do it?
Taylor: If he can make it co-
DRAVEN MAKES A DASH FOR HIS CORNER, DAKOTA REACHES TO GRAB HIM BUY DILLINGER MAKES THE TAG!!
Romano: DILLINGER GETS THE TAG!
DAKOTA LOOKS MORTIFIED WITH HERSELF!
Taylor: NOW THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST!
Dillinger takes his time stepping through the ropes, Dakota goes to cut him off but The Flashy Party Boy hits a backflip dropkick that takes her off her feet! He picks her back up off the mat and sends her to the ropes and meets her halfway with a high-leg lariat!
Romano: Dillinger, the freshest man in the match, is bringing a speed that Jennings wanted to avoid!
Taylor: The posturing and goading is being paid back now in spades!
Dakota pops back to her feet out of instinct and somehow ducks a superkick attempt but Dillinger cycles round and lands an enziguri that drops her to her knees and has no way of avoiding the low-angle roundhouse kick that plants her on the mat!
Romano: Excellent strikes from the Prestige champ!
The camera gets a close up of Dillinger who looks self-assured. He points to Draven who is wiping the sweat from his face with the towel.
Dillinger: I got this one, Drav!
He steps towards Dakota who scoots backwards in a hurry BEFORE TAGGING IN FOX!
Taylor: She couldn’t get out of the ring fast enough!
Romano: And now, the stand-off we’ve been waiting for. These two men haven’t seen each other since Dillinger put Young down for the count at Clash of the Icons and left Fox to pick up the pieces!
The Berkshire native steps through the ropes, his eyes not letting sight from Dillinger from the moment he received the tag. He plants his foot down deliberately and the two men circle each other.
Taylor: You could cut the tension with a knife!
Fox steps towards Dillinger but Seth goes for an arm-drag, Fox rolls through and back to his feet. He looks to fire off a Question Mark kick but Seth ducks and looks to pull him in for a short-arm lariat but Fox ducks and spins into an Irish whip. Dillinger rebounds off the ropes as Fox drops down, Dillinger hits the opposite ropes and Fox goes for a back-body drop but Seth rolls over the top of him and comes back, this time Fox leap-frogs and rolls back but Dillinger judo rolls over. As he hits the ropes DAKOTA USES THE ROPES FOR LEVERAGE AND KICKS HIM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD! He spins round and goes for a wild punch but DAKOTA DUCKS AND HE SPINS INTO A SAITO SUPLEX!
Taylor: She can’t stay out of it!
Romano: You need to kill your opponent’s momentum in a tag-match and that bought her partner time to capitalize!
Fox grabs the hair of Dillinger and DELIVERS KAWADA KICKS TO THE HEAD!
Taylor: Vicious kicks from the Psycho Scavenger!
Romano: They normally signal the start of a chain of offense!
Seizing the opportunity, he keeps hold of the hair and drags him to his feet. DILLINGER pokes him in the eye and TRIES TO DECAPITATE HIM WITH A LARIAT!
Romano: Cheap move to make the opportunity but what a lariat!
Taylor: That could shift the momentum back to Draven and himself!
The Flashy Party Boy looks down at Fox before lifting his head up, he steps back...ROLLING NECK SNAP JOLTS FOX BACK DOWN TO THE CANVAS!
Taylor: Dillinger’s athleticism is second to none in Ascension!
He sees Fox stirring and steps back, stalking his prey...SLINGBLADE!!
Romano: If Fox has his moves down, he’ll know he’s in trouble!
Seth ds his opponent’s head over the middle-rope and takes two steps before running and swinging through the ropes...KICK TO THE HEAD OF FOX!!
Taylor: TWO-ONE-FIVE!!
Romano: Indeed, and this can only go one of two ways...
Dillinger is now on the apron, he spots a camera and winks at it...DAKOTA LEVELS SETH WITH A SUPERKICK!!!
Taylor: DKO MARK ONE!
Romano: Jennings coming to the rescue for her team!
Taylor: Dillinger’s down but he’s not out!
Seth is still on the apron, but barely. One arm remains on the top-rope, the rest of his body is slumped over.
Romano: Can Draven save this for his team?
Grabbing him by the waistband, Dakota throws him into the ring and looks to step inside herself but BIGGS BLOCKS HER WAY!
Taylor: She’s pushed Biggs too far.
Romano: And now, someone else is reaping the rewards!
Dakota starts to bitch out Biggs who is having none of it. The camera shot changes and we see Draven has dragged his partner to the corner and tagged himself in!
Taylor: Smart move from the Prince of Darkness!
Taking advantage of Fox’s dazed state, he pulls him to his feet and fires off a roundhouse kick...LIFTING DOUBLE-UNDERHOOK FACEBUSTER! He goes for the cover…
Taylor: ASHES TO ASHES!!
Romano: He could have this here!
ONE…
TWO…
T-KICKOUT!!
Romano: Fox finding a way to free his shoulder from the mat in the nick of time!
Looking to his corner, Draven shakes his head and pulls Fox back to his feet. He scoops him up into a Fireman’s Carry Lift…
Taylor: Has he just delayed the inevitable though?
Romano: He’s looking for Carpe Noctem!
FOX DROPS DOWN THE BACK OF DRAVEN...CORKSCREW DDT!!!!
Taylor: BLOODDTED!!
Romano: Draven’s shoulder looked like it gave way and Fox was there to capitalize!!
FOX HOOKS IN THE HANGMAN’S CLUTCH II!!!
Taylor: LAMENT CONFIGURATION!!
Romano: Now, this is a gut-check, can Draven outlast the hold?
Dillinger: Come on, Drav!!
Draven is fighting but Fox has the hold in pretty tight. His free arm reaches for anything he can grab.
Romano: He’s trying to grab the head of Fox but he can’t angle that free arm to do so!
Taylor: Dillinger continuing to try and cheer his partner on!
Fox is leaning back into the hold now. Biggs once more asks if Draven wants to submit but he shakes his head as much as he can in the hold.
Romano: Nate’s in there, looking to end this if he have to.
Taylor: Has Draven ever submitted before?
Dillinger: HE’LL SNAP YOUR ARM!!
Draven tries to push up with his free arm to try and alleviate the hold but Fox adjusts his position enough to make it impossible.
Romano: That adjustment from Fox was timed perfectly
Taylor: Draven’s continuing to look for a way out!
Dillinger: COME ON!!!
Draven looks for the ropes but they’re inches out of reach, once more he tries to push himself up to close the gap to a rope-break but as he pushes up Fox uses the momentum to scoot him round and away from the ropes.
Taylor: Cassius, you’re Draven, what can you do?
Romano: You’re hamstrung, you need to hope that either a gap appears in the hold or that whatever adjustments you can make are timed to perfection!
Once again, he pushes up and this time tries to roll back to get out of the Clutch but Fox clamps down harder and adjusts his body weight. Nate Biggs drops down once more to ask if he’ll tap...A TOWEL LANDS NEXT TO DRAVEN!!!
Taylor: Is that?
Romano: Did he-
Biggs turns around and sees Dillinger pointing to the towel next to the Prince of Darkness. Biggs stands up and signals for the bell!
Taylor: HE THREW IN THE TOWEL! DILLINGER THREW IN THE TOWEL!!
Romano: Was that an act of mercy or?
Jessie Love: Your winners, as a result of submission, BLOODIED FOX AND DAKOTA JENNINGS!!!!!!
“Riot” by Dance with the Dead starts over the sound-system as Biggs raises the hands of Jennings and Fox. In the background, Seth can be seen lifting up a confused Draven.
Taylor: I cannot believe Seth gave up like that...
Romano: Well, technically, he gave up for Draven.
Draven looks down and notices the towel on the ground and starts to piece things together. While neither man has a microphone, it's not hard to hear what they're shouting at each other in the empty arena.
Draven: What the hell was that!?
Seth: You weren't ready. You weren't ready. I shouldn't have put you in this situation.
Seth walks over and collects his Prestige Title from the timekeeper.
Seth: I'm sorry Draven, but you don't want to be helped.
Draven stares at Seth, wide-eyed and not sure he's hearing it correctly.
Draven: YOU are the one who gave up! NOT me!
Seth shakes his head.
Seth: Proof positive that you need my help.
Draven scratches his head, and Seth's little gig is getting less amusing by the minute.
Taylor: I'm not sure I follow.
Romano: Shh shh, just watch a legend at work, Tommy.
He points to the Prestige Title on his shoulder.
Seth: I... I can see it in your eyes, Draven. You keep darting your eyes between me...and this title.
Draven says nothing. He doesn't deny it.
Seth: I thought if I could get you to rise to the occasion, maybe I'd be able to find a shred of something there worth helping. But this...
Seth motions around him to the ring, to the towel, to the idea of the match itself.
Seth: You're just so not worth my time.
Draven's lips curl into a scowl. He walks up and shoves Dillinger in the chest. Seth takes a moment to look amused, then skips the pleasantries and hits Draven with a stiff uppercut, sending him tumbling backwards. Seth shakes his head and turns around, adjusting the title on his shoulder and heading for the ring ropes, disappointed.
Taylor: Who does he think he is?
Romano: Well, he's the longest-reigning Prestige Champion, Tommy... he--
Romano is cut short by Draven springing to his feet, looking like a fire was lit under his ass. He charges at Seth, who hears him coming and turns just in time to get caught with a roundhouse kick to the jaw! Seth's head snaps back and he instinctively reaches up to grab his jaw and Draven pivots on his foot, following up with a spinning back kick to the midsection! Seth flies backwards, wobbling a bit, and Draven sets upon him, delivering a series of brutal kicks to his knees. Seth goes down pretty quickly, unable to keep his footing. Draven stares down at Seth, his breathing accelerated like a wolf that's caught the scent of meat. He turns on his left leg, driving his right foot into the side of Seth's skull with a sickening crack.
Taylor: DRAVEN'S INFERNO!! DRAVEN'S INFERNO!!
Romano: The champ is out!
Seth Dillinger is out cold and Draven stands over him, just staring down at him. Draven walks over and picks up the Prestige Title, staring at it for a moment, before tossing it down and draping it over the chest of Seth Dillinger. "Pale" by The Birthday Massacre hits the speaker system once again and Draven slowly stalks his way out, leaving an unconscious Seth in the ring.
Romano: Well Seth said he wanted Draven to bring the heat...
Taylor: And Draven brought a whole damn inferno!
Romano: Things are certainly heating up... and just in time for Beach Blast!
Taylor: We'll see you at Beach Blast, folks!
Live at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
(Phoenix, Arizona)
(27th June 2020)
Attendance: 0
The cameras cut to ringside where Cassius Romano and Tommy Taylor are on hand to welcome us to Prestige Fifty-Four.
Romano: Evening, AWF Fans, we’re just one show away from Beach Blast!
Taylor: I can’t wait! What we saw coming out of the gate from Clash of the Icons was lit!
Romano casts a side-eye to his broadcast partner.
Romano: Really?
The graphic changes to the four competitors in the XHF Phoenix Number One Contenders Match.
Taylor: C’mon! We’ve got four guys facing off tonight to see who will take on the now, longest-serving XHF Phoenix Champion in HISTORY!
Romano: That is true, Merric though will need to get past Copycat first…
Taylor: Stranger things have happened. But then we’ve got a stacked card, as always for tonight!
Next up is the main-event that sees Draven team up with Dillinger to face off against Bloodied Fox and Dakota Jennings.
Romano: We’ve got two teams headlining tonight who, on paper, you can’t see how it’ll last!
Taylor: Dillinger seems willing to put the past behind him and offered to help Vincent Draven when we last saw them.
Romano: But then they’re facing Dakota Jennings and Bloodied Fox, two fighters going after the same prize in the United States title!
The shot changes to one of Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine.
Taylor: Given that the match before will see current US Champ, Tommy Strychnine go toe-to-toe with Steve Awesome - they’ll need to keep their focus on that match!
Romano: Awesome could make that conversation real awkward for everyone if he comes out of that match with his arm raised!
The screen now shows the teams of the Awesome Bastards and High Finance.
Taylor: Well, Awesome is pulling double-duty of sorts, he’ll be ringside when his partner, rat Bastard, faces-off against Cross Recoba, with fellow High Finance member, Chris Card as his second.
Romano: The Awesome Bastards have shown in a short space of time just how cohesive and clinical they can be!
Sniper and Alexander Shaw fade into view.
Taylor: Then we have the marine and the debuting Shaw square off in a match that might not be for the purists!
Romano: Look, Shaw’s mantra of hit ‘em, then hit ‘em again is tried and tested!
Taylor: You know that Johnny Sniper isn’t going to let that happen willingly!
Chris Chamber and Sylvester Calvin now fill the screen.
Taylor: Calvin made a point in the last If The Walls Could Talk column of stating his ambition and his drive to succeed here in Ascension Wrestling. He takes on Chris Chamber and, I’ll say it, he could be the favorite in this match!
Romano: Calvin hasn’t had the most consistent record but when he’s on, he can make his opponent pay for any small mistake they make!
Taylor: I’m getting word that we’re ready for our first match!
Jessie Love: The opening contest of Prestige is a Fatal Four Way match set for one fall!
Crowd: ONE FALL!
"Texas, Our Texas" begins playing and the crowd erupts in boos (minus any native Texans in attendance; They stand and remove their caps). Dallas Houston emerges from the back saddled up on his horse Trigger. Dallas and Trigger slowly make their way towards the ring as he keeps his nose turned up at the people as they pass by. Trigger makes a lap around the ring and stops at the base of the ramp. Dallas steps off of the saddle and a ringside attendant leads Trigger to the back. Dallas steps up to the top of the ring steps and onto the ring apron. Prior to entering the ring, Dallas wipes his feet on the apron and then steps through the ropes. He walks over to the center of the ring and removes his cowboy hat, placing it over his heart as he waits for the entirety of "Texas, Our Texas" to finish playing. Once finished, Dallas walks over to the corner and hangs his hat on the ring post. He removes the towel from around his neck and drops it onto the floor on the outside as he waits.
Jessie Love: Introducing first... wrestling out of Lubbock, Texas and weighing in tonight at two hundred and seventy-five pounds... DALLASSSSS HOUUUUUSTONNN!!!
Taylor: He impressed us at Call to Arms in a debut for the brand, but tonight he shows us what he can do in this match, looking to finally get that momentum back up and running.
Romano: He's no show stallion, he's all about getting paid and making Texas proud.
The lights go down, as the sound of marching comes across the PA system. The whistle blows just as a confetti cannon pops and the lights come back to normal to usher out Athena from behind the curtain. ‘One Woman Army’ continues as Athena makes her way down toward the ring, high fiving the odd fan as she goes.
Jessie Love: His opponents... Wrestling out of Seattle, Washington and weighing in at one hundred and sixty pounds... She is the "Icon of Innovation"; AAAAAATHEEEEEENAAAAA!!!
Taylor: The Icon of Innovation looking to switch things up here tonight and get her first win in AWF!
Romano: She'll be going through a very tough challenge with the competition she's facing.
As "Fearless" by Josh A begins to play throughout the building, all the house lights shine a bright purple hue as they circulate around the stage area. A figure emerges from the smoke with his hands raised up high, signalling the arrival of ARYX. With Tasha Pierce by his side, they both make their way slowly to the ringside area as ARYX walks around the ring, he climbs the steps and brushes his feet onto the apron, climbing up onto the turnbuckles and raising his arms up high, to soak in the crowd's reaction.
Jessie Love: Being accompanied to the ring by Tasha Pierce... wrestling out of Salem, Massachusetts and weighing in tonight at two hundred and twenty-seven pounds... He is "The Messiah of Ascension Wrestling Federation"; ARRRRRRYXXXXXXX!!!
Taylor: The man formerly known as ORION has been rebirthed to ARYX, a more dominant and devious side to Alexander Rickard.
Romano: He does look damn impressive with this new look, but another Messiah in AWF? There's too damn many going around.
NOTORIOUS, SO NOTORIOUS...
SO NOTORIOUS...
Jordan Cassidy walks down to the ring, slapping the odd hand and looking for fans to pose with holding signs for him (there won't be any, but he can always hope!)
Jessie Love: And FINALLY... wrestling out of Greenville, Ohio and weighing in tonight at one hundred and eighty pounds... He is "The Notorious" Jordan Cassidy!
Taylor: And here's Jordan Cassidy!
Romano: ...and that's all there is to say.
Athena vs ARYK vs Jordan Cassidy vs Dallas Houston
DING! DING!
The bell has rung and it's an instant charging Shotgun Dropkick coming from ARYX that sends Jordan Cassidy flying back into his corner whilst Dallas Houston catches Athena charging at him and delivers a Spinebuster down onto the mat, both men meet in the middle and ARYX holds his hand out in front of Houston's face, the hand of his singular black glove. Dallas has a confused look on his face as he looks ARYX up and down before grabbing him by the wrist and spitting on the hand!
Taylor: That’s sick! Disgusting behaviour from Dallas!
ARYX slowly brings the hand back to himself and looks down at the saliva that came from the throat of Dallas Houston, there's a slight little nod to his neck movement but a sudden slap across the face of Houston with the hand from ARYX takes him back! Dallas rebounds and almost comes back into a Superkick but he grabs the foot and pushes ARYX forward. ARYX rolls and gets to a knee as Houston comes charging in with the boot but he's blindsided by a Roundhouse Kick square on the chest by Athena, and then another before the last connects right on the head and leaves the Texan on one knee. A running Bicycle Knee connects on the side of his head from ARYX and off the top is Jordan Cassidy, going for the elbow drop but it's ARYX that stops him dead in his tracks with a Superkick in mid air!
Romano: From the heavens went Cassidy but ARYX was just waiting for him to come down, and like the silly boy he is, he got his jaw rocked.
Taylor: The kid had the heart to even go up top, make no mistake about it.
Athena pushes ARYX but he's not taking that shove too well as a Spinning Back Fist drops from Athena rocks him again but a Bicycle Knee from ARYX puts her back as she rebounds with a Tornado Kick but once the kick lands, ARYX turns to fall but catches Athena with the Spinning Hook Kick! Dallas is able to get to his feet, using the ropes for leverage, as does Jordan Cassidy on the opposite side of the ring from Dallas. Houston swings his arm forward for the Lariat but Cassidy ducks the arm and he comes bouncing off the ropes RIGHT INTO THE LONGHORN AND IT NEARLY CUTS JORDAN CASSIDY IN HALF! HE FOLDS LIKE AN ACCORDION!
Romano: Kid had the heart of a lion but he got put down like The Tiger King did with his tigers.
Taylor: The Longhorn went right through Cassidy as if he was a leaf in the wind.
Dallas goes for the cover on Cassidy
...One!
...Two!!
ARYX is there to stomp down onto the back of Dallas to break the pinfall up, and ARYX is laying in the stomps onto the back of Dallas who’s still laying on top of Jordan Cassidy. Athena comes running in, and it’s the Step Up Enzuigiri! Decaffeinated!! Pike’s Place is coming but ARYX is able to push himself back and get Athena in the backpack position, ARYX runs to the corner and turns just in time for Athena to go back first into the turnbuckles. She falls off of ARYX’s back and is left in the corner as he rebounds off the far ropes and comes back with a Bicycle Knee to the head! ARYX rebounds again, and another Bicycle Knee to the head! And now ARYX runs to the opposite corner, and charges at full speed to Athena with the Yakuza Kick in the corner! Athena stumbles out of the corner as ARYX bounces off the ropes with the Fade Away! Sling Blade connects!
Taylor: Athena has now faded away to ARYX’s clutches! The cover and the count!
...One!
...Two!!
Dallas deadlifts ARYX up and German Suplexes him across the ring! Dallas then picks up Athena for The Texas Ranger but Cassidy is back in with the Axe Handle to the back of Dallas, who turns to MIDNIGHT ZERO!!
Taylor: ARYX WITH THE HOOK KICK OUT OF NOWHERE!!
Cassidy is all that’s left standing with Athena in her clutches, he sets her up for the CassiDDT!!!
Romano: Cover her! Cover her!!
The quick cover on Athena!
...One!
...Two!!
...Thre-
ARYX slides Cassidy off and drags him to his feet, and begins to stomp away at Jordan Cassidy. ARYX picks up Athena and brings her to the middle of the ring… MERCURY RISING!!! The count is made!
Romano: ARYX just made the sneaky play, big brain moves from him tonight...
...One!
Romano: ...as he looks to cleanse...
...Two!!
Romano: ...the entire...
...Three!!
Romano: ...AWF roster just like that.
DING DING DING
Jessie Love: Here is your winner -- ARYX!!
ARYX raises to his feet and stretches his arms out as Tasha Pierce enters the ring to join his side. They roll out of the ring and head up the ramp, as the feed cuts to commercial.
Xiaolong is in a dark room surrounded by flames his head down and his fingers steepled the sounds of a dragon growling as he slowly and dramatically raises his head. There is an intensity in his breathing as he is focused on his four way match to determine the top contender.
Xiaolong: "In a matter of moments I, Xiaolong, shall be vying for the top contender's spot for the XHF Phoenix Championship. A championship that I took pride in holding not once but twice. A championship that has an excellent tradition of wrestlers defending the championship whether they are faces or heels, heroes or villains, good guys or rule breakers or if you are a luchador techno or rudo. The Phoenix Championship has been an honor to hold no matter who had the championship. The exception is the current champion Aiden Merric."
A growling laugh is heard coming from Xiaolong.
Xiaolong: "One step away Aiden and you'll be mine along with the championship that you never truly defeated me for. However, tonight I have three other opponents I have to face in this four way match. The first opponent is Keith Williams who calls himself 'The Paragon of Sleaze.' You know Keith if I didn't know better you fit the nickname quite perfectly the way you twirl your mustache. In fact, you should have also worn a black tuxedo, black top hat and black loafers and cackle like Snidely Sneegly. I know you and your Reverent tag team partner are going to probably draw straws and see who gets to win the four way match to face Aiden Merric. Then again you'll probably treat this match like a joke and screw each other as long as one of you gets that top contender spot and then make nice to each other since you two dogs and Rob Garcia are best of pals."
Xiaolong laughs as the flames rise and ebb.
Xiaolong: "Then there's your partner, the egomaniac, named Neo James Carner who seems to care more about his image and all that money and endorsements which sounds quite familiar if you think about it. Now where have I heard this story before or even saw it before...."
He breathes thoughtful as he assumes a Thinker's pose.
Xiaolong: "I remember now. In the old NWC where my parents Dragon Belt and Dragonatrix wrestled before being ceremoniously fired for some unknown reason. The end result was so much fun as my mother and father laid waste to all the wrestler's vehicles and NWC broadcast equipment including the broadcast trucks. The justice of it all..."
Xiaolong continues to think.
Xiaolong: "And then there was the XPW and the biggest screw job that happened. Yeah they helped Trendkiller after joining them along with my ally Psychotic Goth as well as Team Fairtex and look where it got them. They saved his ass and look what happens he screwed them and got them unceremoniously fired because he was acting like a spoiled brat. He also enjoyed attending board meetings and raking in millions in merchandise profits but when it came to wrestling he was a complete loser. Where is he now you ask. Who fucking cares since he's insignificant and too scared and arrogant to apologize to them. He reminds me of you Neo and I'm going to not lose focus on this match while taking all my rage out on you as if you were Trendkiller. It's going to be a very controlled anger and one where I shall make sure you don't make it to the top contender's spot. You see money and endorsements don't matter to me. What matters is actually caring about the ringsiders and my fans who come to see real wrestling and not the joke you call wrestling."
He sighs deeply as smoke comes from his nostrils.
Xiaolong: "Then there's Adam Sandler. Did you receive my texts and my phone calls apologizing for the misunderstanding. Did you also receive the phone calls and texts from The Dark Stars and Commandrix as well. It was a misunderstanding since they thought I was wrestling Keanu Reeves and the comedian of the same name. They misunderstood and thus I apologize for them and their mistake. It's the least I can do Adam. I do respect your abilities. Oh and for your information I wrestled in small promotions all over the world and in this country so there should be plenty of information on me and yes I do know about you Adam."
A light flashes and Commandrix and The Dark Stars appear and they point their wristbands at the fire and put it out.
Commandrix: "Are you okay Xiaolong."
Xiaolong sounds angry.
Xiaolong: "What did you just do Commandrix."
Commandrix: "We saved your life."
Xiaolong: "I was shooting a promo and the fire was part of it."
Commandrix: "We didn't realize it."
Xiaolong: "Don't let it happen again."
Commandrix: "It shall never happen again."
Xiaolong: "Did you apologize to Adam Sandler."
Commandrix: "We attempted to locate him and apologize but he wasn't there. We tried to call and text him again but we could not get an answer. We would have located him by our methods but it would have frightened him."
Xiaolong: "Well we can't change history now or we'll make it even worse."
Commandrix: "Agreed since two timelines will appear in total conflict with each other and it would make things worse."
Xiaolong: "Yes it would."
Commandrix: "Are you ready to go out and contend for your shot at the Phoenix Championship."
Xiaolong: "I'm psyched up."
Commandrix: "Psyched up. A term that means you are psychologically ready and prepared to compete with confidence and won't let anything stop you."
Xiaolong: "That's how I'm feeling right now."
Niko: "Don't worry we have your back."
Xiaolong: "Just don't interfere in the match since I want to win this on my own and earn my top contender's spot."
Kono: "Don't worry Xiaolong we keep our word of honor."
Niko: "Which is what we live by since we're gladiators."
Xiaolong: "From another world."
Niko: "Same thing different world."
Kono: "We still have the right to intervene if necessary."
Xiaolong: "Just make sure it doesn't cost me the match and make Adam Sandler upset since I have plenty of respect for him since he respects me. I wish to return the respect with the same respect and honor he has shown me."
Niko: "Don't worry The Dark Stars always refrain from intervening unless it's necessary."
Commandrix: "What we mean is we stood by the owner Cosmo Kid and remained loyal even when PSW was subjected to a hostile takeover by CEO Ryan Cullen. Our loyalty is as eternal to the end and we shall do the same for you too. There shall be no wavering from our word or vow to you."
Xiaolong: "I trust in your word. Right now I have my match and take one more step to fulfilling my destiny."
Commandrix: "We wish you well and the blessing of our leader Shaakar."
Xiaolong looks at her still dumbfounded by what she said but shrugs it off and they leave the room as the scene slowly fades to black.
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! Featuring first the challenger...Sylvester “the Prophesiser” Calvin!
“Shine” by Michael Sweet begins playing as the roar of a motorcycle is heard. Sylvester Calvin comes riding out onto the entrance stage in his custom built Harley Davidson. He rides it down to ringside, putting the kickstand down and parking it before stepping into the ring.
Taylor: Hasn’t this bike been down to ringside before?
Romano: Yeah. Why?
Taylor: Didn’t it get ruined?
Romano: One time the bike was broken. Doesn’t mean that it’ll happen this time.
Taylor: Alright.
Jessie Love: And his opponent...Chris Chamber!
“Kick in the Teeth” by Luka Skate begins playing as Chris Chamber walks out from the back, followed closely by his coach. The coach walks alongside Chamber, showing him something on a clipboard as they walk toward the ring. The coach stands outside of the ring opposite of where Sylvester’s bike is while Chris Chamber rolls into the ring to get ready for his match.
Taylor: I wonder what Chamber’s coach was showing him on the clipboard?
Romano: Probably dirty pictures.
Taylor: You think so?
Romano: No. It’s probably strategies for this match. Duh.
Taylor: No need to be rude.
Romano: No need to be a doofus.
Sylvester Calvin vs Chris Chamber
As the bell sounds to start the match, Sylvester Calvin bows his head in prayer. Chris Chamber looks at him curiously, staying back while looking on in some confusion.
Taylor: Shouldn’t Calvin had said his prayers before the match started?
Romano: You would have thought that he would have had his affairs in order by now.
Taylor: Affairs in order? He’s not dying!
Romano: We’re all dying slow deaths.
Eventually, Chris Chamber crosses the ring and sends a punch Sylvester’s way, but the praying man catches the fist without even looking up. Sylvester pulls Chris into an arm trapping bear hug before he starts headbutting Chris over and over again.
Sylvester releases Chris, watching him stagger backwards groggily. Sylvester clotheslines him to the mat and begins stomping the downed Chris Chamber before pulling him to his feet and whipping him into the ropes. On the rebound, Sylvester runs at Chris and jumps into the air to bring him down with a leaping clothesline!
Sylvester hits a quick knee drop, kneels by Chris, and pulls his arm way back before striking Chris in the chest with a heart punch that he drives straight down. He goes for the cover!
One
Two
Thre- Chris Chamber gets a shoulder up!
Taylor: Chamber has a little bit left in the gas tank!
Romano: Weird that he's worn down already. Though he hasn’t gotten a lick of offense in yet.
Sylvester stands up and hits a somersault senton. He jumps to his feet again and hits a garvin stomp, finishing the series of stomps with a mighty stomp to the face that brings some activity out of Chris when the stomp breaks his nose to send a splatter of blood across the mat.
Chris Chamber rolls away to his feet, dripping blood everywhere across the mat. He snarls as he rushes at Sylvester to attack him with both fists a flailing, but Sylvester drops down, bringing the enraged Chris down with a leg sweep. Chris falls down to the mat, hitting face first with a splatter of blood.
Taylor: Chris Chamber turning the mat red here.
Romano: He’s not much of a wrestler, but he’s a heck of a monocolor artist.
Taylor: He’s not that good of an artist either.
Romano: I was trying to be nice, but true.
Sylvester rolls the bloody Chris over and apples the mandible claw. It doesn’t take Chris long to tap out to the excruciating pain of the move. Sylvester Calvin stands up, his hand raised into the air by the referee.
Jessie Love: Winner of the match via submission...Sylvester Calvin!
Taylor: This was certainly a one sided affair.
Romano: I wonder if Chris Chamber even knew how to wrestle. I mean, was he trained?
Taylor: He got himself a contract with AWF. Doesn’t that mean he’s trained?
Romano: He could have lied on his application.
Taylor: guess he could have done that. If so, he won’t be here for long.
Romano: That’s what I’m thinking.
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! Featuring first the challenger...Alexander Shaw!
Repetitive distorted bass and punched drums funeral march forward as the opening guitar stabs of "Lean on the Ghost" by Young Widow blast over the PA.
As the lights fade up from black to icy blue, Alexander Shaw steps from behind the curtain. adjusting the leather glove on his right hand, he checks his hair making sure it is well out of his way before marching to the ring, ignoring the fans.
Those who reach out to slap his biceps, and those throwing out insults.
Circling the Ring once, he slides in as the song hits its first refrain of noisy guitar minimalism, waiting for the match to begin.
Taylor: Alexander looks ready for this match.
Romano: He better be ready, he will have to be facing Johnny Sniper.
Jessie Love: And his opponent...Johnny Sniper!
Sniper appears on stage holding an American flag before placing it in a holder on the stage he salutes it then turns around and salutes the audience after running down the ramp and sliding in under the bottom rope he takes a knee and performs a handgun gesture at Alexander Shaw.
Johnny Sniper vs Alexander Shaw
Alexander responds by running across the ring and kicking Johnny Sniper down to the mat. He continues to kick and then stomp the downed Sniper, who rolls out of the ring as the bell sounds to start the match.
Taylor: That was a rude opening to the match.
Romano: Sniper started it by pointing a gun at Shaw.
Taylor: A finger gun. Totally and obviously fake.
Romano: Not if he was a Z Fighter.
Taylor: What?
Romano: From Dragonball Z!
Taylor: That’s a cartoon!
Johnny Sniper reaches into the ring for Alexander Shaw’s feet, who jumps back to the middle of the ring to stay out of reach. Sniper rolls into the ring and to his feet as Alexander Shaw rushes at him and the two exchange punches. Alexander shifts gears, grabbing Johnny by the arm, and whipping him into the ropes. He goes for the lariat on the rebound, but Johnny ducks under the outstretched arm, and bounces off of the ropes on the other side. On the next rebound, Johnny hits a drop kick that sends Alexander staggering back to the ropes. Johnny is up again, hitting a second drop kick that nearly sends Alexander over the ropes.
Taylor: Johnny on the offensive!
Romano: Alexander nearly went for a ride there.
Johnny is back on his feet again, taking a swing at Alexander, who backs against the ropes to get away from the punch. He quickly rebounds into a lariat, taking Johnny down to the mat.
Alexander kicks Johnny a few times, but Johnny rolls away and to his feet. Alexander is on him, hitting a few European uppercuts, and taking Johnny down with a belly to belly suplex. He palms the side of Johnny’s head and pummels him with the other fist. At least until the ref yells at him to stop and begins a five count.
Alexander stands up, taking Johnny with him. He nails a few punches before whipping Johnny into the ropes. On the rebound, he hits a massive lariat that sends Johnny for a flip.
Taylor: He just turned Johnny Sniper inside out!
Romano: That was a heck of a clothesline.
Alexander backs up a bit as Johnny gets up before going back in to smash Johnny with a few lefts and rights. Johnny fires back and the brawling is on. They go back and forth for a few minutes before the ref gets in between them and makes them go to their separate corners.
Taylor: Why did the ref get involved there?
Romano: Because this is a wrestling match and not a boxing match?
Taylor: I suppose.
Romano: You remember that you’re a wrestling commentator and not a boxing one?
Taylor: Right.
Alexander runs across the ring, nearly taking down the referee in his haste, and clotheslines Johnny to the mat. Johnny tries to sit up, but gets kicked in the chest hard enough to lay him back to the mat. Alexander does a quick knee drop and goes for the pinfall.
One
Tw-Johnny kicks out!
Alexander pulls Johnny up, going for a suplex, but gets taken down in a jawbreaker instead! Johnny hits a cradle piledriver and goes for the cover.
One
Two
T-Alexander kicks out!
Johnny pulls Alexander up, steps back, and goes for the superkick! Alexander steps back and catches the foot. He drops the foot, grabs an arm, and pulls Johnny in for a short arm lariat to the throat that sends Johnny back down to the mat.
Taylor: Alexander with the Throatruiner!
Romano: True, but can he do a bit more than punch, kick, and lariat?
Taylor: Does he have to?
Romano: I suppose not.
Alexander goes for the pinfall!
One
Two
Three!
Jessie Love: Winner of the match via pinfall...Alexander Shaw!
Taylor: It was a hard fought match, but Alexander Shaw came out the winner.
Romano: Still. He’s not much more than a brawler. Is he?
Taylor: Sometimes being a basic brawler still gets it.
Romano: It did this time, but it might not next time.
Taylor: True that.
Static.
The camera shot begins from a shot pointing upwards as we see the newest signings to the XHF and the AWF in The Age of The Fall, the team and couple of Remy Ordox and Maria Banks are seen as Remy rubs his hands together whilst Maria places her hand on his shoulder.
REMY: Today, we have been blessed. Today, we have been honored to be standing here inside of an AWF show, watching everyone work their asses off to impress… to improve… to adapt… to be the best. Many have asked what is the end goal for The Age of The Fall, and well, there is no end goal in sight. There is no hope for the many that would try to stand up to us, we’re just going to knock you down.
MARIA: For the hopefuls, there are some that I just know are willing to join the cause. The Age of The Fall are willing to accept you with open arms if you just let us in, it’s simple. All you have to do is be with us and not against us, we’ve pledged this for years that we would change the wrestling landscape on a dime, and now with us being in the biggest federation within the XHF Network, we can fully show it to you.
REMY: The Age of The Fall isn’t just a brand name, it isn’t just a name to live by… It’s a way of life, it’s how we strive in the wrestling business, in and out of the ring. The Age of The Fall isn’t about the politics, we’re quite far from the opposite. We’re known best for being the disruptive, the deviant, and the downright disgusting. We come on our terms, not anyone else’s terms. For us, this is how we roll, and if you don’t like it… then I suggest you move the fuck out of our way, or we’ll put you on the hit list.
MARIA: Believe what Remy is speaking, this is a way for us to connect with others… or a way to find out who truly needs to be eradicated from this god forsaken place. We’re not here to become the best, again, we’re quite far from that. We know we’re the best, it’s up to the rest of them to decide if we’re the best right now. Of course, we don’t need to tell them that, all I ask of you to do is to look behind you.
The camera turns a full 180 degrees, showing the prone body of Travis Monroe, the AWF Around The Clock Champion. Remy and Maria take a few steps forward, passing by Monroe as they step over him and then turning back to the camera.
REMY: Take this man for example, Travis Monroe. For a very long time, he had to fight by other people’s sides. The Saga is what they called themselves. For a very long time, they couldn’t lace themselves up to other people’s boots. For a very long time, he needed to see things in a different light, a different aspect, a different vantage point. If we had came here sooner, we would have given him the opportunity to give him life in The Age of The Fall, but he didn’t seem up to it when we approached him.
MARIA: So we did what we did, and the results… well, you can see them for yourself now, can’t you?
She laughs.
MARIA: The Age of The Fall isn’t something to be taken lightly, more so, to be taken seriously or you’ll end up like poor Travis Monroe here. A shame really, because I would have expected him to be with his brother in arms, The Saga… or they must have finally parted ways, and they left their boy to be exiled. Poor Travis has gone M.I.A; missing in action, and where’s the rest of them to save him? A shame, Travis, it seems as if they’ve all forgotten about you.
REMY: Of course, The Age of The Fall wouldn’t forget you, but you left us with no choice but to take action and consequence when you declined our offer. Now that you didn’t release, we’ve come to take a piece.
Maria places a foot down on the prone Travis Monroe as a darkened figure drags a referee into the shot and throws him down onto the floor, he counts for the one… two… and three. A new champion has been crowned as Maria Banks picks up her newly won Around The Clock Championship. She places it right onto her shoulder as she continues to look down onto Travis Monroe. Remy looks right into the camera lens and places a finger on the golden center plate of the Around The Clock Championship that rests on Maria’s shoulder.
REMY: This is exactly what we’ve set ourselves out to do, this right here is just the beginning for The Age of The Fall! It starts with the gold, a set piece to be more precise. It ends with the gold, the end game to be more distinctively honest with everyone watching. Whether that is Tag Team gold or that is the Prestige Championship, the United States Championship or even the Phoenix Championship… It doesn’t matter, they’ll all be in our possession very soon.
MARIA: For we are The Age of The Fall, for we are one, and the end is near.
The feed quickly cuts to static for a few seconds and then to black before we hear the final words of…
MARIA: Fall and Pray.
...the feed then takes us back to ringside, ready for the next match to continue.
The arena is plunged into darkness as "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin echoes out of the speakers, triggering the attention of those in attendance to the stage where dark blue lights have started to flash in rhythm to the music.
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay
Taylor: One of the members of the ReVenants, Keith Williams has shown a lot of promise in this tournament- but tonight, in this four-way match, he’s going to have to face another member of the same team- Neo James Carner. How do you think that’s going to work out, Cassius?
Romano: Both of them definitely are hungry to become the number one contender to Merric’s Phoenix Championship- They might build an alliance, but I doubt it’ll last long tonight. Do I think it will affect their cohesiveness as a team afterward? No, they’re good friends.
Taylor: One could only imagine what it would be like if Garcia made it to the finals as well.
As the tempo of the song picks up, it can barely be seen that someone has made their way out in the pitch black, planting themselves in the middle of the stage. The lights return and we're shown the back of Keith Williams as he's pointing at what's on his clothing. He's noticeably wearing a black denim vest with patches of bands on the front, the words "Paragon of Sleaze" printed on the back in a death metal/black metal stylized font, and directly below this is a giant mustache graphic.
Williams spins around, stroking his mustache and gleefully taking a look out at the crowd. He slowly saunters his way down the rampway to ringside, taking his time to taunt fans on either side of him. As he reaches the ring, Keith goes to enter by rolling under the bottom rope, but hesitates for a moment to thrust against it to the beat of the song, eventually getting to his feet and treating everyone with another round of mustache strokes for good measure. He mounts the turnbuckle nearest to him, hopping up to the middle rope and posing with his arms spread wide. As the music dies down, KW abandons his post and tosses his vest to a company stooge on the outside, taking to practicing his elbows in the corner before turning to the entrance ramp.
The drum fill followed by the opening guitar riff for the title track off the fourth studio album by Canadian punk band Sum 41 begins to blare on the Ascension PA system. The fans begin to cheer as the lights go dark and a single spotlight appears on the ramp.
One, two, three, four-
The rest of the band joins the guitar as Adam Sanders emerges behind the curtain. The fans give the Awkward One loud cheers as the spotlight follows his trek towards the ring. He begins walking down the ramp but the curtains reopen again, with a figure staring down Sanders from behind.
Taylor: Wait… Who is..-?
Romano: Hold on a second! IT’S NEO JAMES CARNER!
Carner sprints down the ring as a smirk on Williams’ face slowly grows. Sanders wonders what’s funny- CARNER NAILS SANDERS IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD WITH A BRUTAL BICYCLE KNEE! THE AWKWARD ONE CRUMPLES TO THE FLOOR AS THE REF STARTS YELLING AT CARNER!
Taylor: NO! NEO-CLASSICAL KNEE STRIKE! THAT WAS A SNEAK ATTACK, THEY HAVEN’T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE RING YET!
Romano: From the look on Williams’ face he was in on it! Pretty clever of the ReVenants!
Taylor: Clever?! It’s cowardly!
Romano: They’re only seizing an opportunity, it’s strategic.
Carner picks up the limp Sanders and throws him into the ring! Williams wastes no time, using the ropes’ assistance to stomp a mudhole into Sanders’ chest while ignoring the referee’s outraged scorn! The ref tries to pull the Paragon of Sleaze off of Sanders, but he simply pushes the referee back!
Taylor: The match shouldn’t even start
Romano: It’s a four way- no disqualifications, what is the referee gonna disqualify for? Not playing fair? Speaking of it being a four-way, where is...
As Carner rolls into the ring as well, both ReVenants pick the practically unconscious Sanders up.- BUT DOWN THE RAMP XIAOLONG IS RUNNING IN! BOTH MEN DROP SANDERS AND TURN TO GET XIAOLONG AS HE LEAPS INTO THE RING WITH A DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE, XIAOLONG DODGES- REBOUNDS OFF THE ROPES AND HITS THEM BOTH WITH A RUNNING DROPKICK! Williams falls out of the ring and Carner drops to the mat! Xiaolong briefly looks down at Sanders and tells the ref to ask him if he can still compete. Sanders, trying to shake off the cobwebs, says yes! The bell rings and the match officially begins!
XHF Phoenix Championship Number One Contender Final
Fatal Four-Way
Keith Williams vs Adam Sanders vs Neo James Carner vs Xiaolong
Xiaolong quickly walks over to Carner as the Menace of Opulence begins to stand- ROLLING SAVATE KICK TO CARNER AND HE GOES BACK DOWN!
Taylor: What a kick to the chest of Carner!
Romano: What is Xiaolong doing?! He should be focusing on Sanders and finish him off for the easy win. He’s the most hurt out of all of them.
Taylor: He’s giving Sanders time to recover- He wants a fair fight.
Romano: He’s an idiot for it.
Carner rolls out of the ring to catch his breath. Xiaolong follows him outside, he goes to lift Carner up and drops him with a SNAP SUPLEX on the floor! Xiaolong gets back and looks at the downed Heaven Sent Essence before Williams grabs him and turns the Super Dragon around! DISCUS ELBOW INTO THE CHIN OF XIAOLONG!
Taylor: QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE! XIAOLONG IS OUT LIKE A LIGHT!
Romano: HE MAY BE OUT FOR THE REST OF THE MATCH!
Williams climbs back into the ring to see Sanders climbing in the corner, still dazed! The Paragon of Sleaze winds up a STIFF Knife-Edge Chop to Sanders’ chest! Sanders falls out of the corner, holding where a red handprint is on his skin. Williams then delivers a harsh stomp to the Awkward One’s back and he goes down completely! Carner climbs back into the ring and looks down at Sanders, then over to Williams. Both smile at each other as Williams lifts Sanders UP… and DROPS HIM FACE FIRST WITH A GOURDBUSTER. Sanders sits up on his knees, stunned as Carner rebounds off the ropes- SLIDING LARIAT TO SANDERs! The ReVenants take in their work as Xiaolong begins to move on the outside.
Taylor: They’re ganging up on Sanders!
Romano: Just doing the logical thing, working on the most hurt one in the match.
Carner rebounds off the ropes again- does a little dance, then drops the knee onto Sanders’ face! Sanders writhes in pain!
Taylor: NEO SYMPHO-KNEE!
Romano: The Awkward One, god I can’t believe I just said that, is hurt bad.
Carner begins lifting Sanders up again for a flapjack! Williams about to spike Sanders with the DDT- but SANDERS ELBOWS CARNER ON THE TOP OF THE HEAD AND WIGGLES OUT! WILLIAMS RUNS AT SANDERS BUT GETS CAUGHT DEVASTATING SPINEBUSTER ONTO THE MAT! HE THEN TURNS BACK TO CARNER WITH A GLARE!
Taylor: Sanders is LIVID!
Romano: Carner better get the hell outta there for his own sake.
Carner, realizing how screwed he is, begins backing up and trying to plead with Sanders. He then SNEAKS FOR A PUNCH, BUT SANDERS CATCHES IT- AND SMILES. HE THEN PUMMELS CARNER WITH A FOREARM THAT ECHOES THROUGHOUT THE RING. CARNER GOES LIMP!
Taylor: JESUS!
Romano: I think I saw a tooth fly out of his mouth!
Sanders holds onto him and puts him into a front facelock with a double underhook! DDT TO CARNER AND IT SENDS HIM FLIPPING OVER ONTO HIS BACK!
Taylor: MOTOR CITY CIRCUIT!
Romano: RIGHT ON TOP OF THE SKULL! HE NEEDS TO GO IN FOR THE PIN!
The Awkward One quickly goes to hook the leg. The ref drops to count.
ONE!
TWO-
WILLIAMS BREAKS THE COUNT AND TACKLES SANDERS OFF OF CARNER! He delivers a strong European Uppercut to Sanders, sending him leaning against the ropes! He then sits him up on the top ropes and climbs up- DIVING LARIAT TO SANDERS, SENDING HIM BACK INTO THE RING WITH A THUD!
Taylor: OFF WITH HIS HEAD! OFF WITH HIS HEAAAD!
Romano: THE AMOUNT OF PUNISHMENT SANDERS HAS TAKEN IN THIS MATCH IS TOO MUCH- HE MIGHT NOT MAKE IT!
Carner begins to recover and both men begin walking over to Sanders. Both begin to stomp a mudhole into him but wait.. XIAOLONG COMES BACK IN WITH A KENDO STICK TO THE BACK OF WILLIAMS- HE GOES DOWN INSTANTLY! CARNER TURNS AROUND TO GET WHACKED IN THE FOREHEAD!
Taylor: XIAOLONG WITH A KENDO STICK?!
Romano: It’s not illegal in a match without rules!
Xiaolong looks down at Sanders, who begins starting to move. He raises the kendo stick, though seems.. Conflicted. Once Sanders looks up at him, Xiaolong falters… and THROWS THE STICK OUT OF THE RING!
Taylor: A great sign of sportsmanship!
Romano: He should’ve taken the shot!
Xiaolong waits for Sanders to get up and hits him with a forearm! Sanders stumbles back and responds with one of his own! Xiaolong stumbles back as well, but trades another! They begin going back and forth! Sanders! Xiaolong! Sanders! Xiaolong! They both keel over, but Xiaolong grabs Sanders by the wrist and catches him with A RIPCORD LARIAT!
Taylor: THAT’S ONE! HE’S GOING FOR THE DESALATOR!
Xiaolong goes for ANOTHER AND GETS IT, KNOCKING SANDERS BACK DOWN! He then lifts Sanders by the wrist one more time and goes for THE SUPERKICK- SANDERS DODGES OUT OF THE WAY! Xiaolong realizes he’s missed and turns the kick around into a roundhouse, hitting Sanders and sending him stumbling back, holding his jaw- BUT THEN CHARGES AT XIAOLONG! The Dynamo Dragon counters with a Japanese arm drag! Sanders gets back up and gets caught with ANOTHER arm drag! Xiaolong goes to leap at the Awkward One but gets CAUGHT INTO A ELEVATED POWERBOMB!
Taylor: NEEEEERD OUTTTTTTTT!
Romano: DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO LOUD, TAYLOR?!
Taylor: SORRY!
Carner manages to get back up and charges at Sanders, NEO-CLASSICAL KNEE AGAIN!
Taylor: HE GOT HIM WITH THE KNEE STRIKE!
Romano: QUICK! PIN HIM!
CARNER QUICKLY GOES FOR THE PIN!
ONE!
TWO!
THR-!
WILLIAMS BREAKS UP THE COUNT! Carner can’t believe it! He stands up and looks at the other ReVenant! Sanders falls out of the ring under the bottom rope, unresponsive.
Taylor: Uh oh..
Romano: Well, we knew this was going to happen eventually.
Both men begin to argue! Carner points at Sanders, telling him that they should work together! Williams raises his hands in surrender, grimacing slightly as they both turn back over to Xiaolong and Sanders.
Romano: Maybe they’re more cohesive than I tho-
WILLIAMS GOES FOR A ROLLUP ON CARNER SUDDENLY!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE- NO, KICKOUT AT THE LAST MILLISECOND! CARNER GETS UP AND GLARES A HOLE INTO WILLIAMS! WILLIAMS, WITH A NERVOUS SMILE BACKS AWAY! He points back over to the other two unconscious men in the ring! Carner seemingly gets over it.
Taylor: He almost betrayed him and he’s going to forgive him!
Romano: Never took NJC as the forgiving type.
As they both walk over to Xiaolong, SUDDENLY CARNER TURNS AND LIFTS UP WILLIAMS INTO A FIREMAN’S CARRY- GOING FOR HIS TRADEMARK REVERSE THROW DVD!
Taylor: WHAT?!
Romano: YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO!
BUT WAIT- WILLIAMS MANAGES TO WIGGLE OUT OF IT AND GET BACK TO HIS FEET! BOTH REVENANTS STARE AT EACH OTHER WITH SHOCK- then suddenly start throwing fists at each other!
Taylor: Looks like their temporary alliance in this match is over!
Romano: Thanks for the obvious!
WILLIAMS LIFTS CARNER UP FOR THE EMERALD FLOWSION, BUT CARNER SLIPS OUT- WILLIAM MANAGES TO TURN AROUND AND SEND CARNER BACKWARD WITH A BICYCLE KICK!
Taylor: PUMP KICK!
Romano: Wait, look at Xiaolong!
Xiaolong stealthily climbs up to the top rope behind Williams- about to go for the DSD! BUT SANDERS SHOWS BACK UP ON THE APRON WITH A FOREARM TO THE SIDE OF XIAOLONG’S CHIN! He climbs back into the ring and up to the top tiredly, seemingly going for superplex! Williams eventually notices and goes over, reaching under Sanders to go for a powerbomb!
Taylor: Oh no..
TOWER OF DOOM SUPERPLEX! XIAOLONG FLIES INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE RING AND SANDERS GETS POWERBOMBED! WILLIAMS CRUMPLES IN THE CORNER TIREDLY!
Taylor: That took out both Sanders and Xiaolong!
Romano: But it also took the wind out of Williams’ chest!
Williams tiredly rolls over onto the apron, trying to catch his breath. Carner reemerges, holding his head and looking over toward Xiaolong- then Sanders- and Williams who’s not paying any attention! He realizes the opportunity at hand!
Carner quickly goes to lift Xiaolong up into a Fireman’s Carry- AND DROPS HIM BACK DOWN WITH A SPINEBUSTER!
Taylor: SPATIAL REND!
Romano: THAT HAS TO BE IT!
CARNER GOES FOR THE COVER!
ONE!
Sanders isn’t stirring. Williams realizes what’s happening.
TWO!
WILLIAMS TRIES TO CLIMB BACK IN AND BREAK THE COUNT, BUT GETS CAUGHT UP IN THE ROPES AND SLIPS OFF THE APRON!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
Jessie Love: AND THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS….. NEO! JAMES! CAAARRNEEERRRRRRR!
Taylor: What a match!
Romano: Now THAT’S how you seize an opportunity,. Taylor! NJC saw his chance and took it!
Taylor: Look at the entrance, it’s Aiden Merric!
As the referee helps Carner up to raise his hand. Carner looks over to see Aiden Merric with the Phoenix Championship around his shoulder at the entrance! Merric simply crosses his arms, staring down Carner from the ramp as Carner climbs up to the top turnbuckle. Staring back at Merric, he does a belt gesture around his waist.. And then points at Merric’s title.
Taylor: He’s making it clear what he wants- the Phoenix Championship!
Romano: And after the performance tonight, I won’t be surprised one bit if he becomes the next Phoenix Champion at Beach Blast!
*"Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" hits the arena as an imitation sandstorm is created in the entranceway and Aiden Merric emerges from it chewing nicotine gum and wearing his XHF Phoenix Championship on his waist. He spits the gum and puts a patch on his arm before stretching and walking to the ring with a purpose. He rolls into the ring and calls for a microphone.*
Aiden Merric: Right, I’ve been sitting on the sidelines while the company puts a bunch of new talent through the ringer to find out who should get their face caved in by yours truly. But I didn’t come here to sit on my arse and rest on my laurels. This belt here is my trophy but it deserves to be fought over to raise its prestige.
Romano: Seems the Phoneix Champion is a little antsy Tommy.
Taylor: But what do you think he wants out here Cassius?
Aiden Merric: And it’s been a while since I fought Rob Garcia and caved his head in. Bloke didn’t even make it to the second round. Like I said would happen …
Taylor: Well it was a hard fought battle between Garcia and new recruit Adam Sanders.
Aiden Merric: But the way I see it there is plenty of meat in the locker room who wants air time on this show so I am hereby issuing an open challenge to the first lucky son of a bitch who steps into this ring. Come show me the vaunted fight of the AWF locker room and give me the challenge I yearn for.
*”Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse hits and we see the champion’s smile visibly fade as he puts his head in his hands. Out onto the stage steps Terry Bradshaw in full football attire.*
Romano: Well … he did ask after all.
Bradshaw: Well if it isn’t Mr. Andrew Merken.
Taylor: Aiden Merric … oh who am I kidding he doesn’t care.
Bradshaw: We’ve been running around challenging for that Around the Clock title so I could get my revenge on that bastard clock for a while now! But if it’s a challenge for another title you are issuing then I HAVE THE FIGHT FOR YOU BUDDY!
Aiden Merric: I need to choose my words more carefully next time. So you intend to take my title … dressed like a sodding American footballer? Or more accurately …
*Aiden spins around and catches Copycat popping him up and catching him with a massive European Uppercut sending him sprawling on the mat.*
Romano: What a Tranquilizer from Merric.
Taylor: I think the AWF faithful are getting tired of seeing poor Copycat put out to pasture week in and out by Terry Bradshaw.
Copycat:AHHHH! MISTER BRADSHAW HE KNEW THE TACTIC! I think he broke my jaw. How will I eat my gruel now?
Bradshaw: STOP WHINING COPYCAT YOU GOT HIM ON THE ROPES! NOW FLOAT LIKE AN ELEPHANT STING LIKE WHEN I PEE!
*Aiden sighs and hands his belt to the Steve Tyrell who has slid into the ring. He then backs up to the ropes.*
Jessie Love: This match is scheduled for one fall and is for the XHF Phoenix Championship! In the ring are the challenger, COPYCAT! And the champion, AIDEN “OUTBACK” MERRIC!
XHF Phoenix Championship Match
Aiden Merric (c) vs Copycat
*The bell rings and Copycat gingerly gets to his feet and turns to see the champ charging in for a superman punch to the face.*
Taylor: Ouch the Stun Gun from Aiden Merric.
*Aiden shakes his head and extends his hand to Copycat. Copycat looks at it then up at Merric with tears in his eyes of joy for someone helping him. Aiden helps him to his feet … then doesn’t let go. He shoves him back and pulls in for the ripcord rainmaker lariat! Copycat is turned inside out and lays in a heap on the mat.*
Romano: Oof. Well Target Neutralized by Merric. It’s academic here.
*He pins. Tyrell counts. One! Two! Three!*
Jessie Love: Your winner and still XHF Phoenix Champion … AIDEN MERRIC!
*Aiden turns to Terry Bradshaw who looks at him.*
Bradshaw: You think you’re a tough guy Crocodile Dundee? COPYCAT NOW PIN HIM! IT’S 24/7!
*Aiden sighs and picks up the limp Copycat. He then fires him like a lawn dart over the ropes at Terry who moves out of the way and lets Copycat slam head first into the entrance ramp where he stands on his head briefly before falling to the side in a very undignified manner. Aiden then exits the ring and feints a lunge at Bradshaw as he then shakes his head and moves up the ramp with his title.*
Aiden Merric: Bloody hell we can do better than this …
Taylor: Certainly an authoritative win by the champion.
Romano: Yes but he was less than enthused. Hopefully, he gets his wish for a fight from the Neo James Carner at Beach Blast!
Jessie Love: The following match is scheduled for ONE FALL
Taylor: ONE FALL!
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, is that greed, for a lack of a better word, is good.”
The harsh beat to the intro of “NWO” by Ministry is joined swifty by the electronic siren sound. The Tron is filled with images relating to the stock market. Chrid Card and Cross Recoba walk out of the entrance gate, a confident, almost cocky grin forming on both of their faces.
“I'm in love without the tears of regret
Open fire 'cause I love it to death
Sky high with a heartache of stone
You'll never see me 'cause I'm always alone “
Jessie Love: Introducing first, accompanied by "Le Champion des Champions" Chris Card, he hails from Las Vegas, Nevada and weighed in tonight at two hundred and thirty pounds, The Man Worth One THOUSAND Bullets, CROSS RECOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBAAAAAAAAA!
Taylor: Cross Recoba has been impressing many in his short AWF career.
Romano: This young man has a bright future and his association with the AWF's savviest business mind is only going to help.
Taylor: These guys were tag teaming years before winding up in AWF!
Romano: Savvy businessman with an eye for talent. Never said I didn't know about their past, Taylor.
High Finance walk down to the ring, soaking up the atmosphere and crowd reaction, positive or negative they are getting. Both men slide under the bottom rope and climb to adjacent turnbuckles, standing on the second rope, smiling crocodile smiles and rubbing their thumbs across the inside of their fingers as if flipping notes off a stack they’re holding.
The intro riff of Flying High Again by Ozzy tips through the speakers.
Oh No. Here We Go Now
Rat Bastard and Steve Awesome come strutting out into the stage. Rat has a beer in his hand and is trash talking the crowd on his side. Steve is crotch chopping and showing off his abs to taunt the crowd.
“Momma's gonna worry
I been a bad bad boy
No use sayin' sorry
It's something that I enjoy”
Jessie Love: And his opponent, being accompanied to the ring by "The Awesome One" Steve Awesome, ALSO fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, he weighed in at two hundred and eighty five pounds, RAAAAAAAAAT BAAAAAASTAAAAAARD
Taylor: Rat Bastard, from the sleazier end of the Vegas Strip.
Romano: You mean there's a non sleazy end? Colour me surprised.
Rat insults a fan and threatens to slap them before gulping some beer and getting into the ring. Steve flirts with some guys thirsty wife then laughs in the dudes face before sliding into the ring.
If you could be inside my head
You'd see that black and white is red
Flying high again
Flying high again
Both men hit their entrance poses in the ring as pyro spray from the turnbuckle. Steve provocatively strips down to his ring gear and Rat chugs the rest of his beer.
Rat Bastard vs Cross Recoba
Rat and Cross step up to each other in the center of the ring. Rat smirks, looking at the size advantage he has and considering his far greater experience. Rat grins a sickening grin, all washed with dirt and sleaze as he raises his hand up high for a test of strength, knowing that it's too high for Cross Recoba to reach. Recoba immediately grabs Rat's other arm and wrenches it out into a wristlock. Cross applies a little torque to Rat's wrist but Ratty muscles him round using a ton of strength and slings Cross off into the ropes. Rat squares up and shoulder blocks Cross down to the canvas, earning a round of applause from Steve Awesome.
Taylor: Rat has a lot of power behind that attitude of his.
Romano: The more Ratty McB can exercise that power, the better chance he has.
Rat sneers as he lays a couple of boots into Cross, but Recoba is a smart man and picks the leg on Rat's third swing of his boot. Rat faceplants to the mat and The Man Of A Thousand Bullets uses his mat wrestling to work round into a grounded side headlock. He punctuates the hold wtih a couple of stiff elbows to Rat's head before bending Ratty into a pinning combination.
ONE!
Rat sharply kicks out.
Taylor: Cross showing his mat skills there.
Romano: If you've known Rat for as long as I have, you'll know that outclassing him on the at is a sound strategy.
Looking vaguely annoyed by this, Rat jumps to his feet and runs his fingers through his greasy hair, making a flicking motion at Cross. Recoba's facial expression doesn't change as he smashes a stiff kick into Rat's ribs. Rat sucks up the blow and responds with an overhand right that staggers Cross back a couple of steps and Rat charges in quickly, hooking Cross's head and turning it over into a neckbreaker. Rat covers...
ONE!
Cross easily kicks out. Steve Awesome claps again at the move. Chris Card, meanwhile, is impassive as he seems to be studying everything that is going on very closely.
Taylor: Rat Bastard looking to go for Cross' neck right away.
Romano: When your finish is cranking back on a man's face hyperextending his neck, it's a sound strategy.
Rat rolls away to his feet. As Cross gets to a seated position, Rat punts him in the face. Following up immediately, Rat grabs cross by his perfect hair and hauls the smaller man up. Rat back elbows Cross in the stomach, doubling The Box Office Sensation up before Rat grabs the head and drops, smoothly planting Cross' head into the mat with a DDT. Rat swirls round on the mat to get the right angle and covers, planting both of his feet on the bottom rope.
ONE..
Chris Card causally saunters across the referee's sightlines, naturally drawing his gaze to the illegal pin and the referee stops the count.
Taylor: You know how you usually say "If the ref didn't see it, it's not cheating?"
Romano: Chris Card just made sure the referee saw the cheating.
Taylor: Without getting physically involved and risking a DQ!
Romano: It's the little things.
Steve Awesome is apoplectic at the interference and calls over the referee to get Card thrown out. The ref shrugs at Awesome but Rat knows that this is his moment. He lines up Cross and wings his arm directly ad Recoba's crotch. AND CROSS RECOBA GRABS RATTY'S WRIST AND STEPS OVER INTO AN ARMBAR!
Taylor: ANTI THEFT DEVICE!
Cross torques on the arm, but Rat reaches out with his legs towards the ropes. Awesome strides over and places Rat's leg back on the bottom rope before gesticulating to the referee to break the hold. Card checks his watch as the referee counts...
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
FOUR!
And Cross breaks the hold at 4.99999. Rat rolls away, shaking blood flow back into his arm. Awesome and Card face off outside the ring, Awesome looking smug and superior and Card... looking worryingly professional. Meanwhile, back in the ring Cross closes on Rat and fires off a quick triple of roundhouse kick, roundhouse kick, spinning sole butt to Rat's ribcage. Rat stumbles forward a half step and his head drops to within Cross' reach. Cross hooks in a 3/4 facelock and backflips, landing on his butt and driving the back of Ratty's head into the mat HARD.
Taylor: SICILIAN TYPEWRITER!
Cross leans forwards and locks in a steaded pin
ONE!
TWO!
TH... Rat Bastard kicks loose.
Now Rat is pissed off. He grabs Cross by the hair again and pulls him down into a standing head scissors and points towards the other side of the ring. After flicking his hair again, Rat lifts Cross up and spreads his arms wide before kneeling down and THROWING CROSS A CLEAR TWO THIRDS OF THE WAY ACROSS THE RING!
Taylor: THE PLAGUE! THE PLAGUE!
Rat follows up quickly and grabs straight for Cross rather than attempting a pin. Ratty flips Cross' body over and stands over his head, adding a little boot for effect. The Ratty One reaches down with his long musclur arms and DEADLIFTS CROSS OFF THE MAT! Rat clutches tight and lifts Cross up high, exposing Cross' back to the mat before DRIVING HIM DOWN HARD WITH A POWERBOMB!
Taylor: BASTARD BOMB!
Rat covers this time...
ONE!
TWO!
TH.. Cross kicks out. Steve Awesome hops up onto the ring apron and motions for Rat to come over for a "strategy meeting." Awesome reaches into his trunks for something and the cameras (but not the ref) catch Awesome palming a pair of brass knuckles to his Awesome Bastards partner. Rat Bastard loads up his fist and waits as Cross Recoba slowly stumbles to his feet. Rat cocks his fist back and prepares to strike...
Chris Card: CHECK HIS FIST, REF!
Rat Bastard pauses for a second at Chris Card's shout and the referee, showing an unhcaracteristic level of vision actually SPOTS the brass knuckles that Rat had put on. The referee orders Rat to take them off and Rat has to comply, through gritted teeth. The referee grabs the knuckles and walks over to a neutral corner as Awesome shrugs at the ref, indicating that he had NO idea how the knuckles got there. Meanwhile Card is up on the ring apron and as Cross turns to him, Card throws a small, familiar spray bottle into to his tag team partner. The ref is busy dealing with the knuckles as Cross in one swift motion, SPRAYS A FINE MIST INTO RATTY McB'S FACE AND FLINGS THE BOTTLE OVER HIS HEAD BACK OUT OF THE RING! RAT CLUTCHES HIS FACE IN AGONY!
Taylor: THE AEROSOL EQUALIZER!
Romano: If you're going to cheat, cheat well.
Steve Awesome screams at the ref to disqualify Cross for the shenanigans, but with no evidence left lying around (Card has already caught and repocketed the bottle) the referee can't do anything against Cross. Rat stumbles around the ring in pain and Cross hooks his legs with a simple Inside Cradle...
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Jessie Love: The winner of this match, CROSS REEEECOOOOOOBAAA!
Taylor: That was daylight robbery!
Romano: Did you expect a clean match with these competitors?
Taylor: I hoped for one.
Romano: Hopes and dreams rarely coincide with reality, Taylor.
Taylor: Let's go to commercial before this situation gets any further out of hand.
Planet Earth, 1,250 years from now…
Camera fades in showing a city in flames from a high altitude angle. The camera then zoomed in to buildings collapsing, hundreds of thousands of corpses falling from hovering ships that were set up as floating neighborhoods where the rich lived for hundreds of years.
Then it zoomed in further to a sector in a city in the ground showing people dropping dead after being consumed by what seemed to be a rapid plague turning the bodies black and subsequently disintegrated. The camera then shoots what seemed to be a giant metal wall with a name written on it “Stellia”.
Then a journalist showed on camera completely frightened by the events in that city and started telling the story of the same.
Journalist: For all the gods in this universe, thousands of people are dying LITERALLY every second, the devastation is overwhelming, the entire city is being devoured by a… plague, or by a truculent nano-organism or black magic, who knows! All we know is that it all started as soon as one man! raised his hands to the sky and recited a few words in an unknown language, while meditating in the center of the city's central park!
The journalist sounded very scared, her words gasped, her eyes wide with terror. Suddenly someone spoke to her on the plug in her left ear and she was even more scared.
Journalist: I just got word that the same thing is happening here in Dei Milites city as well as the other two mega cities! This is the end… THIS IS THE EEEEND!
The camera goes dark and then shows a woman of approximately 26 years of age and a man whose appearance was that of a 35-year-old human, boarding a spaceship in a hurry.
The spaceship was relatively small, it only had space for six people in the cabin, in the body of it there were 9 residential compartments, six of them were the residential spaces for the crew, a kitchen, a bathroom equipped with technology to convert organic waste to alternative energy and the last space could be assigned for different purposes such as an emergency room or a gym. The next section in the body was a modest storage space, then the engines that were powered by Exaxicilium, a component found in the crater that a 10-meter rock that fell from the sky, left. Just one gram of it, could power a city as big as Los Angeles for 20 years.
Guillotina: I was late, I couldn’t stop him in time!
MIA: My calculations conclude that you had a 0.000000000012 chance at ever finding what was going on according to the information I gathered from the events that led to the attack from that human.
Guillotina: But if we do this, if we go to the past, we will be able to stop him from ever getting captured by CHILLION and make him into a biological weapon, right?!
MIA: If everything goes right, that is affirmative. There is something that you must know however.
Guillotina: What is that?
MIA: Time traveling requires a huge amount of power that this spaceship cannot provide even with Exixicilium, with our current source of power, we would only be able to go back in time six months. However…
Guillotina: However? Said with an exasperated voice.
MIA: We do count with such power but I have to harvest it from my core and enable the engines to process dark matter.
Guillotina: Wait what? You are powered by Dark Matter? Hold on! Super Intelligent Humanoids powered by dark matter are extremely expensive and if I remember correctly, I purchased you for cheap.
MIA: The vendor made a mistake that surely cost him his life. With the current amount of dark matter that I got in store, I could operate for 24,875 New Earth years. In other words, I would outlive you by several millennials of years. But! To time travel into the past I would have to use 95% of the dark matter stored in my core.
Guillotina: Just to go back 20 years?!
Guillotina leans his head down and nodes in frustration.
MIA: That means…
Guillotina: That I will be stuck in time since you will not have the energy to bring us back to the present.
MIA: That is correct.
Guillotina: A small price to pay to save everyone. Do it!
MIA: I already did.
Guillotina: Then why even bring it up?!
MIA: You are my owner, I had to get confirmation of action from you. Initializing procedure.
The camera zooms out to show the spaceship slowly taking off from the ground to hovering position. Then the engines powered up and the spacecraft was surrounded by a black cloud that deployed electromagnetic shocks. A few seconds later the machine vanished from the space it occupied.
The camera fades to black and then fades back into the couple getting off the ship as MIA sets the spaceship to camouflage mode. Guillotine however showed a puzzled face as the world they spawned in was completely different from the world he expected to see only 20 back in time.
Guillotina: MIA… WHEN the hell are we?
MIA: We seem to have spawned in the year 2020, exactly 1,250 years into the past.
Camera fades to dark as Guillotina grabbed his head with both hands and kneeled in the ground.
Romano: Well, that was strange…
Taylor: I’m not sure quite what to make of it, to be honest.
Romano: With luck, we’ll know more in the next week or so.
Taylor: Anyways, Jessie Love is in the ring, ready for our next match!
Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for one fall! And is a non-title match!
All the lights in the arena die out and the piped in sounds start chanting
his name.
"AWE-SOME! AWE-SOME! AWE-SOME!"
Dramatic Pause.
"REGRETS I'VE HAD MINE!"
The lights in the arena explode to life as they flash green and black to the beat as Steve Awesome comes running out with intensity to the hyped up chorus of "Full of Regrets" by Danko Jones.
Lonely nights/ and a whole lot of wasted time!
If you see her wont you tell her for me/
It's better this way to avoid all the misery
Jessie Love: Introducing first, he is one half of The Awesome Bastards, The Blast of the Past, The Only One That Matters, The Self-Proclaimed Face of the Franchise...STEVE ...AWESOME!!!
Romano: He’ll be hoping for a better result than he just witnessed his partner get out of tonight!
Taylor: There’ll be time to get their revenge on High Finance, for now though he has a great opportunity to make the conversation about the United States title and who should face Strychnine next very awkward!
Romano: A win, in his first solo outing in the AWF, would make for an extremely impressive debut!
The chorus plays again as Steve walks down to the ring. The guitar starts soloing and Steve hops into the ring and he provocatively slips off his jacket and then spins and drops into a kneel and he flexes his arms. He gets a slow motion effect as pyro sprays behind him.
Jessie Love: Introducing his opponent…
The lights go down and the sound of people cheering starts to play. Spotlights come up in pairs, focused on the stage until Stagefright starts to play as fog covers the stage and strobing purple lights play along with the song. Slowly a platform rises from the center of the stage, revealing a figure in an elaborate velvet robe, with "Tommy Strychnine" signed on the back in flickering LEDs.
Tommy spins around when the lyrics start and shrugs off the robe, lip-synching along to the song and imitating playing guitar as he makes his way down the ramp.
Jessie Love: Standing at five feet and ten inches, and weighing in at a hundred-and-seventy-five pounds...He is THE CURRENT AWF UNITED STATES CHAMPION...TOMMY!!! STRYCHNINE!!!
Romano: Tommy got that awkward first title defense out the way last time around at Prestige where he put away Dakota Jennings before all hell broke loose!
Taylor: You’ve got to say that the belt in Tommy’s possession is the most packed in terms of contenders to take it away from the rocker.
Romano: He’ll be watching on intently after this match, but first he needs to make sure he isn’t creating another contender for that belt in Awesome!
When he gets to the ring, he poses on the turnbuckle with his guitar, pretending to play along with the song, before handing off the guitar to the ring crew and doing a flip off the turnbuckle into a powerslide as pyro goes off from the corners of the ring.
Non-Title Match
Tommy Strychnine vs Steve Awesome
The bell rings and both Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine stare one another. Without breaking eye contact, Tommy points to the commentator's desk, where his AWF United States Championship lays there. With no fear in his eyes, he says aloud, "THIS IS MINE." Steve Awesome smiles. He doesn't feel threatened - and if he does, he certainly doesn't show it. He extends his arm and motions to the belt, but quickly bends his elbow and SLAP - sends an open hand that spins Tommy around. It's a lightning loud CRACK that echoes so loud that even despite the empty arena, is quite impressive still, nonetheless. Tommy turns around with a red outline of a hand splashed out on his left face cheek and his mouth agape in utter disbelief. With barely a second thought, the AWF United States Champion TACKLES down Steve Awesome and sends him down for a series of strikes. Awesome tries to defend by closing the guard and defending his face with his arms.
Taylor: What such utter disrespect! The champion did not like it!
Romano: It's something that someone like Awesome would do. This is not just about wrestling for him. This is about making a statement.
Strychnine is filled with vitriol, making sure he gets his punches in. The issue here is that while he's certainly landing strikes onto Awesome, Awesome's protection allows him to minimize the damage, preventing an automatic knockout. Adjusting the way he needs to be, Awesome catches a strike, pins it to the ground and flips the champion onto his back. With a middle finger, Awesome sends one more SLAP across his opponent's face and gets up. He then runs the ropes. Upon his rebound, he hops over Strychnine, who himself is rising up. As he gets up, he finds Awesome faced away and at the ropes. He's planning on making this moment memorable. As he finds Awesome approaching the ropes, Tommy Strychnine launches a dropkick with VERY HIGH ALTITUDE. HE'S GOING FOR THE FACE! ...But he hits nothing but open air. As he hits the ropes without even seeing behind him, he grasped the ropes. He finds Strychnine on the ground, trying to rise up. Awesome takes this moment to send a punt kick so hard, he's showing his NFL career potential. Strychnine grasps his stomach in pain. Steve Awesome, however, laughs at his misfortune.
Taylor: What a crummy thing of Steve! He's making himself to be the biggest jerk in the world!
Romano: He's doing this intentionally to make Strychnine look bad. See, most wrestlers just try to attack their opponents' bodies. Steve Awesome wants to attack his spirit as well.
Steve Awesome bends down and grabs Strychnine by his long, 80s style hair, and forces him up to the feet. He brings him over to the ropes where he lays his neck over them. He begins to lay on them. Junior Referee Steve Tyrell begins to count: ...ONE! ...TWO! ...THREE! ...FOUR! ...FI- Awesome lets go. Tommy Strychnine gasps for breath. Steve Awesome poses for the crowd while Tommy recovers. There's no one in the audience, but that doesn't stop the member of The Awesome Bastards from wanting to show himself off at every moment he possibly can. Without a care in the world, he ds himself over the ropes. He takes his sweet time. After all, Tommy Strychnine is on the floor and defensele-Wait. He's not on the floor!
Taylor: TIGER FEINT KICK!
Romano: Steve Awesome should NOT have been there!
Steve Awesome is knocked off his feet and lands in the middle of the ring. This leaves Steve Awesome open for his finisher, Kiss Me Deadly! It's his slingshot springboard V trigger! Tommy Strychnine is tired. He's actually quite famished, but he's not going to let himself go like this. Strychnine jumps. He goes for it and Steve Awesome for the dear life of him BARELY dodges the attack! Tommy Strychnine recovers quite well from the attack, but Awesome wipes the sweat from his brow and breathes heavily. But what's this? THE REFEREE IS DOWN!
Taylor: Things are NOT looking good!
Romano: Oh boy. Oh no. Oh, Steve Awesome and Tommy Strychnine. Both are cheaters. Who's going to do it first?
Steve Awesome looks to the side, to the fallen referee. And he smiles. He looks over to the other side of him and there, Tommy Strychnine is right next to him. He actually doesn't see him quite as well as he sees his fist. Steve Awesome hits the ground hard. Tommy actually yells, "FUCK! THAT FEELS SO GOOD!" Tommy feels even better with a kick to Steve! He then decides to capitalize by climbing up to the top rope. Awesome begins squirming and climbing to his feet, but Tommy Strychnine follows up with a reverse facing senton. STAGE DIVE! IT HITS! He'd stay for the pin, but he looks over and... Well, the referee is still down. Steve Awesome is down and Tommy Strychnine is pissed.
Taylor: Here lies the problem.
Romano: Let's see what happens.
Tommy Strychnine goes for the next steps but that's when...
Taylor: Oh no.
Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones plays and it's none other than.
Romano: Damn it, Rat Bastard. This isn't your match! Get out of here!
Rat Bastard comes out and he has a metal pipe in his hand and a sniveling grin on his face. Tommy Strychnine is waving his hands away and saying, "Get the hell out of here!" Rat Bastard is smiling and laughing. He replies, "I'm just checking on the piping here! There's an issue somewhere." Tommy, however, isn't afraid of a fight. He bends his knees into a battle a stance, ready to take on Rat Bastard. He'll beat the entire tag team, hell. The entire world! He's not afraid to punch out a creep. That's when a leg comes from between his legs and from behind. It's Steve Awesome. SCHOOL BOY! Tommy Strychnine is kicking. What's worse - Steve Tyrell is back. He delivers the count.
...One!
...Two!
...THREE! AND STRYCHNINE KICKS OUT A MILISECOND TOO LATE!
Jessie Love: Here is your winner of the match - Steeeve Awesomeeee!
Taylor: Steve Awesome cheated! Tommy should have won this!
Romano: Technically no one cheated, but it was a cheap victory. Maybe Rat is right. Something here is leaking, and it'd certainly explain whatever the hell is wrong with him.
"Spyderpussy" hits, and the arena lights flash through pink, yellow and purple. AWF Commissioner Jackson Steele walks out through the curtain, and looks directly into the camera. He starts talking to the fans at home, pumping himself up as he heads down to the ring.
Taylor: Steele isn’t down to wrestle, he stepped out and won against Hardcore Harry at Clash of the Icons so this can only mean one thing…
Romano: Now, is the announcement kill or cure for its intended recipient?
Walking up the steps, he shimmies his way along the apron before wiping his feet one last time and steps through the ropes. He reaches out to grab a microphone.
Steele: Now, we are only one show away from Beach Blast and let me tell you all - we’ve got a great card lined up for you, just need to dot a few more i’s and cross a few more t’s...in the meantime, I’m sure you’re all aware that we need to send a representative to XHF’s Overheated event. There they’ll compete to get a shot against the X Crown Champion at Night of Champions.
Steele pauses for effect.
Steele: Now, we thought long and hard on this. After all, they will be our CHOSEN entrant into the match. Copycat, simmer down and hit the bricks - it’s not you. They need to have competed at the top level and shown us what they can do not just in one match but in the entire time they’ve been with the company...now, we’ve butted heads over this but when someone put the name we’ve chosen forward, it was a done deal. Our number one pick for the spot is …. RYAN YOUNG!!!!
Steele smiles as he speaks.
Steele:So, Ascension fans - we’d like to encourage you to show your support to the official and preferred AWF representative at Call to Arms! Now, let’s get on with the show!
We cut to the back where Jack Diamond can be seen watching intently. The man who earned his shot at Overheated looks ready to tear the Commissioner’s head off. The coffee cup that was in his hand has quickly been crushed as we see Steele exit the ring.
Romano: Steele might well have placed a target on Young’s back there!
Taylor: Diamond already has his shot but did the praise Young just received inadvertently set off Jack on a path to destroy the former LGBTKO member?
Jessie Love: It’s time now, for your MAIN EVENT!!
"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 with a towel tucked into the waistband, and a button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, showing off just a bit of his pecs.
Jessie Love: Introducing first, hailing from Philadelphia. Standing at six-feet and weighing two-hundred-and-fifteen pounds...THE CURRENT AWF PRESTIGE CHAMPION….SETH DILLINGER!!!!!
After the countdown timer hits zero, Seth starts to stroll down to the ring, smirking at the camera and soaking up their applause.
Romano: He knows that he’ll be facing an opponent who has been itching to step into the ring with him for over a month now.
Taylor: It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.
Romano: Having only been on opposing sides of the ring in what many saw as an exhibition match, this could answer a lot of questions!
When he reaches the bottom of the ramp, he rolls into the ring under the bottom rope, then paces around to each side of the ring, smiling at the crowd.
Jessie Love: His tag-team partner!
The lights and titantron go pitch black for a few moments as the sound of recording about the play goes through the speakers. Suddenly, the lights come back on- albeit in a royal purple, tinting the arena in purple light. The soft, distorted synth echoes for a few moments. The guitar and drums kick off as the purple lights fade into black, and a single spotlight falls on Draven as he heads down to the ring.
Jessie: He stands at six-feet even, he weighs two-hundred-and-three pounds, HE IS...THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS….VINCENT!!! DRAVEN!!!
I'm looking at a face, a pointed chin
Towards the sky in arrogance
It easily betrays the closest friend
A moment lost, no consequence
His eyes surveying the crowd quietly as he undoes his cloak. A glare resting on his face as he climbs up the steel steps, standing on the apron while throwing his cloak onto the floor. He places his hands on the top rope and walks to the side of the ring facing the hard camera. Suddenly looking up and spitting a red mist into the air, as a wicked grin slowly grows on his pale features while he wipes the blood from his lips.
Taylor: Draven looks ready for the match, he wants to avenge the loss that he suffered against Tommy Strychnine.
Romano: The result of his match will have given Vincent a spring in his step, now he needs to make sure he gets his own match to go the way he intends!
Taylor: With Dillinger offering to advise him on reaching the next level, you’d be confident in their ability to get the job done tonight!
A circle starts again, away from you
Deception pulls us in, away from you
Away from you, away from you
Finally, Draven goes under the top rope and climbs into the ring.
Imitation, a fabrication
A pretty fake, but counterfeit
An empty carcass behind the artist
Is there a trait of innocence?
A pretty fake, but counterfeit
An empty carcass behind the artist
Is there a trait of innocence?
Draven moves to his corner, kneeling down as he holds onto the middle rope with one hand. He slowly takes in his surroundings- before standing back up, slowly, ready for the fight.
Jessie: Now, for their opponents…
The arena lights pulse red as 'Riot' starts up. Bloodied Fox steps through the curtain, a look of determination on his face.
Jessie Love: Firstly, hailing from Reading, England. With a height of five feet and nine inches and weighing in at one-hundred-and-ninety-five pounds, he is THE WITCHER OF FOX SCHOOL….BLOODIED...FOX!!!
He heads to the ring, saluting the camera as he walks down the ramp.
Romano: Fox might not have been seen in competition here for a while but he’s been busy competing across the world!
Taylor: He’s a tag-team specialist, it’s a tag he might want to step out from but for this match, it’s a great bonus!
Romano: True, but neither team have spent a great amount of time being able to put a strategy together or even work on becoming cohesive!
He turns to the camera and fist-bumps it before sliding into the ring.
Jessie: Lastly, his partner…
As the word “Firecracker” appears on the large screen, red and green laser lights spin around the arena as Lzzy Hale begins to sing the opening to the song. Then the word fades and is replaced by the name “Dakota” as the redhead makes her way out to the stage area, a look of sheer scorn etched across her beautiful features.
Jessie Love: Making her way to the ring. Hailing from Scottsdale, Arizona. She is the Powder Keg of Ascension Wrestling...DAKOTA!!! JENNINGS!!!
She looks out around the arena and turns her nose up at the camera before making her way down the aisle.
Romano: Dakota knows that she needs to break this losing streak she’s found herself on and from what she’s been saying in the lead-up to this, she sees this match as the perfect platform to kick on!
Taylor: She ran Tommy close last time out, and his guitar suffered for it. At Clash of the Icons you could have split that match with a cigarette paper!
Romano: You could but it wouldn’t change how she’d see the result. No chairs this time out she says, let’s see how long that lasts for!
Reaching the ring, she confidently strides up the steps before stepping under the second rope before climbing up one of the turnbuckles, flipping the bird to the camera as she climbs onto the apron and into the ring.
MAIN EVENT
Tag-Team Match
Seth Dillinger & Vincent Draven vs Bloodied Fox & Dakota Jennings
Romano: We’ve already had one shock tonight, can Fox and Jennings keep the trend going?
Taylor: Steve Awesome played his hand well, you underestimated him and Tommy seemed to. Now, with that win, it muddies the waters of the United States Contenders further. That win might well have added more pressure to the team of Bloodied Fox and Dakota Jennings!
Romano: Well, the question is - if you’re in either of their shoes, does a damaged partner tonight work for you down the road?
Nate Biggs walks over to the team of Fox and Jennings and gives his instructions for the match. Bloodied Fox listens intently, nodding as Nate explains what will and won’t be tolerated. In comparison, Dakota Jennings stares a hole past Biggs in the direction of her opponents; the only movement in her face being to chew gum and rolling her eyes as Biggs is talking.
Taylor: Jennings is looking determined...Fox hasn’t been seen in a fighting capacity here since he pulled off an impressive win against Kuroi back at Prestige Fifty! He’ll be looking to put his mark on this bout.
The camera cuts to their opponents, the Prestige Champion looks as confident as ever and looks to be giving his tag-partner a last-minute pep-talk. Draven looks focused as Biggs approaches them. He leans into Seth and says something the cameras don’t pick up, Dillinger smiles and steps between the ropes while Biggs is still delivering his final words to Draven. Seth moves the towel off the ropes and to the apron. He claps his partner as Nate signals for the bell.
Taylor: You have to hand it to Seth, looking at him you could be seeing him backstage, not one sign that he sees anything but victory tonight!
Romano: You heard him, he’s the longest-reigning Prestige champ in history. The mark of a champion is treating each match with the same importance.
Taylor: Wouldn’t you love to be a fly-on-the-wall to that talk?
Romano: He knows, like we do, that Draven isn’t any less of the competitor we’ve seen time and time again, he’s offered him help to find his way once more.
Draven remains in his corner, the camera flashes to Dakota who has taken the lead for her team. She bounces on the balls of her feet before walking to the center of the ring, Draven now steps out to meet her.
Romano: Draven not rushing into things tonight.
Taylor: Both of these guys are strike-based fighters, he’s not going to get suckered into being pulled into a brawl if he doesn’t have to.
Dakota looks to start with a straight-right but Draven ducks down and pulls an arm-drag! Jennings gets right back to her feet and cuts off Draven as he steps towards her with a fluid dropkick! She tries to push on with her offense but AN UPKICK KNOCKS THE GUM CLEAN OUT OF HER MOUTH!
Taylor: DID YOU SEE THAT?
Romano: The more measured approach seems to be working for Draven at the outset.
Reeling back, Jennings finds herself unable to block a quick one-two kick combo that starts on the ribs and then connects with the side of her head. The Prince of Darkness wastes no time closing the gap with a knee to the stomach and a European Uppercut that puts Jennings up against the turnbuckle. Draven fires of a quick knife-edge chop before whipping her to the turnbuckle, Jennings reverses and take him down to the mat with a drop-toe-hold. The Powder Keg leans into the ropes and charges at the former United States Champion...SPINNING HEEL KICK! She drops down for the early cover..
Taylor: Jennings is looking to get the job done early...
O-KICKOUT!
Romano: Too early it seems.
Keeping the pressure on, Jennings grabs a headlock and tries to bring the tempo down.
Taylor: Interesting change of pace from Dakota here...
Leaning all her weight onto Draven she continues to work the hold, the quick wits of Vincent kick in and he goes for a belly-to-back suplex but Jennings rolls down, he turns round and eats a high kick from Dakota. She grabs his arm looking to send him to the ropes but Draven spins into it with an elbow to the head followed up by a Switchblade kick. Draven runs to the turnbuckle...CORNER SPRINGBOARD ENZIGURI!!
Taylor: HAVE WE SEEN THAT BEFORE?
Romano: You need to change things up in the ring, with the availability of footage and highlights on the internet it’s all too easy to forget that the exposure also gives your opponents the inside-edge on your game!
Jennings drops to her knees before falling to the mat. The Prince of Darkness wraps his arms around her waist...DEADLIFT GERMAN SUPLEX! He bridges into the pin..
Romano: Impressive strength on display from the Prince of Darkness.
ONE…
T-KICKOUT!!
Taylor: Not impressive enough to get the job done right now though.
Romano: This match isn’t going to be a sprint...
Draven drops a quick knee onto the arm of Jennings before lifting her back to her feet and twisting the arm. He walks her over to his corner as Seth tags in.
Romano: Now, we’ll see how Jennings fares against the Flashy Party Boy, Seth Dillinger!
Still holding the arm for his partner as Dillinger springs onto the top-rope and drops down with an elbow to the shoulder of Jennings. As she doubles over, Dillinger brings a knee up to her face and finishes the combo with a neckbreaker to take her to the mat.
Taylor: Some excellent chain-moves on display
Romano: You don’t get to be Prestige Champ without some talent, Tommy...
Instead of keeping on top of her, he walks to the center of the ring and points towards Fox before goading him to get involved.
Romano: He’s trying to get into the head of Fox!
Taylor: If you’ve seen any of the message board or SmackTalker, this face-off has dominated the talk between the fans!
Dakota gets to her feet and wins a body slam followed by an elbow to the head for a prize. Dillinger lifts her back up and sends the Powder Keg to the corner and tags in Draven.
Taylor: Jennings needs to be careful not to get isolated.
The Prestige Champion manages to land a knee to the sternum of Dakota as he exits the ring. Biggs admonishes him but is met with the spread upturned arms of a man who isn’t taking him seriously.
Romano: Cheap shot by Dillinger but it’s in the rules.
Taylor: Biggs knows he has a challenge on his hands trying to control the personalities in this match!
Draven leaps up and monkey flips Jennings out of the corner. Dakota tries to recover quickly but The Prince of Darkness runs towards her and takes her down with a meteora!
Romano: Draven seemingly back on form with that combo!
Taylor: If alarm bells aren’t ringing in Jennings’ head, they should be!
The Prince of Darkness seems to be in control as he shoots off a kick to the shoulder of Jennings before picking her up. He sets her up for the half-and-half suplex…
Romano: Dakota needs to find something, and fast!
JENNINGS MULE KICKS DRAVEN!
Taylor: The cheatin-...Biggs had no line of sight on that low-blow!
Romano: That’s why you do them...
Trying to cover her tracks, she locks on a side-headlock and takes him down with a running bulldog.
Romano: Smooth way to dispose of the body, so to speak!
Taylor: You mean covering her tracks?
Romano: Biggs doesn’t know, didn’t happen!
Wanting to build on the good fortune, she grabs Draven by the hair and yanks him back up before BARRELLING HIM SHOULDER-FIRST INTO THE CORNER POST!
Taylor: TRY DISGUISING THAT!
Romano: Cheap move from Jennings but you got to do what you got to do to make it in this sport!
Taylor: Draven hasn’t moved!
Biggs once more intervenes, this time to lay down the law to Jennings. Draven is still slumped over the middle-turnbuckle and Dillinger can be heard protesting from the ring-apron, clearly unhappy at the move from Dakota!
Romano: Dillinger’ll have a target on Jennings’ back if that costs them the match!
Taylor: There seems to be plenty more to come in this fight.
Using her head, Jennings grabs Draven and twists the arm into a wringer and walks him over to the corner, leaning back so Fox can tag himself in.
Romano: Smart thinking from the Powder Keg.
Taylor: Well, a lot of talk before the match was about how well these two would play together but if you look at it - both competitors have seen gold in their careers from tag-team competition!
Jennings drives an elbow into the shoulder before leaving the ring and Fox follows up with a Question Mark kick that keeps his foe stunned. He grabs a quick hold...SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX!
Romano: Fox wasting no time in announcing his entrance to the match.
Taylor: Draven needs to think of an exit strategy and quickly!
Draven is sprawled on his front, Fox looks to hook the arm…
Romano: Could we see Lament Configuration?
Taylor: No! Draven has it scouted!
Scrambling to the ropes quickly, Draven avoids the patented hold of Bloodied Fox. Once more, the encouraging claps of Dillinger can be heard as the Psycho Scavenger takes two steps and springs up...JUMPING ENZIGURI!
Taylor: You don’t get a nickname like the Vulpine Scavenger without breaking some rules!
Romano: Draven had a hand on the rope but it’s a borderline call..
Leaving no time to recover, Fox whips Draven back into his corner. Jennings slaps the shoulder of her partner and slingshots into a front-dropkick to the chest of Draven. Grabbing the arm of The Prince of Darkness, she twists it once more before sitting out to the floor, bringing the limb down onto her shoulder.
Taylor: Lots of quick tags from the team of Fox and Jennings.
Romano: They’ve isolated Draven, now they just need to wear him down and find a way to keep Dillinger out of the picture!
She leans back towards the corner and extends her arm, Fox tags back in again and immediately sends a kick to the isolated shoulder of Draven, he teams it with a jaw-breaker and lastly...SUPERMAN PALM STRIKE!
Taylor: HE GOT ALL OF THAT ONE!
Romano: Excellent chain from Fox, there!
Draven drops down to the mat. Fox looks square at Dillinger and returns the taunting to his former stablemate. Dillinger looks as if he is about to step into the ring but thinks better of it and instead stamps rhythmically on the apron to gee on his partner.
Taylor: Fox returning the goading!
Romano: You have to think, what Fox has witnessed in the dissolution of LGBTKO...what more can Dillinger do to him?
Turning his attention back to the match, Fox picks up Draven but HE GETS CAUGHT WITH A LUNGBLOWER!
Romano: Draven showing off why he became the United States Champion with that opportunistic move!
Draven get to his feet but the shoulder slows his movements. The audio picks up the calls of Dillinger for the tag.
Romano: Can he make it?
Taylor: Fox!
Fox grabs at the leg of Draven and clings on, the Prince of Darkness kicks him off and frees his leg BUT DAKOTA RUSHES PAST AND LEVELS THE PRESTIGE CHAMP WITH A SPINNING HEEL KICK!
Romano: Smart move from Jennings!
Taylor: Is it? Dillinger has a long memory and it’s a short distance in that ring!
Jennings marches back to her corner without even a glance to Biggs who threatens to throw the match out.
Romano: She’ll have to watch out, Biggs has thrown out matches for less!
Taylor: Draven’s stirring...
Draven, in no-man’s land turns round and is met with a BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX!
Romano: Big impact move but Fox didn’t go for the pin!
Bloodied Fox tags out to Dakota who rushes in and starts to lay boots to the body of Draven. She lifts the arm of The Prince of Darkness and spins round it...DRAVEN ROLLS HER UP!!!
Taylor: Jennings is paying for Fox’s hesitation!
ONE…
TW-KICKOUT!
Romano: Now, Draven needs to make the mistake count!
Draven and Dakota get to their feet at the same time, The Prince of Darkness swings a kick BUT DAKOTA CATCHES THE LEG AND GRABS AN ANKLE LOCK IN THE CENTER OF THE RING!!
Taylor: We could be seeing an upset!
Dakota tries to cinch in the hold BUT DRAVEN TWISTS AND THRUSTS A BOOT STRAIGHT INTO HER FACE!!!
Romano: Draven once more showing the resilience and tenacity that got him where he is today!
Taylor: Can he get to Dillinger though?
Reeling backwards, she doesn’t see Draven until the last second, too late to stop the roundhouse kick that is quickly joined by a spinning back kick that keeps her at distance.
Romano: Does that do it?
Taylor: If he can make it co-
DRAVEN MAKES A DASH FOR HIS CORNER, DAKOTA REACHES TO GRAB HIM BUY DILLINGER MAKES THE TAG!!
Romano: DILLINGER GETS THE TAG!
DAKOTA LOOKS MORTIFIED WITH HERSELF!
Taylor: NOW THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST!
Dillinger takes his time stepping through the ropes, Dakota goes to cut him off but The Flashy Party Boy hits a backflip dropkick that takes her off her feet! He picks her back up off the mat and sends her to the ropes and meets her halfway with a high-leg lariat!
Romano: Dillinger, the freshest man in the match, is bringing a speed that Jennings wanted to avoid!
Taylor: The posturing and goading is being paid back now in spades!
Dakota pops back to her feet out of instinct and somehow ducks a superkick attempt but Dillinger cycles round and lands an enziguri that drops her to her knees and has no way of avoiding the low-angle roundhouse kick that plants her on the mat!
Romano: Excellent strikes from the Prestige champ!
The camera gets a close up of Dillinger who looks self-assured. He points to Draven who is wiping the sweat from his face with the towel.
Dillinger: I got this one, Drav!
He steps towards Dakota who scoots backwards in a hurry BEFORE TAGGING IN FOX!
Taylor: She couldn’t get out of the ring fast enough!
Romano: And now, the stand-off we’ve been waiting for. These two men haven’t seen each other since Dillinger put Young down for the count at Clash of the Icons and left Fox to pick up the pieces!
The Berkshire native steps through the ropes, his eyes not letting sight from Dillinger from the moment he received the tag. He plants his foot down deliberately and the two men circle each other.
Taylor: You could cut the tension with a knife!
Fox steps towards Dillinger but Seth goes for an arm-drag, Fox rolls through and back to his feet. He looks to fire off a Question Mark kick but Seth ducks and looks to pull him in for a short-arm lariat but Fox ducks and spins into an Irish whip. Dillinger rebounds off the ropes as Fox drops down, Dillinger hits the opposite ropes and Fox goes for a back-body drop but Seth rolls over the top of him and comes back, this time Fox leap-frogs and rolls back but Dillinger judo rolls over. As he hits the ropes DAKOTA USES THE ROPES FOR LEVERAGE AND KICKS HIM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD! He spins round and goes for a wild punch but DAKOTA DUCKS AND HE SPINS INTO A SAITO SUPLEX!
Taylor: She can’t stay out of it!
Romano: You need to kill your opponent’s momentum in a tag-match and that bought her partner time to capitalize!
Fox grabs the hair of Dillinger and DELIVERS KAWADA KICKS TO THE HEAD!
Taylor: Vicious kicks from the Psycho Scavenger!
Romano: They normally signal the start of a chain of offense!
Seizing the opportunity, he keeps hold of the hair and drags him to his feet. DILLINGER pokes him in the eye and TRIES TO DECAPITATE HIM WITH A LARIAT!
Romano: Cheap move to make the opportunity but what a lariat!
Taylor: That could shift the momentum back to Draven and himself!
The Flashy Party Boy looks down at Fox before lifting his head up, he steps back...ROLLING NECK SNAP JOLTS FOX BACK DOWN TO THE CANVAS!
Taylor: Dillinger’s athleticism is second to none in Ascension!
He sees Fox stirring and steps back, stalking his prey...SLINGBLADE!!
Romano: If Fox has his moves down, he’ll know he’s in trouble!
Seth ds his opponent’s head over the middle-rope and takes two steps before running and swinging through the ropes...KICK TO THE HEAD OF FOX!!
Taylor: TWO-ONE-FIVE!!
Romano: Indeed, and this can only go one of two ways...
Dillinger is now on the apron, he spots a camera and winks at it...DAKOTA LEVELS SETH WITH A SUPERKICK!!!
Taylor: DKO MARK ONE!
Romano: Jennings coming to the rescue for her team!
Taylor: Dillinger’s down but he’s not out!
Seth is still on the apron, but barely. One arm remains on the top-rope, the rest of his body is slumped over.
Romano: Can Draven save this for his team?
Grabbing him by the waistband, Dakota throws him into the ring and looks to step inside herself but BIGGS BLOCKS HER WAY!
Taylor: She’s pushed Biggs too far.
Romano: And now, someone else is reaping the rewards!
Dakota starts to bitch out Biggs who is having none of it. The camera shot changes and we see Draven has dragged his partner to the corner and tagged himself in!
Taylor: Smart move from the Prince of Darkness!
Taking advantage of Fox’s dazed state, he pulls him to his feet and fires off a roundhouse kick...LIFTING DOUBLE-UNDERHOOK FACEBUSTER! He goes for the cover…
Taylor: ASHES TO ASHES!!
Romano: He could have this here!
ONE…
TWO…
T-KICKOUT!!
Romano: Fox finding a way to free his shoulder from the mat in the nick of time!
Looking to his corner, Draven shakes his head and pulls Fox back to his feet. He scoops him up into a Fireman’s Carry Lift…
Taylor: Has he just delayed the inevitable though?
Romano: He’s looking for Carpe Noctem!
FOX DROPS DOWN THE BACK OF DRAVEN...CORKSCREW DDT!!!!
Taylor: BLOODDTED!!
Romano: Draven’s shoulder looked like it gave way and Fox was there to capitalize!!
FOX HOOKS IN THE HANGMAN’S CLUTCH II!!!
Taylor: LAMENT CONFIGURATION!!
Romano: Now, this is a gut-check, can Draven outlast the hold?
Dillinger: Come on, Drav!!
Draven is fighting but Fox has the hold in pretty tight. His free arm reaches for anything he can grab.
Romano: He’s trying to grab the head of Fox but he can’t angle that free arm to do so!
Taylor: Dillinger continuing to try and cheer his partner on!
Fox is leaning back into the hold now. Biggs once more asks if Draven wants to submit but he shakes his head as much as he can in the hold.
Romano: Nate’s in there, looking to end this if he have to.
Taylor: Has Draven ever submitted before?
Dillinger: HE’LL SNAP YOUR ARM!!
Draven tries to push up with his free arm to try and alleviate the hold but Fox adjusts his position enough to make it impossible.
Romano: That adjustment from Fox was timed perfectly
Taylor: Draven’s continuing to look for a way out!
Dillinger: COME ON!!!
Draven looks for the ropes but they’re inches out of reach, once more he tries to push himself up to close the gap to a rope-break but as he pushes up Fox uses the momentum to scoot him round and away from the ropes.
Taylor: Cassius, you’re Draven, what can you do?
Romano: You’re hamstrung, you need to hope that either a gap appears in the hold or that whatever adjustments you can make are timed to perfection!
Once again, he pushes up and this time tries to roll back to get out of the Clutch but Fox clamps down harder and adjusts his body weight. Nate Biggs drops down once more to ask if he’ll tap...A TOWEL LANDS NEXT TO DRAVEN!!!
Taylor: Is that?
Romano: Did he-
Biggs turns around and sees Dillinger pointing to the towel next to the Prince of Darkness. Biggs stands up and signals for the bell!
Taylor: HE THREW IN THE TOWEL! DILLINGER THREW IN THE TOWEL!!
Romano: Was that an act of mercy or?
Jessie Love: Your winners, as a result of submission, BLOODIED FOX AND DAKOTA JENNINGS!!!!!!
“Riot” by Dance with the Dead starts over the sound-system as Biggs raises the hands of Jennings and Fox. In the background, Seth can be seen lifting up a confused Draven.
Taylor: I cannot believe Seth gave up like that...
Romano: Well, technically, he gave up for Draven.
Draven looks down and notices the towel on the ground and starts to piece things together. While neither man has a microphone, it's not hard to hear what they're shouting at each other in the empty arena.
Draven: What the hell was that!?
Seth: You weren't ready. You weren't ready. I shouldn't have put you in this situation.
Seth walks over and collects his Prestige Title from the timekeeper.
Seth: I'm sorry Draven, but you don't want to be helped.
Draven stares at Seth, wide-eyed and not sure he's hearing it correctly.
Draven: YOU are the one who gave up! NOT me!
Seth shakes his head.
Seth: Proof positive that you need my help.
Draven scratches his head, and Seth's little gig is getting less amusing by the minute.
Taylor: I'm not sure I follow.
Romano: Shh shh, just watch a legend at work, Tommy.
He points to the Prestige Title on his shoulder.
Seth: I... I can see it in your eyes, Draven. You keep darting your eyes between me...and this title.
Draven says nothing. He doesn't deny it.
Seth: I thought if I could get you to rise to the occasion, maybe I'd be able to find a shred of something there worth helping. But this...
Seth motions around him to the ring, to the towel, to the idea of the match itself.
Seth: You're just so not worth my time.
Draven's lips curl into a scowl. He walks up and shoves Dillinger in the chest. Seth takes a moment to look amused, then skips the pleasantries and hits Draven with a stiff uppercut, sending him tumbling backwards. Seth shakes his head and turns around, adjusting the title on his shoulder and heading for the ring ropes, disappointed.
Taylor: Who does he think he is?
Romano: Well, he's the longest-reigning Prestige Champion, Tommy... he--
Romano is cut short by Draven springing to his feet, looking like a fire was lit under his ass. He charges at Seth, who hears him coming and turns just in time to get caught with a roundhouse kick to the jaw! Seth's head snaps back and he instinctively reaches up to grab his jaw and Draven pivots on his foot, following up with a spinning back kick to the midsection! Seth flies backwards, wobbling a bit, and Draven sets upon him, delivering a series of brutal kicks to his knees. Seth goes down pretty quickly, unable to keep his footing. Draven stares down at Seth, his breathing accelerated like a wolf that's caught the scent of meat. He turns on his left leg, driving his right foot into the side of Seth's skull with a sickening crack.
Taylor: DRAVEN'S INFERNO!! DRAVEN'S INFERNO!!
Romano: The champ is out!
Seth Dillinger is out cold and Draven stands over him, just staring down at him. Draven walks over and picks up the Prestige Title, staring at it for a moment, before tossing it down and draping it over the chest of Seth Dillinger. "Pale" by The Birthday Massacre hits the speaker system once again and Draven slowly stalks his way out, leaving an unconscious Seth in the ring.
Romano: Well Seth said he wanted Draven to bring the heat...
Taylor: And Draven brought a whole damn inferno!
Romano: Things are certainly heating up... and just in time for Beach Blast!
Taylor: We'll see you at Beach Blast, folks!
