AWF Presents: A Very AWF Christmas - LIVE from St. Paul, MN!

[Adrien]

Ascension Wrestling Federation Presents:



Live at the The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.
12/20/2020

Capacity: 18600

In Attendance: 1860

---

The cameras start rolling to begin the show with the live audience of socially distanced fans, cheering as the lights start to dim as it shifts backstage immediately. The first thing everyone sees is the elegant setting. There is a white fireplace with garland streaming around the border. The fireplace is glowing as the three logs in it are ablaze. As the camera starts to pan out a bit to reveal the gigantic Christmas tree in the center of the room, the sounds of a piano softly playing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” start to fill the room before the host for the evening is visible in his recliner.

Sanders: Good evening and welcome to A Very AWF Christmas. So… I was not supposed to be alone up here today. And I was kinda hoping that my planned hosting partner would… help kinda take the lead a bit. But… things changed…

The piano playing continues until the musician behind it all was visible as the camera kept panning out: the Dropkick King, Adrien Cochrane. Clearly here to support his protege as he takes on the hosting duties on his own.

Sanders: But I’m going to just make do with the circumstances we’ve been given. I wasn’t booked in a match tonight so I’m still going to do my best to do the hosting solo. Throughout the night, I’ll have some guests on. We’ll talk about the show, some match previews and reviews included. I’ll try not to get inside my own head and deliver you fans the show that you deserve. I guess I should introduce my first guest since he is already on screen.

Just as Adam finishes his sentence, Adrien lightly presses the last key on the piano for the final note of the song. Adrien spins on the piano bench so he can face Adam instead of having his back to him. Adam is dressed for the occasion with a red button-down shirt being slightly covered by a green sweater vest. His tie that is tucked into the vest has enough visible to show the reindeer running on them. He completes the look with a Santa hat atop his head.

Sanders: You all may remember him from this year’s AWF Fired Up as my partner for the show. Please welcome my mentor, the Dropkick King, Adrien Cochrane. And thanks for coming, Adrien. Your pep talks usually help me keep my head in the game in the ring. I’m gonna need some of that juice hosting this show on my own.

Cochrane: I think you give yourself too little credit, kid. But hey, Betsy Granger asked me to come to the show to support her as she takes on Rob Garcia for the XHF Phoenix Championship so I figured I could give you a hand tonight.

Sanders: And it is very appreciated. Well, we have seven matches on the table tonight. One of them involves our mutual friend, so aside from that one, which one are you looking forward to the most?

Cochrane smiles a bit as he faces the camera for half a second before facing Sanders once more. Cochrane is dressed a bit more casually with a red and green plaid shirt under his black leather jacket.

Cochrane: Well, I’ve been in the ring with Chris Card, Neo James Carner, and Maverick. And Aiden Merric sort of. So really the biggest unknowns to me, as a competitor, is the opener and the match for the top title. So I’m looking at Keith Williams taking on Bloodied Fox and really watching that match since I never stepped in the ring with either one of them. And when you have the company’s grand prize on the line, you know both of them are going at it 100%. What about you, Adam?

Sanders: Well, I’m going to be keeping my eye on the United States Championship match between Carner and Subject #42. I have a shot at that title at some point in the future so it’s worth me keeping an eye on whatever happens with that title for the time being.

Cochrane: I’ve gotta say though, I know we aren’t supposed to advertise the final match of the night, but as someone who has taken on Maverick in a singles bout and am hoping for another with him soon, I do have to keep an eye on what happens between him and Seth Dillinger.

Sanders: Yeah, sort of the same reason I’m keeping a special eye on Card vs. Cross Recoba. I made my first AWF appearance being interviewed by Recoba so I feel like that’s still going to be an elephant in the room until we likely address it in the future. Obviously, he has his hands full at the moment.

Cochrane: Don’t forget the personal stakes involved in Tarrasque versus Aiden Merric. Interested to see how that all works out, and I personally hope for the best for Tarrasque in his journey. Plus, we have the opener. Taking Xiaolong out of the list, I think the other four competitors have a combined five matches here?

Sanders: One if you take out Bob the Builder. But this is a serious opportunity for a new up-and-comer to make their mark, or for Xiaolong to show that he is still not someone to be forgotten with all this fresh blood coming in.

Cochrane: Is there really someone here who wrestles as that cartoon… you know what, I’m not even going to ask.

Sanders gives some light-hearted laughter, clearly feeling comfortable opening the show with someone he is very close to.

Sanders: So before we send the show out to the ring, do you have any predictions for the show?

Cochrane: Well, we got three title matches, right? I’m going to predict two of them will change hands. Don’t know which, but that is my gut feeling.

Sanders: Wow. Two title changes, you heard it here first. Well, let’s go ahead and send this show on to Tommy Taylor and Cassius Romano!

---

The arena goes dark and then the screen flickers on and there appears a wood, a robed man comes out onto the stage with some kind of book, he begins speaking to it and then out in the distance a figure saunters closer and closer and stops...that's when the music begins to play.

Then the lights go out once again and when they appear back on The Jitterman is there next to the robed man otherwise known as John Eden.

They then slowly and methodically make their way to the ring and then lights eventually turn back to normal.

Taylor: Here comes a new face to the AWF, the Jitterman!
Romano: Right! We don't know much about him, but he looks... well... you know.

Drake's "Enemies" plays as Frankie Webb heads out into the arena. He shoots a quick glance to the fans in the arena and hops a few time. He has sleeveless hood over his head as he slowly makes himself to the ring. He walks toward the ring, displaying a fake err of confidence. As he approaches the ring, he takes the hood and tosses it out of the ring. He hops up and down, waiting for the match to begin.

Taylor: And another fresh face, Frankie Webb!
Romano: He had a hell of an outing last show against Betsy, but the kid has promise!

Bob comes out with his smaller construction equipment as he rides to the ring on Dizzy, he waves Maxwell around, making Maxwell quiet sick. Maxwell starts throwing up as he's waved around and Bob gets into the ring.

Taylor: Bob has not quite been able to string together the right number of wins thus far.
Romano: He's not focused on wins, Taylor, he's focused on fixing things.
Taylor: ...what should he be fixing?

"Kung Fu Fighting" plays as Xialong runs to the ring, ready to begin the match. The crowd chants his name on the way down. XI-A-LONG! XI-A-LONG!

Taylor: Xiaolong has a lot of heart and he's a perennial fan favorite in AWF! Listen to the crowd!
Romano: He's had a few brushes with greatness but this is a major chance for him to show down with some great talent.



The T Rex theme hits and Tyrone Wrexx makes his was to the ramp way, he stops at the center of the entrance and poses as pyro's explode and then he heads to the ring high fiving the fans as he does so.

Romano: This is the guy I have my eye on...
Taylor: Former college athlete, built like an ox, and has the look of someone that could tear your car apart with his bare hands. Hard to beat that combination!

---

Season's Beatings Match
The Jitterman vs. Frankie Webb vs. Bob the Builder vs. Xiaolong vs. Tyronne Wrex

---

DING DING DING!

With the bell rung, all five competitors approach the series of gift-wrapped boxes in the center of the ring. Xiaolong steps forward and picks up his large, human-sized package. The tag on the box reads:

To: Xiaolong
From: Tyronne

Xiaolong casts a glance over at Tyronne, who is smiling ear to ear. Xiaolong tears into the wrapping paper and reveals a cardboard box. He opens the box and pulls out...

Romano: Is that...
Taylor: A blow-up doll!?

Yes, Xiaolong now stands, holding a giant inflated blow-up doll, complete with the right, erhem, holes. It's just his size! Xiaolong just looks on, a bit confused by this, and is caught completely unaware when Tyronne Wrexx uses the distraction to charge and dive at Xiaolong with a spear! He spears the blowup doll into Xiaolong, sending both tumbling through the ropes to the outside!

Taylor: Well, that's uh, certainly a gift...

Back in the ring, Bob and Frankie watch the melee outside while Jitterman lurks around the edges of the ring, leering at Bob and Frankie through hollow black eyes in his mask. The two of them (Bob & Frankie) start to step around the ring, keeping distance between themselves and Jitterman. Bob the Builder takes a step back as The Jitterman scurries down on all fours to examine the gifts remaining in the ring, picking out the one with his name on it:

To: Jitters
From: Bob the Builder

Jitterman retreats to his corner and opens the average-sized gift. Bob begins to look nervous as Jitterman fiercely tears the wrapping paper apart and opens the box out of view of the camera. He stops for a moment and Bob looks terrified. All the audience can hear is a goofy, cartoony voice.

???: SUUUUUPER DEEEEEE DUPER!

Frankie looks confused and glances over at Bob, who takes his own advice and high-tails it out of the ring. Jitterman cuts a look over at Bob with a quick snap of his neck and finally turns, revealing in all its glory.

???: REMEMBER! I LOOOOVE YOU!

In Jitterman's hands is none other than a vibrating, large, purple dildo... with the shape of the head specifically designed to look like Barney the Dinosaur.

Taylor: Oh my god.
Romano: I don't think that sort of gag gift is going to fly with the Jitterman!

Jitterman slowly stalks across the ring, past a mortified Frankie Webb, in hot pursuit of Bob the Builder, who is keeping as much distance as possible between himself and The Jitterman. Frankie Webb glances down at the three remaining boxes but decides that given the track record so far, perhaps opening his gift isn't the right idea. Meanwhile, on the outside, Tyronne Wrexx has dragged Xiaolong up to his feet and runs him face-first into the steel steps, sending the Little Dragon flipping over them onto his back. An on-the-run Bob the Builder comes peeling around the corner, escaping the murderous advances of Jitterman, quickly hopping over top of Xiaolong and around the steel steps. Tyronne sees him run by, scared, and turns to see the source of his fear -- the massive, 6'9" hulking abomination following him. Tyronne smiles and steps in the direct path of the Jitterman, cutting off his angle.

Romano: This might not be smart, Tyronne!
Taylor: Tyronne is a warrior, and he sees one hell of a challenge standing in his path!

Jitterman rounds the corner and stares down Tyronne for a moment, who doesn't budge. He takes a few more steps towards Tyronne, who stands his ground, until the two are face-to-face. Jitterman stares down at Tyronne, who defiantly stares up at Jitterman... and then the two start throwing fists! The sounds of their meaty fists slamming into each other can clearly be heard echoing in the sparsely-packed arena. Tyronne, being slightly smaller, manages to get a grip around The Jitterman's midsection and puts all his force into driving him back, spine-first into the barricade! The Jitterman stumbles forward, holding his back, and Tyronne doesn't waste any time in wrapping him up again, this time driving his body into the ring apron!

Romano: Tyronne is a big man, but Jitterman is even bigger!
Taylor: Smart of him to use the environment to his advantage.

Meanwhile, Frankie Webb feels completely out of his element. Bob the Builder has noticed that the chase has stopped and has rolled back into the ring with Frankie. Xiaolong, too, has crawled back underneath the bottom rope. Bob immediately goes for the gift with his name on it.

To: BOB THE BUILDER
From: FRANKIE WEBB

Bob glances at Frankie, who musters a sheepish and slightly confused smile. Bob quickly tears into the package and reveals...

Taylor: A NAIL GUN!?
Romano: Well...
Taylor: Frankie brought a NAIL GUN to this match!?

Bob looks overly excited, clapping his hands at the gift of a cordless nail gun. Frankie looks a bit conflicted, as he's glad Bob enjoys the gift, but is also starting to do the mental calculus of what havoc a nail gun could wreak in a match like this. Bob turns his attention towards Xiaolong, raising the nailgun and stalking towards him.

Taylor: Bob! No!
Romano: When in Rome, Taylor...

Bob turns and flashes Frankie a thumbs up and a "thank you" for the gift as he charges Xiaolong. Bob aims the nailgun and pulls the trigger and... BZZZZZZZZT! Bob's whole body stiffens up as he is delivered an electric zap, courtesy of the rigged nailgun trigger!

Romano: That son of a... Frankie Webb is smarter than he looks!

With Bob seized up, he drops the nailgun. Xiaolong takes advantage and steps forward, delivering a roaring bicycle kick to Bob! Bob stumbles and turns around... right into Frankie Webb, who meets him with a series of quick jabs and elbows, leading to a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Bob again spins around, this time met with a rotating discus punch to the side of his head. Bob twirls and starts to fall... directly onto the waiting shoulders of Frankie Webb! Frankie manages to drop Bob to the mat with the Webb Drop!

Taylor: Bob tried to play dirty and paid for it!
Romano: There's no playing dirty in this match, Taylor, it's just about using what's at your disposal!

In the process, Bob managed to land directly on top of one of the smaller gifts in the ring, the one marked:

TO: TYRONNE
FROM: JITTERMAN

Through the ripped box, a single cockroach scurries out and across the ring, away from the carnage. Frankie Webb goes for the cover on Bob.

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

Jessie Love: Bob the Builder has been eliminated!

Frankie hops up, looking proud of himself, and glances over at Xiaolong. The two share a nod of mutual respect and turn their attention outside, where Tyronne has managed to wear Jitterman down. Jitterman is slumped against the ring barrier, following a series of brutal and methodical slams against the environment by Tyronne Wrexx, who stands over his downed prey like a gladiator victorious in combat. Frankie nods at Xiaolong, who runs the ropes, and then flies over top of them towards Tyronne in a springboard plancha! Tyronne turns... AND CATCHES XIAOLONG ON HIS SHOULDERS IN MID-AIR!

Taylor: Oh no!
Romano: It was a cute idea, but Tyronne was ready!

Tyronne wraps an arm around Xiaolong's head and gets him stretched out in a torture wrack. Xiaolong has just begun to scream out in pain as Tyronne wrenches his back across his shoulders. That's when Tyronne looks up and sees Frankie Webb charging! Frankie nimbly dives, feet-first, between the first and second rope and grabs onto the top rope for leverage, swinging out and planting a missile dropkick directly into the chest of Tyronne Wrexx! Tyronne stumbles backwards and drops Xiaolong over the barrier and into the front row! The fans start to cheer in their pods, finally getting close to the action.

Romano: I don't think the competitors being in the crowd is okay with COVID protocols!

Frankie Webb sees that he has momentarily stunned Wrexx, so he quickly gets back in the ring and runs the ropes again, this time diving over the top rope into a suicide dive into Wrexx! This one connects as well and sends Wrexx down to the floor. Xiaolong starts to recover and crawls over the barrier to see Webb trying to lift Tyronne Wrexx into the ring. Xiaolong quickly scurries over and helps Frankie, and the two of them are able to load the big man into the ring.

Taylor: Frankie and Xiaolong have formed an unlikely partnership!
Romano: When you're in the ring with competitors the size of Wrexx and Jitterman, you have to get creative!

Both men roll into the ring after Wrexx. Wrexx isn't down for long, quickly recovering and getting to his feet. He turns and sees himself down against the odds, noticing that one present still remains unopened. Ignoring that, he sizes up his options and, seeing a bit of challenge from Frankie due to his flying dropkick, decides to charge at him. He leaps for Frankie, but Webb manages to take him over with a Harai Goshi! Wrexx tumbles to the mat, and Xiaolong starts towards him, but frantically motions at Frankie to open his gift. Frankie glances down at the last remaining present and hesitantly walks towards it.

TO: Frank
From: Xia

Frankie picks up the very oddly wrapped present and holds it in his hands for a moment.

Taylor: So that's just...
Romano: ...a baseball bat, yes, it would appear so.

Xiaolong keeps on top of Wrexx with a flurry of kung fu kicks to his midsection, shouting at Frankie to hurry up. Frankie tears at the paper around the baseball bat and rips it all away, revealing... a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire!

Taylor: Holy shit!

Frankie, being rather young and inexperienced with this kind of wrestling, is in shock. He quickly drops the bat out of his hands and it collides with the mat, resulting in a loud BOOM!

Romano: My god!
Taylor: An exploding barbed wire baseball bat!??

Frankie takes a few steps back and away from the bat, just shocked and confused. Hearing the noise Xiaolong turns and sees that Frankie has opened his gift. Xiaolong marches over and picks it up, nodding at Frankie, and then turns back towards Tyronne Wrexx in the corner. Xiaolong charges in with the bat and slams it into Tyronne's midsection, causing a loud explosion, and the barbed wire rends a bit of flesh away! Wrexx roars in pain as he goes to cover his midsection, collapsing down on the mat. Xiaolong is quick to cover him!

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

Jessie Love: Tyronne Wrexx has been eliminated!

Tyronne begins to crawl out of the ring, bleeding from the midsection.

Taylor: Well, I'll tell you what, Xiaolong seems to be the only person who apparently secretly gifted themself.
Romano: I don't think Frankie knew he was signing up for this!

Frankie just looks a bit mortified at the proceedings, this being a far cry from the wrestling matchups he's used to. Xiaolong holds the bat high in the air, proud of his work. That's when both Frankie and Xiaolong glance over and notice that... the Jitterman is missing. Both Frankie and Xiaolong start to glance around, frantically trying to locate the man.

Taylor: Where's the Jitterman!?
Romano: How the hell does a man that size just... go missing!?

Frankie and Xiaolong make eye contact with each other, the confusion in both of their eyes apparent. Then suddenly, the lights in the arena shut off. There are a few shocked and confused gasps and shrieks in the audience. They flicker back on, briefly, like a strobe light -- just a few times, but enough to see The Jitterman in the ring, boot in the air, flattening Frankie Webb like a pancake with a Lights Out!

Taylor: What's happening!?
Romano: I'm not sure, I hear something happenining, but we can't see anything!

The lights go back to black for a moment, and when they come back on, Jitterman has Xiaolong draped through the ropes, the exploding barbed wire baseball bat precariously on the ground beneath him. He quickly drops down to the ground, spiking Xiaolong's head onto the bat with the Jitterbug! The bat lodges itself slightly into Xiaolong's skull and Jitterman remains in the seated position, rocking back and forth, staring out at the crowd through those black, lifeless eyes.

Romano: Someone check on Xiaolong!

Indeed, the Little Dragon is out cold. Jitterman scurries over top of him and checks for signs of life, but nobody is home. That's when he hears footsteps running towards him. Jitterman turns and sees Frankie Webb charging at him. Jitterman jumps backwards out of the way with surprising speed, leaving Frankie to catch the ropes. On the rebound, Jitterman catches Frankie, holding onto him with one arm. Frankie flails about, trying to get free, but Jitterman keeps his hold on the much, much smaller Frankie. Jitterman uses his free hand to hold Frankie's hand together in prayer, looking downward for a moment in quiet thought, and then takes him over, spiking him on top of the downed Xiaolong.

Taylor: Pray Time!
Romano: Frankie narrowly missed eating a face-full of that baseball bat!

With both competitors down, Frankie on top of Xiaolong, The Jitterman places his hands down on top of Frankie's shoulders, pinning him down to the mat as well. The referee drops to count.

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

Jessie Love: Frankie Webb and Xiaolong have been eliminated!

Jitterman sits back and begins to rock back and forth, staring at his work. John Eden climbs in the ring, his dusty and torn robe breezing about. He places a hand on The Jitterman's shoulder and tells him he did well.

Jessie Love: Here is your winner... THE JITTERMANNNNNNN!

The audience in the arena jeers and boos, though most of them are too afraid of this creature to really give him what they really think.

Taylor: Well that's a hell of a way to make a debut!
Romano: Explosive performances tonight from all involved.
Taylor: Oh I get it! Explosive!
Romano: I didn't mean to...
Taylor: Cassius made a pun! He made a pun!
Romano: I don't get paid enough for this.

---

We cut to the entry to the arena after that opening to the show and we see a large hulking man standing at the entrance to the performer area of the arena. He is looking impatient as a smaller man circles around him looking all over for something, anything. The door doesn’t seem to be booby trapped. Makes sense, the last thing the hunter would want is to accidentally maim someone like Chris Card or Seth Dillinger before they got what was coming to them. Or to accidentally break Bloodied Fox or Maverick’s fragile bodies before they got to earn the brass some cash.

Marcus: Ok Tarrasque, I don’t see any trip wires or traps. It should be safe.

Tarrasque: Me not worried. Me outsmart him last time.

Marcus: You tanked his basic traps and crushed his nuts. … Sure let’s call it outsmarting him.

Tarrasque: Me want get in and get to ring. Me show him what monster look like.

Marcus: He needs to be alive to get us into that gift box in the bag.

They begin to enter the arena and slowly scout the hallway. There seems to be a trail of candy.

Tarrasque: OOH A PIECE OF CANDY! *he eats it* OOH A PIECE OF CANDY! *he eats it*

Marcus: STOP THAT T! That’s clearly a trap left by Aiden.

Tarrasque: *dropping the third piece* Me wonder why it coconut. Me stop.

Marcus runs forward and punts the last candy in the trail and sure enough a cage falls and clatters to the ground with Marcus just diving out of the way.

Tarrasque: Him not learn. Cage not hold me.

As if to make a point he grabs the bars and wrenches them apart easily. He then looks at his hands as they are smeared with silver paint. He sniffs it. Just paint … really slow drying paint. Tarrasque shrugs and walks back to Marcus. He puts his hand on Marcus’s back leaving a paint hand print. Marcus doesn’t notice and they keep moving. They head over to catering and find a bowl of grilled shrimp on the floor!

Tarrasque: SHRIMP. Wait. Me remember this. He think me stupid. Me not fall for this.

He takes the shrimp and with a sigh of agony dumps them in the trash. Odd … no trip wire or anything on the bowl. Tarrasque looks in the trash can and the shrimp hitting the bottom kick up a cloud of flour and cayenne pepper that effectively mace the big man. Marcus instead eats off the catering table. He gets through a finger sandwich when he realizes they are still in the security checkpoint.

Marcus: Oh … oh no. Ok let’s get to our room man I don’t trust this.

The two make haste as Tarrasque grabs the corners of the walls to take the corners faster. He is whimpering in discomfort. The pepper blast didn’t really hurt but it sure is distracting and annoying. They approach the locker area and to their designated locker room. Tarrasque grabs the handle and gets an electric jolt. He however just grits his teeth and rips the knob off pulling all the jumper cables loose. He shrugs it off and flexes.

Marcus: I didn’t know you were that resilient big guy.

Tarrasque: Him just bag of tricks. Me strong. Not weak. Me no care about pepper or paint or shock.

Suddenly Anderson’s stomach gurgles.

Marcus: Oh … oh no … the sandwich … laxatives. Tarrasque you are going to have to be strong alone. …

He sprints to the bathroom and we hear unspeakable noises coming from there as well as pained moans.

Tarrasque looks around the room and sees the bear traps on the floor and the trip wire near the bathroom that Marcus managed to avoid by being short. There is a rifle mounted to it. Tarrasque gets angry and wipes the involuntary tears from his eyes and rages. He kicks apart all the traps. Snaps a few snares. Tosses aside the clearly trap food.

Tarrasque: He want hunt, me no make easy!

Tarrasque sprints out of the room and down a hallway and we cut back to a pre-tape from before the show started.

---

PRE-TAPE - BEFORE THE SHOW

Cochrane: Test, test, test. One two. Can you hear me?

The Dropkick King tests his lapel microphone and makes sure it’s attached to the right part of his collar. He glances back behind the camera to look at the producer. He’s already sitting at the piano to do his bit to open the show.

Cochrane: Good then?

Producer: Yeah, we got you. Maybe a tick higher on Cochrane’s mic. Sanders, can you give us some words?

Sanders looks over at the producer from the chair he will be sitting in all night before fiddling with his own microphone.

Sanders: Do I have this clipped on right?

Producer: Well, we heard him at least. Volume is perfect. And yeah, kid. It looks like you got it on right. So here’s what we are gonna do. We’re gonna have the camera on the fireplace. We’re gonna pan out slowly. Sanders, you will give the introduction. Cochrane will appear right after you do. Which Christmas carol are you doing again?

Cochrane: I could do “Silent Night”.

Producer: Hmmm, maybe a bit slow to open the show.

Cochrane: Ah, in that case, I can do “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” instead.

Producer: Perfect. I think we got all the lighting setup done if you two want to do a dry run. You said you guys got a way to mention all the matches taking place tonight?

Sanders: Yeah, we got all the matches covered. I’m good with rehearsing it once or twice. Might help with the nerves.

Cochrane: That’s what I’m here for you. I think once the camera starts rolling, you’ll find your groove.

As soon as Adrien’s sentence ends, the door to the room backstage where the set was put up opens up. Adam looks up and his mouth drops open in surprise as Betsy Granger struts inside. She’s the epitome of Christmas splendor: She’s wearing a Santa dress that looks like a Victoria’s Secret flash sale special. Her stockings are glittering snowflakes, her boots striped like a candy cane. Her blonde hair is in playful curls, some of which are hidden under the Santa hat. In one of her white-gloved hands she carries a mic that she’d somehow found time to customize with glued on gemstones.

Sanders: Oh… my… God…

Betsy’s cheeky grin lights up the room. She spins around happily.

Granger: I know, it’s glorious. Take it all in boys, don’t itemize, just enjoy.

She shimmies on the spot for a moment, then stops, looking around the room.

Granger: They set you up with a pretty sweet room, didn’t they? Look at it, it’s so pretty.

She walks over to wear a Keurig sits and looks over the drink options.

Granger: Adam, they have cinnamon hot chocolate in here! How come I only get Dasani in my locker?

Cochrane: Adam brought that in himself, actually. He’s got a peppermint hot chocolate in there too. I think they said he’s supposed to drink a mug of it for one of the segments tonight.

Betsy continues exploring the set-up, humming to herself as she explores. The tight bodice of her dress is attracting the attention of the crew tasked with finishing setting up for Adam. Oblivious to their stares, she finally strolls back over to where Adam and Adrien are seated, watching her and wondering why she was there. The song she starts to sing softly gives away her thoughts.

Granger: Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, though the lane, snow is glistening, a beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight…

She trails off, realizing now that everyone is looking at her. Adrien’s covering his mouth to hide his laughter. Adam is visibly stunned with his eyes widened.

Granger: Walking through a winter wonderland?

Cochrane spins on the piano bench and starts playing along with Betsy’s singing, hoping to help her continue. A genuine smile spreads across her face when Adrien starts to play.

Granger: Alright, Piano Man… What else do you know? Let’s do something fun.

Adrien lets his fingers trail the keys instinctively, playing several notes from a few different songs, from “Carol of the Bells” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Shaking her head, Betsy listens until she hears the playful notes to Santa, Baby. With a nod to Adrien, he begins the song from the beginning. Her grin turning sly, she looks back at Adam with a conspiratorial wink and begins to sing.

Sanders: Oh no…

Granger: Santa baby, just slip a belt under the tree for me
Been an awful busy girl
Santa baby, just meet at the show tonight
Santa baby, I’d like a vortex manipulator too, TARDIS blue
I'll wait here for you, my boo
Santa baby, just meet me at the show tonight

As she sings, Granger begins mingling among the crew. Dancing and bumping up against them, getting into the flirty spirit of the song. Adam covers his eyes as his best friend continues acting like a fool.

Granger: Think of all the matches I haven’t won
Being the Phoenix Champ could be such fun
Next year I’ll be even better than I am now
If you start by making me the Phoenix Champ
Santa honey, all I’m asking for is gold, to hold
Time to turn this year around
Santa baby, hurry, meet me in the ring tonight

Noticing Adam’s reaction, Betsy dances her way over to him. Now she’s grabbing his arm and forcing him to dance around with her. She twirls around him, purposely bumping him from all sides with her butt.

Granger: Santa cutie, there's another gift I need you to grant
The seed, that plants a rise against the Revenants
Santa cutie, so meet me at the show tonight
Santa baby, I need the strength to finish the job
And beat Rob
Santa baby, Please meet me at the show tonight
Come and trim my Christmas tree
With the crystal tears of my enemy
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me

Finally leaving Adam alone, she makes her way over to the piano where Adrien continues playing. Climbing on top, she sits like a cabaret singer, grinning at the Dropkick King while she sings.

Granger: Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing
The ring, in which I plan to win that belt
Santa baby, Betsy’s getting crazy tonight
Hurry up and meet me tonight

As Adrien plays the final notes, Betsy rolls over and sprawls across the top of the piano, hanging upside down over the side slightly. Her hat fall off as her hair spills towards the floor like a silky, golden waterfall. She winks as she finishes.

Granger: Hurry, tonight

Most of the room begins to clap their hands at the song. Adam Sanders, on the other hand, was as red as a beet, as he sinks into his seat a bit more than previously. Cochrane still chuckles at the whole rendition that was just done.

Sanders: Why though?

Cochrane: Why not though?

Pointing to Adrien, Betsy gives a nod.

Granger: This guy gets it. It’s all in the name of fun!

Walking over to where Adam is scrunched in his chair, Betsy takes advantage of a rare opportunity; knocking off his Santa hat, she begins to noogie his head properly. There’s an indignant hiss from the hair and makeup girl in the corner when Betsy messes up his hair. Biting her tongue to keep from laughing, Betsy ruffles Adam’s hair further before smoothing it easily back into place and plopping the hat back on.

Granger: Fine, fine, I’ll go and let you guys finish getting ready.

Adam adjusts the hat on his head before looking back at the departing Betsy.

Sanders: We’ll talk after the show though. And get something to eat I’m sure. And hopefully, you’ll have a shiny belt too.

Cochrane: I’ll swing by after we’re done shooting in here. Good luck out there, dear.

Stopping at the door, Betsy turns and throws her hands up into a heart towards the boys.

Granger: Thanks, guys. Love you, bestie. Appreciate you being here, Adrien. It means the world to me…

Trailing off, she nods and retreats towards the locker rooms to get ready. Sanders then turns to give his teacher a stern look.

Sanders: Why did you have to encourage that?!

Cochrane: I found it amusing! Hey, she’s your best friend. If you don’t think Eddie would have taken the same opportunity to embarrass me in front of a camera crew, you clearly don’t know how best friends roll.

Sanders: Oi vey...

---

We fade up on a cosy scene: roaring fire; Christmas music faintly playing; lights twinkling on a fir tree; and the AWF Prestige Champion, Bloodied Fox, sitting in an armchair, dressed in pyjama pants and the official XHF Christmas sweater, sipping a mug of cocoa, his title belt resting on his shoulder. He smiles for the camera.

Fox: Hi folks. Just wanted to take a moment to offer you all my seasons greetings. It's been a rough year for everybody, but I hope we've been able to distract you from it a bit. We've almost made it to the end, which quite frankly is an achievement in and of itself, so let's close the AWF's year out with a bang. So gather round the TV, get some mince pies, pour yourself a drink...

He lifts his mug in a 'cheers'

Fox: ...and get ready for a night of unforgettable action, capstoned by yours truly defending the Prestige title in the official main event.

He looks around surreptitiously, then leans closer to the camera.

Fox: Though I hear tell there's something unsanctioned after that which you won't want to miss.

He settles back in the chair with a grin.

Fox: Anyway, whatever it is you celebrate, join us tonight and have yourselves A Very AWF Christmas!!!

---

Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for ONE FALL!

Crowd: One Fall!

Jessie Love: And is for the XHF PHOENIX TITLE!

As the opening notes begin, the lights go out, save for a single spotlight on the top of the stage. Betsy comes out, but she’s only a silhouette at this point. Just as the drum strikes it’s second note, Betsy dabs and the lights come back. The song starts from the refrain as Betsy starts dancing down the ramp.

Jessie Love: First, introducing the challenger!!!

“Sin City’s cold and empty
No one’s around to judge me
I can’t see clearly when your gone-one-one”

Jessie Love: Weighing in at a hundred-and-thirty-five pounds and stand five feet and nine inches...IL VIADANTE….BETSY….GRANGER!!!

Taylor: You know, how many people can say they got a title-shot in the AWF by their second match?
Romano: It’s a very short list, Tommy, but Granger isn’t without an impressive resume to back it up.

Arms out, Betsy begins twirling around wildly, blonde ponytail whipping about with her, as she slaps hands with fans on both sides of the ramp. The chorus hits just as Betsy baseball slides into the ring.

“And I said ooooh, I’m blinded by the lights
I can’t sleep until I feel your touch
And I said ooooh, I’m drowning in the night
Oh, when I’m like this, you’re the one I trust”

Taylor: You can say that again, we know that Adrien Cochrane respects her, a client of Eddie Walker, AND she was a key player in the Lingerie Football League...how many people can say that?
Romano: It’s an impressive pedigree and you can only hope, for Garcia’s sake, he pays her the full respect she deserves.

As the chorus chimes on, Betsy bounces up and hops up onto every ring corner, pumping her fist in time with the song, getting the fans amped up for the upcoming bout. When she finishes this display, she starts bouncing in place, preparing mentally for the bout.

Romano: It all comes down to this for Granger. We’ve seen the ReVenants make a huge claim towards being THE dominant stable here in Ascension in 2020 and each one of them knows what they have to do to close out this year in style!
Taylor: But not one of them has an easy task...

Jessie Love: And now...introducing the XHF Phoenix Champion…

🎶HARD🎶 by Tay-K and BloccBoy JB erupts over the sound system throughout the arena and a roar of boo's and jeers explodes from the crowd. The beat drops and out from the curtain walks Rob Garcia wearing what looks to be a mink coat. He stops and stands at the entrance ramp, staring at the crowd with a smug look upon his face. As he stands there, his manager, Jeff Noon then makes his way out holding a clipboard and he then stands to the right of Rob.

Jessie Love: Weighing in at two-hundred-and-forty-four pounds and standing at six feet and one inch...

Rob turns his head to look at Jeff, and they both nod, Rob then slowly makes his way down towards the ring, Jeff following behind. Rob stops half way and starts trash talking a fan, Jeff then uses his clipboard to block the fans face when they try to react and he then moves his hand forward to escort Rob to the ring.

Jessie Love: HE IS THE KING OF EXTREME….ROB...GARCIA!!!!!!

Rob jumps up on the ring apron, as Jeff runs up the steps, he walks to the turnbuckle, climbs it and raises his hand in the air holding up his index finger. The crowd continues to boo and yell insults and vulgar remarks at Rob as he yells "I'm the man! I'm number one! I'm the king of extreme!" He then jumps down off the turnbuckle and makes his way over to Noon.

Taylor: Garcia is inching his way towards Merric’s record with the title and if he can get over tonight, he has a great shot at beating the record.
Romano: The cynic in me says that Aiden Merric never had a defence like this one.
Taylor: Whilst Granger doesn’t have Eddie Walker at ringside, she does have a fan in Garcia’s own manager, Jeff Noon!
Romano: If he wants to keep collecting those paychecks, he’ll know where his allegiances lie tonight!

---

XHF Phoenix Championship
Rob Garcia (c) vs. Besty Granger

---

Garcia says something to Jeff Noon as he steps down from the apron. Noon nods but looks a little distracted. The camera cuts to Betsy Granger, she checks her boots for a last time, knowing that she has the chance of a title-win in her sophomoric outing on the XHF Network. Gabe Valentine looks to each competitor before signalling for the bell to ring.

Taylor: Cassius, given your experience, how well prepared do you think Betsy is for what Garcia might do?
Romano: It all depends on how she can negate the size disadvantage, if she can take it to the mat she stands a better chance than standing up, not just for her skills but because Jeff isn’t shy on making his presence known...

Granger comes out of her corner but instinctively keeps her distance as she strafes to her right. Garcia looks to try and cut the ring off as he strides forward, confident in his ability to get the job done. He manages to catch Granger by the ropes and looks to connect with a jab but Il Viadante dodges. Garcia turns around and is met by a kick to the ribs for his troubles and steps back to keep his distance.

Taylor: Excellent counterstrikes from the challenger but if Garcia can establish a jab, he could keep this match where he wants it!

Trying to keep up the pressure, Bets moves towards Garcia who quickly fires a jab, utilizing the reach advantage he has. Granger seems unfazed, eating the jab as she steps forward and fires off a rapid-paced high-kick to the temple of the champion. Her leg drops down before being flung out almost instantly with the same kick connecting once more.

Romano: She can’t walk down those jabs all match without feeling the consequences of them.
Taylor: Likewise, those feet of hers will need to be taken out of the equation if the Champ hopes to retain!

Looking to make it three-in-a-row, DangerGranger lifts her leg up once more but Garcia catches it...ENZIGURI takes down the Phoenix Champion to the ground.

Taylor: A great show of agility from QuarterBetsy there!
Romano: Rob needs to look for ways to impose his physical advantage and quickly...

The challenger can’t take advantage of it though, Garcia uses his ring awareness to clasp the bottom-rope as he gets to his feet causing Valentine to back Granger away. Satisfied that Garcia is now back to his feet, the referee steps aside allowing Bets to move towards her opponent. Garcia looks to throw a quick jab but Granger answers with an arm-drag, he rolls to his feet and tries again but the Challenger once more catches him with an arm-drag. The camera picks up the frustration on the Champion’s face as he gets back to his feet.

Romano: Keep your head, Rob, it’s a marathon, not a sprint…
Taylor: We’ve seen him use his wiles on numerous occasions but Walker’s clients tend to be well-drilled in scouting.

The King of Extreme charges at his foe but eats a drop-toe-hold. Granger makes sure to tweak the leg of Garcia as she rolls through with the hold.

Taylor: That ground-game of Granger came into play there.
Romano: The tweak on the drop-toe-hold is a subtle but knowing way to build towards that submission finish of hers.

Both competitors are now back to a vertical base, Garcia looking a little more wary of his opponent than he did before the bell rang. He looks to Noon for guidance but finds his manager’s attention is split and not in his favor. The Challenger looks to take advantage of his attention-deficit and runs, attempting a headscissor takedown but Garcia rolls through and pops to his feet. Granger runs at him to rectify her error but he drops down to the floor. She hits the ropes and he leapfrogs over her...she comes back off the ropes and he looks to monkey-flip her but she lands on her feet and attempts a springboard back-elbow that the Champion side-steps and sends her rolling backwards.
Romano: Garcia has got his head into the game here, his manager might not be there yet but he’s holding his own.

Garcia changes tact, grabbing a front-facelock on his opponent but her martial arts background comes in handy as she manages to trip him and roll through with a pin attempt.

One…

Taylor: Granger goes for the surprise pin.
Romano: He’s not going to be caught napping with that one!

The Champion bridges his back up and turns, now with the challenger’s head between his legs. He attempts a piledriver lift but Bets blocks it. He tries once more with the same result but this time follows up with a clubbing forearm smash to the back of his opponent that drops her to her knees. He grabs a front-facelock again and wastes no time in delivering knees to the body of his opponent.

Romano: The champ wants to turn this into a brawl…
Taylor: His career has been forged on opportunism and capitalizing on any gap he spots in someone’s game.
Romano: Those knees are going to take away any conditioning advantage that Granger might hope to have!

Looking to stretch his advantage, the champion throws an arm over his shoulder and lifts her up...stalling vertical suplex brings her back to the mat. Giving Granger no time to recuperate he starts to stomp furiously, Valentine sees a boot he doesn’t like and starts to berate the Champion WHO WALKS OVER HER THROAT AS HE TRIES TO SATE THE REFEREE!

Taylor: DID YOU SEE THAT?
Romano: It doesn’t matter what anyone sees in this match except Gabe Valentine and he was unsighted!

The cameras see the Challenger clearly holding her throat but the move remains unpunished. He seeks to stretch his advantage once more as he pulls the challenger to her feet and whips her to the ropes. He looks for a clothesline but she ducks under, GARCIA YANKS HER TO THE MAT BY HER PONYTAIL!

Taylor: He can’t have missed that!
Romano: You want to hold onto a title? You do whatever you can, when you can, to hold onto the belt!

The limited crowd still make up for their scant numbers with boos. Garcia ignores them as he ziplines down with a leg-drop to the throat of his opponent and chains it together with a measured knee-drop that he rolls through on the head of Granger.

Romano: The champion seems to have control of the match after a slow start.
Taylor: Because flagrant cheating.
Romano: I hope no-one bought you the Best of Chris Card DVD in the Secret Santa this year.

Valentine tries to talk to Garcia but is waved off dismissively, the Champion pulls the Challenger back to her feet AND LAUNCHES HER TO THE OUTSIDE!

Romano: Garcia is hoping to keep the match on his terms.

Granger is quickly joined by Jeff Noon, the manager of Champions, he looks towards the ring with a concerned look, helping Granger to her feet.

Taylor: The Champion doesn’t look too happy with his manager.

Garcia: WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MAN?

Noon holds his hands up, realizing where his bread is buttered. GARCIA CHARGES OFF THE ROPES AND NAILS A BASEBALL SLIDE TO THE FACE OF GRANGER!

Romano: There’s that mix of brawling and high-risk offense from the King of Extreme!
Taylor: Granger needs to realize, and quickly, that the longer she’s on the outside the worse this match is going to go for her!

ONE…

The Champion knows he has the upper-hand in this environment and a smile breaks across his face. He sees the prone body of Granger and grabs her by the hair once more, he slams her face into the ring apron…

Taylor: He’s looking to bust her open!

TWO…

The camera catches a sadistic smile on the face of the Phoenix Champion.

Romano: He’s clearly loving his work though, Tommy!

Garcia: WATCH THIS!

Still holding the hair of Betsy, HE THROWS HER INTO THE STEEL STEPS!!

Taylor: The champion with no regard for his opponent!
Romano: You’ve clearly not had a competitive match.

THREE!!

Jeff Noon can be seen in the background, conflicted by the horror he is seeing but with the chances of his client coming out victorious, he seems to be caught with a look of shock on his face.

Taylor: It’s not just me who doesn’t condone the approach Garcia is taking. Jeff Noon is caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment on how to react!

FOUR!

His client, on the other hand, is smiling broadly as his latest actions are judged to be heinous by the crowd, their boos filling the arena in volume.

Romano: You do what you need to do to retain. When you’re a champion, the meals taste better, the wine flows more freely, and you know that you’ll do whatever it takes to hold on to that lifestyle.

FIVE!

Betsy looks dazed and tries to get to her feet but finds her legs unstable as she leans against the steps and post to try and regain her balance.

Taylor: Granger got the full brunt of those ring-steps and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not entirely sure what’s going on.
Romano: This is the AWF not the World Chess Championships FORCHRISSAKE!

SIX!

Spotting that his prey has recovered somewhat, Garcia rushes towards her...SHE MOVES OUT THE WAY AND GARCIA’S LEG SICKENINGLY COLLIDES WITH THE RING-POST!!

Taylor: GARCIA’S KNEE WENT STRAIGHT INTO THAT POST!
Romano: This could be pivotal. Noon needs to get involved and quickly!

SEVEN!

Not being fully recovered, but realizing her only chance of leaving with the title is to bring the match back to the ring, Granger picks up the Champion and rolls him into the ring before following herself.

Taylor: To remind you at home, a count-out win for Granger wouldn’t get her the title.
Romano: It’d be doubtful if she got a rematch at this point.

Seeking to hone in on the injured body part, Betsy puts a foot on the back of the knee of her opponent and lifts him up before drilling it down into the mat. Garcia can be seen to writhe in agony as Granger shows no sign of letting up. She grabs the injured leg again and proceeds to deliver a swift kick to the knee before dropping a leg to further carry on the targeted attacks.

Taylor: The challenger is fighting with her brain. As the technician in the match, what just happened to Garcia is a blessing from the heavens.
Romano: Don’t count your chickens too soon, Tommy, we’ve seen just how devious Rob can be when the stakes are high!

In an act of retribution, QuarterBetsy drags up Garcia by the hair and whips him into the turnbuckle. It’s evident that Garcia is in pain as he drops slightly, favoring his leg. Granger quickly throws a dab and a EUROPEAN UPPERCUT!

Taylor: DAB AND BOP!
Romano: A what?
Taylor: Classic Granger!

Noon knows that Garcia is in trouble but his calls have little effect. Granger slides out of the ring and grabs the legs of Rob, crotching him in the process...RINGPOST FIGURE-FOUR!

Romano: Where’s your sense of fair-play now, Tommy?
Taylor: Perfectly legal figure-four applied around the post by QuarterBetsy!

The referee warns Granger to release the hold, which she does but not before leaning into the hold to ensure the maximum amount of damage could be inflicted.

Romano: She finally relinquishes the hold, not before taking advantage of the rules.
Taylor: Like you’d have done any differently.
Romano: When were you ever the Chairman of my fan club?

Jeff tries to buy his client some time as he rushes towards Granger. He stops her from getting into the ring.

ONE..

Taylor: Jeff interceding on his client’s behalf but getting in the way of what would be Granger’s first title win of her career is not a smart move.
Romano: You look at who signs your paychecks and that tells you how to act.

Trying to sidestep him, Betsy finds her path blocked, she goes the other way but Jeff anticipates. Finally, with a sigh of disbelief, she sells him a feint before rolling into the ring.

Taylor: Showing some of her skills from the LFL, Granger rolls into the ring before Gabe Valentine can continue the count.

His charge has gotten back to his feet but he doesn’t look too confident in his footing. Granger pays no mind and lifts him up for an inverted Atomic Drop...she rolls through with a rolling knee-lock.

Taylor: Garcia should realize by now where she wants this to lead to.
Romano: He’ll know, but if Jeff Noon wanted to earn his paycheck, he wouldn’t have to think that far ahead!
Valentine drops to the mat to ask the Champion if he wants to submit, his face is pained but he shakes his head furiously as he tries to work out his options.

Taylor: Garcia is looking for any way to escape the hold. Would pulling the hair again get him anywhere?
Romano: As a last resort, but that wouldn’t automatically break the hold or get him to escape it any quicker.

Using every last bit of his in-ring intelligence, Garcia flails an arm until he finds a rope to clasp onto for dear life. The referee once more starts the count but Granger releases on one-and-a-half and gets to her feet, backing off and raising her hands.

Taylor: A nice show of fairplay from the challenger.
Romano: Who holds the AWF Fairplay title currently, Tommy?

The XHF Phoenix Champion is slow to get back to his feet, each movement towards doing so is carried out with a firm hand grasping each rope as he recovers. The Challenger tries to keep up her own momentum and approaches him as he gingerly gets back to his feet. GARCIA RAKES THE EYES UNSIGHTED BY THE REF!!

Romano: Garcia with the best move to try and get back on top!
Taylor: You condone that?
Romano: If I were ringside? I’d encourage it!

Granger recoils back, holding her face...JUMPING SPINNING DDT FROM GARCIA!!

Taylor: OVERDOSE DDT!
Romano: See where these things can lead to? Now, Rob, make it count!

The Champion rolls back to his feet and heads to the corner.

Taylor: Garcia is going back to something he knows, are we looking at a high-risk move coming our way?
Romano: He’ll need to make it count if he does!
Taylor: He isn’t moving nearly as quickly as we’ve seen him in the past.

He gets to the top-rope, his knee still troubling him but knowing that he needs to put this one to bed. HE NAILS A 450 SPLASH!

Taylor: He got all of it!

ONE…

TWO…

TH-KICKOUT!!

Taylor: GRANGER ABLE TO GET AN ARM UP AT THE LAST SECOND!
Romano: Keep your focus, Garcia...

GARCIA CAN’T BELIEVE IT!

Noon: PUT HER AWAY, ROB!

Taylor: Noon with encouragement from ringside.
Romano: Finally, he works out who signs his paychecks...thankfully, not before it’s too late!

He rolls back into the corner and uses whatever time he can find to rest into the turnbuckle and take some pressure off his knee. He throws his hands up, willing the Challenger to walk into his trap..

Romano: That’s it, Rob…
Taylor: Could this be Lights Out for Harambe?

THE LIGHTS DROP LEAVING THE ARENA IN DARKNESS!

Romano: The f-

THEY FLICKER BACK ON AND WE SEE A FIGURE ON THE APRON….BLOOD MIST!!!!

Taylor: WAS THAT WHO I THINK IT WAS?

THE LIGHTS DROP OUT AGAIN AND WHEN THEY RETURN THE FIGURE HAS DISAPPEARED...GARCIA’S FACE AND EYES ARE COVERED IN RED!

Romano: Call the match, ref! Disqualify Granger, rule Garcia medically unfit to carry on and call it a no-contest!

Granger struggles to her feet, Garcia’s back to both her and Gabe Valentine, he stumbles into the center of the ring...she hooks a Cobra Clutch before delivering a legsweep!

Taylor: DOWN YOU GO!
Romano: She’s complicit!
Taylor: She was as unsighted as the referee...with Garcia face down, I don’t think either can see now!

She senses victory as she crosses over the legs of Garcia and leans back...INDIAN DEATHLOCK WITH A BRIDGE!!

Taylor: SHE’S LOCKED IN TUEZ LES ÉTOILES! All that work on the knee is going to come in handy as she stretched both that and the back of Garcia!
Romano: Surely the ref will see now!

Garcia taps!!!

Taylor: He didn’t get a chance!
Romano: Get Ziko! Get Steele!

Gabe Valentine rings for the bell as “Blinding Lights” by Fame on Fire fills the arena. Releasing the hold, Valentine has passed the XHF Phoenix title to her as she knees and stares at the title, what looks to be a tear is forming in her eye as she smiles.

Jessie Love: The winner of this match...ANNNNDDD THE NEWWWW XHF PHOENIX CHAMPION….BETSY….GRANGER!!!!!!!

She hugs the belt to her chest, Jeff Noon is on the apron and climbs into the ring, an eagle-eyed viewer might notice that he smiles towards the new champion before rushing to the aid of his client. Granger rolls out of the ring to celebrate with the fans.

Taylor: Garcia has every right to feel hard done by but just look at the elation on DangerGranger’s face!
Romano: I get the feeling we haven’t heard the last of this, not by a long shot!

Noon helps Garcia to his feet and sees the mist coated on Rob’s face. He wipes away what he can and The King of Extreme opens his eyes to see a taunting figure looking back at him.

Taylor: IT IS HIM! IT’S KIRA IZUMI! A man who helped bring this company forward from an Ohio secret to a national force!
Romano: Someone kick him out of the building! He’s not even on our roster anymore, send him back to J-Rok!

Kira Izumi is seen smiling at the top of the ramp. He motions a thumb across his throat towards the ring. Garcia, still limping, starts to lose his shit but Jeff Noon does what he can to contain him as we cut back to our announce team.

---

Sanders: So… I came outside my little special set for this next guest.

Sanders passes through the camera well that has been filming the rest of the interviews up to this point. A roving cameraman follows him along as he moves back into a hallway. The sign that he’s close to his destination is a stream of fake snow on the ground.

Sanders:: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my next guest… Santa Claus?

A backstage area has been entirely dedicated to setting up Santa’s Workshop, as indicated by the sign. There is a stream of children in line to ask Santa for presents, and one by one Santa seems to give them a gift from underneath the tree, as helped by an elf also wearing PPE. The Christmas tree there is fully decorated with ornaments and tinsel. A television screen doubles as a fake fireplace, and the big man- whoah. The big man himself is HUGE.

Sanders: Santa, do you have a moment for us?

Santa Claus is easily over six feet tall, and while not fat, definitely a bigger… creature. The glasses they’re wearing are clearly fake. Santa nods, but not without helping the small child first.

Small Child: And what I, what I want most is a Red Rider BB Gun--

Santa Claus: Ragh’ra ragh ragh ragh ragh.

The crowd pops very loudly as it’s not quite the usual Santa Claus, the camera fully revealing that Santa is over 7 feet tall, probably is actually over 300 pounds, and has a tiny adorable elf sitting on a table next to them, along with the Around the Clock Championship.

Subject Claus has handed the problematic child who will inevitably shoot his eye out over to their helper, turning to listen to Sanders.

Sanders: Santa, I’m grateful you took time out of your busy agenda to come talk to me and the fans at home. Are you all ready for your big night delivering gifts and… perhaps delivering yourself a big victory against Neo James Carner?

Subject Claus: Ragh!

It’s clear Adam can’t understand Subject, and no one told him he’d have to interview the famously wordy Subject #42. He decides to lean into the bit.

Sanders: So with your list of who’s been naughty and nice, who have been the nicest AWF wrestlers this year?

Subject Claus takes a few moments to think.

Subject Claus: Ragh Ragh, Ragh Ragh…

Subject Claus points to Adam.

Subject Claus: Ragh Ragh Ragh.

Sanders: Oh, thank you, Santa. I appreciate that.

The human helper, who has been dressed as the most ridiculous of elves, grabs one of the presents under the tree. One could have guessed that it was a baseball bat, but the elf unwraps it to reveal that it’s a kendo stick!

Sanders: Look out, Subject!

The elf swings the kendo stick, striking directly between Subject Claus’ shoulder blades. The children and their parents run away from the scene as Subject lets out a roar of pain but keeps their position on the chair. The elf swings again, but this time Subject catches the stick!

Subject Claus: RAGH!!

Subject Claus stands up from their chair, revealing just how large they are. It is a damn impressive amount of fabric to cover a beast that big as Subject snaps the kendo stick over their leg before grabbing the wrestling elf. The elf struggles to fight back as a determined Subject throws them halfway across the workshop, causing them to crash into the Christmas tree, knocking ornaments everywhere! Sanders is silent and stunned as the chaos ensues.

Taylor: It has broken down at Santa’s Workshop!
Romano: Santa is in danger of losing the Around the Clock Championship here!

Sanders tosses Subject Claus another gift. This time, Subject opens it to reveal a brand new PS5! Subject smacks it into the back of the downed Christmas elf!

Taylor: Santa has all the best gifts, including an ass kicking for one of his elves!
Romano: Credit Sanders for the assist there!

The downed Christmas elf is clearly outnumbered two to one. Subject scoops them up off the ground and, realizing that Adam could use his own Christmas gift, communicates to set up for a big move. Subject whips the naughty elf in Sanders’ direction, and Sanders hoists the elf in one swift motion, dropping him with the Dream Breaker!

Taylor: More than an assist! Adam just laid out the naughty elf!
Romano: A Very AWF Christmas indeed!

Sanders and Subject Claus exchange a moment of Christmas cheer as the elf groans out in pain. The final shot is a close-up on Tiny Fur.



Tiny Fur: MEW!

---

We cut to the backstage area where we see Aiden Merric leaving his locker room decked to the teeth in gear for a hunt. He is wearing his camo outfit … that is to say his khakis since it’s a building … and he has on his back a hunting rifle. His ammo belt is full of tranquilizer darts meant for large prey. He has his face painted with anti glare paint and his hair is hidden under a hat. He also has showered since in this area no smell is better than musk.

Merric: Right *he unholsters his hunting knife* Let’s start this hunt.

He heads over to the locker area. He looks around and sees all the traps he set broken and avoided … except for the food on the table and the trash bin.

Merric: Blurry vision and laxatives. Good starting point.

He slowly moves to where he anticipated they would be. He sees the door off its hinges and laughs. He sniffs the air.

Merric: Gotcha beastie. You’ll be crapping your brains out for hours!

He loads a tranq into his rifle just in case and then moves to the room with his knife in his teeth and his taser in his hands. He kicks in the bathroom door!

Marcus: AHHH! LEAVE ME ALONE! My guts are on fire.

Merric: GAH You fell for the food? How in the hell were you the stupid one? Ugh now I have to actually try. I am not letting him make it to the ring.

Marcus: HE ISN’T AN ANIMAL! He’s basically a kid trapped in that body. He is not evil or a monster.

Merric: *Spits on the floor* Yeah well … maybe I aims to be the monster this time then. I am a hunter. I will have my trophy for this hunt.

Aiden slams the door closed behind him and wrinkles his nose at the smell. He marches out. He takes in his surroundings and crouches to the ground. There are fragments of wood from the door that must have clung to Tarrasque as he moved away and fell off. Aiden moves in that direction. He keeps swiveling his head around and looking for clues. He spots a silver hand print on the corner of a wall. He smirks.

Merric: Can’t believe that one worked! Ok let’s see. Hand print implies he took this corner and went right at the four way. Where is he headed? He must know I’m laying traps where he usually goes so logic would dictate he is somewhere trying to either hide or ambush me.

Aiden peaks around the corner and uses his field binoculars to see if he can scope out the beast. He sees another hand print on the wall down the hall way but it is smeared implying Tarrasque noticed the paint and tried to clean it.

Merric: Bugger. Well it got me here. Now let’s see. He ate two of the candies so he should have the smell of chocolate and rosewater on his breath. And if he got the facefull of pepper he must have gone to wash it out or else his tears would be leaving a trail. The wall does look like he bumped into it in a few places so he must be having trouble seeing.

Aiden follows the path to the wall with the hand print and looks around. He sees a puddle on the floor. He touches it and sniffs. He tastes it.

Merric: Peppery tears. He was here recently.

He moves past the bathroom which still has its door. He finally sees a boiler room and the door looks normal except the wood around the lock is slightly broken. He realizes Tarrasque has broken in gently but left a tell tale sign. Aiden creeps to the boiler room and slowly opens the door. As he thinks he has his secret entrance the door squeaks loudly. Aiden cringes. He ducks low so Tarrasque can’t see who is coming in. Aiden looks around. There are places to hide. He sidles into the room and pulls a mirror from his utility belt. He uses it to look around a few corners before seeing a HUGE man in the mirror on the other side of a tower of shelves. He is hunched ready to pounce as if he knows Aiden is coming. Aiden looks in front of him and uses his knife to sever a trip wire.

Merric: Bloke has some brains. *under his breath* stole one of me traps and was gonna use it to get me to fall in front of him and pounce on me.

Aiden instead crawls behind the shelves. He slowly inches toward Tarrasque who is beginning to fidget impatiently. Surely Aiden should have tripped by now. Aiden lunges from behind the shelves and blasts him with the taser. He then slashes his arm with the hunting knife. Tarrasque recoils in shock and stumbles from the electricity. He swings wildly but his eyes are clearly still blurry.

Merric: Put up a good fight for me now beast.

Tarrasque: ME STOP YOU!

Tarrasque flails and finally lands a boot to the gut of Aiden sending him sprawling. Aiden rolls to his feet and throws a small dagger at Tarrasque which hits his left knee. It lodges In but seems to just anger him. He roars and rips the dagger free. He walks with a slight limp but moves with purpose. Aiden hurdles the boiler and aims a valve at Tarrasque and steam blasts in the poor man’s face.

Tarrasque: ME NOT MONSTER. STOP TRYING HURT ME!

Aiden tackles him to the ground and tries to plunge a knife in his chest but Tarrasque monkey flips him over. Aiden rolls to his feet and pulls the rifle up. He fires a dart into Tarrasque’s chest. Tarrasque’s eyes to wide and he begins to run. He barrels through the door and up towards the ringside area. Aiden crawls to his feet and dusts himself off. He loads another dart and steps through the door. As Tarrasque takes a corner he fires again and the dart lodges in Tarrasque’s right butt cheek. He slows down but seems to be barely phased by the darts. Aiden chases with the knife out. He gets close to Tarrasque when both men stop and hear “All Animal” by Through Fire begin to play. Aiden curses as the time for the hunt is up and the match is starting. He watches as Tarrasque steps onto the stage from the back to the cheering of the crowd.

Jessie Love: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE HUNT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL SO WE BRING TO YOU THIS HARDCORE MATCH SCHEDULED FOR ONE FALL! Entering first, from Parts Unknown at 6 feet 7 inches and 375 pounds … The Beast … TARRASQUE!

*"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 a smug ass smile on his face. 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 stretches on the ropes. The referee stops him and removes his various blades, ropes and other hunting equipment as he smirks. He then cracks his neck, waiting for the bell.*

Jessie Love: And his opponent, from Coober Pedy, South Australia … at 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds … he is the Big Game Hunter, Aiden … Outback … MERRIC!

Taylor: Well the fact that these men are out here means that Merric didn’t get his trophy yet so we get to see a wrestling match!
Romano: Oh please Tommy this is a brawl. And look, there are two darts sticking out of Tarrasque, his left knee and right arm are bleeding and his eyes are all puffy! How is this fair?
Taylor: I mean he is packing a five inch height advantage and a 155 pound weight advantage. Also he is a freak of nature.

---

Hardcore Hunt
Tarrasque vs. Aiden Merric

---

The bell rings and Gabe Valentine is assigned duties in this brawl. He lets Aiden know that even though this is a hardcore match he cannot kill or use his blades or guns for insurance reasons.

Merric: Crikey wouldn’t wanna cost Mr. Bradshaw or Mr. Steele some money. Might make Ziko look bad. Let me finish what I started.

Aiden charges in for a Stun Gun superman punch but Tarrasque catches his fist.

Merric: Ah. Well shoulda sprung for the whale tranqs I see.

Tarrasque: Me … win match … win gift. Then me have fun with you.

Romano: Huh … seems like the bloody knee and tranqs haven’t been as effective as advertised.

Tarrasque keeps hold of Aiden’s right hand in his left and begins to wail away on the spine of Merric with overhand right arm clubs. Aiden audibly oofs with every shot. Tarrasque is careful to keep hold of Aiden since his vision is still blurry. Aiden spits in his eyes however and Tarrasque drops him. Aiden tries to scurry away but Tarrasque stomps on his spine. He then grabs him by the straps on his suspender overalls and ragdolls Aiden across the ring with a thud. The crowd goes wild.

Taylor: Aiden cannot stand toe to toe with the beast.
Romano: I think he is realizing that.

Tarrasque stomps over to Aiden and absorbs a few punches to the gut and hits a huge headbutt to the hunter extraordinaire. Aiden’s eyes go all screwy as he drops to his knees. He hits a low blow to Tarrasque who flinches in pain then growls.

Tarrasque: That almost hurt! ME SHOW YOU HOW IT DONE!

Tarrasque forcibly palms Aiden by the head and pulls him to his feet. The locks a claw onto his genital region and begins to crush.

Romano: RISE OF THE FEMININE SIDE! Tarrasque is doing to Aiden what Aiden did to Vincent Draven!
Taylor: Cassius … I’m getting sympathy pains watching this.
Romano: Every man in attendance is Tommy. Grit your teeth and bear it.

Tarrasque lifts Aiden up as Aiden flails his left arm. Finally he clamps the left hand into the open wound on T’s right arm. Tarrasque loosens his grip but holds Aiden. That’s when Aiden pulls his right hand from the inside of his utility belt and hits a punch right between the eyes with the brass knuckles on.

Romano: OH! The alternate Stun Gun from Aiden! Tarrasque is now pouring blood from his forehead. Aiden is out of the um … ball … claw …
Taylor: But Tarrasque didn’t fall down.

Tarrasque stumbles to the ropes. Aiden catches his breath and crawls away. As he pulls himself to his feet using the ropes Tarrasque barrels in and shoulder charges him sending him flying into the corner. Tarrasque bounces off the ropes and spears him in the corner. Aiden stumbles out holding his ribs when Tarrasque grabs him in the bear hug. Aiden shouts in pain and then his eyes go wide. Tarrasque begins to violently shake him!

Taylor: Tarrasque likes his hunters SHAKEN not stirred!
Romano: … boo. Boo. The crowd hates it. Your joke is bad and you should feel bad.

Aiden is being ragdolled again as he surely feels bones and ligaments being moved out of position.

Merric: HEY BEASTIE! QUESTION! … Is mayonnaise an instrument?

Tarrasque stops shaking him and looks at him funny.

Tarrasque: What? You think me dumb?

Merric: Distraction working well innit?

Aiden claps his hands on the ears of Tarrasque breaking the hold. He then headbutts the big man with the Bag and Tag. But Aiden stumbles back as T just shakes the cobwebs out. Tarrasque then clotheslines him over the top rope to the floor. He then moves to the center of the ring to rub his ears. In the process he takes time to pull the darts out of his body. He holds a hand to his head and shakes his head. He walks to the ropes but Aiden reaches in and pulls his legs out dropping him to the mat. He then pulls Tarrasque out of the ring and whips him into the steel steps. The steps explode apart and fly ten feet away in two pieces but Tarrasque just rubs his shoulder a bit. That’s when Aiden lunches and jabs another pair of darts into the neck of the beast. Tarrasque swats him away like a fly. He pulls the darts out and looks at them as his vision goes more blurry. He tosses the darts away and picks up Aiden in a press slam position. He hurls Aiden at the ringpost but his aim is off and Aiden flies into the ring and crash lands.

Taylor: Superman flight from Tarrasque and Aiden is now in the ring.

Aiden takes the time to put the brass knucks back on his right fist and slowly crawls to his feet. Tarrasque climbs the ring steps. As he goes to climb over the top rope Aiden springs up and kicks the rope again hitting T in his little beasties. T falls into the ring as the tranq’s now seem to be taking effect. Aiden pulls him to a kneeling position and hits a shining big boot. He then turns and hits him in the chest with a punch with the knucks and then the face with his other hand. Aiden then sees the bleeding knee.

Merric: Dagger laced with anticoagulant. Blood loss and tranqs you must be tired Tarrasque.
Tarrasque: Me … still win.

Aiden punches him square in the mouth sending two teeth flying into the crowd. Tarrasque stays in a kneeling position. Aiden punches again but T catches the hand and removes the knucks. He then chops Aiden but on the second chop Aiden catches it and judo tosses him to the mat in a sitting position.

Taylor: That’s not a knife …

He then unloads with machine gun chops to the neck of the monster.

Taylor: THIS is a knife. Aiden unloading on the beast. He’s starting to take control after being a ragdoll at Tarrasque’s mercy early on.
Romano: Tarrasque’s left lower leg and face are just crimson with blood. His sideburns look dyed red.

Aiden pins the beast.

ONE!

Tarrasque presses Aiden into the air and tosses him to the side. Aiden is in shock. Aiden mounts him again and begins raining punches down on the face of Tarrasque. Tarrasque slowly sits up. He pulls Aiden up with him. Aiden is now sitting on the beast’s shoulders. Tarrasque uses his incredible might to use one arm to pull on the ropes and get to his feet. Aiden keeps punching him in the face until Tarrasque spikes him with a powerbomb to the mat then falls back onto the mat himself. Both men are down and hurt. Tarrasque rolls over and drapes an arm on Aiden.

ONE!
TWO!
Kickout by the hunter.

Aiden rolls out of the ring. Tarrasque slowly gets to his feet. He is unsteady on his feet as the tranqs are really starting to kick in. He stumbles to the ropes and leans through to grab a hand full of hair. Aiden swings a chair over his head crushing the monster in his skull. Tarrasque stumbles back into the ring holding his head. Aiden slowly climbs the apron. Tarrasque turns and charges for a shoulder tackle but Aiden jabs the chair into his gut. He tosses it into the ring then signs himself with a the cross before leaping to the top rope and springboarding at Tarrasque with the superman punch!

Romano: Oh my a springboard Stun Gun from Aiden.

He doesn’t stop though using the momentum to hit the opposite rope and springboard back with the swiss uppercut!

Romano: And into the tranquilizer!

Aiden falls on top of the downed Tarrasque.

ONE!
TWO!
Tarrasque rolls the shoulder up.

Aiden is in shock. He nods his head ... and slowly moves to the ropes. He waits as the monster stands up slowly and on wobbly legs. Tarrasque however plants his legs. He looks up as Aiden bounces off the ropes and looks for the Contract Fulfilled! But Aiden’s arm just bounces off the forearms of a waiting Tarrasque who then shoves him with all his might sending him sprawling to the corner. Tarrasque slowly moves to Aiden who is gingerly getting to his feet. He spies the chair and is about to grab it when Tarrasque bursts forth with a surge of second wind energy and catches the Shaken in again! Gabe Valentine asks if Aiden submits and he says no. Tarrasque is expending a lot of energy to shake him and the drugs are taking their toll as the shaking slows. He eventually settles into a straight bear hug.

Taylor: Cassius it looks like both men are fading again.

Tarrasque shouts out to the cheering crowd and lifts Aiden up in the bear hug for a belly to belly suplex. Aiden however hooks the head of T on the life and has a guillotine choke locked in. Tarrasque tries to throw him but Aiden won’t let go until he has wriggled free and then drops Tarrasque with a DDT onto the chair! Aiden sits up and smirks. He taps his finger to his head to show he strategized. He rolls over and uses a jackknife clutch to pin.

ONE!
TWO!
THRE-NO!

Tarrasque powers out at the last nanosecond. Aiden pounds the mat in anger. Tarrasque is barely conscious and his head is a bloody mess. Aiden rolls to the corner where he grabs a swiss army knife and hides it in his palm. Gabe Valentine follows him and as Aiden comes out of the corner he “stumbles” and bumps into Gabe knocking him to the mat gently and dropping another dart. Valentine admonishes him and he apologizes. As Valentine turns his back to push to his feet then carefully remove the dart Aiden pounces and tries to cut Tarrasque’s throat with the small knife. The big man manages to wriggle and hold him off losing both sideburns to the blade in the process but no more damage. He eventually punches Aiden and the knife folds closed and flies into the stands for some lucky fan.

Taylor: THAT EVIL HUNTER JUST TRIED TO MURDER TARRASQUE!
Romano: A haircut isn’t too bad in that case. Bet that knife wasn’t even sterilized.

Tarrasque gets a third wind at this point and roars in the face of the hunter. He begins sending some Scott Steel sized potato shots to the head and shoulders of the hunter as he climbs to his feet. He stumbles a bit but keeps coming at Aiden and backs him to the corner. He shoves him and on the rebound he hits a power slam and hooks the leg.

ONE!
TWO!
Aiden kicks out.

Tarrasque pulls Aiden to his feet, still wobbling looking ready to pass out and simultaneously ready to rip Aiden’s arms off. As he pulls Aiden up Aiden shoves him while holding his arm. He pulls the wobbly Tarrasque back into the huge inside out clothesline.

Romano: TARGET NEUTRALIZED! Tarrasque is down and looks to be out. His eyes have glazed over.

Aiden falls on top for the tired pin.

ONE!
TWO!
THREE!

The bell rings.

Jessie Love: Your winner of the hardcore hunt … AIDEN MERRIC!

Aiden crawls to Tarrasque. He looks at him sleeping like a baby. A conflicted look comes over his face. He pulls the blade from his utility belt … and stares at it. He curses and throws it to the mat where it sticks in. He then pulls out a pencil. He places the pencil in T’s hand and closes his hand.

Merric: Use that point in the small hole on the bottom of the gift and it’ll open without incident. … You damn fool. You put up a HELL of a fight. And I think I respect ya.

Aiden walks over and picks up the two bloody sideburns he shaved off from Tarrasque earlier.

Merric: *Sigh* These’ll do as a trophy.

Aiden then grabs his gear and gingerly walks up the ramp as No Rest for the Wicked hits the arena.

---

Coming back from the last match, the scene cuts to the local St. Paul, Minnesota high school. Within the administrative building lies Terry Bradshaw and Copycat. Copycat begins to fuss while Terry Bradshaw begins rummaging through the toy donation bin. Copycat's teeth begins to chatter.

Copycat: Mr. Bradshaw, I REALLY don't think we should be doing this!

Bradshaw: LOOK, COPYCAT. DO YOU WANT A CHRISTMAS OR NOT?

Copycat: But not like this! This is for the needy! The helpless! The homeless! The-oh my word, this might actually be for me.

Bradshaw: See!? Now help me fill the bag!

Terry Bradshaw begins filling up his bag. Copycat reluctantly begins to help.

Copycat: I just... Like, sure it's for me. But I'm sure there's some sort of actual method to get in on this. I feel like the method isn't right. Hey, how do you suppose I get in touch with those lists?

Bradshaw: Will you SHUT UP, COPYCAT? If you distract me, I'll break these gifts and then I won't be able to sell the-

Copycat: ...Sell them?

Bradshaw: ...nothing.

Copycat: YOU WEREN'T PLANNING ON HELPING ME AT ALL, WERE YOU?

Bradshaw: SHUT UP.

Copycat: YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME AT A-

Copycat is cut off as he sees red and blue lights. Copycat looks out of the window and finds police approaching the building. He rushes back to the AWF CFO.

Copycat: MR. BRADSHAW. THEY'RE HERE. THE POLICE ARE HERE! WE ARE GOING TO BE IN SUCH BIG TROUBLE!

Bradshaw: ...I'll take care of this.

Copycat: ...HOW!?

The scene cuts to the outside of the school.

Police: ...Alright, Patrol Car Mike Alpha Victor Alpha Hotel Oscar Echo responding to the location. It looks like a false alarm. We can-

The police officer stops as he finds shattered glass.

Police: Dispatch, call for backup. There appears to be a break-in.

Dispatch responds via radio.

Dispatch: Back-up incoming.

A few moments later, with the aid of additional cars, police storm the building.

Police: POLICE! ANY INTRUDERS, GET ON THE GROUND! GET DOW-

That's when they see...



The police looked stunned.

Police: ...Mr. Claus! I'm so sorry for any interruption to your most important present delivery plans.

Bradshaw-Claus: YOU'RE GOD DAMN FUCKING RIGHT.

Police: We will just be going now. Our apologies. The Minnesotan people do not have a good education system, and we are all stupid for it. We will be leaving. Merry Christmas, Santa!

The police promptly leave. That's when Copycat peeks out from the back.

Copycat: Are they gone?

Bradshaw: That, my boy, is how Bradshaw stole Christmas.

The scene fades and goes back to the show.

---

A cavalcade of clapping begins as the D.R.U.G.S. tune "King I Am" blares over the sound system.

"You can feel the fear when I walk by
Tail between your legs make 'em run and hide
And I can see the pain pouring out your eyes
I think I am finally, starting to feel like the KING I AM!

The song kicks in over the loudspeakers as the sound of guitars ascend to the boiling point and the song engages. Neo begins to make a triumphant strut down to the ring, his chin held high as his hands lay at his side moving with his stride, t. He looks down all around the ramp, keeping his bearded chin up as he glides effortlessly forward in a striding saunter. The pompous cocky attitude radiating from his being at this point.

Neo makes it to the ringside area as he circles around the ring, jumping up effortlessly onto the apron and climbs into the ring. He walks over to the ropes on the side of the stage as he grabs the top rope with his hands and then yanks down on it, flexing all of his muscles before releasing it, a giant white and red pyro exploding out the top of the nearby turnbuckle like a mortar.

Taylor: Here we go, Cassius. The AWF United States Championship, and here comes our champion!
Romano: Neo James Carner is rude, brash and cruel. He sees his challenge coming from Subject 42 and decided to bring his own challenger.

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays as the fans pop for the Freak. Subject #42 emerges at the top of the ramp, swings up its arms, and lets out a giant ragh for the crowd:

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

They join the beast. Subject continues its walk down the ramp stepping over the ropes and into the ring. May God have mercy on their opponent.

Taylor: Subject 42 has gone through a lot to get here. Remember that he had to face Tarrasque in a brutal match to get here.
Romano: He has size, strength and endurance. The question is - is it enough?

---

AWF United States Championship
Neo James Carner (c) vs. Subject #42

---

The bell rings as Subject 42 stands opposite from Neo James Carner. NJC looks at his opponent and shakes his head. He jumps up and down, trying to psyche himself up in this battle of David and Goliath. There is an eery silence between the two as they approach one another. Subject 42 shouts out a thunderous "RAGH!" with such force that it Carner's face almost looks like it's been put out of the window of a moving car... but also that it's raining, because 42's RAGH was quite saliva-filled. Subject 42 is vicious, but NJC is not deterred. He shies away, but not due to fear. No, he's moving so that he can wipe the COVID19-negative saliva from his face. After a moment, Neo James Carner turns back... and sends a fist shooting up a fist to the challenger! Subject 42 is SPUN AROUND!

Taylor: Wow! What a strike from the champion!
Romano: If there's one thing we can say about Carner, he's not one for pleasantries. He's there to get the job done. As much of a jerk that he is, we can't argue that he's effective.

Subject 42 turns back. It's going to take a whole lot more than that to actually bring him down! As he turns back, Subject 42 runs forward like a freight train and takes the champ down with a clothesline! The crowd burst out with cheers as they clearly prefer the (sometimes)-gentle giant over one of the most conceited men to ever step foot within the AWF. NJC hits the canvas hard and Subject 42 wastes no time in following up. He reaches down and grabs Carner with his meaty paws and takes him down as quickly as he brought him up with a body slam! Neo James Carner's eyes almost roll to the back of his head. MiMi looks from afar, a bit reluctant to enter the fray.

Taylor: It doesn't matter how cocky you are because sooner or later, you'll have to accept the fact that the man is double your weight and is much bigger!
Romano: I don't want you to think that size is all that matters, Tommy... but yeah. Size is at least a factor that you need to consider. Speaking of which, I wonder if Carner's new bodyguard will do anything.

Subject 42 flexes his muscles and lets loose his big man bravado. He goes back down to Neo James Carner. He manhandles him once again as he brings him up into the air. NJC throws a blow. And a second. And a third! He tries to go for a fourth, but 42 slams him up against a corner. The collision itself forces the champion's back to arch. Hell, he didn't even see Subject 42 spin going in. SPEAR! HIS FINISHER! SPEAR! HE LOOKS BROKEN FROM THE MOMENTUM!

Taylor: That spear! Oh - he looks hurt!
Romano: That's right. NJC was lucky that he dodged the attack or it would have been the end for him.

Neo James Carner wipes the sweat off the brow with wide eyes as he looks to find Subject 42 trying to pry himself off the turnbuckle. Just like anything he does, 42 used a huge amount of strength in his attacks. He grabs the back of the big bald head of Subject 42 and as the giant tries to remove his head from the corner, NJC would just slam it back in there! With every blow that NJC takes onto the larger man, the more infuriated 42 would get. That's when NJC lets go and runs back to the opposite ropes. Within a mere second or so, Subject 42 is able to dislodge himself from the corner of the ring. He takes a step back to prepare himself to unleash some rage but that's when Neo James Carner rebounds back with a momentous bulldog! NJC doesn't waste time as he finds Subject 42 not moving. He makes the pin count. Junior Referee Steve Tyrell slides in for the pin count:


...One!


...Two!


...Kickout!

Taylor: And the tables have turned! Neo James Carner is using his brain when it comes to this match. He created an opening when Subject 42 went in for the blow and capitalized. He's doing everything a professional wrestler should.
Romano: That except for running his mouth too much at the microphone, yeah.

This is when Neo James Carner starts hopping up and down within the ring. He's getting excited. He's looking all around and the people within the limited crowd start to boo. They know what's coming. NJC raises his knee. He stretches it out quite well. Subject 42 slowly gets up. SYMPHO-KNEE! Neo James Carner's flying knee! ...Subject 42 ducks that move by the skin of his teeth! But you know who didn't dodge the blow? The crowd gasps.

Taylor: Steve! The ref is down!
Romano: Things are not going to go over well.

Neo James Carner looks down and sees the fallen AWF official. He grins. He has some serious plans. He looks behind him. Back to Subject 42 - who just sends a whollop of a blow straight to NJC's gut! The wind gets knocked out from his gut. His eyes then go wide as he finds Subject 42 grasping him by the throat. Oh, he's going to bring him high up in the air, at least two feet off the canvas! Is he going to do it!? CHOKE BOMB! ...AND HE GOES DOWN!

Taylor: ...oh my God.
Romano: MiMi!

That's right! NJC's bodyguard finally breaks through her own shyness and strikes a HUGE blow to the back of Subject 42! The blow is so massive that 42 drops Carner, who falls back and is caught by the ropes. MiMi goes on a destructive rampage, striking 42 until he hits the ground! She keeps going for some massive strikes ALL TO THE BACK OF SUBJECT'S HEAD. He's having massive trouble trying to defend himself! MiMi readjusts when she sees Neo James Carner regaining his bearings. She switches to a full nelson hold. She holds him stirring in her arms. NJC knows exactly what to do. He takes advantage of the moment. He runs forward... SYMPHO-KNEE! IT HITS! IT BLOODY HITS! SUBJECT 42 JUST TAKES ALL OF IT! Neo James Carner looks down and goes for the cover - all while MiMi goes to revive the referee.

Taylor: NO! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS!
Romano: This just goes to show that these classless ReVenants will do ANYTHING to get their way!

Getting Steve Tyrell, the junior AWF referee, was not easy. As a matter of fact, it took almost a full thirty seconds to get back to reality, but it doesn't matter too much as Subject 42 and Steve Tyrell are both in a similar state of consciousness. All he sees and finds is NJC over Subject 42. He does his job and goes in for the count:


...One!


...Two!


...THREE!


....NO!

Taylor: Wait! The Steve is saying that's not a three count! I could have sworn it was!
Romano: I'm just completely shocked that Subject 42 found a way out of that. Even if he falls unconscious this second, the fact he kicked out shows everyone just how powerful he is.

NJC gets up, hearing the third iteration of the referee's hand slapping the mat. He didn't even look at the referee. He's up in the air, smiling. He leaves the ring and takes the AWF United States Championship from the timekeeper's table. As he returns, he finds the referee trying to take the belt from him. It's actually quite remarkable to see the sincere smile fading from his face and turning into pure anger as the referee tells him that he only achieved a two-count. His eyes grow wide and he begins arguing with the referee. However, his words seem not to be dissuading the ref. The referee is trying to tell him what's what. The referee even grabs the belt from him and begins pulling. Neo James Carner pulls back. The two of them before having a tug of war before the referee threatens disqualification. NJC reluctantly agrees. He turns around.

Taylor: SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR!
Romano: NJC's cockiness proved to be his downfall! He was so focused on the referee, he completely missed Subject 42 slowly recovering!

Subject 42 goes for the pin count. The referee slowly moves forward for the pin. MiMi goes to try to break the pin, but the referee shoots her a look, keeping her at bay. He goes for the pin count:


...One!


...Two!


...Three!

The bell rings.

Jessie Love: Here is your winner and NEW AWF United States Champion - Subject 42!

Taylor: Subject 42 won! Tiny Mew is going to be so proud!
Romano: Carner brought up a good fight. MiMi brought up a good fight but at the end, Subject 42 was able to unleash his inner monster and went past all opposition.
Taylor: We have so much more after this match. Stay with us, folks. This Christmas is only going to get more magical!

---

The cameras cut backstage to Adam Sanders back at the Christmas-themed set. The camera is currently set on just his seat for the moment.

Sanders: Hello everyone, welcome back! So, I’m here with someone I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet in person before. Once upon a time, before I came here so I’m going by what I’ve been told, there was a stable. A stable that not only ruled AWF, but XHF as a whole. And they had the awards and titles to back it up. This stable, called LGBTKO, consisted of three highly talented people and this man is included.

Camera starts to slowly pan out to reveal the guest in the seat next to Adam.

Sanders: So everyone, please welcome back, a man who has been sorely missed by all the AWF faithful… Ryan Young!! Ryan, it’s nice to actually meet you.

The camera finally pans out enough to reveal the former LGBTKO member in the seat next to him. The people in the arena watching cheer wildly as the camera panned around to reveal Ryan dressed to the nines in a white tuxedo and black shirt and tie, the former XHF Tag Team Champion smiles and waves to the camera before it could pan out to fit both men into the shot.

Young: It’s very lovely to be back here in AWF once again, truly it feels like forever. Actually, thinking about it, it was Clash of The Icons when I was last on AWF television.

Sanders: That was actually the show I made my first appearance on. Are you excited about the prospect of being back in the ring?

Young: In the ring?

The question left Ryan thinking for a moment, leaving him in silence before he could even come up with the answer.

Young: To be honest with you, Adam… I’m not even sure when an in-ring return can happen, the thought never came to my mind as such. Things have happened between Clash of The Icons, Night of Champions and this very moment right now. I guess if the possibility of an in-ring return ever happens, it’ll be sometime in the distant future. With Selena now three months pregnant, I have to make sure everything is prepared for that to happen.

Sanders: Understood. You have two former stablemates on the show. They are competing in the two last matches of the evening. Let’s start off with the one I’m sure you’re feeling a bit more positively about than the other. How happy were you to see Bloodied Fox win the Prestige Championship?

Ryan smiled from ear to ear.

Young: Oh man, I called him right after him winning the championship and I congratulated Fox for being able to do what I couldn’t do. I was so happy for him, I still am happy for him and I hope that he holds that championship for a very long time. I don’t think Keith Williams is ready for Fox, but I’m sure he’ll give him a hell of a fight.

Sanders: And that leads into my next question, how do you feel about his odds retaining the belt tonight? He believes himself to be the “ace of AWF” so this would go a long way in showing that he is.

Young: I feel as if he is the odds on favourite to win this match tonight. Do I think this solidifies his place as The Ace of AWF? One defense won’t make him it but it’ll push it slowly. In my eyes, Keith isn’t ready for the Prestige Championship but he could prove me wrong. Give Fox enough time, let him tackle the forefront of his company, and then he’ll prove himself to be The Ace.

Sanders: Well, we go from a pleasant former stablemate to one you’re not exactly sending a Christmas card to this season. Seth Dillinger is in an unsanctioned match after the lights go out tonight against Maverick. Things are expected to get very violent with those two. How are you feeling about that match?

Ryan would take a moment to keep his silence, letting out a soft sigh as he thinks about the man in question.

Young: There’s so much thought to think about in a match like this. Unsanctioned means anything goes and whatever happens is on them, and considering how both men have gone to bloody and violent wars beforehand, this one won’t be different- if not more violent than before. I like Maverick, he’s good and I got to know him better during the time he was dating my younger sibling, Rebecca. The kid has a whole lot of fire and in every place he’s in, he produces fire. Seth is a mastermind, he’s someone that loathes for the spotlight, he performs just as well as Maverick. Both similar people, both similar motives, both similar goals.

Again, Ryan would pause in silence before speaking up.

Young: But after everything that happened to me - with Seth Dillinger - I truly do hope that Jason gives him what he deserves. I truly hope he gives that man hell and makes him pay for everything he’s done to everyone over the past ten months. I had hoped that Fox would do it for me, but I realised watching the last Prestige showed how much hatred both men had for one another, and now I wish for Maverick to finish what myself and Fox tried to do.

Sanders: I actually did not realize Rebecca is your sister, honestly. I actually met her outside the network, but that’s not important. Last question though. You’re not sure about your in-ring future. That’s fine. But there has to be something on the horizon for you. What are your plans and goals going forward, even if it isn’t inside a wrestling ring?

Young: Currently, as of right now, it’s to help Rebecca out in Next Level Wrestling. Her debut happens just after Christmas on December 26th and she’s already champion in every place that she’s stepped into so I hope to guide her to another. I also will be hoping to raise a beautiful child with Selena when it comes, I hope that I keep in touch with the wrestling business and never lose focus of it. And when I do come back, if I do ever decide to come back, I’m sure that it’ll be as impactful as before.

Sanders: Well, I can tell you all now, I saw Rebecca holding the HYBRID Gateway Championship in the middle of the ring so I know she will do great things in NLW. And I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that, whatever you do in your future, you will do great things too. Thank you for chatting with me, Ryan.

Ryan simply nods his head to Adam.

Young: It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Adam. Thank you for bringing me back to AWF for one more night in 2020, I hope to see you all very soon once again.

Sanders: Well, that was Ryan Young, everyone. Let’s bring you all back down to the ring for Cross Recoba versus Chris Card!

---

Turn To Stone by Joe Walsh fills the arena as the lights dim and a single spotlight illuminates the stage. Out from the curtain steps Cross Recoba, a titanium cane with a golden lion's head handle in one hand, touching the crucifix with the other. The HCW Diamond title is draped over his shoulder. The crowd responds with a chorus of boo's for The Fox while Cross uses the handle of the cane to push his shag hair cut from his face, flicking his head back confidently as he grins out at the audience obnoxiously. He holds up the cane that has caused so much trouble in the past to an even more venomous response from the fans, and he begins down the ramp still holding it aloft.

Jessie Love: "Coming to the ring, sttanding at six foot one and one inch, and weighing in at 230 pounds, hailing from New York, New York. and the self-proclaimed 'Box Office Smash of AWF'..... , 'THE FOX' CROSS RECOBBBAAA!!"

Recoba reaches ringside and holds the lions head handle of the cane up to his lips and kisses it for luck. He sets the cane to rest against the ring steps and then climbs them up onto the apron, and with a wipe of his feet slips between the ropes. He pops up with both hands out at his side, walking forward as if putting his glory on display, and delivers an over-exaggerated bow that causes the fans to crow even louder in disdain. Cross stands to his full height and smirks, stepping over to the far corner to await the beginning of the match.

Taylor: Well, this has been a long time coming... these two have been on a collision course for months!
Romano: It seems like Cross Recoba has decided that living as a hypocrite is right for him!



The hard electronic beats of "Good L_ck (Yo_'re F_cked)" start up around the arena while purple and white beams of light shine on the entrance gate As the opening scream sounds out, Card steps through the gate and surveys the crowd. Card takes a slow walk down to the ring and steps through the ropes, followed by the beams. The lights change from beams to spinning spotlights as the music gets lower just before the chorus...

ONE MILLION VOICES CALL FROM THE OTHER SIDE
IF YOU COULD HEAR THEM YOU WOULD BE TERRIFIED...

The lights go back up and puple and white pyro fires off from the ring ropes as the chorus begins

GOOD LUCK!
YOU'RE FUCKED!
AND WE HATE TO SEE YOU GO MAN, BUT EVERYONE KNOWS YOU'RE SCREWED!

Card poses in the center of the ring, crossing his thumbs over where his heart would sit. The lights go up and Card moves over to his own corner and relaxes, the referee checking him over and finding nothing wrong.

Taylor: And here comes the inimitable Hall of Famer, Chris Card!
Romano: Card's willing to do whatever it takes to win, Taylor, I'd put my money on him here!

---

Singles Match
Cross Recoba vs. Chris Card

---

Chris Card and Cross Recoba walk up to each other in the center of the ring. Card extends his right hand to his tag team partner and Cross ponders over this for a brief second before shaking Card's hand for the briefest of seconds before breaking the gesture, knowing that Card uses this as a set up to gain an early advantage more often than not. Card, however, does not cheat straight away and backs off, assuming his fighting stance, front knee high, arms vertical, traditional Muay Thai. Recoba's stance is looser, more that of a traditional grappler. The pair circle, looking to find an opening in each other's game which they both know so very well.

Taylor: OK we're underway. What do you make of the start, Cassius?
Romano: Well Taylor, both of these guys know each other very well. One sniff of an opening and it's going to get exploited. Expect the start of this match to be tense.

Closing the distance Cross tries to duck low and pick a leg. Chris Card sprawls, locking in a Muay Thai clinch but as Card tries to close his legs up, Cross drives him backwards towards a corner. Card finally steadies himself against the ropes and throws a knee at The Fox's trapped face, but it makes the barest of contact as Cross slips the overhooks and rolls away. Cross backs up and charges toward the corner, lifting his knee up to connect with The Real Man's Wrestler's face but Card slithers out of the ring and Cross has to extend his arms to halt himself from kneeing the turnbuckle pads. Card casually walks around at ringside before sliding back in under the bottom rope.

Taylor: Card looking to keep the early pace of this match slow.
Romano: And he's right do to that. The faster this match gets, the more it favours Cross Recoba.

With both men approaching each other in the center of the ring again, Cross throws a rib height roundhouse kick forcing Card to drop an arm down to swat it away. Cross uses the slight opening to close and hit a back elbow, smashing it into Card's jaw. Big Match Card doesn't let the shot faze him and before Cross has a chance to straighten up, Card locks in a front chancery, using the leverage advantage of Cross being slightly out of stance to drop to his knees and wrestle Cross down to his stomach on the mat. Cross tries to worm his way out of the hold, repositioning his legs to work himself free and as Le Champion des Champions tries to float round, looking for a position to lock a better submission in, Cross gains enough leverage to roll the pile over, pinning Card with a back press...

ONE!

Card levers himself up off the mat and slides his body underneath Cross's, now reaching back with a slight adjustment of his grip to pin Cross' shoulders down...

ONE!

Cross shifts his weight forwards and reaches an arm back to finally break Card's hold on his head, sitting up for a simple cover...

ONE!

Card rolls away to his feet. Cross stands too. A round of applause echoes through the arena through the scattered crowd.

Taylor: Two of the finest technicians in the AWF showing their prowess there.
Romano: This is one of those matches that could end in a heartbeat. But both competitors know this.

Locking up again, Chris Card transitions quickly into a top wristlock before stretching the arm out into an arm wringer. Card goes to sidestep and turn the wrist over a second time but Cross anticipates this and steps the same way and through, allowing him to release the pressure and sling his tag team partner towards the ropes. Cross slides down into a low dropkick as Card rebounds but the Canadian smartly hops over and heads for the far ropes, Cross rolling nimbly back to his feet. Cross feigns going for the low dropkick again, but as Card jumps over a second time, Cross' angled dive allows him to switch into a spinning peg sweep, taking Card clean off his feet with ease. Cross looks down and considers following up but he backs off a couple of steps instead.

Taylor: Why isn't Cross capitalising on that opening?
Romano: It's simple, Taylor. Cross knows how good Chris Card's ground game is. If he tried to mount form the ground he's risking being stuck in Card's guard. And there he's trading short elbows with someone who can tap him out in a heartbeat.

Cross is absolutely ready, however, to strike Card the second he leaves the mat. Using his quickness advantage, the Man worth a Million Lira rushes straight in, catching Card with a turning back elbow that causes Card to turn slightly, stumbling at the force of the blow. Recoba is in quicker than a hiccup, grabbing a back waistlock and snapping Card over with a German Suplex, no bridge, all impact. Cross gets up to his feet with alacrity and rushes the ropes, bouncing off and hitting a lightning fast elbow drop, rolling with the hit back to his feet to hit stride and rush the ropes again and hit a second, the point of his elbow driving into Card's guts. Cross stands up in place and reaches down, grabbing Card like he was cradling a baby and positioning the point of his elbow right on the Canadian's sternum, falling to a side to hit a combination side slam and elbow drop at the same time. Cross holds in position to cover...

ONE!


TWO!


T.. Card pumps his legs to kick out.

Taylor: Cross Recoba with a flurry of offense there!
Romano: As much as Card needs to keep this match slow, Cross can gain a huge advantage by keeping this fast.

As Card gets up to his knees, Cross is already on his feet and he hits a downwards angled roundhouse kick to the base of Card's spinal column. Card winces in pain as Cross signals to the crowd to quieten down, killing the steady hum of background noise the socially distanced house is generating. Cross licks the knife edge of his right hand theatrically and winds up a HUGE chop to Card's chest which echoes round the arena with a mighty THWACK!

Taylor: Ouch! That had to hurt!
Romano: That hurt me and I've been retired for years.

The Fox is out on the prowl and backs up as he sees Card slowly raising his body off the canvas. Cross charges in once more and hits a sliding low angle neckbreaker, dropping Card back to the mat again. Recoba looks for another running elbow drop and hits the ropes at pace, heading towards his downed opponent. The Real Man's Wrestler drops into his own energy reserve however and scuttles backwards on his ass, allowing room for his to arch a leg round and clip Recoba's heel as The Box Office gets close. Recoba stumbles, out of control and reaches out to steady himself, presumably on the ropes. Fortunately for him, he does steady himself. Unfortunately for Gabe Valentine, Cross' flailing arms, instead of hitting the ropes get themselves a big swat of zebra shirt. Valentine falls to the mat. Cross leans down to check the ref is OK...

Taylor: Uh oh.
Romano: You know what this means.

The crowd are already beginning to boo as Chris Card stands and smiles at Cross Recoba. Recoba turns, slowly to face Card and instantly turns his posture into a defensive one. The whole crowd seems to draw breath at once as Card winds up for a strike and connects flush with his instep... to the center of Cross Recoba's chest. The crowd exhales and then bursts into appreciative applause! Cross looks shocked.

Taylor: ...roundhouse... kick?
Romano: I've seen a lot of things in this industry but I don't think I've ever seen Chris Card have such an open opportunity to break the rules and turn it down.

Using Cross' hesitation, Card follows with a second and third roundhouse kick, rapidly firing off shots. Cross turns away and pumps his fists, looking to suck up the effort of the blows and weaves away from a huge spinning axe kick aimed right for his head... only to get wiped out by Card using it to throw his momentum into a 720 hook kick. Cross staggers backwards and Le Champion des Champions rushes in, wrapping his arm around Cross' throat and spinning round The Fox's body, taking him down with a Sling Blade. Card quickly regains his footing and drops the ball of his foot right onto Recoba's solar plexus before covering...

ONE!


TWO!


T.. Cross kicks out.

Taylor: Was this all part of the plan?
Romano: Given what we know about Chris Card... we will never know.

Card drags Cross up with him, knowing his partner will be feeling the cobwebs from his latest run of offense. A couple of sharp elbows make sure of this before Card locks in the overhooks and fires a series of sharp knees to The Fox's ribs, alternating legs with each strike in order to make the attacks harder to block. The Real Man's Wrestler goes down to one knee while grabbing Cross by the back of the head, driving Recoba abdomen first into his patela bone. Card stays at ground level and easily floats round to a back mount, hooking Cross in a Half Nelson with one arm and pinning the man from Vegas' arm over his own carotid artery with his other.

Taylor: Cobra Clutch!
Romano: One of the most devastating submission manoeuvrers in professional wrestling's history.

Wrapping his legs round Cross' waist, Card has the hold locked in deep. Cross appears to be fading a little, but still has enough about him to squirm towards the ropes. However Card is a noted ring general and isn't about to cede the hold that easily. He feels Cross' movement and using a leverage advantage Cross has to cede in order to move closer to the ropes, Card holds on tight and rolls the entire pile closer to the middle of the ring.

Crowd: CROSS RE-CO-BA *CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!*

Taylor: It seems the crowd are getting behind Cross Recoba here.
Romano: Well, he need all their help right now.

Hold cinched in tight, you can almost see the will to fight leaving Cross' body. Card squeezes hard, putting as much pressure on Cross' neck as he can manage, denying him the oxygen to his brain he so needs. Again Cross starts to inch the pair towards the ropes, closer, ever closer, inch by inch. Again Card tries the death roll to bring the pair away from the ropes but Cross USES HIS LEG STRENGTH TO MUSCLE CARD DOWNWARDS AND HIS SHOULDERS INTO THE MAT!

ONE!


TWO!


T.. CARD IS FORCED TO BREAK HIS OWN HOLD!

Taylor: Cross Recoba showing his mastery of mat skills there.
Romano: Give Cross credit. When one method of escape doesn't work, try a second.

Crowd: CROSS RE-CO-BA *CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!*

Heavily sucking wind, Cross stands up and turns to face his opponent. Chris Card is eerily calm, not giving away any sign of frustration. He nods in appreciation at Cross' escape but before Cross has had any time to compose himself, Card rushes in, leaps, grabs Cross around the waist and fall to his back, driving both his knees firmly into Cross' sternum.

Taylor: HEARTBREAKER!

Crowd: BOOOOOOOO!

Romano: Cross isn't the only heartbroken man in town tonight by the sounds of it.

As Cross flies backwards out of the move, he grabs hold of the top rope to stop himself from falling. Chris Card, owner of one of the finest dropkicks in the business, rolls backwards to his feet to give himself some space and charges at Cross, extending his legs with a leap and a dramatic snap, perfectly placing the kick onto Cross' chest. The sheer force of the move causes Cross to spill out onto the floor. Never having been one to do any fancy dives or anything like, Card takes his sweet time getting out of the ring to meet his competitor and Cross turns over on the hard floor to see a discarded folding steel chair. Cross reflexively picks up the chair as Chris Card approaches...

Taylor: Don't do it Cross!
Romano: Hey, the referee can't get a good angle to see that. Do it Cross! It's the smart move!

Cassius Romano is right. Cross is too close to the ring apron for the referee to be able to get a clear view of what is going on. Cross readies the chair and....

Crowd: NO! NO! NO! NO!

DROPS IT AT HIS OWN FEET!

Cross lashes out at Card, who had paused to consider the situation this time, landing a FIERCE chop on Chris Card's chest. Then another. Then another. THEN CROSS PUSHES CARD ONTO THE RING APRON AND LANDS A MACHINE GUN BLITZ OF CHOPS ONTO HIS CANADIAN COUNTERPART, CAUSING CHRIS CARD'S CHEST TO COLOUR CRIMSON!

Taylor: CROSS RECOBA IS GOING WILD!

Crowd: CROSS! CROSS! CROSS! CROSS!

Seeing that Card is a little shaken up by the ferocity of his rush of knife edged strikes, Cross backs off a half step and waits for Card to fall into his grasp. Blindly Card staggers forwards and Cross subtly guides him around so both men are facing the ring apron. Cross hooks in a three quarter facelock and USING THE RING APRON LIKE HE WOULD A TURNBUCKLE PAD, CLIMBS UP, FLIPS BACKWARDS OVER CARD AND DRIVES TECHNICAL PERFECTION'S BACK INTO THE MATTING!

Taylor: SICILIAN TYPEWRITER ON THE FLOOR!

Cross Recoba is feeling it now. He rushes into the ring in, quickly hops in and out in order to reset Gabe Valentine's count and starts to rhythmically clap, the crowd joining in, working up his rhythm. Chris Card slowly, gingerly begins to stir at floor level. He slowly, carefully begins to get to his feet as Cross sets off in a sprint, drawing heavily on some unseen inner strength. Cross hits the far ropes then timed to millisecond precision, Cross LEAPS OVER THE TOP ROPE AND HITS A HUGE FALLING DROPKICK TO CARD'S FACE!

Taylor: THE MILLION LIRA DROPKICK!

Crowd: HO-LY SHIT! HO-LY SHIT!

Wasting no time, Cross slings Card under the bottom rope and leaps into a cover...

ONE!


TWO!


TH... Card kicks out.

Taylor: So close! Card is on the ropes!

The flash of an idea shows across the face of Cross Recoba. He stands and hauls his opponent off the canvas. Carefully Cross traps Card's arm in a wrist clutch. The Canadian is on wobbly legs and is powerless to resist as Cross leans down and lifts Card's far leg. Cross breathes in deeply, composing himself as he lifts Card up and falls backwards, DROPPING CARD RIGHT ON HIS NECK WITH A FISHERMAN'S BUSTER!

Taylor: CLIMHAZZARD! CLIMHAZZARD!
Romano: That's the move that cost Chris Card his Prestige Championship!

Cross holds onto the position, Card locked tight in a pinning predicament...

ONE!


TWO!


THRE... NO CHRIS CARD JUST INCHES HIS SHOULDER OFF THE CANVAS!

Crowd: CROSS RE-CO-BA *CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!*

Steeling his spirit, Cross knows how this match must end. He stands, looking at the prone body of his High Finance stablemate, pauses, extends the palm of his left hand face up and makes a slicing movement with the blade edge of the right onto it. Card is sucking wind, and he is in a ton of pain, howling in anguish and grabbing hold of his right calf.

Taylor: THAT'S THE SIGN FOR GARIBALDI'S GUILLOTINE!
Romano: Chris Card looks like he jarred his leg at some point in the match, he's feeling it now the adrenaline isn't flowing as well.

Cross hauls Card off the mat and forces him into a standing headscissors, paying no attention to Card's physical condition. THE MAN WORTH A MILLION LIRA LIFTS CARD UP INTO A PILEDRIVER POSITION... STEPS OVER THE LEFT ARM.... THEN THE RIGHT... REPOSITIONS HIS ARMS TO GET MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON CARD'S BACK...

AND THEN FALLS BACKWARDS AS CARD STRAIGHTENS HIS RIGHT FOOT AND THE BOOT POPS RIGHT OFF OVERBALACING THE FOX!

Taylor: WHAT THE HELL?
Romano: Obviously Card needed to loosen the pressure on his leg and loosened the boot.
Taylor: CHRIS CARD JUST SLIPPED OUT OF THE UNBREAKABLE HOLD BY PURPOSEFULLY UNTYING HIS OWN SHOE!

Cross Recoba gives Card the NASTIEST look of "What the FUCK?" you have ever seen in your life as Gabe Valentine walks over to him and makes busy removing the offending show from the ring. Recoba goes straight for a waistlock, presumably to set up Up All Night In Dakota but Card slides behind him with a beautiful standing switch. Cross goes for a back eblow to break Card's grasp bu Card drops to his knees and with Gabe Valentine looking away, CARD HITS CROSS RECOBA WITH A MASSIVE LOW BLOW! Cross's expression MELTS into one of pure furious hatred mixed with excruciating pain.

Crowd: BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And Card leaves his arm between Cross' legs and transitions the low blow into a Schoolboy Roll Up.

Taylor: DIABOLIK! NOT LIKE THIS!

Valentine has by now turned round and drops to count the pin and Card, spotting the referee's angle, senses that this is the perfect time to put his feet up on the ropes...

ONE!


TWO!


THREE!

Crowd: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Taylor: That scoundrel! That dirty, low down, good for nothing, cheating...
Romano: Chris Card won. That's all he cares about.
Taylor: If it wasn't for the shenanigans, he's have tapped out...
Romano: If ifs and buts were cherry and nuts, Taylor.

In the ring Cross is blowing his LID at Chris Card. Card tries to make a conciliatory face but Cross is having none of his bullshit. Cross, still wincing from the pain of the low blow, walks out of the ring as Jessie Love makes the announcement.

Jessie Love: The winner of this match, by pinfall, CHRIIIIIIIS "BIIIIIIIIIG MAAAAAAATCH" CAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!

---

Backstage with Adam Sanders at the Christmas set once more! Camera is tight on Sanders once more.

Sanders: Hello everyone, welcome back
for what should be my last appearance tonight. I know earlier tonight, I had the honor to welcome back a big name that used to wrestle in our rings with a quick chat with Ryan Young. I’m happy to say I get to have that honor once more. Please welcome back to AWF programming, the former AWF Prestige Champion, Vincent Draven!

One last time, the camera pans to reveal who is sitting next to Adam. The former champion is sitting with his hands clasped together and a not so bright expression on his face as he intently stares toward the camera, his familiar sharp eyes still able to give a chilling expression.

Draven: It’s been a while, AWF faithful. The last you saw of me, well, I lost to this man and his mentor at Fired Up. I'm afraid, Adam, I'm not exactly here to spread Christmas cheer… I'm interested in a single person.

A brief, cold smile appears on the vampire's face.

Draven: That said, I just came to check in on AWF. See how everything was going, and I'm glad to see everything's well. Lots can change in so little time. Bloodied Fox has molded himself into a new, stronger man and is now the Prestige Champion. The ReVenants are still kicking- and it seems Dillinger's past is finally catching up to him. A delightful event, wouldn't you say?

Sanders: It’s been an exciting, even if you just look at tonight, that’s for sure. We’ve seen two titles change hands, what is probably the end of a friendship, a debuting wrestler surprise everyone in the opener. But we still have two matches left on this show and it involves two people you just mentioned. Fox versus Williams. Seth versus. Maverick. You saw Fox really rise up in the ranks to get to this point from the ground up. He believes himself to now be the Ace of the company. How important is this match to him?

Draven: As someone who's faced him a few times- The man has a passion that is unbreakable. Finally breaking his record of never defending a title successfully can mean the world to him… And I believe he can do it.

Sanders: And I’m guessing I already know your thoughts on the last match of the show… Dillinger and you have a complicated history.

Draven laughs, though it's sinister and quiet. The expression in his predatory eyes never really change as he tilts his head.

Draven: There's nothing complicated about it, Adam. Let's just say… I'll be having a front row seat.

Sanders: Alright. One last thing before I let you go. You said you got your eyes on one specific person. We are anticipating your return. What can we expect from you upon said return and when can we expect your in-ring return?

Draven pauses, pondering an answer.

Draven: I'm not one for spoiling. Nothing's ever set in stone.

And with that, the pale man stands and walks away, a grin growing on his face. Adam Sanders looks back at the camera then at the closing door off-screen. He slowly removes the Santa hat from atop his head.

Sanders: I guess we’re done for the night. Good work everyone? Wait… we’re still rolling?

A look of confusion appears on the Awkward One’s face as he realizes that he is still live. And that’s when the door opens once more. This person was not a competitor but someone a bit more important.

Steele: Good evening, Mr. Sanders. How was the hosting gig?

The confusion manifests into pure bewilderment.

Sanders: Oh… hi, Mr. Steele… ummm, it was fine.

Steele: Good, good. I know you were probably disappointed that you didn’t have a match tonight.

Sanders: I mean, yeah, but it’s fine. I’m glad I found a way to be a part of the show, at least.

Steele: Well, you got something better than a hosting gig coming now. We know that a talented competitor like you deserves an opportunity. You haven’t really had one since you got here, but you fight every match you’re in. And that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Sanders’s eyes widen, not sure where this is going.

Steele: We’d like to send you as our representative for the X*Crown Championship. You will be competing at XHF Battle for Hegemony for the qualifier and, if you win, you will be the man from AWF fighting for the X*Crown Championship.

And now Adam’s jaw has dropped.

Steele: Congratulations. We’re all going to be rooting for you to bring the top honors back to AWF.

Sanders: Oh, wow, thank you… Thank you, Mr. Steele. I won’t let you all down!

---

Jessie Love: The following contest is scheduled for One Fall, and it is for the AWF Prestige Championship! Introducing first, the challenger!



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

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.

Jessie Love: From Raleigh, North Carolina, weighing in at 263 pounds, he is ‘The Paragon of Sleeze’, he is KEIIIIIIIIIITH WILLIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMSSS!

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. One of his fellow ReVenants, Rob Garcia, still showing some of the effects of his match with Betsy Granger, follows him down the ramp.

Taylor: Keith Williams made it through four other talented wrestlers to get his shot tonight at Bloodied Fox and the AWF Prestige Championship.
Romano: Anybody who would call him an underdog is mistaken. All the ReVenants are smart guys, and it’s look like he’s being joined by Rob Garcia tonight.
Taylor: Though I don’t see a Neo James Carner. You have to wonder if Fox was right about a possible shift in the dynamic between the group.
Romano: Or maybe he just doesn’t feel like coming out after being brutalized by Subject. Besides, like you said, Keith is more than capable of handling everything by himself. He’s quickly grown into one of the hottest prospects in the entire AWF.
Taylor: That’s true, I’m surprised we aren’t calling it the Keith Williams World Tour at this point. He’s now the Universal Sin Champion over at SWAT, he’s got an X-Crown match against Dylan Black on Boxing Day over on J-ROK’s programming, and on New Year’s Eve he and Neo James Carner will do battle with SKY Force and the Purple Emperors for the XHF Tag Team Championships at FIRESIDE.
Romano: He gets around!

Taylor shakes his head at Romano’s joke as the camera pans back to Williams. 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 the match begins.

Jessie Love: And his opponent...

ALL CONTROL ARTS RELEASED - GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL



Jessie Love: ...from Reading, Berkshire, England, weighing in at 195 pounds, he is the AWF Prestige Champion, he is BLOOOOODIIIIED FOOOOOOOOOOX!

The arena lights pulse red as BFG Division 2020 rips and tears through the speakers and the Prestige champion, the self-proclaimed Ace of the AWF, Bloodied Fox makes his way out.

Taylor: The Ace of the AWF scored the biggest win in his career taking down Seth Dillinger in a hellacious Steel Cage Match at Prestige 61, and now he’s got his work cut out ahead of him in the form of Keith Williams.
Romano: He’s finally climbed the mountain, but now can he stay up there? I’m sure he’d hate to be labeled a transitional champion. It’s hard to chase, but it might be even harder to sustain.
Taylor: If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Fox, though, the former LGBTKO member is tough as nails and has a ‘never say die’ attitude. I’m sure the champion is ready for this defense.
Romano: He’s got guile and fists of steel, but I’d say his feet are something to be feared just as well!

Whether they love or hate him, the fans response is loud as he walks down the ramp and slides into the ring. He stands in the center, unbuckling the title from his waist and lifting it high for all to see.

Taylor: Here we go folks, AWF Prestige Championship on the line!
Romano: This should have been on last!

---

MAIN EVENT
AWF Prestige Championship
Bloodied Fox (c) vs. Keith Williams

---

The bell rings and the match is on. Keith Williams moves closer to Bloodied Fox in an attempt to grapple him, but the champion is on the defensive, swinging kicks in the Paragon of Sleaze's general direction to keep him at bay. Williams manages to sidestep one of these kicks and grab the leg, pulling in Fox and delivering a hard lariat, knocking the champion to the ground. Fox gets right back up, his confidence not at all shaken despite the early offense from the challenger. The two men stare down at one another, knowing how high the stakes are and that all of the eyes in the Xcel Energy Center are upon them.

Taylor: Fox is going to be looking to get in those educated feet of his, while Williams is essentially going to be doing his best not to get his ass kicked. So far, he doesn’t seem to be showing any effects of Neo James Carner not being out there with him.
Romano: Hey! Williams is an upstanding technical wrestler as well as an upstanding member of the community, don’t sell him short.
Taylor: Not sure if I agree on those community comments.

Keith Williams moves in once again for a grapple, and this time the two men do lock up in the center of the ring. Williams also manages to take the test of strength between the pair with about seventy pounds of a weight advantage. He knees Fox in the gut and whips him into the corner before charging forward, but the fast-footed champion manages to slide out of the way. He hits a few kicks in the corner, causing Fox’s faithful to start “YES” chants as each kick collides with a different part of Keith’s body. Fox backs up for a big fourth kick and connects with a running dropkick, knocking his challenger through the middle ropes and down to the floor, sparking even louder cheers from the crowd!

Taylor: The AWF Prestige Champion coming out like a house of fire, making Keith Williams say ‘Bye Bye Bye’ right out of the ring!
Romano: Just because they referenced NSYNC doesn’t mean you have to, Taylor!

The referee begins counting out Keith Williams but the crowd knows that Bloodied Fox isn’t going to be content with a countout as he’s already bracing himself against the ropes, measuring up Keith for a big move. Once Keith is finally back to his feet, Fox springboards off the top ropes to the floor, cooking down with a hurrican- no! Williams catches the hurricanrana, taking the now-vertical Fox and aggressively slamming his body and head into the ring barricade! The crowd boos as the challenger adds insult to injury, dropping the champion right on his head on the outside! The crowd boos loudly!

Taylor: Ooh! Bloodied Fox goes high-risk and pays the price, with Williams manhandling him on the outside!
Romano: Fox called Williams not only a sex-obsessed pervert but also an incredibly-skilled professional wrestler, and with moves like that, it’s not hard to see why!

Blood begins to drip from the back of the champion’s head as the referee checks on him and makes sure he’s still able to compete. Once he gives the go-ahead, he slides back into the ring and begins to count out the champion. Keith has taken this time to lean against the barricade and smirk, indulging a fan in the front row’s request and writing his number on their chest. The crowd only boos louder at the arrogance and his cocky smirk.

Romano: Williams takes care of an adoring fan!
Taylor: I’m sure they’ll be going home happy, just as right now Keith is happy to be in the driver’s seat!

Bloodied Fox is still crawling on the floor, trying to regain his sense of where he is as the challenger comes crashing in with punches right to the bloodied back of his head, similar to a shark in the water. Williams pops back into the ring for only a few moments to reset the count and prevent himself and Fox from being counted out, before picking up Fox by the hair and looking over at the steel steps, prepared to tenderize and brutalize his opponent even further. He locks Fox’s arms behind him and looks back at the steps, knowing the potential to do massive damage to the champion right here and now.

Taylor: Williams looking for a tiger suplex on the outside, and if he hits this, I don’t know if Fox will be able to make a comeback!
Romano: He might break Fox’s neck with a move like this!

Williams goes to plant his feet and throw Fox backwards, but Fox blocks it by pressing his feet off against the ring apron, sending Williams crashing back into the steps with enough authority to jar them away from the ringpost! The crowd cheers as Fox breaks away in a big way!

Taylor: Fox needed that counter and got it in a big way!

Fox shakes off the cobwebs and checks back into the ring, but this is only because he’s decided to hit the top rope this time! He lepas off the ropes and comes smacking down on the outside, leaping off with the Air Vulpine and connecting! The crowd roars at the impact as both men are now down!

Taylor: The AWF Prestige Champion goes airborne and now he’s right back in the driver’s seat!
Romano: These two seem evenly matched in these early-goings, it’s going to take a Herculean effort from either to get the job done!

The referee continues counting both competitors out as slowly but surely, both men make it back to their feet, with the champion getting his land legs back before his opponent. Fox turns back to keep Rob Garcia at bay and then also manages to dodge the Paragon of Sleaze’s hand-fisted attempt to get back into the match with some running offense. Foz sends Keith back into the ring and climbs back onto the apron, only to have Rob Garcia grab his foot from below the apron for a few moments, keeping the champion from coming back inside! Fox stomps on Garcia’s head and then reenters the ring, but Keith meets him immediately with a running European Uppercut! Fox goes down in a heap! Williams covers, hooking both legs!

Taylor: That damn Rob Garcia gets involved and Keith may have just turned Fox’s lights out!
Romano: Could we see a new champion?

...ONE…
...Bloodied Fox gets his shoulder up!

Taylor: No! Keith Williams is unable to score the victory there as Fox gets the shoulder up!
Romano: It’s going to take more than that to take down the champion!

Keith Williams circles his opponent, unsure of what to do next before ultimately landing on the idea of locking on a chinlock to squeeze the life out of the opponent he has six inches of height on. The crowd starts to rally behind Fox as he grabs at William’s arm and tries to alleviate the pressure before realizing the best solution is to get back up on his feet and mount an offense. He pushes off the mat and moves to get up, but Williams breaks the hold and delivers a hard knee to Fox’s back, keeping the champion down. He then lays back on Fox’s arm, locking in a Fujiwara armbar!

Taylor: The man who once called himself Sleazy Claus is on a roll tonight, locking Fox in an armbar! Could this be the night for the former Around the Clock champion?
Romano: Fox has to find a way to either get out of the hold or alleviate the pressure before Keith rips his arm out!

Fox winces in pain as Williams presses off the mat with his feet, bringing even more pressure to Fox’s arm and shoulder. Bloodied Fox reaches out, not to tap, but to find the ropes, only discovering that he’s a few inches away. He tries to turn the rest of his body, but his legs are even further than his arm. He screams out in pain as Keith wrenches on the arm further, yelling at him to tap out! Fox digs down deep and finds the rope, forcing the break. The crowd cheers for the break but goes right back to voicing their disapproval as Keith takes every second the rules allows him to apply, finally releasing the submission just before the count of five.

Taylor: Fox finds the ropes and freedom, but that bastard Williams makes him suffer as long as possible!
Romano: This could be the biggest night of Williams’ career, of course he’s going to try to make the most out of every move he can!

Williams grabs the bloodied Bloodied Fox off the mat, ignoring the referee yelling at him once again for pulling hair as he gets Fox back up to his feet. Williams throws his arm over Fox’s head and lifts him up for From Japan with Hate, but the former LGBTKO member shakes his way out of Williams’ grasp, turning the vertical suplex into his Corkscrew DDT on the way down!

Taylor: From Japan-- no! Fox counters into the BloodDDTed!
Romano: The champion shows his resiliency, staying in the match with a big move! There’s the pin!

...ONE…
...TW-Keith Williams kicks out!

Taylor: Only two for Fox, and he’s immediately jumped onto Williams, firing away with palm strikes!
Romano: Hey! Watch the face, Fox! Thousands of men and women will hate you if you besmirch that pretty face!

The AWF Prestige Champion is done messing around, and you can see the aggression in him picking up with every concentrated palm strike directly to Williams’ head. Keith has nowhere to go and is opened up the hard way as Bloodied Fox puts the hurt to him with a flurry of these strikes. Eventually, blood begins to trickle from the horehead of the challenger as Fox’s palm strikes have opened up a gash directly above his right eye.

Romano: No! Now Keith is bleeding too!
Taylor: I don’t think Fox gives a single damn about what people think of Keith’s appearance!

Bloodied Fox rolls off of Keith as his fans cheer loudly for him. A good look at Fox from the cameras reveals that the wound on the back of his head has stopped bleeding, but the back of his head and neck have almost been stained red by the blood. The champion goes for a quick cover.

...ONE…
...TWO… kickout!

Fox shakes his head, unhappy with how the match has been going so far. He positions himself against the corner of the ropes, waiting for his opportunity to kick Keith Williams square in the face. Keith finally sits up, and Fox plants him right back down with a low corkscrew roundhouse kick!

Taylor: Vulp Trigger! Fox got it! Keith just went down like a sack of potatoes!
Romano: The cover and the count!

...ONE…
...TWO…
...Keith Williams gets a foot on the bottom rope!

Taylor: Keith gets his foot on the bottom rope, forcing the ref to stop his count!
Romano: These ReVenants are smart guys, they know every rule in the book and how to take advantage of them!

Bloodied Fox runs his hands through his hair, knowing just one move is all it’s going to take to put it away. He gets himself ready to deliver the Bloody Rainmarker, getting behind Keith to grab him for the ripcord, when Rob Garcia jumps up on the apron and grabs him!

Taylor: Get down from there, Rob! He can’t be up there!
Romano: The referee saw nothing! I don’t know what he’s upset about!

The referee yells at Rob Garcia to release Fox, and he does so immediately, knowing he’s regretfully just been caught. The referee and Garcia keep arguing, allowing Keith a moment to catch his breath, but before long, the referee ejects Garcia from ringside to a big pop from the Minnesota crowd!

Taylor: Hit the showers, Rob! This match just became a one-on-one!
Romano: This is unfair!
Taylor: As Keith said, life isn’t fair, but Rob Garcia clearly got caught by the referee! The ReVenant is now all alone with the Ace of the AWF!

Garcia tries to argue his case one more time, but Fox jumps up and delivers the Bloody Rainmaker to Garcia, forcibly removing him fron the apron!

Taylor: Correction: now he’s all alone! Shades of Fox’s three hour Rumble performance back in April!
Romano: Now our Prestige champion is attacking people who aren’t even in the match!

Bloodied Fox turns around, only to walk straight into a discus elbow from Keith Williams!

Romano: Queen Anne’s Revenge! Yes! Fox never saw it coming!
Taylor: He never saw it off of Garcia’s distraction! This could be it!

...ONE…
...TWO…
...Bloodied Fox kicks out!

Taylor: The fighting champion will not die, kicking out of another big move from Williams!
Romano: He’s gotta keep his head and focus here, he can’t let himself psych himself out over not picking up the win there!

Keith Williams looks over to where Rob Garcia was. Garcia is both being tended to by medical professionals and escorted back up the ramp by arena security, so he is all alone to finish the job and put down the AWF Prestige Champion. He grabs Bloodied Fox off of the mat and looks over to the turnbuckles, developing a sick idea in his head as he grabs Fox and lifts him up again From Japan with Hate, but instead of planting Fox with the piledriver, he pushes Fox’s body, sending Fox’s head crashing into the turnbuckle! Fox is left hanging from the ropes as the crowd boos the brutal move!

Taylor: Gourdbuster in the corner! Keith is out here trying to cause brain damage to the champion tonight!
Romano: It’s an effective strategy from Williams, and Fox doesn’t seem to have any idea where he is right now!
Taylor: He’s hanging onto the ropes now with his feet dangling out over the floor!

The ReVenant climbs up onto the ropes, looking for his opportunity to put away Fox. He pulls Fox back up and onto the top rope, seating him a distance away as Williams himself positions on the top rope. Williams jumps off the middle rope, connecting with the Off With Their Head lariat!

Taylor: Off with Her Head! Keith Williams may have just put away the AWF Prestige Champion!
Romano: That’s it, it’s over!

...ONE…
...TWO…
...T-Bloodied Fox gets the shoulder up!

A bloody Keith Williams slams into the mat in frustration as once again, Bloodied Fox will simply not be pinned! Keih does his best to contain his anger, but it isn’t working out for him as he screams at the referee and holds up three fingers. The referee lets him know that it was only a two count and Williams furiously positions himself on the mat, grabbing Fox’s arms and trying to bring them behind the champion!

Taylor: Keith’s looking for the Ode to Alex Trebek! This may be Final Jeopardy for Fox!
Romano: He’s so close! All he has to do is flip over to lock in the hold!

The crowd comes alive as Fox does his best to resist, rolling sideways out of the Ode to Alex Trebek, causing a flipping Keith Williams to be open and vulnerable to the Lament Configuration! Bloodied Fox locks Keith’s arms between his legs and his arms around his head, then begins pulling on Williams with every ounce of fight he has left! The crowd roars, leaving their seats!

Taylor: Lament Configuration! Lament Configuration! Fox got him! Fox got him!
Romano: Williams has to find a way out of this one as soon as possible or this is the end of him!

Keith Williams screams out in pain, locked in and trapped in the hold and unable to find an immediate path to escape. He reaches his arm up!

Taylor: This might be the end of Williams! The savvy champion got him!
Romano: He’s a good distance away from the ropes!

But it isn’t to tap out! He looks around the ring and tries to locate the ropes, but his ability to turn his head is severely limited by a screaming champion torquing it in an incredibly painful manner! Williams reaches out towards the ropes looking for the break, but he’s at least a good foot away from the ropes! Bloodied Fox pulls him back further and Williams reaches his arm out one more time!

Taylor: The champion’s got him trapped in the ring and those ropes are looking further and further away for the challenger!
Romano: Can he get there??

By a fingertip, Keith gets his hand on the ropes! Fox’s fans boo while the referee counts the hold up to a full four before Fox finally releases. Keith immediately gasps for air, happy that his middle finger was just long enough to make it to the safety of the ropes.

Taylor: Williams survives by a mere finger! What a match!
Romano: I thought Bloodied Fox had him there!

Bloodied Fox has his head in his hands as he realizes his challenger has survived one of the best moves in his arsenal. He curses and then slowly brings himself back to his feet, knowing he’s going to have to hit one more big move to get the job done. He rests against the ropes in the corner of the ring, waiting for a still-gasping Keith to make it back to his feet. The red face of Keith is slowly fading back to normal as Fox yells at him to get up.

Taylor: Bloodied Fox has fought in war after war in his time in the AWF, and he’s on the precipice of the ending of another battle with the ReVenants!
Romano: Everyone in the arena is on their feet! There’s no one left in a chair as they’re waiting along with Fox!

Fox takes matters into his own hands, grabbing the crawling Keith by the head and firing away with a series of Kawada Kicks, staying on top of Williams and looking to finally put the challenger away. He grabs Williams from behind, and then spins him for the Bloody Rainmaker!

Taylor: Bloody Rainmaker!

Williams dodges out of the way at the last moment, causing Fox to miss! Williams swings wildly with the Queen Anne’s Revenge!

Romano: No! Queen Anne’s Revenge!

Fox ducks the elbow, locking Keith’s arms up for the Fox Trap Suplex! Fox fires away, but Williams incredibly manages to flip, landing on his feet behind Fox!

Taylor: No! Fox Trap Suplex!

Williams pulls Fox’s head down and lifts him up on his shoulders, before finally crashing down with the K-DRIVER!

Romano: K-DRIVER! K-DRIVER! Williams got him!
Taylor: Oh my God! Williams got him!

A weakened Williams can only manage to pin Bloodied Fox’s shoulders down! The referee quickly drops to his knees for the pin as the apron shakes!

Taylor: Could this be it for the champion?
Romano: We could see a new champion right here!

...ONE…
Bloodied Fox gets a foot on the ropes!

Taylor: Fox somehow got his foot on the ropes!
Romano: The ref hasn’t seen--wait a second!

...TWO…
The foot gets shoved off the ropes!

Taylor: What the hell?
Romano: It’s Neo James Carner!

...THREE!

Taylor: OH MY GOD! NO!
Romano: YES! YES!

The bell rings!

Jessie Love: Here is your winner, and the new AWF Prestige CHAMPION, KEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIITHHHHHHHH WILLLLLLLLIAAAAAAAAMS!

Romano: The hand of a Wrestling God!
Taylor: NO DAMNIT! Fox’s foot was on the ropes!
Romano: Ref never saw it! We wondered where NJC was, turns out he was under the ring the whole time!

It’s unclear if Keith Williams truly knows what has happened as Neo James Carner snatches the AWF Prestige Championship from the timekeeper and hands it to his ReVenant brother. The exhausted and bloody new champion lets out screams of joy as he scales the ropes, holding the championship high for all to see! As Rob Garcia runs down to celebrate with his partners, the booing seems to be reaching deafening levels inside the Xcel Energy Center!

Romano: A new champion! A new AWF Prestige Champion as Keith Williams ushers in an Era of Sleaze!
Taylor: This is bullshit! These two just battled in an absolute war and now this! Bloodied Fox gave and survived everything he could, and he was one move away from winning! AND HE GOT HIS FOOT ON THE ROPES! This isn’t fair!
Romano: Life isn’t fair Taylor, it was never meant to be!

Neo James Carner and Rob Garcia leave the ring with the new champion, carrying a seated Keith Williams on their shoulders as the trio take a victory lap. AWF Prestige Champion Keith Williams has a smile from ear-to-ear as the men escape the furiously booing crowd to disappear to the back. The last thing we see is Bloodied Fox, pulling himself up by the ropes, looking incredulous about the result.

[Adrien]

The lights in the arena dim and the tron boards light up with a video package showing grainy VHS home footage.

"Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky begins to build in the background quietly as the video's audio takes center stage.

Haaaaappy birthday tooo you!

Haaaaapy birthday tooooooo you!

The kid in the video laughs and claps, looking not a day over six years old.

Haaaaapy biiiiiiirthday deaaaaaaaar Seeeeeeeeeeeth...

A bunch of quick flashes skip over the end of the tape, interspersed with various bits of recorded conversation over the years. Footage of Seth's first triple threat match on Rise Up! plays over top of some recorded dialogue with Damien Young.

...you win some, you lose some... dust yourself off, look forward to the next one...

JUMP CUT. The Rise Up Rumble. Seth Dillinger gets his revenge, beating Nathan Thunder to win the whole thing! Crowd audio is pumped in over top of a slow motion shot of Seth breaking down, crying, overjoyed.

DILL-IN-GER! DILL-IN-GER!

...he's going to bring the fight...

...Maverick must be somewhere watching this wondering what Dillinger's going to bring to the table...

Slow fade to black. A lull in the music.

MAY 25TH, 2018.

PRESTIGE 17.

The title card fades out to shots from the historic title match. It shows some back and forth, then shows Seth leaping over the ropes and catching Maverick with a South Philly Stunner.

...did you just see that!?

...the champ is out cold!

ONE!

TWO!

THREE

Images of Seth being crowned State of Ohio Champion are shown.

JULY 1ST, 2018.

AWF CLASH OF THE ICONS.

Video shows Jason Justice and Seth Dillinger preparing to square up one on one for the title. Then Maverick appears in the spotlights on the ramp.

It looks like Maverick is back in!

Clips from the match are shown, including the ending where Jason Justice is both pinned by Maverick while tapping out to Seth Dillinger. Maverick and Seth get into a brawl.

Someone has to break this up!!

JULY 27TH, 2018.

AWF UCK.

Slow motion clips show Seth and Maverick circling each other.

Yet another installment in the storied history between these two men...

Seth drills Maverick with a punch, Maverick hits Seth. Seth flips Maverick with the Overdose. Both men tumble behind the barrier and come back into view bleeding.

The referee cannot make a determination as to who bled first, as a result, the match has been ruled a draw!

...for the last time, Seth Dillinger's championship advantage is in effect, making him the champion!

Seth is backed into a corner!

AWF PRESTIGE 21.

AUGUST 21ST, 2018.

A ladder is set up in the ring. The cameras circle around it. Both Maverick and Seth stare up at the title hanging above. It's the iconic ladder match between the two.

The clips show them colliding with each other, Seth kips up, kicking Maverick. The Icons interfere and attack Dillinger. Jason and Jimmie Justice show up to even the odds. Maverick hits Seth with a moonsault from the top of the ladder. Seth claws his way to the top of the ladder, just barely grabbing hold of the title before Maverick spears him to his doom.

Your winner and STILL the AWF State of Ohio Champion... SETH DILLINGER!

The video package fades out again. Now, as the song builds to a crescendo, we see fast clips of Dillinger's accomplishments. Beating Jack Diamond to win the X*Crown. Beating Bobby Barratt at the end of the 2019 XHF Rumble. Running the tables with Ryan Young at Fired Up 2019. Facing off in WarGames against Legion and coming out the champion. Defeating Michael Storm, and Natasha. Tears of anguish as he and Ryan Young meet face to face at Road to Victory. Winning match after match at Fired Up 2020. Beating Maverick for the Prestige Title. Beating Guillotina to defend the title in a brutal street fight. Then it all fades to black, with one line of commentary playing over the silence.

Seth Dillinger is just Maverick's kryptonite... he can't beat him, no matter how many times he tries.

A long moment of silence. And then.

AHHHHH FUCK YOUR HEADPHONES

The arena's PA system blasts to life as the soul-rumbling beats of Beck's "Timebomb" blast over the arena. Seth Dillinger struts out on top of the ramp, smirking, wearing a slick-looking suit. He glances out over the arena, and beneath his shirt, something green is glowing.

We got a timebomb

We got a timebomb

We got a timebomb

Na na na na

Romano: Well, that's a way to make an entrance.

Seth Dillinger rips his suit shirt open, a la Clark Kent, only to reveal a glowing, green effect underneath, a reference to the "kryptonite" line. Seth rips off his suit jacket and overshirt, leaving him shirtless, with just a strapped on chest gizmo lit up green in the middle. He leans in close to the camera.

Dillinger: I'm your kryptonite Mav.

He points to his chest and smacks it a few times.

Dillinger: I'm your villain.

We got a warning light

We got a warning light

We pull the plug out and we

Na na na na

Seth looks smugly into the camera, leaving his discarded suit on the ramp as he makes his way to the ringside area. The fans lucky enough to be at ringside jeer him as he walks by.

Timebomb ticking

Timebomb ticking

It's a timebomb ticking

Tick tick tick tick

Seth roars back at them.

Dillinger: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!

He walks over by the announce table and rolls into the ring, stretching his arms a bit.

Timebomb ticking

Timebomb ticking

It's a timebomb ticking

...Going.

Romano: Well, it seems like Seth is sending a very clear message to Maverick.

Taylor: He's his Kryptonite, and he wants to make sure he knows it.

The lights within the arena go out.

Romano: Woah now…

Taylor: I should have known he’d make an entrance worth remembering.

“Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free)” begins to play throughout the arena as the lights slowly come back to life down onto the ring where Seth Dillinger stands, a golden hue to the lights as the tron lights up with the shot of Dillinger and Maverick staring down one another. The crowd within the building switch their flashlights on from their mobile phones and wave them around in the air to bring light into the arena, the spotlights continuing to shine down onto Seth as the lyrics kick in.

“I know why you're here, you're fed up of the fear

Sick of the fantasy world they've built, so you never see clear

Something is coming unplugged

There's a glitch in your trust”

The sounds of Oli Sykes’ vocals bring light down onto the stage, a singular stone embedded into the stage is seen at the top of the ramp as one spotlight shines down onto the stone, a large Italian Longsword stuck inside of the stone reflects off of the beam of light that shines down onto it.

“You got an itch for the cure, but you're scared to walk out the door

I'm here to tell you there's a universe that lives without law

Something is coming unplugged

'Cause you keep asking yourself”

Soon, the synth beat changes and the lights within the arena switch over to the stage where the sight of the band of Bring Me The Horizon is shown, taking the center of the stage is the lead singer being joined by BABYMETAL’s lead singer; SU-METAL. The fans inside of the arena cheer loudly for the appearance as the lyrics continue to ring out.

“I wanna be a kingslayer”

“Something is coming unplugged

There's a glitch in your trust”

The golden hue spotlights swivel around the arena, through the crowd and to the ring, shining down onto everyone. Sykes and Su-Metal make their way down the ramp, microphones in hand as they reach the halfway point as they sing out the final lines.

“I wanna be a kingslayer”

“Something is coming unplugged

There's a glitch in your trust”

The music abruptly stops, leaving the arena in total silence as the speakers let out the beginning synth beats to...

“Kingslayer” is ripped from the band’s live performance and through the P.A. System as the crowd erupted into cheers knowing it to be the signal of the arrival of Maverick, the lights shining down now with a purple hue with the one singular white spotlight continuing to shine down onto the Longsword with Seth watching on with a stern look as the entrance curtain opens up behind the band and the opening verse kicks in.

“Hi, are you looking for the other side?

Feel like nothing ever seems quite right?

Are you circling the drain pipe, getting off on pain like

You're corrupted?”

Walking through the entrance curtain is Maverick himself, dressed in all gold attire- the golden jacket, the golden tights, golden boots and a gold and black cape fitting for a king that drags along the floor as he walks past the band and taking his place behind the embedded stone at the top of the ramp.

Romano: He’s here! Look at that attire! My god!

Taylor: Maverick’s made many special entrances but this one might be his most spectacular!

“I need to know where your loyalties lie

Tell me, are you gonna bark or bite?

Do you really want to twist the knife

In the belly of the monster?”

Maverick and Seth lock eye contact with one another, the tension between one another can be cut with a blunt knife if anyone tries. Both men look to begin their brawl right there and then but the referee within the ring advises Seth to take a step back from the ropes he leans on.

“Get the fuck up, wake the fuck up

Wipe the system, and back the fuck up

You're a puppet when they cut your strings off

Don't come crawling back”

Maverick unstraps the necktie that held the cape onto him as it falls down onto the floor, showing the full attire of The King and the light shining down onto the metallic gold that he wore. Maverick then unzips the golden jacket and throws it to one side as he takes a few steps forward, grabbing a hold onto the handle of the Longsword and pulling it upwards and out of the stone in the ground as the chorus is sung out.

“Kingslayer

Destroying castles in the sky

Kingslayer

Forevermore the apple of my eye”

The King raises the longsword high up in the air as he lets out a battle cry and looks directly down onto Seth Dillinger, he brings the sword down and places the flat of the blade down onto his shoulder as he steps over the embedded stone in the ramp and continues to stare down at Seth, not daring to take his eyes off of his opponent, his enemy, his rival.

“I'd sacrifice my life to find you

Angel of the flame

Kingslayer

Come and collect us from the night”

Maverick takes his slow walk down to be by the side of both Oli Sykes and Su-Metal as he nods to both singers and lets them head back up the ramp. Maverick is left all alone with his vision directly set onto the ring and the man that stands inside of that ring, he takes a deep breath and then continues his walk to the ring. The King walks around ringside before finding his way onto the steel steps, which he walks up along and onto the apron, he brushes his feet along the apron before bringing the Longsword and himself into the ring through the middle ropes. Maverick stares daggers over towards Seth Dillinger who takes his stance in his corner as The King points the Longsword straight over to Seth with a stern look to his eyes. 

Taylor: I know it’s unsanctioned and we worried how far both men would take it… but this is too far!

Romano: Maverick isn’t that insane to use the sword this quick off the bat, Taylor, relax.

Maverick gives off a small laugh as he brings the sword away from Seth’s direction and places the weapon down onto the ring apron for ring crew to take away as Jessie Love makes the introduction.

Jessie Love: AAAAAND HIS OPPONENT… wrestling out of Wexford Town, County Wexford, Ireland and weighing in tonight at ONE HUNDRED and NINETY-FIVE POUUUUNDS… he is THE KIIIING OF PROFESSIONALLLL WRESSSTLIIIIING!...

Maverick leaps onto the second rope and soaks in the crowd’s loud eruption of cheers that rain down onto him, his arms stretched out wide and his eyes closed as he tilts his head back and Jessie Love finishes the introduction.

Jessie Love: THIS… IS… MAAAAAAAVERRRIIIIIIIIIICK!!!

Romano: A grand entrance, fitting for a King, as he steps into an AWF ring for what could be his final match ever if he’s not able to defeat Seth Dillinger.

Taylor: He wants to prove to the world that he can do it, he wants to prove that he can do the impossible, he wants to do what has never done in over two years, this is his moment, and he’s going to make it his grandest moment in AWF by any means necessary!

The King smiles from ear to ear as he climbs to the very top rope and backflips off of it and down to the ring mat, snapping his body around with a quick one-eighty to turn to face Seth Dillinger. Maverick, being cocky as ever, mouths off to Seth Dillinger as he backs himself into his corner and awaits for the bell to ring as the music slowly fades out and the house lights come back to normal.

---

Unsanctioned Match

Maverick vs. Seth Dillinger

---

Standing mid ring, Seth Dillinger and Maverick stare at each other. Pure hatred can be seen in the face of Seth Dillinger, directed towards the man who has been a thorn in his side for many years. Maverick, eager to get revenge on Dillinger for previous defeats looks no less annoyed at having to defend his right to wrestle under the AWF banner ever again against his frequent nemesis.

Taylor: You could cut the atmosphere in the arena with a knife.
Romano: This is a very, very personal match for both guys. I except a ton of unbridled violence to break out.

And Romano doesn't have to wait long to be proved right. Dillinger and Maverick launch themselves at each other and open up by throwing bombs. Nothing flashy, nothing technical, just big meaty overhand rights connecting flush with their opponent's skull. Maverick's finely honed striking skills couldn't be further from his mind as he throws fists and Seth Dillinger's enormous speed is only showing in the speed of which he throws his hands. Both men batter each other like a good old fashioned bar brawl rather than a professional wrestling match before they back off for a half second to regain a little stamina.

Taylor: This is a slobberknocker.
Romano: A pier six brawl. A donnybrook. Any number of wrestling clichés. These men came to fight.

Seth charges in again but Maverick is keen to use his not incosiderable martial arts skills and tags Seth with a front kick, keeping Dillinger at range with a push of his sole. The Last True Icon follows up with a head rocking roundhouse kick, causing Seth to halt his attack and leaps, turning and pushing Seth away with a spinning back kick, the flat of his sole connecting again with Seth's abdomen. The Immortal Prince ducks forward and hits a palm strike at a 45 degree angle, right into Seth's chin, again creating space and Seth has to drop to mat level to avoid Maverick attempting to take his head off with the Vanity Killer Pump Kick.

Taylor: VANITY KILLER! That could have ended this match as soon as it begun!
Romano: Maverick is looking to end the match early. The thing about Maverick is he has a lot of kill shots in his expansive arsenal.

Taking advantage of Mav being out of position, having whiffed a finisher attempt, Seth Dillinger whips his legs round like he was performing a pommel horse routine, almost Capoeira like, and connects with the side of The Irishman's legs. The Irishman drops to the mat and Seth kips up and drops a leg across Maverick's upper body, hops back to his feet and does it again and then performs a backwards roll to get a measured amount of distance from Maverick and performs a beautiful front flip leg drop to complete the trifecta. Seth stays seated in a lazy cover...

ONE!

T.. Maverick kicks out easily.

Taylor: Neither man hanging around here.
Romano: Hanging around isn't in either of this pair's nature.

Close to the ropes, Maverick and Seth Dillinger stand again. A vicious knife edge chopfrom Seth sends Maverick onto the ropes, the Irishman leaning back against them. Seth throws a couple of fierce forearms to stun The Iconic Prince before The Party Boy Pugilist rushes away to the opposite ropes, rebounds back and hits a high cross body on Maverick, sending both men out to the floor in a crumpled heap. Seth is the first to stand, Maverick having taken the brunt of the fall, and he looks up with glassy, crazed eyes.

Taylor: Seth Dillinger has a plan. I just don't know what it is.
Romano: Dillinger has been flirting with the edge of sanity all across this year. Now with no rules holding him back he can do whatever he wants.

Seth lifts the ring skirt and starts hunting underneath for plunder. He carelessly launches several chairs into the ring, a kendo sticks, a stop sign and a mysterious small bag which he greets with a manic glee. Dillinger hops up onto the ring apron and picks up a kendo stick, twirling it round in his hand in expectation as Maverick beings to stir. The Prince of Thieves gets his hands up onto the ring apron, starting to raise himself off the floor and Dillinger drops to his knees, swinging the kendo stick downwards, smashing it across Maverick's fingers. Maverick falls back down and from floor level begins fishing for something of his own to get armed with.

Taylor: No rules, no limits. This match is about to get very physical, very fast.
Romano: These are two guys who hate each other. Why let the rules get in the way of a goood old fashioned blood feud?

Still at floor level, Maverick waits patiently for Seth to go looking for him. Seth leans over the ropes to check on where his opponent has got to, only for Maverick to swing a kendo stick HE has retrieved upwards and connect it with Dillinger's skull! Seth staggers back, away from the ring ropes and Maverick, now armed, slides into the ring. The Iconic Prince cuts through the air with a rapid swing of his Singapore Cane, but Seth uses the one HE is wielding to block. Seth tries to counter with a swing of his own. Both men wind up another strike, the wood splintering away from their weaponry, and there is another mighty clash of stick on stick as they swing at the same time. Another swing, another clash. Now the sticks are bent out of shape and unwieldy to hold and as Mav swings one last time, Seth drops his own stick, takes the lessened impact across his upper back as he bends over and steps through, grabbing a quick double leg takedown. Seth rains down punches from the mount position like a man possessed.

Taylor: Look at the fire in Seth's eyes. He's raining down shots like it's monsoon season.
Romano: Seth Dillinger is just looking to lay down as much pain and hurt as possible on Maverick. It's one hell of a spectacle.

Dillinger dismounts and walks slowly, deliberately over to one of the chairs he threw carelessly into the ring earlier. He flips the chair open and places it in the center of the ring before grabbing Mav by the hair and hauling The Prince of Thieves to his feet. Seth hauls Maverick into the position he wants and lines up the former member of the Icons with the seat of the chair, hitting a precision drop toe hold that smashes Mav's face right onto the cold, unforgiving steel. Seth drops for a cover...

ONE!


TWO!


T.. Maverick kicks out.

Taylor: Seth using the hardware.
Romano: It's an unsanctioned match. Knock yourself out in how you want to knock the other guy out.

Rolling away, Seth grabs a second chair and slides it underneath Maverick's body. He stands and grabs the chair that he used for the drop toe hold and flattens it out, hurling it forcefully onto Mav's exposed chest. With a spring in his step that totally doesn't fit with the craziness of the match (or possible makes perfect sense, the inside of Seth's head being somewhat of a mess at the moment) Seth heads for the edge of the ring, hopping up onto the top rope and springboarding off in to a beautiful moonsault, looking to crush Maverick's ribs between the two chairs. Maverick is wise to this and the talented young Irishamn rolls out of his steel sandwich, leaving the chairs behind and Seth CRASHES AND BURNS INTO THE CHAIRS!

Taylor: OUCH!
Romano: When you take as many risks as Seth Dillinger, you're not always going to get the rewards.

Maverick stands, grabbing Seth Dillinger's left arm to flip him over, face down. Mav lines a chair up underneath Seth's face and retreats to the ropes. The Prince of Thieves charges in, leaping into the air as Seth gets up to his elbows and DRIVES HIS FOOT INTO THE BACK OF SETH'S SKULL! SETH'S HEAD COMPRESSES INTO THE CHAIR! Maverick rolls back to his feet to survey the carnage and as Seth turns over, his nose is out of joint and blood is beginning to trickle down from his nostrils. Maverick offers a grin, pleased at his handiwork.

Taylor: Fade to Black on the chair! My god Seth's nose is busted!
Romano: Let's see how much of a toll that takes out of him for the rest of the match.

Maverick lifts Seth off the mat by his hair, dragging the Philly native roughly to his feet. Mav grabs Seth around the neck and snaps him back down to the canvas with a Gator Roll style neckbreaker. He takes back mount and decides that the simplest route is often the best, grabbing the back of Seth's head and repeatedly slamming his face into the mat, right onto Seth's broken nose. Mav rears back and roars, before grabbing Seth's wrist, lifting his hand up into a position where Maverick can manipulate Seth's fingers. Mav grabs Seth's index and middle fingers in his right hand and moves his wrist grip into a potion where he is holding the ring and pinkie. Then with one gigantic yank, accompanied by a massive CRACKING sound, The Irish wrestler attempts to remove Seth's fingers from the hand they're attached to.

Taylor: Oh my! Santiago SpecialMark II! My hand hurts just watching that!
Romano: Both these men are willing to do anything to hurt their opponent. Maverick is just showing that now.

Moving back to the wristlock. Maverick winds Seth's arm into a tight Hammerlock behind his back. Mav stands, dragging Seth up and with the arm trapped, locks Seth's head under his other arm, falling backwards to the mat and driving Seth's head into the canvas. Satisfied that his opponent is stunned enough for now, Mav heads for one of the corners of the ring, climbing the turnbuckles. The blood now flowing from Seth's busted nose, a little of the crimson flows into the corner of Seth's mouth and The Man From Pee-Aitch-Eye-Ell-Ell-Why blinks, and fumbles for something close at hand. Maverick, facing away from the ring, steels himself for one of his many aerial techniques. But Seth... GETS TO HIS KNEES AND FLINGS THE STOP SIGN UP AT MAVERICK'S BACK WITH THE CRASH OF STEEL ON FLESH CAUSING THE PRINCE OF THIEVES TO STUMBLE ON THE TOP ROPE AND LOSE HIS FOOTING!

Taylor: That's one way to put a stop to your opponent.
Romano: Do you think this match is a time for puns, Taylor?
Taylor: I guess not, Cassius.

With Maverick crotched on the top turnbuckle, Seth has a moment's respite. He looks over for the bag he got out earlier and opens it, slowly, deliberately before emptying the contents over the ring mat. A pile of thumbtacks spills out, covering the part of the ring below where Maverick is stranded. Seth reaches up and elbows Maverick twice at the base of his spine, causing the young Irish superstar to rock backwards. Dillinger catches Mav's head on Seth's own shoulder before taking a running start and hitting a huge elevated neckbreaker DROPPING MAVERICK'S BACK INTO THE THUMBTACKS!

Taylor: Just look at his back! Thousands of tiny pin pricks all at once.
Romano: Have you ever stood on a tack? Imagine that. Now multiply that by, let's see, A lot.

Seth isn't letting Maverick have any time to recuperate. Blood streaming down his face, Seth barely notices the a few of the tacks are stuck in his own shoulders as he picks up a chair of his own and wields it like a mighty club, winding up like a baseball hitter as Maverick slowly, agony showing in every inch of his facial expression and Seth Dillinger swings for the fences. Maverick tries to duck out of the way as being decapitated wasn't really part of his plans for the evening, but the edge of the chair still catches him a little and a gash opens up on his forehead. Seth sees the blood and affords himself a chuckle.

Taylor: Maverick is busted wide open.
Romano: Yeah, but he's not dead. Which had Seth connected full flush with that move he would have been.

Like a shark, Seth smells blood in the water. He drops to the mat and locks Maverick in a tight side headlock, squeezing The Iconic Prince's head. Seth looks over to his left and spies a broken piece of one of the Kendo sticks from earlier. Seth grins a maniacal grin as he grabs the piece of bamboo in his free arm, wields it like a sacrificial dagger and drives it right into the cut on Maverick's head. Seth makes sure the cut is opened further as he artlessly parts Maverick's skin like a trainee chef trying to debone a fish for the first time.

Taylor: Seth Dillinger is a sick individual.
Romano: These two guys hate each other. And hate is a strong motivator.

Satisfied with his work with the stick fragment, Seth throws a couple of crossfaces to Maverick, and then in an act that is not only distasteful but in a weird way also humiliating, Seth runs his first two fingers up Maverick's face to get them nice and coated in Irish blood. Seth holds the bloodied fingers aloft, not that there is any crowd to offer him a reaction (and not that he would care if there was) and FISH HOOKS MAVERICK WITH FINGERS COATED IN HIS OWN VERMILLION LIQUID. Mav waves his arms around, trying to work himself free before realising that all he has to do is bite down, and with the pressure of Maverick's teeth on his figers, Seth has to get out of the fish hook quickly. Mav rolls away, his face now a total bloody mess as Seth takes a poweder and heads to the outside.

Taylor: My God! Is there no depths to which Sth Dillinger won't sink to cause damage to his opponent?
Romano: For most opponents, no. For Maverick? Hell no.

Seth reaches under a different part of the ring apron and grabs two things from underneath. The first is a piece of paper. The second, a staple gun. Seth's face is manic with childlike glee as he rolls back into the ring. The camera zooms in on the piece of paper, it's hard to make out the details even close up. But it's obviously a legal document of some sort and the header is the instantly recognisable AWF logo. Seth looks down at Maverick and yells.

Seth Dillinger: SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY!

Seth holds the paper to Maverick's bleeding head, the blood helping it stay in place. With his other hand, he squeezes the staple gun a couple of times, making sure it's loaded (it is) and then places the gun right on Maverick's temple AND STAPLES THE PAPER TO HIS HEAD!

Taylor: Seth Dillinger looking to make a statement through his carnage.
Romano: I'm not even going to try to work out what goes through that man's mind.
Taylor: I barely recognise him any more.

Seth rushes round and grabs two of the chairs from the ring. He sets them up dead centre, back to back and drags Maverick to his feet. Maverick is groggy, his face obscured, blood soaking the paper that's stapled to his head. Mav sways, his legs wobbly from the beating he has taken. Waiting for Maverick to stand in just the right position, Seth backs up to the ropes to give him the best run up possible and charges like an unleashed bull, leaping into the air and looking to orbit The Irishman before bringing Maverick's body down onto the point of the two chairs' backs with the Neon Crash... BUT MAVERICK CATCHES HIM! MAVERICK SIDESTEPS WHILE CRADLING SETH DILLINGER AND DROPS SETH ONTO THE CHAIRS WITH A SIDE SLAM! SETH SLEFS OFF THE CHAIRS TO THE CANVAS AND BOTH MEN ARE DOWN!


ONE!

Taylor: Both men are down! And after this physical encounter, can you blame them!

TWO!


THREE!


FOUR!

Romano: You could count to a hundred about now, I don't see either man getting up at this stage!

FIVE!


SIX!

Taylor: Hold on! I think I see Seth Dillinger is stirring!

SEVEN!


EIGHT!

Romano: Is Maverick moving too? I can't get a clear look from here!
NINE! SETH GETS BACK TO HIS FEET!


T..... MAVERICK GETS UP TOO!

Taylor: BOTH MEN ARE UP! THIS MATCH MUST CONTINUE!

MAVERICK RIPS THE CONTRACT FROM HIS FACE, STAPLE ATTACHED! Seth goes in for a slugging overhand right. It connects, sending blood arcing through the air like a rainbow if all the colours were red. Maverick steels up and throws an overhand right of his own in, rocking Seth. Seth grits his teeth and throws another overhand right back. Mav throws another bomb. Seth answers in (decidedly un-) kind. Mav finally breaks and hits a MASSIVE blitz of strikes, wildly throwing elbows, forearms, short kicks, anything he has in his arsenal to try and floor Seth Dillinger. Seth is forced to back up against the hot blooded fury of The Irish Prince. As Seth hits the ropes, Maverick takes a four step run up and luanches himself at Dillinger, knee raised, connected flush with Seth's broken nose. Seth spills to the outside.

Taylor: M-TRIGGER! DILLINGER IS DOWN!

As if some unearthly power was flowing through his body, Maverick rushes the far ropes and as Seth Dillinger slowly, gingerly gets to his feet, Maverick heads towards him like a wild man, jumping over the top rope, leaving a straight trail of dripping blood along his path and twists in the air landing on Dillinger and collapsing both men to the ringside area. Maverick somehow ends in a back press on Seth...

ONE!


TWO!


THR.. Seth kicks out.

Taylor: Falls count anywhere.
Romano: No count outs, no disqualifications, no rules at all.

Maverick stands, looking distraught but SETH digs deep into his unholy energy and KIPS UP INTO A HURACANRANA! SETH HOLDS ON FOR THE PIN!

ONE!


TWO!


THRE... MAVERICK KICKS OUT!

Back under the ring again, and this time Seth fetches a table which he takes an age to set up, te pain and blood loss probably breaking his concentration a little. Seth balances one end of the table on the ring apron and the other on the guard rail, sloped slightly. He grabs Maverick and slides The Last True Icon's body on to the table. Seth throws a couple of punches to keep Maverick stunned and climbs up onto the ring apron, then to the second rope. Dillinger looks down on his opponent and springboards off into a 450 press... BUT MAVERICK MOVES AND SETH CRASHES THROUGH THE WOOD SENDING SPLINTERS EVERYWHERE! MAVERICK COVERS!


ONE!


TWO!


THRE..SETH KICKS OUT!

Taylor: What is it going to take for one of these two warriors to give in?
Romano: I've thought about it, but I'm not going to voice it.

The look on Maverick's face is one that screams, "What do I have to do?" as he stands. Seth stands too, and again the pair begin to trade shots, slower, more methodically than earlier, the craziness of this match having taken a physical toll on both men's bodies. Maverick throws a wild kick at Seth which Dillinger catches and uses Mav's own leg to swing him around. With precision, Seth lands a dropkick into Maverick's back sending the Irishman a few steps down the ringside area. Seth follows as the referee and cameraman try to keep up. Seth grabs the back of Maverick's head and rams his face into the guardrail. Maverick reels away in pain.

Taylor: How are these two men still breathing, never mind standing?
Romano: Pure willpower. This is why it takes a special mindset to be a professional wrestler.

With a handful of Maverick's matted hair, Seth looks upwards for a second and something briefly crosses his mind. He lands a couple of stiff shots to Maverick's temple and leaves the Irish Warrior slumped over the guard rail while he walks casually to the entrance area. Spotting a couple of spare tables, Seth carefully sets them up, right below the twenty foot drop from the roof of the fans' entrance. maverick has had enough time to recover and he approaches Seth once more, but Seth is ready for him, and plugs him in the face with another stiff shot, sending Maverick spilling over the guardrail onto the unmatted concrete where the fans were standing earlier. Seth follows him over.

Taylor: I don't like where this is going.

Seth hauls Maverick up and the camera catches on a close shot for a second how battered and bruised the two men look. This is the sort of match that neither man escapes from unscathed, and there has been plenty of scathing going on. Seth grasps a loose side headlock on Maverick and begins to climb the concrete steps of the Xcel Energy Center, dragging The Last True Icon with him step by step as the pair ascend.

Taylor: I REALLY don't like where this is going.

Step by step the pair climb leaving two trails of deep crimson as they slowly make their way up the steps. Maverick looks like he's ready to break free for a second and Seth merely punches him on the top of his skull to quell his fightback. More steps are climbed until Seth reaches his destination. The familiar Bud Light advertising that marks the top of the public entrance to the Xcel Center is in line and Seth Dillinger begins to walk Mav over towards that sign.

Romano: I don't think anybody is liking where this is going, Taylor.

Maverick is groggy, drained of all energy as Seth walks over to the edge of the overhang. The twenty foot drop below. Seth backs up and charges, corking and uncorking his feet in mid air, looking to connect with one of his oh so beautiful dropkicks and send Maverick on the most painful ride of his life. Seth.. DOESN'T CONNECT! MAVERICK SWATS SETH'S FEET AWAY WITH HIS ARM IN AN IMPROVISED DEFENSE! Seth stands, looking more than a little pissed off and snares Maverick's head, SPIKING HIM ON THE CONCRETE SURFACE WITH A DDT.

Taylor: COVER HIM, SETH! END THIS VIOLENCE!

But Seth has other ideas. He reaches down into his tights, steps over the advertising board and standing precariously on the lip, produces a bottle of lighter fluid. He rains down a stream of the flammable material onto the two tables below, making sure that they are well coated. Cable carriers and extra camera crew have to retreat from the area so to make sure they don't get splashed, not that Seth would give a damn if they were.

Taylor: NO, SETH! NO!

Seth stands proud and takes a look down at his handiwork, before reaching for a Zippo lighter he'd also stashed, lighting it and casually dropping it while the lighter is still gushing flame down that long twenty foot drop.

FWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOMPH!

The tables positioned beneath burst into flame. Seth turns back to go and fetch Maverick and starts to try to climb over the avert...

BUT MAVERICK HAD RECOVERED JUST ENOUGH WHILE SETH WAS READYING HIS PYRE! ICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK! SETH DILLINGER GOES FLYING OFF THE EDGE AND FALLS BACK FIRST OFF THE EDGE AND A FULL TWENTY FEET THROUGH THE FLAMING TABLES! FIRE CREW RUSH IN TO PUT OUT THE BLAZE ON SETH DILINGER'S BODY!

Taylor: HOLY SHIT! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! SETH DILLINGER MIGHT BE DEAD!
Romano: GET THE EMT TEAM OUT HERE! NOW! NO! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!

Cassius Romano throws down his headset and rushes over to where the smouldering Seth Dillger lies, motionless but clearly still breathing. The backup referee who is attending throws the dreaded X sign.

Taylor: Well I think Maverick has won this match. And I don't think that matters one bit. Boys in the truck, run the end bumper.

Tommy Taylor throws down his headset too as he heads over to survey the carnage that is Seth Dillinger. More and more medical personnel rush the area, and Dillinger isn't moving at all.

Fade.