the.weej

“Welcome back to SWF Smarkdown, Citizens,” exclaims Cyclone Comet. “It’s now time for our first of a record-breaking four title matches tonight, the Cruiserweight Title Bout! Our Champion, Johnny Dangerous defends against up-and-comer Ace Lezaire, who will be making his second appearance in an SWF ring here tonight.” “And what a second appearance it will be,” adds Riley. “Just think, Comet, if Ace Lezaire can perform like he did on Lockdown he could be walking away with the Cruiserweight Championship. What other rookie can you think of that was able to capture SWF gold in only two matches? This is history in the making!” “Citizen Cortez won the Tag Team Titles in his first match here,” replies Comet, dripping with sarcasm. “Did I stutter or did your ears just wobble,” snaps Bobby. “I think the latter – I said he would make history by winning gold in his second match, not first!” “It’d be an incredible feat, no doubt about it,” Comet seemingly concedes. “However, if Citizen Lezaire thinks he’s going to win this match with the same kind of underhanded tactics as he did on Lockdown, he is sadly mistaken! He’s facing Johnny Dangerous tonight – the right hand of JUSTICE~, and I highly doubt Operative Dangerous will stand for any of that eye-raking or low blow tomfoolery!” Just then, before we can be plagued with a response from Riley, a single spotlight shines down on the ring, illuminating the impeccably dressed Funyon as he raises the microphone to his lips. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he says. “The following match scheduled for one fall will be contested under cruiserweight rules…and is for the SMARTMARK WRESTLING FEDERATION CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! Introducing first, the Challenger…” As the Ring Announcer’s voice trails off, a solid, hard drumming fill kicks up… BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Muse’s “Hyper Music” suddenly kicks up, pounding across the arena, and with each strike, a blinding flash strikes the General Motors Place! The song really kicks into gear, and Ace Lezaire strolls out from backstage – Steve, his personal cameraman, following a step behind him. “From Vancouver, BC, Canada,” continues Funyon, “and weighing two hundred and twenty eight pounds… he is… ACE LEEEZAIIIIIIRE!!” The crowd cuts loose with a tremendous pop for their hometown hero, and Ace motions to Steve to make sure he’s capturing every bit of it. “Will you just listen to that crowd,” marvels Riley. “And here I bet you thought the crowd would be in Johnny’s corner tonight! Ace even has his personal Cameraman here to capture this moment for an eternity.” However, Steve apparently waste a little too much precious film on the Canadian fans and Ace grabs the camera, redirecting the focus back on himself. “I’m the star here, not them,” he shouts, audible by Steve’s camera. Ace spins back around and heads down the ramp, carefully guiding and maneuvering himself under, around, and past the row of outstretched hands with a disgusted look on his face like they were the hands of lepers…and not surprisingly the cheers dwindle to a low murmur! “What’s all that about,” questions Comet, rather disgusted. “Here these people are - cheering their hearts out, and Citizen Lazaire can’t even acknowledge them! Did Steve get all that on film; I’m sure they’ll want to remember why they stopped cheering for this little self absorbed cretin of a man!” “Can’t say I blame him, I mean…who knows where their grubby little Canadian hands have been.” Ace slides into the ring and heads straight to the ropes, giving them a good solid bounce or two as his music slowly fades away. “And his opponent,” booms Funyon, just before the lights dim, and a voice picks up on the speakers, whispering a name in a deep, sultry voice… “JOHNNY DANGEROUS~!” “After the Flesh” thunders out across the General Motors Place as the stage begins to fill with the haze of white smoke billowing out from the sides. Dozens of strobes light up the set, partially illuminating the Barracuda as he emerges through the cloud of smoke with the Cruiserweight Title strapped around his waist, and the crowd roars out in delight! “From Las Vegas, Nevada,” continues Funyon, “and weighing in at two hundred and seventeen pounds, he is the reigning SWF CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIOOOOON… JOOOOOHNNY ‘THE BARRACUDA’ DAAAANGEROUUUUUUS!!” Johnny stands at the top of the ramp for a moment, surveying the crowd through his sleek high-tech shades and with a faint smile then snaps his attention towards his opponent in the ring. Ace simply stares back, unperturbed by the Barracuda’s intimidation attempt as he pantomimes a title belt around his waist. “Citizen Lazaire is certainly confident enough,” notes Comet, “a little too over confident in my book. He may have defeated Ryan Dustin on Lockdown, but he’s facing a different kind of opponent here – he’s facing a man on a mission! The Barracuda has made it very clear that he intends on keeping the legacy of his fallen partner, Wildchild, alive with the Cruiserweight Championship, and he isn’t about to just hand it over!” Johnny makes his way down to ringside, while not once taking an eye off of Lezaire then climbs the steel steps and carefully glides across the length of the apron. Stopping about midway, he turns to the fans while unclasping the Cruiserweight title from his waist…and raises it out to the adoring fans- “Watch out, Johnny,” warns Comet, but before the Barracuda even has the chance to register, Ace grabs him by the back of his head and flips Johnny into the ring to a chorus of boos! DING! DING! DING! Sexton Hardcastle; the official for this match quickly signals for the bell then rushes in to acquire the title belt, and move it out of the ring. Nearby, Ace is on Johnny like white on rice, slamming his foot into any open spot he can find as the Secret Agent panics, scrambling to regain some footing while trying to avoid the shots! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! “Bell’s gone,” says Comet, “and this match even starts with some underhanded tactics by Citizen Lezaire – is it too much to ask for a fair match!?” Finally, Johnny gets to his feet, absolutely livid about this Rookie’s actions and total disrespect and he spins around to face Lezaire… WHACK! Turning right into a solid right hand from the Challenger that rocks the Barracuda’s head back and sends him reeling into the ropes as a hand instinctively shoots to his face! Ace chases after him, pulling Johnny’s hand back as he rears his fist back, ready to sock the Barracuda straight in the jaw once more… WHAM! …and Johnny unexpectedly swings his fist out and buries his knuckles deep into the side of Ace’s head, momentarily stunning the Challenger! Ace stumbles a step backwards and Johnny explodes off the ropes, slamming fist after fist after fist into Lezaire and beating him clear across the ring into the opposite ropes! Finally, he grabs Ace by the wrist and steps forward, whipping the Challenger across the ring… NO! Ace digs his feet deep into the canvas and reverses, sending the Barracuda instead across the ring! He charges two steps behind Johnny, looking to land a massive drop kick into the Barracuda the second he comes rocketing back of the ropes, but the Secret Agent quickly leaps to the second rope and SPRINGS~ himself off, rotating himself in midair… WHAAM!! …and slamming a forearm smash into Lezaire’s forehead, flooring him instantly to a thunderous cheer! However, no sooner than he lands, Dangerous rolls back to his feet and charges for the far ropes just as Ace staggers to his feet! Johnny quickly bounces back towards his opponent then jumps up, and LEVELS Lezaire with a monstrous leg lariat! “Whoa,” exclaims Comet, bursting at the seams with excitement. “Johnny just took a page straight out of the Wildchild’s book with that lariat to put the cap on a tremendous series of exchanges there. The Barracuda started this match at a disadvantage and now he has completely flipped the tables and gained full control of this match!” “Please,” spits Riley. “If Johnny thinks he can retain here by copying his old partner he is sadly mistaken! What he’s doing here is leaving himself wide open to make a mistake, and the second he makes that mistake you can bet your bottom dollar that Ace Lezaire will be there to take the full advantage – just like you saw on Lockdown!” “What I saw on lockdown was the most absurd excuse for a fair match that…Oh! Wait! We have a cover!” Sexton drops to his knees just as Comet notices, and begins to count… ONE!! TWO--NO!! Ace thrusts his shoulder off the canvas a nanosecond before two and rolls to his stomach, pushing off the canvas before Johnny helps him all the way up with a handful of hair, going right back to work on his opponent. He quickly spins Ace around and locks his hands around the Challenger’s waist from behind then hauls him up, and over, and slams Lezaire back-first into the mat with a mighty thud! “And a beautiful suplex by the Cruiserweight Champion,” marvels Comet. “Already the Barracuda is going to work on his seemingly favorite body part – the back.” Once more Johnny pulls Ace up to his feet and spins the Challenger around, locking his hands around Lezaire’s waist from behind! He hauls Ace off the mat and drops backwards, slamming the Challenger back-first into the mat with a suplex, but the Barracuda doesn’t release! He rolls on through, planting Ace’s shoulders to the canvas as he pulls Lezaire’s legs up, bending him at the midsection with a roll up! ONE!! TWO!! TH-NOO!!! Ace quickly reaches up and grabs the Barracuda by the waist, countering the roll up with another roll up, and pinning Johnny to the mat instead! Hardcastle drops back down to count again, and as he does Ace reaches up and grabs onto the top rope while holding the Barracuda by his belt loop generating a massive boo! ONE!! TWO!! TH-NOO!! Johnny kicks out just a fraction of a second before three! “That was a close call for the Barracuda there,” says Comet, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, “almost too close as Citizen Lazaire almost stole one with more use of his underhanded techniques!” “Oh, quit already,” snaps Bobby. “Did you completely miss the portion where Ace used his superior ring skills against the Barracuda to reverse that sloppy attempt at a pin?! Johnny used the same exact move twice in a row, surely he didn’t think it’d give him the match, and surely you didn’t either. Come on, Comet, pull your head out of your cape!” This time Ace is the one left standing as Johnny scrambles to his feet and like the Barracuda before him he helps Johnny to his feet…albeit with a handful of hair! He backs Johnny into the ropes, cocks his arm back and… SMACK!! “WHOOOOOO!” Cuts loose with a searing knife-edged chop, lighting up the Barracuda’s chest! Ace grabs Johnny by the wrist and steps forward, whipping Dangerous across the ring. “If you’ll notice here,” notes Bobby. “Ace learned from his last whipping exchange with Johnny; he isn’t chasing after him this time – further proof of Ace’s abilities to evolve his wrestling skills before our very eyes!” The Barracuda hits the ropes, but before he springs back towards Ace he latches onto the top rope with his arms as Lazaire jumps up looking for a dropkick! The instant Ace lands on his feet, Johnny rushes forward and swings his leg up for ANOTHER leg lariat… WHOOSH! …but Ace ducks down just in time to avoid another blast to his throat! “Nothing but air,” cheers Bobby, as Johnny, simply dumbfounded, spins back around to face his opponent…and Ace rocks his toe into the Barracuda’s ribcage, doubling him over! He latches onto the Secret Agent’s neck, twists around and… WHAAAM!! “STUNNER,” exclaims Bobby, as the Barracuda’s jaw smashes into Lezaire’s shoulder and Johnny is propelled backwards through the air and crashes to the mat in a heap! “It’s the Greatest Ever Finisher in the History of Everything, and the one simple thing that makes this move so great is that you can hit it out of absolutely no where – just like Ace did here!” “NO! WHERE?! HOW?! I can’t believe this,” cries Comet, while the crowd rises up with a hellacious boo. “Johnny can’t fall to this, he simply can’t…he has a legacy to uphold!” “Maybe he should have thought about that before trying to copy all of Wildchild’s moves,” says Riley, quite smugly. “He just flushed the legacy down the crapper his own damn self!” Ace excitedly scrambles over toward Johnny’s carcass and heaves himself on top as Sexton drops down for the count amid a massive wave of heat! ONEEE!!! TWOOOOO!!!!!! THRE-NOOOOOOOOO!!!! To the surprise of every fan in the house, Sexton stops the count just short of three, pointing towards the ropes where Johnny has his foot resting against the bottom! “By Thor’s Hammer,” shouts Comet. “Johnny didn’t have the strength to kick out there, but his heart simply refuses to stop beating! It pushed the Barracuda to do the only thing he could to save the Cruiserweight Championship from falling into the clutches of the villainous Citizen Lazaire!” “How the hell can you make something as simple as sticking your foot on the ropes sound like the second coming of Christ! It don’t take any ‘heart’ to pull that kind of crap off!” Ace rises to his feet absolutely livid! He swoops over Johnny and begins tearing into the Secret Agent like a madman, raining down into the Barracuda with a hail storm of feet! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Hardcastle finally swings into action with a count and reaches all the way to “FOUR” before Lezaire ceases with his stomps! He grabs a lock of Johnny’s jet-black mane and jerks him to his feet before slinging him around…and out of the ring, sailing the Barracuda straight through the middle rope, all the way down into thin thinly-padded concrete floor with a sickening thud! WHUMP! “Look at that total disrespect for the Cruiserweight Champion,” hisses Comet. “This is no way to win a title!” “Oh, contraire, Comet,” replies Bobby. “This is exactly the way to win a title or simply the match for that matter - Ace Lezaire is going for the total physical breakdown approach. Unlike Johnny who tends to focus on one simple body part, Ace here is going to beat the hell out of Johnny till he has nothing left to offer…and at this rate THAT won’t be much longer!” Once more the ref begins a count, only this time it’s the standard cruiserweight twenty-count for Johnny on the outside. “ONEEEE!” he shouts, as Ace rolls out of the ring and strolls right up to Johnny, scraping his carcass off the floor. “TWOOO!” He stands the wobbly Barracuda, who is stunned out of his mind, to his feet then taking note of Johnny’s current condition Ace notions to Steve to zoom in on him as he draws his arm back while shoving the Secret Agent against the ring… “THREEEEE!” SMACK! “WHOOOOO!” …and slashes Johnny’s chest with a knife-edged chop! Dangerous clutches his chest, and slides down to his feet…at least almost. “FOOOOOUR!” Before he droops to far down, Lazaire pulls Johnny back up and leads him toward the steel steps… “FIIIIIIIIVE!” WHACK! …and Ace ferociously slams the Barracuda’s forehead into the steps and the crowd lets out an “OOOOH!” as a massive CLANG~! rings out and Johnny’s head bounces off the steps like a well-aired basketball, sending him staggering back! “SIIIIIIIX!” Ace grabs the Cruiserweight Champion by his neck, finally tossing him under the bottom rope as no title can change hands if he wins this match on a count out. Lezaire rolls into the ring a step behind the battered Secret Agent… “Man,” groans Comet, “Operative Dangerous has gotten himself in a bad way. He inadvertently gave up an opening to Citizen Lazaire, and Ace has completely capitalized with that one simple mistake!” “See, I told you so,” snickers Riley. “Ace may be a rookie by all means, but it doesn’t mean he has to wrestle like one!” Ace quickly rolls Johnny onto his back and drops down for the cover. As expected, Sexton drops to count…. ONE!! TWO!! TH-NOOO!! The crowd roars their approval as Johnny thrusts his shoulder off the mat, sparing himself the seemingly inevitable for a moment further! Ace stands back up, takes a deep breath to remain calm, then moves to reacquire the Barracuda. He pulls Johnny upright in a seated position then locks his fingers around the Cruiserweight Champions chin and pulls back while digging his knee into Johnny’s spine! Johnny howls in pain; the beating coupled with the strain on his neck being simply unbearable, and Sexton is forced to ask the Barracuda if he yields. Johnny refuses – viciously shaking his head no as much as he possibly can while grunting in agony and flailing his arms, hoping to loosen the Challenger’s grip! Meanwhile the crowds stir up a chant: “JOHN-NY!” “JOHN-NY!” “JOHN-NY!” “JOHN-NY!” “This crowd is really starting to come alive for the Cruiserweight Champion,” notes Comet, “in a rather surprising turn of events, as these fans seemed to be in Citizen’s Lazaire’s corner at the start of this match!” “Yeah, but they wouldn’t know a good competitor if we slapped them in the face with Ace himself,” Bobby says. “Canadians...who needs ‘em!” Ace digs deeper into Johnny’s spine with his knee, trying wholeheartedly to gain a submission on Johnny, but the crowd is undeterred – the chants just grow even louder! “JOHN-NY!” “JOHN-NY!” “If Johnny wants to be Cruiserweight Champion at the end of the night he’d better wake up and smell the coffee in a hurry,” barks Comet. “He’s tried to take Citizen Lazaire down with some moves he picked up from Wildchild, and it worked wonders for a moment there-” “JOHN-NY!” “And I have to say, Johnny, thank you for reminding us about Wildchild! Every now and then a little nostalgia is just what the doctor ordered-” “JOHN-NY!” “-But the Barracuda needs to unleash his own furry now, it’s the only way to win!” “Yeah,” Bobby concurs. “He needs to let Wildchild go, enough already!” “JOHN-NY!” “You couldn’t be more right, Citizen Robert,” exclaims Comet, much to Riley’s surprise. “Just listen to this crowd – they’re not chanting the name of the Bahama Bomber, they’re chanting for the Barracuda, they are chanting JOHNNY! Right now that is EXACTLY what we need in this ring-” “JOHN-NY!” “-We need Johnny Dangerous, and by Zeus almighty we need him to BE dangerous!” “JOHN-NY!” “JOHN-NY!” SUDDENLY, in a last ditch effort, Johnny reaches from behind, grabbing Lazaire by his neck and flips him overhead to the mat with a lighting quick snapmare! “Wha… Did he hear me,” questions Comet, as Johnny slowly rises to his feet – his breaths are heavy, and he clenches down on his knuckles. Ace, on the other hand…pops back to his feet, sustaining no injury but the one to his ego! He rushes forward… WHACK!! “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” …and Johnny thrusts his open palm into Lazaire’s face, right between the eyes, with a violent Shotei Palmstrike as he cuts loose with a tremendous battle cry! “Yes,” cheers Comet. “THIS is exactly what I was talking about, Robert! That’s the intensity of the Barracuda finally surfacing, and it took a horrendous beating from Citizen Lazaire to float it to the top!” Ace staggers back, momentarily stunned from the blow and the crowd goes simply ballistic as Johnny rushes in and drills two more Shotei’s into Lazaire’s cranium, sending him reeling into the ropes! He hits the ropes and unintentionally bounces back, walking straight into Johnny as the Barracuda pivots on one foot… WHOOSH-CRACK!! Smashing Ace’s skull all to hell with a spinning heel kick that sends the challenger spinning in the opposite direction he came and dropping to his knees… And finally coming to a stop as his chest lands against the middle rope! Johnny races across the ring, hitting the far ropes and comes TEARING back off them, charging back towards Ace like a raging bull… KA-RAAAAAAACK!! …And shatters the Challengers spine as he slams a mighty Yakuza Kick into Lazaire’s back, eliciting a horrid cry of pain from Ace’s lips! “OH! MAH! GAWD!” cries Bobby. “Somebody call security – Johnny has gone stark-raving mad in that ring!” “The H-E-Double hockey sticks he has,” snaps Comet. “This is the Barracuda we are witnessing here in action now, and his bite is simply FEROCIOUS!” Ace grabs tightly to his now throbbing back, cringing as he slumps to the mat in sheer agony! Johnny swoops in and drops in for the cover and Hardcastle makes the count! ONEE!!! TWOOO!!!!!! THR-NOOOOOO!! The crowd lets out a collective groan as Lezaire gets the shoulder up just a hair before three! Johnny jumps to his feet and pulls the Challenger up then slams his knee into Ace’s midsection, doubling him over! He drops under Lazaire, pulling Ace over onto his shoulders with a fireman’s carry then stands up…and jumps up… SLAAAAM!! Impacting the Challenger’s back into the ring with a forward flip, garnering another howl of pain from Ace! “Spinal Explosion,” calls Comet. “Johnny is dusting off a move I haven’t seen in some time, obviously the Barracuda feels he needs every trick in the book to put Citizen Lazaire away!” “He better dig a little deeper,” Riley returns, “cause he’s not going to get anywhere trying to be flashy! Just wait until he mucks up again - Ace is going to flip the tables like Christ on moneychangers!” Johnny releases his arm from Ace’s neck, latching on instead to Lazaire’s leg and holds the Challenger in place for the pin! ONEE!!! TWOOO!!!!!! THR-NOOOOOO!! Again, Ace’s fight is not subdued and he gets the shoulder up, but this time Johnny pulls him to his feet…and pulls him into a front face lock! Finally, he grabs the Challenger’s near arm and drapes it across his shoulder before grabbing Lezaire’s tights and lifting him up in a vertical suplex! He stalls for a moment as the crowd begins to rise with enthusiasm… WHAM! …then Johnny falls backward, slamming Ace back-first into the canvas with a mighty thud! “And a beautiful vertical suplex by the Champion,” exclaims Comet. However, Johnny refuses to end it at that! Having kept Ace snagged into his face lock, Johnny kicks his leg out and whirls it to the side, using the momentum to roll himself over and get back on his feet…and towing the Challenger back to his feet along with him! “Here it comes,” shouts Comet, the roar of the crowd nearly drowning him out. “Johnny’s going for the rolling variation – this is the same thing he used against Alan Clark to win the title in the first place!” Johnny grabs a second helping of Lezaire’s tights, and again, lifts the Challenger up in a vertical suplex! This time, however, there’s no stall included and Johnny quickly thrusts backward… WHAM! … And ferociously slams Ace into the mat to a chorus of cheers! “Oh hell, not again,” cries Bobby, watching as once again Johnny kicks the leg up and whirls to the side. “This is totally uncalled for; Johnny’s not trying to win the match with this…he’s trying to embarrass Ace Lezaire!” Like before, Johnny rolls to his feet pulling Ace Lezaire along with him and lifts the Challenger up once more in a vertical suplex, only this time the Barracuda stalls… and stalls longer… flashbulbs popping in the distance… WHAAAM!! … Then finally arches back with everything he’s got, completely shattering Lezaire’s spine as he drills him back-first into the ring for the third time straight! “What an incredible series of vertical’s by Operative Dangerous,” marvels Comet. “This just goes to show how dangerous and calculating the Barracuda truly is when he utilizes his own skills! Every major offensive blow Johnny has dealt in the last few minutes has specifically targeted Citizen Lazaire’s back and If Ace can get back up after all that he’s going to need a cane to get through the rest of this match with.” “There’s no way in hell Johnny goes home with the title tonight,” fumes Riley, unable to counter anything Comet just said. “GET UP ACE, GET UP!” With the crowd happily counting along, Sexton drops in for the pin… ONEEE!!!! TWOOOOO!!!!!!!! THREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! “SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS,” roars Comet. “Citizen Lazaire kicked out! He kicked out! HOW?!” “That’s what you get for putting all your faith into Johnny Dangerous,” cackles Riley. However, as Ace staggers to his feet, there isn’t much of a resistance he can offer up to fend off the Barracuda as he sweeps in from behind, and takes the Challenger off his feet in a fireman’s carry- “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” “MI Slam coming up,” shouts Comet, glaring with excitement. “There’s absolutely no way Citizen Lazaire can crawl away from this one!” But as Johnny starts to pivot on his right leg to put his fallaway slam into motion, Ace shoves off the Barracuda’s back, and slips right through Johnny’s loose grip on him, landing directly behind Dangerous! “He won’t have to – Ace isn’t giving Johnny the opportunity to hit the MI Slam,” returns Riley, beaming from ear-to-ear as the Barracuda spins around to face his foe, and Lezaire hikes the tip of his foot into Johnny’s midsection, looking for a stunner… “NO! HE FOUND YET ANOTHER OPENING, THIS CAN’T BE TRUE!” NO! To a thunderous cheer, Johnny snatches Ace’s foot before it has the chance to connect, and uses the Challenger’s ankle to flip Lazaire over, landing face first into that mat! He drags Ace out to the center of the ring, and steps over his back, straddling the Challenger as he pulls Ace’s leg over his shoulder to a COLOSSAL-SIZED roar of cheers!! “THE BARRACUDA,” exclaims Comet, “This is it, Robert, I can feel it! Johnny has done far to great of damage to Citizen Lazaire’s back for him to hold out through this ruthless crab hold!” “He’ll think of something,” snaps Riley, dripping with hope. “…won’t he?” Pain shoots down Lezaire’s spine like an electric current, causing him to cry out in sheer agony! He reaches out with his hands, hoping to make it to the ropes, but Johnny simply digs his knee into Ace’s neck and jerks his legs back even harder! Alas, the pain is too great and the Challenger has no choice… TAP! TAP! TAP! DING! DING! DING! “He’s done it,” exclaims Comet, as the Vancouver crowd goes completely wild and “After the Flesh” makes its way out for a victory lap. “Johnny Dangerous has once again claimed victory, and in doing so has retained the Cruiserweight Championship. What a match, by Zeus… What a match!” “Son of a bitch,” curses Bobby. “How does Johnny always pull this off, how?!” “Like I said before, he’s living the legacy and so long as he fights like he did tonight on EVERY night this could go on forever!” “Oh no…” Sexton retrieves the Cruiserweight belt then heads back to Johnny, handing the belt back to the Barracuda before grabbing his arm and raising it in victory! “Ladies and gentlemen,” bellows Funyon, jumping to his feet, “the winner of this match by submission, and STIIIIIIL the SMARTMARK WRESTLING FEDERATION CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIOOOOOOON…of the WOOOOOOOORLD… JOOOOOOOHN-NY DAAANGEROUUUUS!!!!” Finally, after Hardcastle releases the Barracuda’s arm, Johnny staggers to the side of the ring, holding onto the ropes for a crutch – the exhaustion finally showing through. He grabs the title and…in between very heavy breaths, raises it out in front of him as hundreds of flashbulbs explode… As we: FADE OUT.

The time for commercials has ended, and the time for more Smarkdown has come. The fatal four-way has finished, and with a new number one contender to the SWF Hardcore Title, the next match is lined up and ready to go. Suddenly, the opening riff of N.E.R.D.’s “Lapdance” rips through the air inside the General Motors Palace. Multi-colored lights slash around the arena as a lone spotlight stands tall, shining down brightly just in front of the entrance. The vocals drop and Ryan Dustin makes his entrance to a healthy ovation from the crowd, “Lapdance” continuing as Dustin keeps his arms crossed at his chest with his red jacket flapping in the ghostly wind. Posing for a few more beats, Dustin then makes his way to the ring, slapping hands with various fans. “Ladies and gentlemen, this next match is scheduled for one fall!” Funyon booms over the vocal stylings of Pharell, “introducing first, hailing from Carson City, Nevada and weighing in at two hundred and twenty-eight pounds, he is THE REAL DEAL…RYAN DUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTIN!” “Welcome back to SWF Smarkdown,” Bobby Riley finally speaks following the announcement, “as we have jumped right into our next bout! And this is one of many matches I am looking forward to tonight, Comet.” “I’m sure you are,” Cyclone Comet assures, “as this match features none other than John Duran, former World Heavyweight Champion.” “Not only that, but I believe that Johnny has found that spark that he lost after losing the title. He’s a man on a mission again, Comet, and he’s determined to get back to the top, starting tonight!” “It has been a rapid fall from the heavens for Citizen Duran, but let’s talk about newcomer Ryan Dustin! Since joining the Federation, Dustin has been fighting hard in the ring and giving one hundred and ten percent to entertain these fans!” As Comet praises Dustin, “The Real Deal” steps up onto the apron and then to the outside of the nearest turnbuckle, climbing up the ropes as camera flashes catch a shot of Ryan, posing once again for the crowd and then nodding his head along with the beat. “It’s only been one match, Comet,” Riley shoots down Comet’s comments. “He hasn’t proven anything to me yet, especially with that atrocious name. ‘The Real Deal’? Give me a break.” Dustin finally climbs to the top turnbuckle, gracefully backflipping into the ring to a rousing cheer from the Vancouver fans, posing one last time before finally backing into the near corner. Ryan takes off his red ‘camo’ jacket, handing it to a ringside attendant as “Lapdance” fades under the buzz of the fans. NO~ NO~ NOTORIOUS~! The boos rapidly come to life, Spineshank’s “Synthetic” slamming out its hard riffs over the speakers as the fans are on their feet with their distaste for the former World Heavyweight Champion. John Duran makes his way through the curtain with a smug, yet determined look on his face. He stands at the entrance, looking out over the mostly Canadian fans and giving a snort of disapproval before shaking his head and making his way down the aisle, getting plenty of middle fingers from especially big fans of the Unnamed leader. “And his opponent, coming down the aisle,” Funyon begins again, “from Champaign, Illinois and weighing two hundred and sixty-eight pounds…he is the NOTORIOUS…JOHN…DURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!” “Duran may have fallen in the SWF rankings, but his popularity—or lack thereof—has remained very constant,” Comet speaks of the wicked hate that many SWF fans have for Duran as the Notorious One continues to brush middle fingers away from his face. “They’re going to like him even less when he gets that title off Nathaniel Kibagami’s waist!” “I doubt it’ll be so easy, Robert. Kibagami’s worked hard for that belt, and even with Danny Williams scheduled for a rematch tonight, Nathaniel’s going to be working hard to make sure that he does not lose the Heavyweight Title in the same manner that Duran and Williams lost it before him.” Duran steps up onto the apron and moves through the ropes, taking a glance over at his opponent. Dustin, meanwhile, sizes up his opponent by forming his fingers into a “picture frame,” getting a good hard look at the Notorious One. “These two men have very different styles,” Comet acknowledges. “Dustin is a very flashy, yet traditional wrestler, and Duran is no doubt looking for a quick victory over the much smaller ‘Real Deal.’ Certainly it would be an upset if Duran were to fall tonight, but this match might be more even than it appears, Robert!” “Blasphemy, Duran’s moving on up, and Dustin’s head is going to be used as the first step in a short staircase that will take him right back to that title he’s worked amazingly hard for!” Referee Anthony Michael Hall steps out of the corner, taking a look at both men to make sure that they are ready—and indeed, they are. With that, Hall turns to the timekeeper and calls for the bell. DING DING DING! “And we’re off and running with the second match tonight on SWF Lockdown!” After the bell rings, Duran and Dustin begin circling the ring, keeping their eyes on each other as Anthony Michael Hall also has his feet moving, trying to avoid getting between the two men. The circle gets tighter as each moment passes, and Duran finally comes forward, taking a chance by lifting up his right knee in an attempt to stun Dustin with an early strike. Ryan has the knee scouted well, however, dodging the strike and moving behind the Notorious One. The Real Deal then snaps his leg up, catching the former World Champion in the back of the same leg that just attempted to dig itself into the torso of Dustin, taking Duran to one knee. Having been chopped down to a more manageable size, Ryan makes the ‘picture frame’ with his fingers again, focusing and zooming in on the back of the Unnamed leader before he unleashes yet another kick. Ryan’s doc martins slam into the back of John as the Notorious One is noticeably hurt from the blow, bracing himself forward with an open-mouthed look of pain etched onto his face; the crowd is loving it, however, cheering on the newcomer. “Quick start from Ryan Dustin early in the match,” Comet points out, “as it seems he did a little studying on the mechanics of John Duran!” “None of the scouting will make up for the height and weight difference, Comet. Dustin’s a tiny kid compared to the man-sized Duran!” Dustin brings John to his feet, turning Duran around to face him and holding onto the big man’s head, keeping him down to someone his own size as Ryan comes around with a BIG European uppercut, stunning the Champaign native into the ring ropes. Dustin grabs the near arm of the former champion, sending him off the ropes with plenty of momentum. On the rebound, the leaping Real Deal meets him in the center of the ring, extending his legs out and smacking the Notorious One in the face with a crisp dropkick! Duran hits the mat swiftly, and Dustin scrambles on top of him, not bothering to hook the leg as Anthony Michael Hall drops to count ONE! Before Duran kicks out with authority, breaking the pinfall. “Look at Duran,” Riley points into the ring, “that man lifted Ryan Dustin off his shoulders like the Real Deal was a twig! How can you say that this little punk is going to beat John Duran in the middle of that ring?” “Well, Robert, the fact of the matter is that Ryan Dustin is quicker than a hiccup, and he’ll use that speed to run circles around Duran and eventually shut him down completely, most likely with that StarDustin’ Press.” “You keep telling yourself that, I’ll be over here supporting the WINNERS, Comet.” Duran rises quickly to his feet, the adrenaline beginning to pulse through him as he goes after Dustin, but Ryan’s still got the quickness as he hooks one of John’s arms, hitting the ground and sending the Notorious One flying over with the armdrag! The crowd cheers The Real Deal on as Duran once again gets to his feet, coming after Dustin to the same result, another armdrag bringing the much larger Duran down in a hurry. John seems ready to get up for one more go, but he’s been knocked silly from those first two armdrags and doesn’t want to risk another one, backing up into the ropes and catching his breath as the crowd continues to show their approval for Ryan Dustin. Ryan stays on top of the former World Champion, approaching Duran has he’s leaning up against the ropes… …but Dustin gets too close as John suckers him in, bringing his right knee suddenly to the solar plexus of Ryan and doubling him over quickly, the cheers of the fans now quickly turning into contempt for the leader of the Unnamed. “There we go!” Riley finally bursts, “John Duran seems to have control of this match, finally! It’s all downhill for Ryan Dustin from here!” Dustin gets to a vertical base, attempting to hit Duran with a right hand, but the Notorious One blocks it with his stocky left arm, coming around with a right hand of his own as Ryan is staggered from the blow. Dustin gets back to his feet and looks to be going after the big man again, but Duran comes forward again, driving his knee into Ryan’s abdomen as the Real Deal is flipped over onto his back from the force of the blow! “Citizen Duran certainly looks determined in the ring, Robert,” Comet admits. “That proclamation during his drunken stupor on SWF Week In Review is no fluke! Duran is focused on that big prize again, and he wants the belt around his waist, not Nathaniel Kibagami’s!” After taking Dustin for a ride on his knee, Duran turns to face his downed opponent, hitting both knees and wrapping his hands tightly around the windpipe of the Real Deal, blatantly choking him as referee Hall does his best to step in, ordering the Notorious One to break the hold. When Duran disobeys, Hall begins the five count of ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! And John finally breaks the suffocation before the count of five can be reached and Duran risks disqualification. “Duran needs to be careful, Robert,” Comet warns from his announcing position, “this is certainly not a high-profile match and Anthony Michael Hall will not hesitate to call for the disqualification!” “Johnny’s only playing it smart, Comet,” Riley speaks with confidence. “He knows that he has Ryan Dustin in the palm of his hand right now, and he’s just milking that advantage.” The Vancouver fans are quite unhappy with Duran and throw their middle fingers in the air when Duran comes up from the mat with a cocky, self-assured grin on his face. While he gloats to the crowd with a simple facial expression, Dustin attempts to get up on his feet, holding his neck as he tries to get some oxygen back in his body. However, Ryan’s dilemma continues as Duran reaches down, bringing Ryan back to a vertical base, finally. The Real Deal is still dazed from the choking and the various blows he has taken, though, and struggles to keep his footing. The Notorious One shows no mercy, grabbing Ryan’s arm and whipping him viciously into the ropes. Duran doesn’t make a move until Dustin rebounds off the ropes and comes hurdling back to the center of the ring. John then bends down, grasping Ryan and lifting him up over his head with ease, the smaller frame of Dustin no problem for the former World Champion. “Like a toothpick!” Riley screams out another comparison of Dustin’s weight disadvantage. “Duran certainly has the strength, Robert, he is looking promising thus far in what is supposed to be his ‘comeback’ match.” John continues to hold Ryan over his head for an extended period, making sure to show off his strength for all in Vancouver to see…and then releases his grip on Dustin, dropping him behind him and simply taking the weight off his arms. The Real Deal smacks off the mat and catches some rebound from the hard canvas, remaining on his stomach as his contorted face ties into a painful knot from the force of the Gorilla Press. Dustin’s injured body does not remain covered for long, however, as the Notorious One turns him over onto his back and quickly puts on a lateral press, hooking the leg. Anthony Michael Hall drops to the mat, counting ONE! TW- Before Dustin is able to shoot a shoulder up under the intense weight of the Unnamed leader. “There’s plenty of fight in Ryan Dustin, Robert. I’ve seen this man go toe-to-toe with some heavy hitters in his training, and he WILL hold his own!” “Duran hits harder than those scrubs, Comet! He’ll knock his block off before Ryan even has a chance to kiss his cranium goodbye!” The Notorious One does seem flustered from the spunkiness of the SWF newcomer, but continues his offensive maneuvers, grabbing the back of the Nevadian’s (!) head and methodically bringing him back to his feet. Setting up for yet another knee strike, John brings his left knee forward, aiming the cap right at the breadbasket of the Real Deal, but Dustin blocks the knee, pushing Duran away from him and surprising the former World Champion with a LIGHTNING-QUICK shotei to Duran’s ribs. John is staggered from the quick, sudden blow, moving backwards a few steps. The crowd cheers Dustin along, urging him to continue hypothetically chopping away at the hated wrestler, but Ryan takes some time to showboat first, a highlight reel first and a focused wrestler second. Unfortunately for the Real Deal, his focus might be a little blurred after Duran charges forward, bringing up his right arm and annihilating Dustin with a vicious diving clothesline out of desperation. “Wow! Ryan Dustin is incredibly lucky to still have his neck screwed on after such a WICKED clothesline!” Riley boasts of the extreme strength exerted by the Unnamed member. “Robert, the only thing that’s wrong with Ryan’s head right now is the big ego running through it…” “…and the pain of being rocked by a John Duran clothesline.” “Well, sure.” Ryan appears as if a ton of bricks had just struck him, finding himself on the canvas once again with Duran towering over him ominously. John once again bends over to bring Dustin back to his feet for some more thrashing…but this time Ryan fools the former World Champion, capturing his head and wrapping him up in a small package, rolling over in it and pinning Duran’s shoulders down to an explosion of cheers from the fans! Anthony Michael Hall once again hits the mat for ONE! TWO! Before Duran gets over the shock of being on the business end of a flash pinfall attempt, kicking out with ease before the count of three. “There’s that speed again,” Comet continues to beat into Riley’s head, “that could have been an easy three count later in the match, hell, Danny Williams has done it to Duran in the past!” “He won’t be fooled twice by the same trick; I can assure you that much, Comet.” Duran scrambles to his feet, but Dustin has already done so, getting brave and going after the bigger man now, clubbing the Notorious One in the back with as much force as he can muster, stunning the Unnamed leader as Ryan backs him up into the ropes, swiftly whipping the man across the ring. Dustin shuffles to the center of the ring as Duran rebounds off the ropes, and Ryan brings his leg up, aiming it right for the gullet of John and connecting with the Done Deal that gets the crowd on their feet with cheers! After pumping the crowd up with some more showboating, Dustin falls to the mat, landing on top of Duran and hooking the leg this time as the referee falls to the mat with Dustin, slamming his hand on the mat for ONE! TWO! As Duran once again kicks out, lifting Dustin’s body from him as John attempts to get back to his feet. Hitting the Done Deal, Ryan Dustin decides against going for the pinfall again but instead heads towards the nearest turnbuckles, looking back at the downed Notorious One as the Real Deal begins his ascent to the top. “Citizen Dustin’s is ready to fly,” Comet proclaims. “Come on, Duran, get on your feet and knock this monkey off his stoop!” Duran doesn’t seem to be showing any sign of movement after the devastating Done Deal, however, and John remains prone on the ground as Dustin keeps his back to Duran, apparently setting up for the big finish—the StarDustin’ Press. “This is it, Robert, we could be seeing the end of the match right here if that electrifying StarDustin’ Press hits its mark!” “Come on,” Riley seethes, “don’t let this jobber take you down, Notorious!” With Dustin perched perfectly on the turnbuckle, he appears to be ready to fly…until Duran snaps to his feet and charges Dustin, clubbing him in the back with a double axe-handle as Ryan falls, straddling the turnbuckle HARD. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The moans of sympathy float through the arena at the Real Deal having some man problems south of the border, but the moans turn into rousing boos, the crowd returning to their hatred of the former World Champion as Duran gives the crowd another cocky smile and then turns his body perpendicular to the vulnerable Dustin. “A smart move from Duran playing opossum,” Comet admits, “but what does he have up his sleeve now?” “I think I’ve got a good idea of what’s coming next, Comet! And you’re going to love it!” Duran easily wraps his arm around the head of Ryan, bending him backwards into an inverted fireman’s carry over the Notorious One’s shoulders, which can only mean one thing for the Real Deal. Time for the Blunt Force Trauma. Dustin has long since recovered from his “nether region” blow, and is struggling against the strength of Duran to release himself from this compromising position. But it’s far too late, and Duran steps to the middle of the ring so all can see what seems to be the eventual demise of Ryan Dustin. “It’s over, baby!” Riley predicts with gusto. Dustin continues to fight inside the inverted fireman’s carry as the crowd’s boos are reaching the point of potential deafness once again, but Duran finally has done enough toying, pushing Ryan’s legs off his shoulders and swinging the Real Deal around, before finally dropping to the mat… BOOM! The impact of Dustin’s head against Duran’s shoulder is amplified by the fact that Duran sits out in the Blunt Force Trauma, putting extra pressure on Ryan’s neck, as he seems to be as limp as Fred Durst around the ladies. Duran pushes Ryan’s body off his shoulders, Dustin hitting his back as Duran lays on top of Dustin, hooking the leg once again as the crowd voices their dislike for Duran. Anthony Michael Hall slides down to the mat, watching the shoulders of Ryan Dustin as he counts ONE! TWO! THREEEEEEEEEEEE! Hall leaps to his feet and calls for the bell as the boos only get louder over the hard rock of Spineshank’s “Synthetic” blaring over the speakers again. DING DING DING! “Here is your winner, the Notorious…JOHN DURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!” “Well, I have to give it to Citizen Duran here, Robert, I thought it would be close, and it was, but in the end Duran pulled it out with that raw strength of his that cannot be denied.” “I told you all along, Comet! You just have to have faith like I do, it’ll never steer you wrong.” “I was surprised at how clean this match was as well! Not a whole lot of cheating on the part of John Duran. Is this a new side of the Notorious One we’re seeing, perhaps?” “They don’t call him the Notorious John Duran just so he can turn around and be a nice little boy scout, Comet. Perhaps he’s taking a break from some of the more familiar mischief, but when the heat is on, he’ll return back to his old form.” “And when WE return from our commercial breaks,” Comet seamlessly transitions into the hype for the rest of the show, “Johnny Dangerous will defend his SWF Cruiserweight Title against another newcomer in Ace Lezaire! And that’s up next, so stay tuned to Lockdown for more SWF action!” The scene of Dustin still laying on the canvas after the Blunt Force Trauma and Duran retreating up the aisle to the back takes us to yet another commercial break. Fade to black.

SWF Smarkdown returns from it's brief commercial break, and to the backstage area where a distinctly un-busy and solitary looking Benjamin Hardy is sat on an anvil case, watching the world go by whilst drinking a can of Pepsi Max. Yes. Pepsi Max. Available wherever drinks are sold. All seems to be peaceful around where he is. But of course, that can't last. And sure enough, just as Hardy begins to take another sip out of his can of refreshing, reasonably priced, energy building Pepsi Max...a hand slaps him on the back, causing him to choke on the drink. "Hey, kid..." the voice of the sweating Landon Maddix, fresh off of his match, gasps down towards Hardy, who tries to finish coughing as quickly as possible. "Busy?" "Rushed off my feet." Hardy sputters back. "I need a favour. You know where Alan Clark's locker room is?" "Err...yeah..." Hardy points off down the hallway and prepares to give Maddix some directions, but doesn't get very far. "That's great. Listen...when you've got a moment, do me a favour and run along over there to give Clark an interview." "Err...well...he's not on...on my schedule." "And sitting here drinking soft drinks is? Listen...all I want you to do is get me an answer to my question." ".....which is?" Maddix sighs, taking the towel from Megan Skye and wiping the sweat from his brow before glaring down at Hardy...who quickly stands up. "Which is? Does no-one listen to me in this friggin' company. I've been challenging Honky Tonk Clark to a match since after Battleground now, and he's ignored me. I've challenged him...what...three, four seperate times. But he's avoiding giving me an answer. And to be honest, I'm getting pretty impatient. So what I want you to do is walk your scrawny ass over to his locker room, and tell him the USJL Triple Crown Champion wants to know when he's going to grow some balls and accept my challenge. Ok?" Sheepishly nodding, Hardy begins to walk off but is halted by Maddix placing his hand on his shoulder. Cautiously he turns around...as Maddix grabs the can of Pepsi Max and guzzles down what Hardy hasn't already consumed, before placing the empty can back in the intrepid reporter's hand and using it to crush the can. "Thanks buddy. Really hits the spot. Come on Megs..." And with that, Maddix and Megan stroll off, leaving Hardy looking at the empty, crushed can in his hands and shaking his head in disappointment.

The opening video has played, the pyro has hit...and it's time to kick Smarkdown off, so it's down to the social misfit announce team of Bobby Riley and Cyclone Comet to do the honors... "Welcome to Smarkdown...and already, it's time to put the women and children to bed! A fourway hardcore match kicks us off, with the winner in-line for a shot at Mike Van Siclen's Hardcore Title. Three very hardcore men, synonymous with sick, masochistic brawls...and, Landon Maddix, who's curiously been put into this match despite having a VERY limited experience of these sorts of matches." "There's nothing curious about it." snaps Riley, clearly none too happy tonight. "Poor Landon has been placed in this match because Zenon doesn't like him. You've got the psychotic Aecas, the masochistic Insane Luchador and the blatantly uncaring Crowe. And then there's poor Landon..." "...who by the end of the night, may no longer be USJL Triple Crown champion...one way, or the other." "Huh?" "If he gets severely injured tonight, how will he be able to defend the title?" ".....Oh...you're right. This is horrible!" Suddenly the lights cut to complete darkness, to little reaction from the fans who aren't sure who's on their way. After all, who's entrance DOESN'T involve the lights going out nowadays? It's not until "Imperium" by Machine Head hits that the crowd begin to cheer wildly amongst the increasingly high-tempo guitar... “HHEEEAAAARRRR ME NNNNOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!” "RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The arena is now bathed briefly in a brooding red light...which goes almost as quickly as it arrives, leaving a spotlight in the middle of the stage...fixed upon Crow, who receives many more cheers from his loyal fans. “Hear me now! Words I vow! No fucking regrets!” Dropping his outstretched arms, Crow turns with a cigarette in his mouth before pulling out his Zippo and slashes it back and forward across his pants. ”Fuck these chains! No god damn slave! I will be different!” Lighting the cigarette, Crow flicks the Zippo behind him... "FWWWOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!" ...to an eruption of fire, drawing more cheers from the fans as he begins to walk down the aisle. "I'll stand here defiantly! My middle finger raised! Fuck your prejudice!" "This four-way contest is scheduled for one fall, and is for the number one contendership to the SWF Hardcore Championship!!! Introducing at this time...combatant number one. Hailing from Anchorage, Alaska...he weighs two hundred and thirty pounds...THE ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR...THIS...IS...CRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!" "No sign of Jessica here tonight..." points out Cyclone solemnly. "...which is little surprise, considering what that sick freak Janus...her OWN BROTHER...did to her." Crow by now has reached the ring, climbing up the steps and entering the ring as his music has already ceased ready for the next man to come out. Of course Crow isn't bothered though, simply walking over to one corner of the ring and taking a seat, still enjoying the nicotine goodness emanating from his cigarette... ...while the lights go out again, as this time "Schism" by Tool begins to play while blue and red lights start to shoot around the arena, followed closely by a shower of black and red pyro falling from the SmarkTron. "I know the pieces fit Because I watch them fall away" A few moments past, before from out of the pyro walks The Insane Luchador, smirking as he begins to walk down the aisle...but that smirk disappears and is replaced by a frighteningly sadistic look as he sees the camera pointed on him. The showering of pyro ends moments later, as IL continues his walk. "Combatant number two. From Easton, Pennsylvania...he weighs two hundred one pounds...HE IS...THE INSAAAAANEEE LUUUUUCHHHAAADOOOORRRRRR!!!" IL reaches the ring, sliding in as suddenly Crow pops up from the corner, flicking his cigarette out to the floor where one of the ring crew quickly puts it out for safety...as IL sees Crow, and turns towards him. The two sick human beings are now standing face to face, glaring at each other like two...well...sick human beings, who both smell blood. The unfortunate referees assigned to the match...Eddy Long and Sexton Hardcastle...stand idly by, not prepared to even attempt to separate the two... "PREPARE...FOR...LANDON!" ...WAAAAAHHHHH... *DUM DUM* ...as suddenly, a rather abrupt beginning to Incubus' "Megalomaniac" brings Landon Maddix out from the back, and turns the fans attention to their usual reactions. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" With his three belts all in the arms of Megan Skye who walks slowly behind her man, Landon looks ready for action...except of course for the look of immense worry on his face. But despite that, Maddix gallantly strides down the aisle, getting absolutely no reaction from either Crow or IL who are still staring each other down. "Combatant number three hails from Huron, South Dakota. Weighing two hundred and ten pounds...he is the reigning USJL TRIPLE CROWN CHAMPION...LAAAAANDOOON..."LA CUCARACHA"...MAAAAAADDIIIIIXXX!!!" More boos hit America's Triple Crowner, but he is too busy keeping a nervous eye on the two members of his opposition in the ring incase they were to dive out and attack him to care. He should be more worried however that only two men stand in the ring...as suddenly, the lights drop again to an eruption of noise from the crowd! *DOOOOOOOOONNNGGG!!!* "Are you scared?" "Get ready for some sickness!" Comet quickly cuts in. "HE'S HERE......" Amon Amarth's "Death in Fire" blasts out from the arena speakers as a lighting flash highlights Aecas on the Smarktron, his trademark sadistic grin on his face. And as the red strobes start up and the smoke billows out onto the stage, the real Aecas is picked out in a blood red spotlight, holding his trusty Flick Scythe in his hand. While this is going on, Landon and Megan are quickly moving their way around the ring to relative safety...while they still have the legs to do so. "And the final combatant. From Shrewsbury England...he weighs three...hundred...and fifteen pounds. This is the BLACK ANGEL...AAAAAAAAAEEEEEECAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSS!!!!" Another booming reception of cheers fills the air, as Aecas raises the staff high above his head and snaps out a blade from it...before tipping back his head... *PHHHHFFF!* "YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" ...and spraying a mist of blood into the air, getting more roars and cheers from the crowd as he begins to stride down the aisle. "Let the masochism begin!" beams Cyclone Comet, in a rare show of approval for brutality. "Wait, not yet...we need to get Landon out of here first." "Well, I won't dignify that with a response...but on the subject, I am wondering why Landon's allowing Megan Skye to stay out here." "Somebody needs to hold Landon's belt collection." "Ah...I see...WOAH, AND IT'S BEGUN IN THE RING!!!" And sure enough it has, with Crow and IL both lunging forwards with right hands as soon as light begins to return to the arena. *DING DING DING!* The bell rings, as Crow and IL continue to duke it out...soon to be joined by Aecas who has dropped his staff to the floor on his way to the ring, and is just now rolling in. But, as soon as he does, IL and Crow pull away from each other and jump the seven footer before he can reach a standing position, hammering him with forearms and punches on the deck. "Crow and Luchador working together!" exclaims Comet. "This I did not expect!" "It won't last." sneers Riley. "But neither guy is stupid. They know Aecas is the big threat in this match...as far as hardcore goes, that is. 'Cause without that, he couldn't hold a candle to Landon." The crowd are a little surprised that this fragile union that has arisen, and greet it with stunned silence as the strikes continue to rain down on The Black Angel. Landon stands with Megan to the side of the announce table, watching all this with interest but not wanting any actual part of it...as IL and Crow allow Aecas to reach his feet, before continuing the strikes on the still stunned bigman. After a couple of kicks, IL turns and pushes Crow back to give himself some more room...but Crow quickly grabs IL, pulling him back and taking over on Aecas for a while. That doesn't sit well with IL, who spins Crow around and starts to yell at him to keep his hands to himself. Suddenly, Aecas moves out from the ropes, which pulls Crow and IL away from their argument, and back to double-teaming him with stiff strikes for a few moments before grabbing the bigman with an arm each to whip him across the ring. As Aecas hits the ropes, Crow tries to lock hands with IL, who pig-headedly pulls away... ...allowing Aecas to nail a Double Decapitator!!! "YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Quickly IL rolls away from Aecas until he reaches the safety of the floor, but Crow is not so lucky as The Black Angel grabs him by the pants and drags him to his feet. Crow swings with a back elbow, which connects but does little damage to Aecas, who retaliates with a knee to the kidneys. That stops Crow in his tracks, and allows Aecas to run off the ropes... "YAAAKUUUZZZAAA KICK!!!" yells Comet... ...despite Crow ducking it! Aecas sprawls forwards, as Crow charges in after Aecas and hooks him in a bulldog headlock. However Aecas senses what's coming, and before The Antichrist Superstar can drop him to the mat Aecas pushes him off, up and over the top rope! It's now that Aecas finally catches sight of Maddix, and dares him to come into the ring...an invitation which Landon respectively declines. Meanwhile, IL is rolling back into the ring behind Aecas and preparing to strike...but Aecas senses him coming, and quickly wipes him out with a BIG-TIME forearm before Luchador has chance to attack! "Aecas is beginning to take over, which is what you would expect..." "Yeah, but don't count out Landon!" beams Riley, still ecstatic his pick hasn't got involved yet. Once again Aecas turns to Maddix, telling him to bring it or he'll bring it himself. Landon shows no signs of moving, as Aecas shrugs his shoulders, and begins to leave the ring to go get him... *CRAAACK!* ...BUT GETS NAILED WITH A CHAIRSHOT BY CROW!!! Aecas collapses back through the ropes, as Landon and Megan applaud mockingly at Crow's actions. That is until Crow glares over at the happy couple, and smugly flips them off to a generous helping of cheers from the crowd! "That's TOTALLY uncalled for!" whines Riley. "Oh...I don't know about that." Comet replies with a smile. Landon looks shocked, but obviously not shocked enough to go after Crow, who rolls into the ring with the chair still in his hands. Aecas is up to his feet, but unable to stop Crow slamming a boot into his ribs before adjusting hold of the chair... *CRRRAAAAACK!* ...and slamming it over Aecas' head!!! The bigman's body jolts and he drops to one knee, but not down to the mat which seems to annoy Crow a little...raising the chair in the air again, and yelling at The Black Angel to get back up. Slowly the bigman does so, but unluckily for Crow he has the presence of mind to reach out and grab him by the throat! From the shock Crow drops the chair and starts to try and struggle from Aecas' grip, which is no easy task...at least not without the help of The Insane Luchador, who runs over...but gets grabbed by the throat by Aecas' free arm! Aecas now has both men goozled, and with no Landon to help them out they seem easy pickings. "Aecas may very well simply choke these two guys out here!" exclaims Comet. "It's perfectly legal after all." "I've heard stories about him and that sort of thing...which wasn't really legal...but that's for another day and time." "Obviously..." However, with both men caught, Aecas seems at a loss as to what to do. In the end, Crow and IL make the decision for him with a double boot to the groin...before simultaneously spinning underneath the arm that's holding them. Both Aecas' arms are now locked behind him, one hooked by each man, as both Crow and IL reach for Aecas' legs...and standing up as tall as possible, to take the bigman up in something resembling a double Gory Guerrero Special!!! "Wow! Look at this move!" Comet once more exclaims. "These 'masochists' can wrestle too." "They can while La...woah, hold up Comet...stand up." "Stand up? Wha..." Obviously bored of standing around, Landon Maddix has now taken a detour and has decided to join the commentary team...much to Riley's glee, as he stands up and helps Maddix with his head-set. "Landon...Landon, it's a pleasure!" Riley stammers in needless awe." "The pleasure's all mine Bobby." Landon replies. "I thought you might need some intelligent conversation over here, so..." "You don't know just how much..." "Well, Landon...er...you kind of have a match right now." interrupts Comet. "I know that Cyclops. But me and Megan had a busy weekend, so I'm just catching up on some scouting..." Unable to hold the three hundred pounder any longer, Crow and IL flip Aecas off the double Guerrero special...and while Luchador holds his arms in the air triumphantly, Crow is now leaving the ring and throwing the apron skirt up to reveal the goodies under the ring. And to perhaps little surprise, Crow re-emerges with a Singapore cane in hand and a sadistic grin on his face as he rolls back into the ring. Quickly Luchador tries to get on Crow's good side by pulling Aecas up, and holding him up for Crow to take a free-swing. Gladly he does so... *THWAAACK!* ...connecting to the ribs of the bigman... *THWAAACK!* ...a second time... *THWAAACK!* ...and finally a third cane shot! Aecas is doubled over, but still not down despite the cane shots and a stiff kick from Luchador moments later...so Crow takes another step back and swings for the head... ...but Aecas ducks, and Crow ALMOST hits IL who manages to duck just in time. Aecas quickly turns as Crow and IL regroup, and charges towards Crow looking for a Yakuza Kick. Crow immediately hits the deck... *SMACK!* ...but Luchador is not so lucky! "Yakuza Kick connects to Luchador! This bigman is unstoppable!" "We'll see Cyclops, we'll see." "It's...it's Cyclone." "Whatever." With Luchador down, Aecas regains his feet and turns around towards Crow who is backing off the ropes and charging with the cane wielded once more. Instinctively Aecas raises a boot for Crow to run into, but The Antichrist Superstar baseball slides underneath that, and quickly trades his cane for the nearby steel chair. And with that he promptly swings at Aecas...but the bigman again ducks, sliding behind Crow and locking on a waistlock, before popping the hips and sending Crow crashing through the air with a release german suplex! As Crow crashes to the mat, Aecas hears commotion and turns around... *THWAAACK!* ...getting the Singapore cane LASHED over his head by The Insane Luchador!!! "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!" Aecas staggers and drops to one knee from the stinging shot, as Luchador quickly drops the cane for some reason, and connects with a basement dropkick to the jaw of the bigman. Finally Aecas is down, and Luchador looks to take advantage as he grabs the steel chair and sets it up in the centre of the ring before running off the ropes. As he does so, Aecas gallantly drags himself to his feet...just in time for Luchador to launch himself off the chair...who gets caught in mid-air, and planted with an inverted atomic drop from a good five feet off the mat. That jolts IL, who quickly has his teeth adjusted with a forearm smash by The Black Angel. But surprisingly, IL is up moments later... ...AND LAUGHING!?! "What the...THE CRAZY S.O.B IS...LAUGHING!?!" wails Riley fearfully. "Why do they keep putting me against these freaks!?!" Landon ponders. Aecas seems a little surprised at IL's reaction...but is soon laughing himself! And both the crazy psychos are laughing together now! The joint guffawing continues, until Aecas abruptly stops...and charges at Luchador, who deftly side-steps him. Coming back off the ropes, Aecas looks to charge straight into his smaller opponent but Luchador is one step ahead, hooking Aecas on the way back with a drop toe hold... *CRAAACK!* ...sending him head-first into the chair, which promptly collapses and folds The Black Angel's cranium amongst the steel for good measure! "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!" Not wasting any time, IL snaps back up and climbs out to the apron while encouraging Aecas to get up. Slowly the seven footer does, and IL immediately springboards to the top rope and looks for a springboard hurricanrana...but gets caught...and POWERBOMBED with hellacious velocity to the mat! "Oooohhhh!" groans Maddix. "I've felt those mothas, and they hurt like hell." "Mothas?" asks Comet, not expecting or getting an answer. Aecas hangs on to the helpless Luchador and hoists him back off the mat...holding him up for long enough for Luchador to think about it...before DRILLING him with a second powerbomb! But he's not done there, picking IL up for a third brutal powerbomb. However, Crow is back up and shoves Luchador over Aecas' head...sending him tumbling over the top and to the concrete floor!!! "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!" Luchador smacks the concrete hard, and looks to be motionless...as back in the ring, Crow is now off-loading with a series of right hands to Aecas. The Black Angel finds himself rocked back against the ropes where the rights continue relentlessly, until Crow grabs hold of the arm and tries to whip Aecas across the ring. Aecas manages to reverse though, and pull Crow into a choke...raising him into the air and nailing a Chokebreaker which almost snaps Crow in half! "As I said earlier, these three self-professed masochists are showing that they can wrestle too." re-iterates Cyclone. "Phff! Since when did wrestling involves sticks and chairs?" Landon sneers. "Usually when you're looking to cheat." "Come on Cyclops...ease off the hostility. Just wait until I get in there. Then you'll see some wrestling!" "Oh, so you are planning on getting in the ring tonight then." "Would you leave him alone!" snaps Riley. "He's the USJL Triple Crown Champion!" "So?" Crow is down in the middle of the ring, Luchador is laid out on the outside and Landon is busy on commentary. So now, Aecas is free to leave the ring and search for some 'toys' underneath the ring. Lifting up the apron skirt, Aecas takes a glance under...and grins sadistically, as he reaches under and retrieves... ...A BUNDLE OF LIGHT-TUBES!!! "YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" "See, this is what I was afraid of." mumbles Maddix in worry. "Me too." Riley sheeply agrees. Bundling in the five tied up tubes, Aecas turns to the crowd and grins...met with another round of cheers from the crazy Canuck crowd. Now Aecas is grinning like a Cheshire cat as he rolls back into the ring, taking his time about going after Crow, who is slowly getting back to his feet. Almost instinctively The Antichrist Superstar swings with a weak right hand, which Aecas sees coming and blocks before stepping behind Crow with hold of, and locking in a Cobra Clutch! It looks to be the beginning of the end...but before Aecas can fall back and go for the Burning Angel, Crow thrusts his boot upwards... *CHING!* ...and in between Aecas' legs. Where the leg stops isn't hard to guess, as The Black Angel releases the Cobra Clutch to tend to his 'private area', giving Crow time to shake off the cobwebs and thrash forward with a not-girlish-in-the-slightest Claw Swipe. Aecas manages to get a hand up to cover his eyes...but only ends up having chunks of flesh slashed off the back of his hand. Crow slashes again, taking more of Aecas' flesh and drawing more blood from the hand. "What the heck is this!?!" sneers Landon. "He's scratching him. When did this become a catfight?" Aecas grits his teeth through the pain, and throws a forearm forward which stops Crow for a moment. But he's able to recover pretty quickly, swinging out and connecting with a Das Wunder Kick that has enough force to send Aecas back into the ropes. And before Aecas can even recover, Crow fires forward... *SMACK!*[/i "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ...and hits a knifedge chop, only serving to piss the bigman off. The dropkick that Crow throws moments later does more than that though, staggering Aecas and sending him crashing through the ropes and to the floor. Hitting the concrete, Aecas rolls through and starts to pull himself almost immediately, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. "What an onslaught from Crow!" gasps Comet. "He's got the bigman reeling!" "Is that supposed to impress us?" Riley snaps back. "I'm sitting with the USJL Triple Crown Champion!" "I know, I know." In this time, Crow quickly starts to grab at the string tying the light tubes together until it breaks and frees them. Quickly he grabs one and steps out to the apron...clutching the tube to his chest with one hand as he uses the other to help him leap to the middle rope, and asai moonsault towards Aecas... ...Aecas moves, but Crow somehow lands on his feet... *SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!!* ...AND SMASHES THE LIGHT-TUBE OVER AECAS' HEAD!!! "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!" "The bigman is down!" gasps Comet. "And not only that...his face has got to be covered in glass shards!" "Well...that's one down." Landon smugly says, clearly un-caring. Aecas is now laid out on the floor, clutching at his face which has been slashed and quite possibly bloodied. Crow meanwhile seems to have twisted his knee from the moonsault landing... ...and suddenly, the sound of Landon dropping his head-set and getting up from the announce position can be heard. Boos fill the crowd as they notice too that Landon is leaving his hiding place, and FINALLY...*shock horror*...entering the ring! "Well, it's took him nearly ten minutes...but Landon Maddix is finally in the ring." "Yeah, let the WRESTLING begin!" beams Riley. Obviously, with no-one else in the ring, Landon looks pretty smug as he stands tall in the centre of the squared circle. But he's not alone for long, as The Insane Luchador has recovered from his tumble to the floor, and is rolling into the ring. Maddix meets him with stomps though, gaining the advantage on his much less fresh opponent as he lays in the boots. Eventually backing off, Landon lets IL up before leaping into the air, and catching him on the BUTT of the jaw with a Dropsault...before making the quick cover... ONE! TWO! THR...NO!!! Angrily Landon glares at Eddy Long...and flips off Sexton Hardcastle, just for the hell of it. IL meanwhile tries to pull himself to his feet, still hurting from his earlier fall...and unable to block a boot to the gut from Maddix. Quickly the USJL Triple Crown Champion grabs Luchador and irish whips him towards the corner, only to have Luchador reverse and send HIM into the buckles...and HARD! IL follows in moments later, leaping onto Maddix and looking for the monkey flip...but Maddix walks out of the corner, hooking his arms under IL's armpits and hoisting him off the monkey flip and into a Skye High... ONE! TWO! THR... ...NOILGETSTHESHOULDERUP!!! Again Maddix is angry at the referee...well, referees...as he gets back up. However, that anger distracts him from the fact that Crow is rolling back into the ring, and taking hold of one of the light-tubes behind Maddix. "CROW! CROW! CROW!" Slowly La Cucaracha looks around the crowd, wondering why they're chanting... ...and turns around, finally realizing what the commotion is about. Shock overcomes Landon and he drops to his knees to beg off, as Crow grins and kicks another one of the light-tubes past Maddix. Maddix meanwhile realizes the trouble he's in, and goes to turn and run...but that other light-tube is now in the hands of The Insane Luchador! "NO!" wails Riley. "This isn't FAIR!" "Landon Maddix is stuck between a rock and an extremely sharp-place!!!" "SMASH HIS FACE! SMASH HIS FACE! SMASH HIS FACE!" The crowd fail to make their feelings secret, as Maddix begs IL not to go for the face as the fans are telling him to. IL isn't going to listen though, and swings back with the tube... ...but Maddix rolls out of the way... ...leaving Crow and IL face to face, toe to toe...tube to tube!!! "Oh my!" yells Comet over the buzzing crowd. "Would you look at this face-off!!!" Both IL and Crow have now stopped, daring the other to make the first move. Meanwhile, the crowd's buzzing has increased, as Aecas rolls back into the ring...bleeding from the forehead, but clearly not worried as he charges across the ring. IL turns after hearing the stomps... *SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!!* ...AND GETS GOOOOOOORRRRRREEEEED, WITH THE LIGHT-TUBE SMASHING INTO HIS GUT WITH AECAS!!! IL goes flying out of the ring from the impact... *SMMMAAASSSSSHHH!!!* ...AS CROW BREAKS HIS LIGHT-TUBE OVER AECAS' BACK!!! "The glass is flying now!" gasps Riley. "And thank Todd, it's flying away from Maddix!" Now Aecas rolls from the ring too, as Crow looks at his hand which seems to have been sliced open by the breaking glass...but it doesn't bother him. In-fact, it's the opposite. Crow is SMILING at his cut hand... *CHING!* ...but he's not smiling for long, as Maddix lunges forward and hits a lowblow!!! "YES!" screams Riley. "Beautiful!!! And perfectly legal...so keep your mouth shut Comet!" Crow doubles over...hardcore or not, even he is hurt by a lowblow. Maddix meanwhile is back up, and STILL unscathed, grabbing the steel chair still laying on the mat and moving past Crow to the corner. Hopping to the middle rope, Maddix grins out to the jeering crowd before placing the chair in front of Crow's face, while hooking his head up. "Oh no...surely not..." "Oh yes! Oh yes Comet!" With Crow hooked, Maddix grins once more before propelling off the ropes, and spinning Crow around... *CRAAACK!!!* ...WITH A CHAIR ASSISTED CRASH LANDON!!! Crow is out cold, as Landon makes the cover... ONE! TWO! THREEEEEEEE!!! LANDON WINS!!! *DING DING DING!* "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" "I don't believe this. Landon sat out here the entire match...and now...he's the number one contender!" "Brilliant, isn't it?" Rolling off the cover, Maddix scrambles as far away from the ring as possible to avoid any after-match hardcore activities, as Megan scuttles around the ring with Landon's belts, ready to kick-start the celebrations. "Here is your winner...and the number one contender to the SWF Hardcore Title...THE USJL TRIPLE CROWN CHAMPION...LAAAAAANDOOON MAAAAADDIIIIXXX!!!" Boos fill the General Motors Place, as Maddix and Megan embrace in the aisle and begin to scurry away from ringside...as Aecas is up, and glaring at the USJL Triple Crown Champion, unconcerned with the trickle of blood from his forehead beginning to flow more and more quickly towards his snarling teeth. But for now, all he can do is stand and watch the man who has stolen the title shot he, Crow and IL had wanted so badly. "Well, somehow, Landon Maddix is in line for the Hardcore Title." Comet sighs in disbelief. "He stayed clear of the cane...stayed clear of the glass...he used the chair once. And now, he's the number one contender to the Hardcore Title. This is like bizarro world." "Landon wrestles, Landon wins. Hardly bizarre Comet. It happens every week!" "We'll see how long it lasts. He won't be able to stand on the outside for eight minutes against the champion will he." "Yeah...and he won't need to either. He's Landon Maddix!" "Whatever. Let's just go to a break..."

Card: MAIN EVENT SINGLES MATCH WORLD TITLE BOUT Nathaniel Kibagami© vs "Deathwish" Danny Williams Rules: Standard singles match SUBMISSION MATCH BEST-OF-FIVE SERIES, MATCH TWO OF FIVE Dace Night vs "The Superior One" Tom Flesher Rules: Submissions are all that matter. First one to quit loses. LADDER MATCH ICTV TITLE BOUT Toxxic© vs Janus Rules: The title is suspended 18ft. or so above the ring. First one to remove it wins. Yes, I'm serious about this. TAG TEAM MATCH TAG TEAM TITLE BOUT Hollywood Boulevard© vs The Wayward Sons Rules: Standard tag match. CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE BOUT Johnny Dangerous© vs Ace Lezaire Rules: Cruiserweight rules. SINGLES MATCH Ryan Dustin vs "The Notorious" John Duran Rules: Standard singles match. FATAL FOUR WAY HARDCORE TITLE NO.1 CONTENDERSHIP Crow vs Insane Luchador vs Aecas vs Landon "La Cucaracha" Maddix Rules: None. Well, okay, one. First pin wins.

The Smartmark's Wrestling Federation presents... SWF SMARKDOWN! LIVE MONDAY, MAY 24TH FROM SOLD OUT GENERAL MOTORS PLACE IN VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA! (Special new time! 7pm PCT, 10pm EST; check local listings) MAIN EVENT SINGLES MATCH WORLD TITLE BOUT Nathaniel Kibagami© vs "Deathwish" Danny Williams Rules: Standard singles match Word Limit: 6500 Send To: Suicide King SUBMISSION MATCH BEST-OF-FIVE SERIES, MATCH TWO OF FIVE Dace Night vs "The Superior One" Tom Flesher Rules: Submissions are all that matter. First one to quit loses. Word Limit: 5500 Send To: Thoth LADDER MATCH ICTV TITLE BOUT Toxxic© vs Janus Rules: The title is suspended 18ft. or so above the ring. First one to remove it wins. Yes, I'm serious about this. Word Limit: 5500 Send To: realitycheck TAG TEAM MATCH TAG TEAM TITLE BOUT Hollywood Boulevard© vs The Wayward Sons Rules: Standard tag match. Word Limit: 5000 Send To: Thoth CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE BOUT Johnny Dangerous© vs Ace Lezaire Rules: Cruiserweight rules. Word Limit: 4750 Send To: Grand Slam SINGLES MATCH Ryan Dustin vs "The Notorious" John Duran Rules: Standard singles match. Word Limit: 4500 Send To: realitycheck FATAL FOUR WAY HARDCORE TITLE NO.1 CONTENDERSHIP Crow vs Insane Luchador vs Aecas vs Landon "La Cucaracha" Maddix Rules: None. Well, okay, one. First pin wins. Word Limit: 4750 Send To: chirs3 (Note: No bold or match description -- I wanted to get this up ASAP. I'll add them in later. I can't extend the due-date on this a day, unfortunately (It would reduce Storm's writing time to three days), but I can lengthen the due time. If I don't hear from TNT by Saturday, the marker for the main event will change)

Please note that the main event marker has changed, as TNT is still nowhere to be found. And I guess I won't be adding any descriptions or boldness to this card after all. Aheh. Whoops. -Z

I blame the lack of readership on the change from The Art of War to the I-Ching. It's just too much of a shock, I feel. It's a good promo, though. The parralel lines between MacPhisto and Kibagami, currently, are an angle I hadn't even considered. It is easy to forget, in Edwin's absense, exactly how much he means to Nathaniel's character. It is easy to forget a lot of things about Nathaniel, in the absense of others. Even for, it seems, Nathaniel himself. -Z

Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! FINALLY, Zenon is GONE. New guy! If he sucks, I'm gonna' cry. First Name: Nigel Last Name: McClain Nickname: Scrooge Number: 10 Origin: Washington, DC (USA) Birth date: 09/22/XX Age to start: 21 Height: 6" Weight: 194 Bats: Left Throws: Left Position: Starting Pitcher Duration -- 1 Avoiding hits talent -- 1 Getting strikeouts vs. Left-handed hitters -- 2 vs. Right-handed hitters -- 3 Velocity -- 4 Pitches: Fastball Screwball Changeup Curveball Loyalty: Normal Needs winner: Yes Leader ability: Great leader Clutch performance: Normal Consistency: Average

That's about the strangest way you could think a game seven would end. And in the pivitol moment (because come on, losing TWO game sevens, in the finals, in back to back seasons would be the ULTIMATE gut punch) Hunter makes up for his previous two abysmal post-seasons. Go figure. Though I think it would've been rather fitting to see the team with the most TSMers come up short again. heh. Now, if only Zenon would fucking die to cap off a really good season... -Z

Yes, let us all revel in my awesomeness and revile TNT's suck. Forget about that whole 'show' thing. Landon/Spike has now been edited in, so you can take a look at that now. Also, I'll be adding descriptions and tags to the card to make it shiny sometime eventually. -Z

Ah, shit, Sly. I forgot about your request for time off... did you PM me with that? I don't see anything right now, but it might have been a while ago and I deleted it... Anyway, I'm going to edit the opener and the hardcore title match to accomidate everyone. Give me a minute. -Z

And that's a wrap. Whee. Solid show overall, but the lateness puts a huge, huge damper on it. I'll try to have a card up as soon as I can, but it's probably going to lack any bells and whistles for the sake of speed. Still wish I could figure out what happened to TNT... -Z

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BAM-BAM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BAM! Blue and white streaks obscure the entrance ramp and race down along the ring, signaling the beginning of SWF Lockdown! The Memorial Coliseum is twenty-one thousand strong tonight, and each and every one of them is on their feet as the Lockdown montage flashes past on the Smarkstron! ”Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to SWF LOCKDOWN! I am the one and only CYCLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE COMET, and to my left is...Bobbi Riley. Say hello to the folks watching at home, Bobbi.” ”Shut your mouth, spandex monkey.” ”Forgive him, viewers! Robert is rather sullen tonight; while Tom Flesher is back in the main event spotlight, the majority of the crowd’s attention is sure to be focused on what comes next – Nathaniel Kibagami, our new World champion, is scheduled to address the fans!” “That’s just what we needed, too. ANOTHER World champion. Do you see what happens when Flesher’s not around to keep the riff-raff in their places? Anarchy! Chaos! The title changes hands on free TV! King would be ashamed of us, Comet. He would be ashamed.” “Bobbi, he would replace you with a trained monkey if he thought it would increase his ratings.” Riley stares coldly at Comet, smirking ever so slightly. “I know, Comet. Believe me, I know.” The caped crusader barely has time to register the insult before the lights in the arena are abruptly shut off. “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” moans Riley. “Must he always make this sort of entrance?” ”You can hardly fault the World champion for having a sense of style.” ”But I can fault him for his damnable pyrotechnics. That light is not good for my eyes.” “The River Dragon Has Come” begins to lilt over the sound system as the Slaughterer’s video collage begins to play. Kibagami stumbles, falls, collapses in slow motion. The image of failure, so long associated with his career. The Smarkstron flickers. Words appear. They waver briefly. They solidify. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... Of old the skilled first made themselves invincible to await the enemy’s vincibility. Invincibility lies in oneself. Vincibility lies in the enemy. Thus the skilled can make themselves invincible. They cannot cause the enemy’s vincibility. Thus it is said, “Victory can be known. It cannot be made.” -the Sun-Tzu, Chapter Four.” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... BAM! The distortion hits, and the arena lights up – every available spotlight is trained on the entrance ramp. White blasts of pyrotechnics streak up, down, across the arena, back and forth along the ramp, sending sparks spiraling everywhere. The Smarkstron flickers one final time, and the image changes – the burning ankh, gigantic, red, consumed by flames, towers over the audience, three stories tall...and the first line of the song echoes out over the crowd. Today, the warning came in the floooooooood... The ankh is gone, now – in its place is Kibagami, spiraling downward as he delivers the Year of the Dragon to a prone Danny Williams. Architects and fools never cared for poor man’s bloooood... More clips flash by on the screen – a Demonstar Driver on Toxxic, a springboard gamengiri connects with Alex Zenon’s head, Kibagami plants an elbow in Janus’ heart with the Last Rites – and the ankh punctuates each of them, towering over the crowd...and through the last of the smoke and the fire, Nathaniel Kibagami emerges. “Ladies and gentlemen, making his way to the ring...weighing in at two hundred and sixty-one pounds and hailing from Phoenix, Arizona...” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “...he is your new SWF WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION...” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “...NATHANIELLLLLL KIBAGAMI!” The Silent One wears the title proudly around his waist, the edges of the belt obscured by the new red trenchcoat he wears – a recent addition to his wardrobe, perhaps. As he climbs into the ring and onto the turnbuckles, the cameras capture a smile markedly different from the sadistic grin the Slaughterer is known for. The River Dragon extends his arms in the crucifix position, the title reflecting the flashes of light from the fans snapping pictures at ringside... Nathaniel Kibagami finally seems happy. The champion motions for a microphone, and the ring attendants scramble to find him one. “The River Dragon Has Come” fades away, and in the sudden silence, the chants that ring out throughout the arena are deafening. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “The Portland crowd couldn’t be happier for citizen Nathaniel, it seems!” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “I think they’re just cheering for the bright lights and the pretty colors, myself.” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... Kibagami raises the microphone to his lips, and the chants die down – a little. “Before I begin, I have one thing I would like to say...to the fans.” The arena suddenly quiets down. Kibagami pauses. “Thank you.” RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! “Thank you all.” The Silent One tries to continue over the applause and the cheers of the audience. “You all remember who I was and what I’ve done, and you chant my name anyway every night I’m out here. For that, I thank each and every one of you.” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “What a suck-up. Jesus,” Riley sneers. “There’s nothing wrong with showing a little gratitude, Robert! You might show a little yourself now and then – I could direct all kinds of reporters and tabloid journalists to the Rainbow McNasty if I so chose, but I decline each time in the interest of justice!” The champion moves towards the center of the ring – something is obviously weighing on his mind. “Now, then. I’m supposed to come out here and share my thoughts on my title win. Well, obviously, I’m very happy about it. I’ve been in this business for fourteen years now, and I can honestly say that this title has more value, more prestige attached to it than any other.” Kibagami is forced to stop for the gigantic pop at the mention of the World title. “This title has changed hands three times in three weeks – that’s how badly people want it. The problem I have, now, is how many people want it.” ”Let’s go down the list, shall we?” Kibagami raises one finger. “Danny Williams deserves a rematch...” DAN-E! DAN-E! DAN-E! DAN-E! “...and if I have anything to say about it, he’ll get it on Smarkdown.” RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! “Another contest between these two defenders of justice!?!? The mind boggles!” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “That’s what our ‘prestigious title’ needs. Another steroid festival.” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “Now, if I make it past Danny,” Kibagami raises another finger – “Either Dace Night –“ DACE FUCKIN’ NIGHT! DACE FUCKIN’ NIGHT! “– or Tom Flesher –“ BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! “– will get a title shot at some point. And if I make it past one of them, there’s John Duran, waiting to sic the Unnamed on whoever has the title.” BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Kibagami raises a third finger for Duran. “So that’s three. Now, there’s a pay-per-view coming up, so Zenon will surely want somebody in the main event that deeply wants to see me lose. So I can expect to come up against Janus –“ JANICE! Riley winces. “It’s pronounced “Yanus”, damn it! “– or maybe Toxxic –“ ”TOXX-IC SUCKS! TOXX-IC SUCKS!” “– in the near future!” Kibagami raises his right hand, all five fingers extended. “Citizen Nathaniel has a point – he’s got a hellish schedule of defenses lined up as World champion!” ”Well, Flesher set the bar pretty high with his last reign –“ ” – until he lost to Ejiro Fasaki, right, Bobbi?” ”You shut your dirty mouth.” In the ring, Nathaniel Kibagami turns to face the entrance ramp. “Now, with this in mind, I would like each of the men on that list – Dace Night, Tom Flesher, Janus, Toxxic, John Duran, and Danny Williams – I would like each of you to direct your attention to whatever monitor you’re close to right now.” Kibagami raises his right hand and very carefully – very calmly – extends his middle finger. “Since you all want my belt –“ RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! “ – you’re going to have to come take my belt!” The crowd pops like a cherry on prom night for the third time in three minutes as the champion strides back across the ring. “I have given fourteen years of my life to this business! I have lost a brother – I have lost a lover – I have lost friends, I have lost time, I have lost blood – I nearly lost the ability to walk! I have come back from drug rehab, I have come back from injuries, I have come back from suspensions...I have come back from a fucking broken neck, and now, when I am supposed to be past my prime, I am holding the most sought-after prize in this federation!” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “You think I’m old? Come get the belt! You think I’m injury-prone? Come get the belt! You think I’m no good under pressure? Come get the belt!” Kibagami stands on the ropes, his eyes blazing, and looks out into the crowd. “You think you can beat me?” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “Then come and get the fucking belt!” RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Kibagami stalks back towards the center of the ring. “Some of these men have beaten me before, but that doesn’t mean they can beat me now. I have waited fourteen long years for this, and it will not be taken away from me without a fight! I will defend this belt against anybody that wants it, because this belt is mine! I am the man to beat – I am the man you cannot beat – but you’re all welcome to try if you feel like you’ve got to!” ”Citizen Nathaniel is laying out a challenge to the entire federation! This is amazing!” ”This is insane. We’re going to have another champion next week if Zenon lets him go through with it.” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “I’ve been written off more times than I can count, and there’s been a good reason for it every time,” hisses the champion through clenched teeth, “But not anymore. Now, I stand at the summit. I am the standard that the rest of this federation has to meet. I will hold nothing back –“ SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “ – I will give no quarter –“ SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “ – I will show no mercy –“ SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “ – and for anyone that would try to take this title from around my waist...” SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... “...there will be no salvation.” RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! “The River Dragon Has Come” hits the speakers again, and the champion drops the mic. Kibagami smirks the slightest bit as he makes his way out of the ring and back up the entrance ramp – the hint of that grin is more than enough to make his point. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT... The words emblazoned across his shoulder blades are more portentous than usual tonight. “Strong words from World champion Nathaniel Kibagami – Danny Williams seems to have his hands full with an imminent rematch, if citizen Nathaniel’s words ring true with the commissioner!” ”Oh, good. I can’t wait to call that one. Elbow, kick, elbow, kick, elbow, kick, elbow, kick, gymnastics, three-count. I’m so glad I’ll be around for that.” ”We’ve got a spectacular show lined up, ladies and gentlemen, despite what my esteemed colleague would have you believe! Dace Night meets Tom Flesher in the first of their Best of Five series for tonight’s main event, and we’ve got a powder keg of an opener lined up – returning SJL prospect David Blazenwing takes on a very, very upset Toxxic! Stay tuned...!”

The sold out crowd in Portland, Oregon is filling up every seat and every inch of standing space in the Memorial Coliseum. Already having seen match after match of SWF action, the fans are just about ready to explode and it’s finally time for the main event. Referee Hebner makes his way to ringside and rolls into the ring as Funyon makes his way in as well. Funyon sets himself up to introduce the main event as Cyclone Comet and Bobby Riley engage in their usual take at the commentator’s desk. Comet: Welcome back to SWF Lockdown Citizens! With me, Cyclone Comet and… Riley: Me Bobby Riley… who has a bad back from carrying Comet all evening I’ll have you know. This job isn’t easy folks. Comet: I wasn’t aware you where a pimp Robert. Riley: A pimp…you mean with women and all… of course not…I mean of course I am… what else would a good looking man like myself do? Comet: Anyway, tonight we’re already seen the returning David Blazenwing face off against Toxxic. Two new SWF stars take each other on in their first match, a brutal hardcore match between Citizens Aecas and Crow. Spike got his shot at Landon Maddix for the so called Triple Crown and a simply crazy match for a shot at the tag team titles. Riley: That’s all very well Comet and they where all fun…but there’s people are here for the main event. Dace Night wants to get himself in Tom Flesher’s way. So now Flesher has the chance to crush Dace three times in a row. Comet: I wouldn’t be so sure this series will be a white wash. As whatever happens… Tom has to take Dace Night on in a Hardcore match…that doesn’t favour him at all! Riley: Oh stop blabbering and let’s just get on with this one please Comet! Funyon: Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest will be a one on one match up for one fall…And will be the first match in this best of five series! Yyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Funyon: Introducing firstly, from Birmingham England, weighing in at two hundred and fifty two pounds… DACE… FUCKING! Funyon: NIGHT! Rrrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! The entrance ramp is lit up by blast after blast of white pyro as Hero shreds into life over the PA system. Stepping through the smoke and sparks, Dace Night looks out at the cheering crowd. Moving down the ramp, he tags hands with the fans as he goes pasts, pointing out a few sings in the front row before rolling into the ring. Throwing the horns up the crowd, Dace soaks up the roar before pacing around the ring, psyching himself up even more as the arena quiets down. Funyon: And his opponent, from Buffalo New York, weighing in at two hundred and thirty one pounds…he is accompanied to the ring by Allison Onita… THE SUPERIOR ONE … TOM FLESHER! Bbbbbbbooooooooooooooooooo! Kashmir kicks into life with another round of pyro lighting up the ramp. Standing at the top of the ramp in his blue warm up suit, Flesher just waves as Allison Onita claps and cheers for him like a rabid fan girl. Pulling off the warm up suit and handing it to Allison, Flesher strides down towards the ring. Allison takes up her position at ring side as Flesher rolls into the ring and golf claps himself as the fans jeer on. Flesher circles the ring, keeping his eyes locked on Dace as he moves around. Comet: These two don’t have much experience against each other in the ring. They’re one and one in terms of tag matches from the days of the Magnificent Seven and the Original Unholy Trinity. And Citizen Flesher holds the victory from their only singles match, defending his World title last year. Riley: See, that just puts Tom even more ahead than he already is. This is going to be a white wash I tell you. DING, DING, DING! Rrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! As the opening bell rings, Flesher instantly skips to the nearest turnbuckle and climbs up, throwing up his arms to a hail of boos. Jumping down, he turns back to face Dace, lifting his arms to lock up. Just as Dace starts to edge forwards, Tom ducks backs to the ropes, leaning through and exchanging words with Allison before turning his attention back to Dace. Hebner stops Night from just ripping forwards and attacking Tom, forcing Dace to pace around, the ring. Edging back to the middle of the ring, Tom finally rises his arms for a lock up but just as Dace ties up with him, Tom jumps backwards and shakes his head, seeming to complain about something. Getting pissed off, Dace just stands in the middle of the ring and starts to clap, starting up a chant from the crowd… CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! START THE MATCH! START THE MATCH! START THE MATCH! Comet: Citizen Flesher doesn’t look in any hurry to start this match off. He’s taking this at his own pace, probably because he has some master plan. Riley: I’m sure he does Comet. Every little thing he can set up there will just make the submissions match even easier for him. Pretending to white some dust off his singlet, the Superior One slowly strolls into the centre of the ring, shaking himself down as Horrorcore just glares at him. Tom slowly reaches out for a lock up, but Dace leaps forwards, locking his arms around Flesher and driving him backwards across the ring. Shoving Tom into the turnbuckles, Dace tries to tighten up his grip even as Hebner forces his way in between the two and backs Dace out of the corner. Backing off slowly, Dace raises his arms in the air for a clean break, Flesher waits for just a second before striking out from the corner with a surprise Shotei but Dace grabs his arm and hammers an elbow into Flesher’s jaw. Shoving Tom back into the corner, Dace unloads a flurry of elbows into the head of the Superior One, snapping his head back over and over. Dropping down to the mat, Flesher trails to bail out under the bottom ropes, but Dace switches to stomping away on him, slamming his boot into Tom’s head and chest. Just before Hebner reaches a full five count, Night backs off and allows Tom to roll under the bottom rope out of the ring. Yyyyyyyaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Comet: Citizen Night taking it to the Superior One as this match finally gets underway! It looks like Dace has brought his game plan and working boots with him as well! Riley: He can’t keep brawling forever, he’s going to have to wrestle Flesher soon enough and then he’ll regret it. Stumbling back into the security railings, Flesher props himself up as he shakes his head out, trying to regain his bearings. Looking up, he sees Referee Hebner standing at the ropes and making a ten count. Launching himself across the ring from the ropes, Dace flies across the ring, looking like he’s above to dive through the ropes. Tom scrambles on the outside, getting himself out of the way of the incoming human missile…that stops at the ropes! Pulling up just infront of the ropes, Dace taps his head before throwing a middle finger at Tom Flesher. But Flesher is busy rolling under the ring ropes back into the ring. Before Dace as time to react, Flesher pulls both of Dace’s legs out and sends him throat first across the top rope. Hauling himself to his feet, Tom wraps an arm around Night’s head and forces his throat down across the top rope, choking the life out of him. Hebner leaps into start a five count and want Flesher, but the Superior One just counts along with the referee as Dace kicks and struggles. Simply lounging across the ropes, Tom cracks his next and shakes of any last effects of Dace’s attacks before finally releasing the choke just before five. Bbbbbbbboooooooooooooooooooooooo! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! Riley: Ahh, that’s what I like to see. Dace tries to be out smart, but Tom Flesher is already two steps ahead of him. And while Tom wears his opponent down, he’s recovering form any damage he’s taken. It’s brilliant. Comet: It’s more blatant Robert, Citizen Flesher is just standing there with that choke right infront of the referee! On the outside of the ring, Allison jumps and yells like a cheerleader and a school football game, eating up every more that Tom makes. Taking a step or two backwards, moving like he owns the ring, Tom ignores everything else and watches Dace collapse onto the bottom rope, coughing and spluttering as he tries to stand. When Hebner is finally finished yelling at him, Flesher simply steps forwards again and rams the heel of his doc martin boot into the back of Night’s head, crushing his throat over the ropes again. Raining in a series of stomps, Flesher gets his revenge form just a minute ago, while continuing to cut of Dace’s air. Leaping back in, the ref yells directly into Flesher’s face, as close as he dares. Once again lazily following the five count, the Superior One just looks over the ring ropes and blows a kiss to Allison Onita before stepping back and releasing Night from across the bottom rope. Slightly annoyed at Hebner’s ranting, Tom waves him away before reaching down and pulling Dace up, with a grin on his face. Bbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooooooo! Comet: Can you believe even, straight into another blatant choke on the ropes! There’s no way Citizen Flesher can be allowed to get away with much more of this action. Riley: The man has a legal five count and he’s using it like a true expert Comet. I really don’t see what your problem is. Just because Dace Night can’t wrestle like that…or wrestle at all. Through half hazy vision, Horrorcore can just about make out the mocking grin of Tom Flesher infront of his face. Trying to ignore the burning feeling in his lunges, Dace wildly swings his arm out, trying to ram a few of the Superior One’s teeth down this throat. But Flesher sees the blow coming a mile off and swats it away like an annoying fly before smashing a Shotei into Night’s face. Quickly looping his arm around and trapping on a perfect Front Facelock, Flesher drags Night backwards away from the ropes and into the middle of the ring. Punching his arm under Night’s left over, Tom spends him spinning over, leaping over with him and sending him to the mat back first with a picture perfect Cement Job that leaves Dace pinned in the middle of the ring already. Slide in, Hebner starts up the first pinfall of the match… ……ONE! ……TWO! Kickout! Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh! Comet: And now Citizen Flesher is taking control by normal means with that favoured Cement move of his. It looks like Citizen Night is in no condition to fight it off unlike their last meeting. Riley: Last time around, Tom wasn’t showing that killer champion instinct and now he is. So Dace is really screwed! Sighing and shaking his head as Horrorcore kicks out, Flesher grabs him by the hair and slams another Shotei into his face before pulling the Hardcore Goth back up to his feet. Closing his arms up and claming on another Front Facelock, Tom goes to take Dace over with another Cement move, but Night desperately throws his weight forwards, diving his body into Flesher’s stomach and his arms into Flesher’s legs. Toppling backing into mat with a thud from the sudden change in balance, Flesher finds himself on his back from a sudden Double Leg Takedown. Boot scouting back across the mat, Tom tries to shake Dace off his legs, but Horrorcore legs on like a limpet, trying to by himself recover. Reaching backwards to the ropes, Tom grabs them and tries to drag himself up, but Dace half kneels up and goes to knock his teeth out. Kicking his legs out inside, the Superior One throws himself backwards, dragging himself out under the bottom rope and back onto the floor. Sucking in one more mouthful of air, Dace bolts through the ropes straight after him. Rrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Comet: Double Leg Takedown, Dace is far from done. And he’s following Citizen Flesher straight out there onto the floor as well. Riley: Oh please, Flesher let Dace do that just to sucker him, he’s going to kill him out there now Comet. Just watch Comet. WWOOOOOOSSSSHHHH! Yyyyyyaaaaaahhhhhhh! As soon as Night’s feet touch the matting on the outside, Flesher unleashes a wave of Palm Strikes that could KO some people on the spot, but they miss as Dace sways sides and puts every bit of his weight behind an Elbow Smash that almost knocks Tom’s head of sideways. Grabbing the Superior One by his singlet, Dace drags him in closer just to drill him in the head with another round of Elbow Smashes, try to crack his head open. Hardly noticing Hebner’s count over the pounding of blood in his ears, Dace spins on his feel and sends Flesher crashing back first into the railings with a bone jarring impact. Not even leaving Flesher time to stagger forwards, Night sweeps him and picks him up, before dropping him tail down first across his knee with an Inverted Atomic Drop. Hearing the count getting higher and higher, Horrorcore launches Tom back into the ring under the bottom rope and follows him back in. Not waiting a moment, Dace instant hauls Tom off the mat and into a Waistlock, pulling him up into the air. Leaving Tom hanging for several seconds, Dace finally falls backwards, planting Flesher into the mat with a Stalling Gutwrench Suplex before floating over to make the cover. ……ONE! ……TWO! …KICKOUT! Bbbbbbbboooooooooooo! Comet: What am I watching Robert, Dace Night fighting back? Tom took it to the outside and he got caught. And he’s not going to be able to out wrestle Dace is he’s getting pummelled in the head with elbows is he? Riley: Yer, but Dace is having to brawl to do it, this is meant to be a wrestling match up. If he wants to do that, he’s got to wait till the Hardcore match. Why did that one get booked anyway? Still sucking in air, Dace gets to his knees before standing up and kicking Flesher in the head. Standing on one of Flesher’s legs, Night reaches down and picks him up, making sure he doesn’t make any fast roll ups before hauling him to a vertical base. Now Night takes his turn to lock Tom up in a vice like Facelock before grabbing a handful of singlet. Easily taking Tom all the away up into the air and leaving him hanging upside down, Night waits as all the blood rushes down into Flesher’s head. Fighting to kick his feet in the air, the Superior One rocks back and forth in the air, every so slightly shifting his balance…just enough to twist around and land on his feet before Dace can do anything about it. Clamping on a Rear Waistlock, Flesher regains his balance, only to have it broke as Dace swings himself around with a Standing Switch. Grabbing one of Tom’s legs, Dace hauls him back up from the mat with a Backdrop Suplex. Kicking and twisting his weight in mid air again, Tom rolls over and drops himself into Dace’s chest in a lateral pin… Bbbbbbbooooooooooooooooo! ……ONE! ……TWO! ……TWO AND A QUARTER! ……TWO AND A HALF! KICKOUT! Rrrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! LET’S GO DACE! LET’S GO! LET’S GO DACE! LET’S GO! LET’S GO DACE! LET’S GO! Riley: That’s it Tom! Show this sod you can out do him every single time he tries a move on you! He’s done for. Comet: Another impress counter from Citizen Flesher, first the Brainbuster and then the Backdrop Suplex. But he doesn’t have this one won yet Robert, Dace is still kicking. On the outside of the ring, Allison is still jumping and yelling like a little school girl cheerleader, shouting on for Tom with every move he makes. Wiping the sweet from his face, the Superior One rolls over just to see Dace Night pushing himself back up. Seeing Referee Hebner standing behind Dace, Tom reaches out, as just as Dace moves it, drills arm into Night’s crotch with a hidden from sight low blow. Bbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooo! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! FLESHER SUCKS! Comet: Another dastardly move from the Superior One with a low blow, hidden from the referee’s view! Riley: It’s called being a ring general Comet, you should learn that. Climbing back to his feet while Dace doubles over clutching his balls, Tom shoots Hebner a look of complete innocence. Taking hold of Dace by his hair, Flesher wrenches his head back and gets another measure of payback, opening up on Night with a hail of nose breaking Palm Strikes, pummelling him with blow after blow. Twisting his arms around and looping on another suffocating Front Facelock, Flesher just grins as he twists his body sideways. Ducking down, he pops his shoulders under Night’s body and hauls him up into a Fireman’s Carry from the Front Facelock. Making a little half twist as he leaps, Tom dives down and spikes Dace headfirst into the mat with a Death Valley Bomb, still holding the Facelock as he twists over into an instant cover… ……ONE! ……TWO! ……TWO AND A QUARTER! ……TWO AND A HALF! ……TWO AND THREE QUARTERS! KICKOUT! Rrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! DACE! DACE! DACE! DACE! DACE! DACE! Comet: The DVD! But Dace still manages to kick out! Flesher hasn’t managed to beat him down enough yet to score the fall off it. Riley: I just love how Flesher is beating Dace at his own game with these big moves and the wear down strikes. I’m surprised he hasn’t started elbowing him yet! Yelling in annoyance at the referee’s count, Flesher rolls Dace over onto his stomach and reaches him back up in a Rear Waistlock. Rising to his feet in once smooth motion, Flesher snaps Night backwards over his shoulder and drills him head first into the mat with a spine compressing and neck snapping Backdrop Driver! CRUNCH! Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Comet: BACKDROP DRIIIVVVIIIIAAAHHHH! Collapsing from balancing on his head and neck, Dace slays out on the mat like he’s been knocked out cold as Tom rolls over into another cover… ……ONE! ……TWO! ……TWO AND A QUARTER! ……TWO AND A HALF! ……TWO AND THREE QUARTERS! ……THREEEE---NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Yyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Comet: DACE KICKS OUT! Riley: DAMN IT! Can’t anyone around here count to god damn three! Pounding the mat in frustration, Flesher starts to yell repeatedly at Referee Hebner about the count. Hardly even aware of where he is, Dace starts to bail out. Just crawling along the ring mat, dragging himself on his hands and knees, heading straight for the safety of the ropes. Comet: Citizen Night is bailing out! He’s getting out of dodge and heading for the ropes. I’m shocked he can even move! Riley: He’s a blood coward now as well? The Superior One has him beat so he’s turning tail and running now! Got he really does sicken me. Slowly, inching closer and close to the ropes, Dace drags himself on. Tom turns his attention back to Night and just watches him slowly crawl to the ropes and latch onto them, not even able to stand. Rolling himself over, Dace looks up at Flesher and raises both middle fingers to him. Spitting, Tom faces forwards and sticks out his right foot, ramming it into Night’s face like a truck, snapping his head back across the ropes and sending a shower of blood spurting out of his mouth. Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooooooo! Scrapping his boot on the ring apron like he’s just trodden in dog crap, Flesher glares at the now bleeding Dace as he slowly picks him back up. Slapping his leg, Tom launches Horrorcore off the ropes and across the ring like a helpless man shot from a cannon. As soon as Dace hits the far ropes, Flesher breaks into the own run, throwing his leg up and looking to smash Night’s face in a second time with a Yakuza Kick… WHAM! Rrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Comet: YAKUZ-----SINGLE LEG! Ducking his body down, Dace slams his body into Tom’s leg snapping it out from under him. Before he even as any idea what’s happening, Flesher is on his back with two hundred and fifty two pounds over him, cradling up his leg and shoulder. Hitting the mat like he’s been shot, Hebner breaks into a count as the fans yell along. ONE! TWO! THRRRREEEEEEE! Yyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Comet: Dace does it, Dace wins! He takes the first match of the series an early lead! Riley: What? This can’t be happening, it can’t be! Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooooooooo! But just as the fans take the roof of… Hebner comes up holding two fingers high in the air, yelling at the time keeper that it was only a two count. A very, very close one but still only a two count. Comet: Noooooooo! It was only a two count! Riley: Hah, that will teach you to look before you leap Comet, saying things like that! Dace Night still hasn’t beaten Tom Flesher. That move my have been the last thing he had to draw on here to get the job done and it failed. Flipping himself over, Flesher gets onto his stomach, trying to shake Dace off, but Horrorcore keeps himself wrapped up, just like the Double Leg from earlier. Rising up to his hands and knees, Tom tries to roll himself over into a cover, but Night has a death grip of a Rear Waistlock on and he’s not letting go for anything. Growling at the strain, his mind foggy, Horrorcore leans backwards, digging his heels into the mat, slowly climbing up to his feet. Fighting with everything he’s got, Tom tries to keep himself belly down on the mat but Dace lifts his arms up, locking them around Flesher’s neck, trapping one arm as he goes. Snapping his body backwards, Dace takes Flesher over head and drills him head first into the mat with massive force. CRUNCH! Comet: GOOD F’N’ NIGHT! The same move he used to beat Danny Williams in their match up! Riley: Doesn’t mean it’s going to be Tom Flesher! Ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Crumbling up like an accordion, Flesher balances on his neck for a moment before collapsing to the mat like a dead man. Barely able to roll over, Dace flops one arm across Flesher’s chest for a cover… ONE! TWO! TTTTHHHHHHHHRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE! DING! DING! DING! Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Funyon: Ladies and gentlemen, here is you winner… DACE NIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTTT! DACE F’N’ NIGHT! DACE F’N’ NIGHT! DACE F’N’ NIGHT! DACE F’N’ NIGHT! Comet: DACE DOES IT! He defeats Tom Flesher and takes the first match in the series! This is going to upset everyone’s ideas. Not least of all Citizen Flesher’s himself. Riley: It was a fluke I tell you, a damn fluke. There’s no way Dace is going to be able to pull that off twice more in this series Comet. No way. As Hero blasts out over the arena, Dace flops over onto his back, looking up at the ring lights, trying to rub the blood away from his mouth, weakly raising his arm in the air, Dace holds up one finger, showing his first victory in the series.

Returning from another commercial break, the arena seems eerily quiet and fans sit dangerously on the edge of their seats, only wishing for that one moment to push them over the brink. The source of the quiet is quickly found, as Funyon stands in the ring…looking dapper as always…and his voice booms out… “Ladies and Gentlemen…the following contest is the OVER THE TOP ROPE BATTLE ROYAL and is for NUMBER ONE CONTENDERSHIP to the S-W-F WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP! In this match, you are eliminated by going over the top rope and having both feet touch the floor! The last two remaining superstars left in the ring will be named the Number One Contenders!” As Funyon pauses, the arena fills in the air with an explosion of noise, cheering and chanting…and everyone gets on their feet to get a good look at the entrance of the first competitor. That man is welcomed into the arena as he usually is…with the sounds of a driving acoustic guitar riff… “Introducing first…hailing from Saint Louis, Missouri…he is AUSTIN SLY!!” Funyon brings out the first competitor as the Comet officially welcomes viewers back to the show. “Welcome back to Lockdown, true believers…we are quickly getting underway with this battle royal, which I’m sure will turn out the same as when I fought the Masked Missionary back in the middle of my heyday!” The Cyclone Comet’s remark brings an odd look from his partner as Austin Sly steps out from behind the curtain and makes his way to the ring, ignoring all that is around him…which at the moment is completely the opposite of Bobby Riley. “The Masked who?” Riley questions, and Comet is quick with his answer… “The Masked Missionary! He was as evil as any villain could be…and he wore a mask that hid his identity from the world. It took me many battles before I unmasked him and his fiendish plan!” The Comet continues as Austin climbs into the ring, looking out over the jeering crowd before turning his attention to the entranceway and the next competitor. “And who was this evil mastermind anyway?” Riley falls into the trap of the question as “The Gauntlet” fires up around the arena, putting the fans into an old-school frenzy for the entrance of the Insane Luchador! As the veteran steps through the curtain and into the spotlight, the crowd shows their approval, but like Sly before him, IL seems determined and focused, moving to the ring slowly and keeping his eyes pinned on the ring where Austin waits. “Introducing…from Easton, Pennsylvania…he is Andrew Rickmen…THE INSANE LUCHADOR!!” Funyon’s voice booms loudly once more, and Comet finally answer’s Riley’s query. “He said his name was Andy. What an evil creature he was!” Cyclone Comet slams his fist down onto the announce table as the Luchador slides under the bottom rope and into the ring and up to his feet, taking a lunge at Sly. IL stops short however, putting on the brakes only a few feet from Austin before backing off, showing a smirk on his face. “What does that moron think he’s doing in there! He’s got a vacant outhouse for brains…you know what I mean? Not exactly occupied…but still filled with nasty sh-“ Riley tries to finish, but Comet cuts him off. “Don’t make me get my cyclo-soap and wash your mouth out, Citizen Riley.” The superhero warns, causing Riley to nearly shoot off the handle. “HOW DARE YOU!” Bobby screams, but his judgment keeps him from acting out physically, as fire and the orchestral opening of “Born In A Burial Gown” bring forth the “The Demon” from backstage and out into the entranceway. The arrival of Liston causes another loud chorus of boos, but he simply ignores them all as he walks through the fire and toward the ring…shrouded in ominous red light. “Coming to the ring at this time…he hails from Boston, Massachusetts and is one half of Psychological Warfare…JIMMY “THE DEMON” LISTON!!” “Jimmy Liston was placed in this match after Toxxic was put forth as the re-welcoming committee of David Blazenwing earlier tonight. You just have to wonder what Toxxic would think if Liston was one of the final two left in this match and didn’t get a tag team title shot…” “I don’t have to wonder anything, Comet, because Toxxic will just tear apart the other survivor in this match as he is fairly capable of doing, and then he and his partner will move on to win the tag team titles!” “We’ll see, Robert…” Comet retorts as Liston slides into the ring and stands, looking back and forth between Sly and the Luchador and keeping an eye on them as the arena suddenly is engulfed in cheers at the mention of one single word… “Smile…” The pulse-pounding opening of Taproot’s “Smile” gets everyone’s attention, as they look to the entranceway for Alan Clark… …but he is nowhere in sight. The three men in the ring look around confused as lights swirl around the arena and Funyon makes the announcement… “Introducing next…he hails from Long Beach, California and is one half of the Wayward Sons…ALAN CLARK!!” Funyon finishes, but again Alan Clark can not be seen. Liston, Sly, and IL begin looking in all directions, wondering if the manic will come from out of the crowd, but soon the music dies down, leaving everyone in the arena to wonder the whereabouts of the feisty cruiserweight. “This has to be some kind of a joke…” Riley speaks out once more, but indeed it must be serious as soon the arena is filled with the sounds of everyone’s favorite church choir…Todd’s Angels…before being cut off by the opening riff of AC/DC’s “Shoot To Thrill”. The music brings forth the loudest boos and jeers yet for the return of Todd Royal, who still looks banged up from his championship match with Coy West from Battleground. “Coming to the ring at this time…” Funyon starts as Todd Royal and Megan Skye step out into the entranceway, looking out over all of their loyal ‘fans’ before making their way down to the ring. “…Being accompanied by Megan Skye…he hails from San Diego, California and is the leader of the House of Todd… TODD ROYAL!!” The crowd continues their jeering as Royal gets to the ring, pausing a moment to look up at the three competitors staring down at him. “Praise Todd! He has returned!” Bobby Riley throws up his hands in celebration for the return of his Savior, leaving Comet to simply shrug. “You have to wonder what Todd Royal is thinking right now. His neck and back could still be hurting, and his tag team partner had a title defense earlier in the show! Todd Royal is just another of the men in this match that is without a real tag partner for which to go after the titles!” “I’m sure that somewhere in the Book of Todd there is a rule about this sort of thing! After he wins he’ll be in Zenon’s office clearing everything up…mark my words!” Riley’s proclamation of a Todd Royal victory seems to fall on deaf ears as AC/DC is suddenly replaced by SOAD…System of a Down…and “Forest”, which brings everyone’s favorite merry man out from backstage, looking cheerful as always. “Coming down the aisle…he hails from Bairnsdale, Britian…The Sherwood Fable… TRYST!!” The crowd cheers almost rhapsodically as Tryst makes his way down the aisle, slapping a few hands before removing his quiver and handing it off to a waiting attendant. Tryst also pauses at the base of the ramp where Royal stood only moments ago before heading into the ring, but Todd Royal still stands on the outside, watching everyone from the side of the ring, talking everything over with Megan. “Todd Royal is the first man to use any common sense! He’ll just sit out there until everybody starts throwing their weight around and then he is going to come in and throw all that weight OUT and win this match!” Riley laughs to himself as “Forest” fades down into nothingness and the fans await the next entrant… No… No… NOTORIOUS… The familiar phrase echoes throughout the arena before being replaced by Spineshank’s “Synthetic”, heralding the arrival of the former World Champion John Duran! The crowd immediately voices their disapproval, chanting down plenty of “NO”s but forgetting the “TORIOUS”s in the process. Duran seems pleased to see his former running mate Todd Royal standing on the outside, and the two share a quick knowing glance as Funyon makes his announcement… “Entering the ring…he hails from Champaign, Illinois and is a former SWF World Heavyweight Champion…. The Notorious One… JOHN DURAN!!” Funyon finishes as Duran hops up onto the ring apron, following on the side of the ring by Todd Royal. The two men once again look each other’s way before climbing into the ring and immediately going to work… Todd Royal blindsides Tryst, who was looking Duran’s way, and takes him down to the canvas as Duran attacks Jimmy Liston! The Demon tries to fight back, but two quick knee shots puts Liston into the ropes and at the mercy of the former champion. Duran wraps his hands around the neck of the hardcore veteran and begins to relentlessly choke the life out of him. Referee Hall is in the ring like a flash, but finds it hard to control the riot that has only just begun! Hall tries to dodge out of the way of the action as the Luchador pulls Todd Royal off of Tryst and whips him across the ring and into the ropes before helping the Sherwood Fable to his feet. As Royal comes back, the two men lock their arms together and clothesline Royal down to the mat. At the same moment, Austin Sly seems to have found his chance to make an impact in the match, and as Duran leaves Liston and turns to go after IL and Tryst, Sly moves in on the Demon and begins his work, booting the veteran down and into the corner. Austin continues to connect with hard boot shots as IL and Tryst turn around… …and right into John Duran’s palms! “YES! Choke them out! Choke out those blasphemous pigs!” Riley screams at his monitor as Comet looks on beside him. “This is insanity! John Duran is the biggest man in the fight and he is showing it off before the match is even underway!” The Comet yells out as Duran holds the two men in their respective chockes…but his eyes grow wide as a loud booming voice echoes from the rafters to the floor and in every nook and cranny in between… CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SONS… “Here comes the cavalry!” Comet screams, along with the sold-out crowd, as Alan Clark and Coy West nearly burn the rubber from their boots getting to the ring, sliding under the bottom rope and getting to their feet and going right after the Notorious One! *DING DING DING* “NO! What is going on?” Riley yells out as Coy and Alan attack Duran, pulling him into the middle of the ring and causing his dual choke to be broken. The former champ tries to repeat the tactic on his attackers, but the two men duck out of the way of his arms before spinning and throwing out hard kicks, with Clark connecting with Duran’s lower back and Coy to his stomach. The dueling maneuvers don’t stop there, however, as Coy and Alan step back and bounce off the ropes on the opposite sides of the ring and come back toward Duran, leaping into the air and firing off dropkicks that sandwich the Notorious One’s head! “HIGH SPEED COLLISION! The Wayward Sons nearly popped Citizen Duran’s head like a grape right there!” The Comet exclaims as Duran falls to his knees and then drops to his face, but before the wayward team can do any more damage Todd Royal is back up on his feet. He immediately sets his sights on the man that took his title as he pulls Coy’s head down and drives him into the canvas with a DDT! “Sweet redemption!! But look out Todd!!” Riley warns Royal as Alan Clark tries to spear him down, but Todd ducks out of the way of Alan, putting him right into the ropes! Alan fights to stay in the ring as Todd works to try and eliminate his nemesis, but a recovering Luchador makes the job that much harder as he clubs his forearm down over Royal’s back, causing pain to shoot down through the still hurting body of Todd. As IL continues to attack, Royal slumps back into the corner and tries to keep a low center of gravity, giving Alan the chance to fall back into the ring as Coy gets to his feet. While the wayward melee was going on, Austin Sly and Jimmy Liston were on the other side of the ring, with Liston reversing a whip into the corner, putting Sly chest-first into the top turnbuckle. With Austin momentarily stunned, Liston hits the far ropes and comes back, nearly missing running into referee Hall before leaping into the air and trying for a big splash… THUD~ …but all he can splash is the corner as Sly moves out of the way just in time, nearly leaving the Demon’s face-print in the padding. Liston bounces off the corner and straight into Austin’s waiting arms, who lifts him up onto his shoulder and falls backwards into a bridge, driving him straight into the canvas with a picture perfect Northern Lights Suplex! Austin habitually holds the bridge in place for a second as if going for a pin, giving Tryst his chance to get into the action, as he hops into the air and comes down straight across the chest of Sly with a hard elbow. The force of the blow causes the bridge to collapse and all of Austin’s wind goes with it. “This is almost as bad as the Cluster*bleep*!” Riley screams as the men are moving in all directions inside the ring, trying to keep themselves from being eliminated. “Remember what I said about that language, Robert…” Comet scolds again as the camera moves to Tryst on the other side of the ring, who is back on his feet and going at between the two Wayward Sons, throwing punches back and forth at the two. Alan takes a hard right hand to the jaw and falls back into the corner, landing right on top of Todd Royal, who was taking his time getting to his feet as the Insane Luchador was pulled across the ring by the Notorious One. “Alan Clark and Todd Royal seem to be close bedfellows in that corner over there! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be in Clark’s place right now!” There seems to be a little too much love in Riley’s statement, causing an odd look from his partner, but soon the camera catches two more shocked looks, those coming from the faces of Royal and Clark! The two men can not move out of the way in time as Duran whips IL across the ring, causing the crazy cruiser to smash his two former JL contingents into the corner. “What a train wreck!” The Comet bellows forth as IL drops down into the corner, landing in the heap with Todd and Alan as Duran rushes in, looking to add his own brand of pain to the moment as his knee flies out… OOOMPH! …and jams straight into all three men! “Now that’s how to do some-“ “BY ZEUS! DID YOU SEE THAT!!” The Comet cuts off Bobby Riley in mid-sentence as Duran backs away from the three superstars and they slump forward, falling away from the corner in all directions. “Thanks for interrupting me. I was about to say how much damage John Duran had caused, but you just ruined my whole moment!” Riley whines, but again Comet ignores him as he yells out once more. “LOOK AT THAT! JIMMY LISTON HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!!” and sure enough, Austin Sly has eliminated The Demon, tossing him to the outside like a sack of unwashed potatoes. A replay shows of the proceeding moments, as just as John Duran rushes across the ring, Jimmy Liston was perched on the second rope, looking to pound Austin’s face in with punches. The rookie had other plans, however, and before Liston even knew what hit him he was lifted out of the corner and unceremoniously dumped to the outside, leaving Austin staring down at him inside the ring. “Ladies and Gentlemen…Jimmy “The Demon” Liston has been ELIMINATED!” Funyon’s voice booms out, but the participants still remaining do not seem to care, as Duran picks his poison, pulling Alan Clark up out of the pile of bodies and whipping him across the ring to the opposite corner. Alan has little time to recuperate from the last few moments of the match, as the Notorious One is again boring knee-first toward the corner, catching Clark right in the gut and dropping him down to his knees. “And now it seems as though the former World Champion has picked his next sacrifice! YES!” Riley laughs out loud at the thought of Alan Clark’s imminent destruction, but his smile gets turned upside down in a hurry as Duran looks to pull Alan back up to his feet, only for Austin Sly to enter stage left! Sly comes crashing down on top of Duran with a huge splash, putting both men into the ropes and nearly causing a double elimination! “MERCIFUL HEAVENS! Austin Sly nearly took John Duran right out of this match!” “And himself too, that moron! How dare he stick his nose in the business of the former champ just as he was about to turn Alan Clark into mincemeat!” Riley seems terribly miffed as Alan gets back to his feet and looks across the ring to see Tryst battling with Coy in the ropes, each man trying to dump the other and both of them hanging on the ropes and holding on for dear life! Alan moves in and pulls Coy down and back to his feet, but the force of the pull also drags Tryst back into the ring, and the Sherwood Fable immediately takes exception to the interruption, sending a kick sheering through the air. Alan will have none of that, though, and he catches the kick just in time… WHIP~ “Dragon Screw!” Comet calls as Tryst is flipped over top of Alan and slammed into the canvas. The two men stay down, which is lucky for them, as the Insane Luchador comes from the opposite corner, leaping over both of the downed superstars and crashing into the Wild One, pushing him into the corner before unloading with punches. “The Insane Luchador is taking it to Coy West now! He’s like an mentally unstable little pinball in there!” Riley remarks as, in the background, Todd Royal leaves his fighting with IL behind and moves across the ring to help his former Unnamed running mate, though Duran does not seem to need much help as he has Austin pinned in the corner with a boot shoved into his face. Todd does not seem to mind joining in, however, and soon both men have their boots buried into the face of the rookie, choking him out as best they can. “Todd Royal and John Duran are slowly draining the life out of Austin Sly, and on the other side of the ring the Wayward Sons look to be in some serious trouble!” The Comet is right on both counts, as Coy and Alan have been backed into corners with the Luchador and Tryst trying anything they can from keeping the only true team in the match from gaining any kind of advantage. “Those two are showing terrific teamwork right now! Who knows…those two could win this thing!” Riley points out, but the tables are quickly turned on the makeshift team, as the Sons fight out of their predicament, moving out and switching places with their attackers before going into attacks of their own! “You were saying, Robert?” Comet asks as Alan yells over at Coy and the two share a knowing look before turning back to their corners and lifting their respective opponents up to the top turnbuckle. “Now what?” is all Riley can say as the Wayward Sons climb up to the top as well, once again looking over at each other. Coy is the first to make his move, as he locks the Insane Luchador in a front facelock and quickly pulls him up, out of the corner, and into the air before dumping him straight over and down into the canvas with a superplex! “By Zeus what a Superplex! The Insane Luchador could be hurt!” “I doubt that…especially if he landed on his head!” Riley coldly remarks, but if IL wasn’t hurting before he may be hurting soon, as Alan repeats what his partner just did, lifting Tryst out of the corner and suplexing him over… …dropping the Sherwood Fable’s back down into the Luchador’s chest!! “DEAD END STREET! Alan Clark and Coy West continue to show their cohesive teamwork in this match with those echoing superplexes!” The Comet comments as Tryst and IL roll their separate ways, and Coy and Alan get back to their feet, wondering what to do next. On the other side of the ring, Sly is trying his best to fight out of the double team he has worked himself in to, as Royal and Duran have not let up on their attack, keeping him pinning into the corner and down on the ground. Austin tries to roll away from the melee, but Royal catches him by the ankle and throws it across the bottom rope, taking his time to leap into the air and drop his knee down straight across it. “Todd Royal is trying to take out Austin’s legs! He is truly the smartest man in that ring right now! If you can take out his legs then he is easy pickings to be eliminated!” Riley gets more and more jovial as Royal continues his assualt on Austin’s leg, dropping the knee down repeatedly, almost determined to make the ankle snap right in two. The Notorious One does his part as well, keeping his foot pinned over Sly’s head, forcing him to stay stuck near the ropes as Royal keeps up the attack. “That is despicable, Robert! He’s a rookie and Todd Royal is in there trying to break his leg!” “That’s the nature of the sport, Comet! The nature of the sport is pain!” This quip from Riley garners a small slap to the back of the head by his superhero compadre. “What did you do that for?” “It’s the nature of the sport.” Comet replies as the beating of Austin continues on one side of the ring, but on the other side the Wayward Sons are still in the driver’s seat and looking to put their opponents away. Alan and Coy once again set up IL and Tryst for suplexes, lifting them up and dropping them down on the top rope in unison… SPROOOONG~ “Double Slingshots…coming up!” Comet calls, but Tryst and the Luchador slip out of the wayward grip, dropping to their feet on the canvas behind the two men. The Sons turn and are met by the charging duo! …THE SONS DUCK!! Coy and Alan move out of the way at the last possible moment, sending IL and Tryst into the ropes. Their own momentum backfires on them rather quickly, as they are sent back toward the Sons and straight into two hard boots that catch them square in the jaw! The dueling superkicks daze the two superstars, but before they can drop to the mat they are caught by the Wayward Sons and lifted into the air, once again being dropped over the top rope with another loud… BOOOOOOING~ …but as Coy and Alan lift them into the air, they turn their bodies around a full half turn and fall…. SENDING THE INSANE LUCHADOR AND TRYST OVER THE TOP… …AND TO THE FLOOR! “UNBELIEVABLE!” Both announcers are in shock as IL and Tryst hit the canvas on the outside after the double spinning slingshot suplexes. In the ring, the Wayward Sons celebrate a bit with a handshake, much to the delight of the arena crowd! WAY-WARD-SONS! WAY-WARD-SONS! The chant echoes out, nearly drowning out Funyon at ringside. “Ladies and Gentlemen…Tryst and the Insane Luchador have been ELIMINATED!!” The call from Funyon causes Duran and Royal to turn and look, catching the gaze of the Wayward Sons. The four men share a few smirks between each other as Austin Sly uses the time to get back to his feet, but just before he can Duran turns back around, wrapping his hand around the rookie’s throat and lifting him into the air…. SLAM~ “CHOKESLAM!” Riley yells with all his might as Austin Sly is driven into the canvas by the Notorious One. Duran turns back to Royal and shakes his head, silently saying he is ready for the two men that stand across from them. “The drama in the ring just shot through the roof of this arena! Todd Royal and John Duran, Coy West and Alan Clark…all four men looking to be ready to fight for the right to face the world tag team champions!” Comet remarks, but with the four men at a stalemate in the ring, the camera goes to the outside, where Tryst is on his way backstage… …only to be stopped from behind by the Luchador! IL turns Tryst around and the two begin to exchange a few words about what just happened. “Neither man seems too pleased about being eliminated from this match!” The Comet continues as IL finally loses his cool, nearly shoving Tryst down to the floor as he walks past him, ignoring the fans and the officials before heading back through the curtain. Back in the ring, the Wayward Sons finally seem to have enough of the staring contest put forth to them, and they rush in to attack, with Alan setting his sights on his nemesis Todd and Coy looking to put the hurt on the former world champion. “Here we go!” Riley calls out as the four men collide, going into dueling collar-and-elbow tie-ups. Duran pushes West right back, using his strength to move the Wild One backwards across the ring. Todd Royal’s luck isn’t the same as his friend’s, however, as Alan’s momentum causes Royal to stumble backwards, nearly tripping over the downed Austin Sly before hitting the ropes and almost going over the top, but holding on and keeping his feet on the mat. “Austin Sly almost cost Todd Royal a chance at victory in this match!” Comet exclaims as Royal turns the tide in his direction, reversing the hold placed on him and placing Clark up against the ropes. Instead of trying to get him eliminated, Royal looks across the ring to Duran, who has West in a similar position. Without so much as a word to each other, Royal and Duran both throw their weight and their opponents toward each other! With West and Clark on a direct path to collision, Clark takes a chance and ducks down, giving Coy the perfect opportunity to leap out of the way and put Royal in the path of the Wild One! Royal tries to move out of the way, but instead takes a hard clothesline right across the throat…and the force of the blow nearly takes Royal out of the ring once more! “Todd Royal is teetering on the edge of elimination!” Comet yells out again, but the Notorious One is there to make the save, pulling Alan away from his friend and giving Todd the space to fall back into the ring. Coy and Alan try their art of double-teaming once more, as they both catch an arm of Duran, trying to pull him into the middle of the ring. Duran isn’t one to be manhandled for very long, and with Royal still in the ring the Sons don’t seem to have much of a chance to do any damage. Todd grabs Coy around the waist and lifts him up, causing the Wild One to release his grip on Duran and giving the monster a free hand for which to pull Clark away from him. With a hard thud, Coy’s body bounces off the canvas after a hard belly-to-back suplex from Royal, as Duran clutches Clark in a front facelock and grabs him by the waist, pausing for a moment before lifting him up and into a stalling vertical suplex. “Duran is really in the driver’s seat now!” Riley cheers as Todd moves toward the corner of the ring, hopping up to the top rope and leaping off, throwing his legs out in front of him. The dropkick catches Alan in the stomach, putting that extra little bit of ‘oomph’ into the suplex as Duran falls back, slamming Clark into the mat. The former Unnamed seems to have Alan and Coy right in the palms of their hands as they pull them off the mat, and whip them into the ropes. As the Sons bounce back, John pushes Todd out of the line of fire and moves in, stretching his arms out and nearly decapitating Coy and Alan in the process! “DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE! WOOOO!” Riley celebrates as Duran steps forward near the ropes…. …and suddenly finds himself off of his feet… …AND GOING TO THE OUTSIDE!! “WHAT THE FU-“ Riley nearly drops the bomb, but Comet luckily cuts him off… “AUSTIN SLY IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE….” Comet starts as Austin comes from out of nowhere to catch Duran from behind, pushing him forward into the ropes and lifting up and dumping him straight to the floor! “…and has ELIMINATED JOHN DURAN!!” “NO! NO! NO!” Riley slams his fists on the announcer’s table as Duran hits the floor standing, and realizes just what has happened to him. Duran’s eyes turn to that of rage as he looks back into the ring, where Austin sits…smiling. “Turn about is fair play in this match, Robert! After Austin was nearly taken out of the match with that vicious chokeslam…he has decided to return the favor by taking Duran completely out of this match!” “WAIT!” Riley yells out again, as Todd Royal is another of the non-believers of Sly’s recent actions…taking it upon himself to exact a little revenge, shoving Austin into the ropes, causing the rookie to flip, flop, and flail over the top rope and land right in Duran’s grasp on the outside! “AUSTIN SLY IS GONE!” “WAIT…His feet haven’t touched the ground!” Comet’s call comes only a few seconds early, as Duran hoists Austin over his head, military pressing him over seven feet off the floor before letting him go, dropping the rookie throat first across the barricade! “NOW…Now he’s eliminated!” Riley laughs as Austin falls to the floor, holding his throat in pain. Back in the ring, Todd Royal’s smug look returns as he looks out into the crowd, but the crowd has something else they want to say to ‘their Todd and Savior’. “wayward sons…wayward sons…” The chant starts in the front rows…softly…yet slowly growing louder as more and more fans begin to join in. “Wayward Sons…Wayward Sons…” “Uh Oh…Todd Royal doesn’t know what he has just done by eliminating Sly from this match!” Comet remarks as the camera turns to look behind Todd, showing Coy West and Alan Clark standing there, smirks on their face as they watch the crowd grow louder and louder… “WAYWARD SONS…WAYWARD SONS…” The chant is nearly unbearable now, as Todd Royal’s smug expression has turned to that of shock, and you can almost see the gears in his head turning as he realizes the severity of the situation he just got himself into. “I think he understands now!” “Don’t turn around Todd! Don’t do it!” Riley pleads for the safety of his savior, but Royal can not hear the advice of the ambiguous announcer, and with his eyes wide he slowly begins to turn…. …finding the Wayward Sons standing right behind him, the expressions on their face unwavering. “Here we go!” Comet yells, and the crowd joins in, the chant still loud, though some have stopped to simply cheer. Todd Royal seems to be the only one in the arena not happy, as he begins to slowly back up, putting his hands in the air and shaking his head, almost begging for mercy from the two men standing in front of him. The Wayward Sons do not seem like ones to show any mercy when a tag title shot is on the line, and both of them send a foot into Royal’s gut, doubling him over and putting him in the prime position for a double front facelock. “We’ve seen this before in this match…and it looks like we are about to see it again!” Comet exclaims as Riley moans beside him. The Sons lift Royal into the air and drop him down chest-first across the top rope… BOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIING~ As Todd slingshots off the ropes, Duran tries to interfere, climbing up to the apron as the Sons spin around and look to drop Royal to the outside! NO!!! “YES! DURAN CAUGHT TODD!” Riley celebrates as Royal is caught on Duran’s shoulder, but the Wayward Sons aren’t ready to accept that, as both men leap toward the ropes, throwing their bodies down and their feet out, with each man connecting with a kick right to a knee of the Duran! The kicks seem to have their desired affect, as Duran falls backwards toward the floor, trying to keep Royal in the air, but as always …gravity must win…. “…AND ROYAL IS OUT OF HERE! THEY’VE DONE IT! THE WAYWARD SONS WIN!” Comet explodes with the chanting crowd as Coy and Alan celebrate in the ring and the bell rings, followed by Funyon’s voice… *DING DING DING* “Ladies and Gentlemen…the winners of this match…. COY “WILD” WEST…ALAN CLARK…THE WAYWARD SONS!!” The Sons share a brief hug before raising each other’s arms in victory, leaving Duran and Todd fuming on the outside. As “Carry On Wayward Son” blares throughout the arena, Coy and Alan leave the ring, catching a few high-fives as officials keep the former Unnamed at bay, and also check on Austin, who is still laid out on the floor after the hot-shot from Duran. “The Wayward Sons have done it, and there are going on to face Hollywood Boulevard for the Tag Team Championships!” “No! I can’t accept this! The Book of Todd predicted Royal to win!” Riley continues to complain as the Sons exit through the curtain and Lockdown fades out to commercial break. As they walk into the sunset, The Wayward Sons know that Hollywood Boulevard may be a long way from Oregon …but for them it is just one more stop on their long road to becoming legends in the SWF.

Everything has been said before There's nothing left to say anymore When it's all the same You can ask for it by name “This Is The New Shit” by Marilyn Manson is the first thing we hear, as Lockdown returns from commercial break and wastes no time in getting us back to the action, as Jacob Helmsley, led by his confidant Joseph Corbin, walks out onto the stage, dressed for combat. FUNYON LAAAADIEEEESSSS AND GENNNTLLLMENNNN, the following contest, scheduled for one fall, is to determine the number one contender to the SWF CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! Approaching the ring at this time, accompanied by Joseph Corbin…he weights in at two hundred, twenty seven pounds, and is a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada…he is JAAAAAAAAACOB HELLLLLMSSSSLEEEEEEEY! The pipe wielding maniac stalks to ringside, his trenchcoat dragging behind him as he paces the ringside area. Joseph Corbin enters the ring first, followed by his charge, who steps into the ring and stands firm, clutching his ever present pipe in his right hand. The crowd in Portland, Oregon shows a respect to Helmsley as he stands in the ring, listening to words of wisdom from his manager. “I’m looking forward to this match, Riley. Helmsley is looking to get his hands on some gold, but in order to get that chance, he’s got to go through the upstart who’s proven to be quite the test for the members of our roster!” “I’m inclined to agree, Comet. Todd Cortez is on quite the hot streak as of late, capturing his second tag title in such a short time was a great feat, and causing the giant Aecas to pass out to his Street Dreams submission at Storm this past week.” As the commentators banter, Helmsely slides his trenchcoat off, and Corbin takes both the coat and pipe from his charge and exits the ring, leaving Jacob to turn to the aisle and await his opponent for this evening. “Tres Delinquentes (Rock Remix)” kicks up, and many fans pop upon the sounds of the theme coming through the speakers, stunning our announcers. “Listen to that…the crowd is happy to see Todd Cortez coming?” “Don’t let the association with Van Siclen fool you, Comet. This kid is out to earn respect above anything else.” Cortez comes out from the back, crossing his arms to show his support of the straight edge lifestyle, as many fans cheer, although some still show disdain for the tag team championship partner of the hated Mike Van Siclen. FUNYON His opponent, hailing from The Streets, and weighing in at two hundred, twenty six pounds, he is ONE HALF of HOLLEEEEWOOD BOULLLEVARRDDD, the current reigning and defending SWF WORRLLLLLD TAG TEEEAM CHAMMMP-EEEEE-ONNNNNSSSS…the URBAN LEGEND, TODD CORRRRTEZZZZZ! Cortez, his Tag Title fastened around his waist, powerwalks to the ring, looking up at his rival as he continues his path down the aisle. Before he enters, Cortez grabs the cross that dangles from his gold chain, clutching it in his fist and kissing it before looking to the sky in remembrance of his older brother. Cortez then slides in under the bottom rope, walking right past Helmsley and unstrapping the tag belt, hopping up on the second turnbuckle and raising it above his head. When his music grows softer, Cortez hops down, and hands the belt to Funyon as he exits, ready for this chance at gaining more gold. Referee Jefferson Harding calls for the bell, and we are underway, as the two combatants circle each other, staring each other down before they lunge in at each other, engaging in a collar and elbow tie up. Helmsely quickly grabs Todd’s right wrist with both hands, sidestepping out of the lockup and twisting the arm of his foe. Cortez thinks for a moment, and then rolls forward, somersaulting over and coming up to his feet, grabbing Jacob’s arm and twisting it. Helmsley struggles for a moment, but then turns towards Todd, grabbing his arm with his free hand to release Todd’s grip, and then arm wrenching him a second time before shoving him forward, breaking the hold. ”Take a look at that! If Helmsley is underestimating Cortez, then he’s going to need a major wake up call.” “I’m sure Cortez will give it to him, Bobby!” says Comet. Cortez turns around, stunned by the gall of Jacob, and approaches him, gazing up into the eyes of his taller foe. Cortez then steps back and waves Jacob on, and Helmsley comes forward, again locking up with Cortez. This time Todd grabs a headlock, and gets shoved into the ropes by Helmsley, who falls to the mat on his stomach, causing Cortez to jump over him as he rebounds. Helmsley gets to his feet, but ducks his head, and back bodydrops Cortez over on the second rebound, only Cortez manages to land on his feet! He quickly turns around, right at the same time Jacob does, and goes to his knees, taking Jacob over with a fireman’s carry! As Jacob sits up, Cortez winds up, and nails a soccer kick to the back of Helmsley, making him cringe as he feels the impact of the move surge through his spine. Jacob gets to his feet, but as he does, Cortez lets out with a roundhouse kick, striking Helmsley in the small of the back. Cortez, positioned in a fighter’s stance, throws out another roundhouse, but this time his leg is caught by Helmsely! Jacob quickly goes and grabs the other leg out from under him, and falls backwards, catapulting Cortez up and over the top rope…but Cortez hangs on! The Urban Legend keeps a grip on the top rope and skins the cat, but as he floats over the ropes and back into the ring, finds himself pulled away by Jacob, who hooks him for a back suplex, and lifts…but Todd floats over, landing behind Jacob, and grabs him for his own back suplex! He lifts Helmsley up, but Helmsley shifts himself forward, countering the maneuver by falling forward and carrying Cortez over with a headlock takedown! Helmsley rolls over, standing up at the feet of Cortez, and reaching down, grabbing both legs and attempting to turn Cortez over. Todd fires off desperation punches as Helmsley leans over, struggling to roll him onto his stomach, and finally one shot stuns Jacob enough that he backs off. Cortez catches him off guard with his back turned, and rolls him up with a schoolboy… ONE! TWO! …but Jacob quickly kicks out! Both men get to their feet, and Helmsley quickly nails him with a lariat, knocking the Urban Legend back down! Helmsley then backs into the ropes and rebounds off, coming down across Todd’s temple with a kneedrop! Helmsley reaches out for Todd’s left leg, and pulls it back, hooking him in a pinning predicament… ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! …but Cortez is still fighting! “Both these guys looking for the quick win tonight, but it’s not going to come easy!” “When you’ve got two guys who are very similar in style, it’s going to be tough for anyone to gain a clear advantage, Comet.” Helmsley picks Cortez up, and locks his left arm, holding it straight out and then pulling Cortez down to the canvas in a Crippler Crossface fashion, tugging him by the arm. As Cortez falls to the canvas, he tucks his head so that he can roll through, somersaulting up to his feet and running the ropes, coming at Jacob with a Yakuza Kick…and it’s ducked! Helmsley dodges the kick by ducking under it and running the ropes himself, coming off with his own Yakuza Kick, but it’s caught by Cortez! Todd spins Helmsley 360 degrees, and when Jacob is facing him again, he get a boot to the stomach. Cortez grabs him by the head, and lifts him up for a suplex, but Helmslely falls behind him! Acting fast, Helmsley tucks his left arm under Cortez’s left, and his right arm under his right, as the fans gasp, seeing that Jacob is attempting the BLACK STALLION~!...but Cortez struggles with the move! Both men are fighting off the others attempts, and the fans rumble and roar as Cortez is pulled up onto the back of Helmsley, but Jacob cannot follow through with the trademark maneuver, as Cortez kicks his legs straight out, shifting the leverage back into his favor, and pulling Helmsley with him. The fans pop seeing Cortez counter with a backslide of his own, and referee Harding darts down to the canvas, making the count… ONE! TWO!! NO! Helmsley rolls backwards, landing on his feet in front of Todd, and when Cortez pops up to his feet, his jaw is shattered by a Yakuza Kick! The fans “ooh” at the maneuver, seeing that it could cause Cortez to seek some dental work, while other fans get noisy due to another pin attempt by Helmsley! ONE! TWO!! THR…NO! “You know, I should have started a pool as to how many pin attempts and near falls would take place in this match.” Quips Cyclone Comet. Helmsely picks Cortez up off the canvas, and backs him into the corner, propping him up against the ropes before coming down with an open hand across his chest… CRACK~! …and stunning him with a stiff chop! Helmsley holds Cortez down with his left hand, raising his right one up above his head, and swinging it down… CRACK~! …with ANOTHER open hand chop, leaving a red welt in between Cortez’s pecs. Helmsley takes Cortez by the arm and swings him out of the corner, sending him into the opposite corner, and following right behind him. Cortez, showing great presence of mind, uses the momentum to catapult himself up to the second rope and leap over Helmsley when he charges in! Helmsley puts the brakes on in the nick of time, grabbing the ropes before he slams into the turnbuckles. He turns around…and Cortez grabs him by the throat, looking to put him away with the URBAN ASSAULT~!, but Helmsley quickly elbows him in the side of the head, knocking him away! Cortez wanders right into his grip as he’s recovering, as Helmsley throws an arm across his chest, grabbing him by the shoulder and setting up a uranage, but now Cortez is quick to escape as he drives a knee into the ribs of his opponent! Jacob keels over, and Cortez pulls him into the center of the ring, and stands with his head in a legscissors before reaching down and pulling him up onto his shoulders, then quickly slamming him to the canvas and kicking his legs out with the move, driving Helmsley to the mat with a sitout powerbomb! The fans cheer, as they are wowed by the snap that Cortez executed the move with, as Harding comes in for another pin count! ONE! TWO!! THR…NO! NO! KICKOUT BY JACOB HELMSLEY! A good portion of the fans pop upon the kickout, and start up a chant for the pipe wielding maniac. Joseph Corbin looks to the crowd and nods, as the chant continues. “HELMS-LEY!” HELMS-LEY!” As both men get to their feet, however, another vocal portion of the fans start cheering, rooting on the other participant in this matchup! “COR-TEZ!” “COR-TEZ!” “Listen to these fans, Bobby! Split right down the middle!” “Ha ha, if you thought that was bad, Comet, then I’ll admit that I’m split down the middle myself!” “Then you should see a doctor about that.” Helmsley, still down after the powerbomb, is dragged by his foot over near the corner, as Cortez sets him up. Looking down at the positioning of his rival, he then turns and ascends the turnbuckles, leaving his back to the ring as he climbs. Still, Helmsley barely flinches, as Todd perches himself up on the third rope, looking down to measure him up before leaping off. Cortez jumps into the air, aimed right for the throat of Helmsley as he soars with a flying legdrop from the top rope… …AND IT MISSES~! “That’ll turn your spine into Jell-O!” Cortez’s mouth drops, and his eyes widen, as the surging pain moves up and down his spine. Helmsley rolled under the move, escaping the impact, and slowly gets to his feet. Cortez slowly gets up as well, his back to his foe, and finds himself hooked in a waistlock and quickly carried up and over, as Helmsley nails him with a release German suplex! Once again, both men are down on the canvas, having spread themselves thin by going full-speed with their high impact attacks. Helmsley sits up, shaking his head loose of the cobwebs, as Harding checks in to see if he’s OK. Cortez uses the ropes to aid in his getting up, while the fans continue to battle back and forth with each other as to who is the favorite in this matchup. Helmsley turns around as he’s getting up, noticing Cortez still not fully recovered, and makes his way towards him. He grabs Cortez by the head, and hooks him in a facelock, but Cortez shocks him by quickly sliding out, stepping to the side but wrapping his legs around Jacob’s, and hitting a drop toehold that drops Helmsley neck first on the middle rope! Cortez runs the ropes, and comes off, jumping down across the back of Jacob Helmsley and driving his throat into the rope again! Cortez steps off of Helmsley, as Harding uses the five count to remind Cortez that he’s got minimal time to attack while his opponent is in the ropes. With Helmsley still draped over the middle rope, reeling from the move, Cortez grips the top rope and slingshots himself over, coming down across the back of Jacob’s head with a legdrop before he lands on his feet on the floor! Helmsley flops backwards, and Cortez quickly pulls himself up to the apron, turning and looking out to the fans and raising his arm up with a pumped fist, drawing a mix of cheers and boos from those in attendance tonight. Helmsley manages to push himself up to his feet, but it would have been better to stay down, as Cortez targets him from the apron, jumping up onto the top rope and springboarding off, nailing Helmsley with a beautiful springboard missle dropkick, knocking him right off his feet! Helmsley falls near the ropes, but Cortez drags him away into the wide open portion of the ring, and pounces on him for the cover! ONE! TWO!! THREE…NO! NO! JACOB HELMSLEY KICKS OUT! “It just shows you what the SWF Cruiserweight Title means to see these guys absorbing so much punishment. Just the chance to win that belt has fueled the determination of these two, and it’s not like they needed any help in that department!” comments the knowledgeable Bobby Riley. The sweat drips off the forehead of Todd Cortez as he gets up off his foe, eyeing Jefferson Harding to silently question the speed of the count. Cortez pulls Helmsley to his feet, and immediately unloads on him with right hands, striking him across the cheek time after time, until Helmsley cannot stand and collapses back into the ropes. Cortez pulls him away, whipping him into the far side and jumping up for a huracanrana, but Helmsley hooks the top rope with both of his arms and holds on, causing Cortez to fall flat on his back! Helmsley then opts to take a powder, as he rolls himself out of the ring under the bottom rope, falling to his knees on the outside. Seeing his charge exhausted, Joseph Corbin comes over to check on his condition, while Harding starts the ten count on Jacob Helmsley. ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FI-hold on! Harding is nudged aside by Cortez, who grabs him by the referee’s shirt and pulls him out of his way. Cortez then backs up and uses a baseball slide on Helmsley…but Jacob knocks Corbin out of the way, and backs off, causing Cortez to miss the both of them! Helmsley pulls Cortez out of the ring by his legs, and grabs a front waistlock, then runs him backwards into the ringpost, giving Cortez another reason to find a good massage therapist when this show is over! Cortez stands perched against the ringpost in a daze, and Helmsley backs up, charging at his foe and nailing him with…NO~! Cortez ducks out of the way as Jacob charges him with a clothesline, and Jacob winds up cracking his arm on the ringpost! Helmsley falls to his knees, clutching his left arm and grunting in pain, as Joseph Corbin comes back over to check on him. “Sometimes it’s even the smallest risks you have to make sure pay off, and unfortunately that little miscue could pay off for Todd Cortez!” “The art of war is to find a weakness and exploit it, Riley. Both of these guys were looking for that one opening, that one little flaw in either of their arsenals. Right now, Jacob Helmsley is in a bad way, and Todd Cortez NEEDS to capitalize on this ASAP.” Corbin asks Helmsley if he’s OK, and Jacob tells him to back off and that he’s fine, although he’s clutching his left arm in close to his body. He rolls back into the ring, but as he does, Cortez is right on him, stomping him as he enters, and picking him up, sending him to the ropes…REVERSED! Helmsley sends Cortez in, and catches him with a hiptoss with his good arm, sending Cortez sliding across the canvas! Cortez gets up, but as soon as he does he’s put back down by a charging Jacob, who nails him with a clothesline! Helmsley has a wild-eyed look come over him, and the fans roar in approval, as he pulls Cortez up and takes him over to the corner, and rams his head into the top turnbuckle! “Going back to what we just said, Comet, I suppose it’ll be easier said than done for Todd Cortez. It looks like the arm injury is just fueling Jacob that much more!” With Cortez on cloud nine, Helmsley keeps him confined to the corner, wailing on him with right hand haymakers that drive Cortez down to a seated position! Jacob pulls him up, and quickly sends him across the ring, crashing into the opposite corner! Cortez stumbles forward, and Helmsley boots him in the gut and quickly drills him headfirst into the canvas, hitting an Evenflow DDT in one fluid motion! “That’s the Evenflow DDT! Jacob Helmsley loves that move, and it could get him the victory tonight on Lockdown!” Jefferson Harding dives to the canvas like a baseball player sliding in to home plate, as Helmsley eagerly awaits the count… ONE! TWO!! THREE!!! NO! NO! CORTEZ KICKS OUT! “A 2.9 count from Jefferson Harding!” proclaims Riley. A mixed reaction follows the kickout, and Helmsley wastes no time in protesting the count. He gets up and shouts at Harding, who can only wave two fingers in front of Helmsley’s face. Jacob sneers, and turns around just as Cortez is attempting to push himself to his feet. Helmsley grabs him for a SECOND Evenflow DDT, but Cortez shoves him away out of desperation, then collapses back on the mat. Helmsley comes right back at Cortez, pulling him up and dragging him in towards him, but Cortez quickly wrenches the left arm and goes behind Jacob, hooking his own left arm over his, and then reaching around for an inverted facelock…CORTEZ IS GOING FOR THE STREET DREAMS! “Street Dreams, Riley! This move put Aecas out just a week ago!” “This could be the match ender right here, I’ll agree!” Cortez cannot fully get his right arm around Jacob Helmsley’s head, as the pipe wielder wriggles from of the dragon sleeper portion of the hold. Jacob then spins around so that while his arm is hooked, he’s facing Todd, and then shoves him towards the ropes, only for Todd to baseball slide through Jacob’s legs, and come up behind him quickly! Jacob has no chance to turn around, as this time Todd hops on his back (!) and attempts to hook the Street Dreams…and gets it! Todd has Street Dreams locked on while Jacob is holding him piggyback style! “He’s gonna ride him to the canvas!” “Riley, you’re a sick man!” Cortez lunges back, wrapping his legs around Jacob’s waist and pulls, trying to bring his rival down to the canvas. The fans murmuring becomes louder and louder as Cortez fights to keep the hold on while Jacob simultaneously fights to break it, and a slew of cheers are heard when Helmsley falls to one knee! Cortez immediately pulls back, taking Jacob Helmsley down to the canvas in a grapevine while he’s got the sleeper locked on, and Helmsley has nowhere to go! “Is he out? Did he tap?” “Comet, you’re watching the same match as me! Pay attention!” Helmsley struggles, but Cortez knows that the left arm is a problem area, and wrenches his hold back more. It’s a battle between the various crowd sections, as some are rooting for a win for Cortez, while many want Jacob Helmsley to break! “This is just like the other night with Aecas, minus the whole Janus deal. Todd Cortez went to work on the arm, and it’s playing into the outcome right now!” Helmsley, kicking his legs so that he looks like a fish flopping on the mat, has nowhere to go, and doesn’t have the power to get to a knee, nevermind his feet. Harding crouches down, peering into the glazed over eyes of Jacob…and then sees his right hand hit the canvas several times! “He tapped! Jacob Helmsley just tapped!” Jefferson Harding immediately waves his arms to call for the bell, and a mixed reaction comes over the crowd. Harding stands over Cortez and orders him to break the hold. When Cortez obliges, Harding helps him to his feet…and raises his arm in victory. FUNYON LAAAAAAAAADIEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS AND GENNNNTLLLLLEMENNNNNN, YOURRRRR WINNER, and now NUMBER ONE CONTENDER TO THE SWF CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE…TODDDDDD CORRRRTEZZZZZZZZ! After having his arm raised, Cortez walks over to the ropes and leans on the top one, putting his head in his arms and resting for a moment. Cortez pops his head up, and then steps back, raising both of his arms in triumph. “Give a lot of credit to Jacob Helmsley for putting up a hell of a fight tonight, but the better man was Todd Cortez!” “The streak continues, and the next stop could be double gold for the man from The Streets!” states Bobby Riley. Cortez retrieves his SWF World Tag Team Title and ducks out of the ring, draping it over his shoulder and walking to the back, as his theme song blares over the PA. The crowd in the Memorial Coliseum show their approval/disapproval, depending on their taste in SWF talent, as Cortez stands on the entrance ramp, turning back to face the crowd and raising both his arms, his left hand clutching his SWF tag belt up in the air. “Some love him, some hate him, but everyone has to call him a winner right now. Todd Cortez wins another one tonight on Lockdown, and is now in line to do battle with Johnny Dangerous for the SWF Cruiserweight Title!” “That’ll come at a later date, and should be a hell of a contest when it does go down. Don’t worry though, fans, you don’t have to wait much longer for more exciting SWF action, as we’ll have more for you after this word from our sponsors!”

“Annnnddd welcome back fans!” shouts Comet, “We’re not wasting any time tonight! Crow’s already in the ring as Citizen Crow and Citizen Janus are going to be battling it out in the ring once again... but this time, it’s hardcore rules! Robert, a prediction?” “Janus is going to murder Crow,” bluntly states Riley. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” rebuts Comet, “Crow did show a miraculous return to form on the last show and I imagine he would love to show everyone that he’s truly back in the superhero ranks.” “That may be true, but whispers around the locker room say that Crow doesn’t want to wrestle Janus tonight... he’s reluctant to step in the ring with him. Apparently, his bitch is pulling his leash,” remarks Bobby. “...language, Robert!” shouts Comet, appalled, “A true superhero never uses profanity regardless of the extremity of the situation!” Bobby smirks, “Well thank god I’m not a superhero.” “Nonsense! You have the power to predict the future!” “...it’s called being on the booking team.” “Silence!” Crow is pacing around the ring, and it’s obvious that he’s not happy about wrestling his friend tonight - if only because Jessica doesn’t want them to hurt each other. “Have you looked at the SWF website, Comet? Sources say that Jessica doesn’t want Crow and Janus to hurt each other tonight, this may be why Crow looks a little worried.” Comet adds, “And maybe she doesn’t wish to see the awakening of Terrence’s alter ego... Janus.” “Too late,” mocks Riley as Janus’ entrance begins. The lights dim and red lights flash, in synchronisation with an ominous, buzzing alarm. Indistinct red letters flash on the Smarktron and a bell tolls as the words resolve into... [sTATUS: RELEASED!] The chorus of Fear Factory's "Resurrection" echoes out over the arena, accompanied by a pair of spotlights that swing around the crowd as if searching. Blue pyrotechnics fountain from the ramp sides as Janus comes stalking through the entranceway, trenchcoat flapping behind him. He lifts his arms into the air despite the noise from the crowd, and begins stalking down the ramp. As he goes past each pyrotechnic fountain, they go out. ”Coming down the aisle, weighing in at three-hundred-and-sixty-pounds... he is the HELL MACHINE, this is.... JJJJJAAAAAANNNNNNNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSS!” When he reaches the bottom of the ramp, the Hell Machine discards his trenchcoat, laying it on the steps and rolling into the ring. He rises to his feet with a grim expression, thrusting his arms into the air. Blue fountains of flame explode from the turnbuckles, and it is this that brings the light back up as the sound of "Resurrection" fades out. Crow is across the ring, smoking in his corner, staring at the huge form of the Hell Machine. Janus stands in the centre of the ring, waiting for his opponent to step up and face the music... but Crow asks Funyon for a mic first. “Terrence...” says Crow, causing a twitch in Janus’ frame, “...I do not want to fight you tonight.” BOOOOOOOOOOOO! “Listen, listen... we don’t have to do this. I know you’re in there Terry and if there’s any of you left, I demand you to hear my words. Jessica does not want us to fight each other.” Janus steps forward and looks into Crow’s face as he continues to talk, “She’s your sister. She has already seen enough of us beating the fucking shit out of each other... do you understand, Terrence!?” Janus stares into Crow’s eyes with those fierce red pupils. The Antichrist Superstar doesn’t know what to say, it’s not working like it used to... “She doesn’t want me to aid Janus in taking over your mind and body, Terrence...” The Hell Machine smirks with a demonic face and then says... “Too late.” ... JANUS TAKES A SWING AT CROW! *DINGDINGDING!* Crow is knocked into the ropes by the ferocious power of his opponent and it is now that he realises... THIS IS JANUS! Afraid for his well being, Crow side steps out of the way of Janus’ running charge! Janus spills to the outside! The Gothic Warrior does not take advantage of the situation to go high risk, however, instead he slides to the outside and pushes the rising Janus to the ground for a pin. ONE! “RRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!” Janus bench presses Crow off, stopping the pin! Both rise quickly but it’s Crow that takes control with a snap Wunder Kick to his opponent’s stomach. Janus doubles over, allowing Crow to apply a front face lock and fall back the floor – driving the Hell Machine’s head into the thinly protected floor. The Antichrist Superstar rolls over into another pin. ONE! ...NOOOOOOO! Janus throws Crow off again! Cyclone Comet is confused, “Citizen Crow is looking to finish the match early, it seems.” “Of course he is... did you not get anything of what he said? He doesn’t want to fight! I assume he wants to get the pin early to not fight... understand?” explains Bobby, mocking all the way. “This superhero is not daft, Robert.” “You sure bloody act like it.” The Hell Machine growls as he stands up. Crow grabs an arm and whips Janus across the outside area... wait, no he doesn’t as the giant has other ideas. This idea is to stand his ground and laugh loudly as the bird pulls with all his weight... until he decides to reverse and send Crow flying into the steel steps! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! Janus lifts his arms up into the air, eliciting boos from the crowd, before he walks forward to wrench Crow up. *SMACK!* WWWOOOOOOOOOO! Janus unleashes a devastating chop upon his opponent’s chest! He decides to do it again! *SMACK!* WWWOOOOOOOOOOO! And again! *SMACK!* WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Janus rears his arm back for another chop, but is caught by a boot to the stomach from his competitor. Crow doesn’t waste anytime to rear his arm back and unleash a devastating fucking chop of his own! *SMACK!* WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And it’s a duelling chop battle! *SMACK!* WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *SMACK!* WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *SMACK!* WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Crow cries out as the chop to end all chops is delivered by the Hell Machine. Janus subsequently grabs the bird’s belt, places a huge hand around his throat... and military presses him into the air! Walking over to the railing, Janus drops his opponent throat first across the steel! Crow gasps for breath while he clutches at his throat, but he’s allowed no time to recover as the Hell Machine decides to take things up a notch. He leans over the railing, pushes a fan off his seat and raises the chair into the air! “And it’s time to bring the weapons of justice into this battle for valour!” exclaims Comet. Riley shakes his head, “Whatever happened to the good ol’ days when wrestling was just that... wrestling?” “They died when Dace Night and Crow entered this federation, Robert.” “Duly noted.” Crow looks up into the heavens and realises the predicament he’s in, and thus, he rolls out of the way just prior to getting cracked in the face by the steel chair! Janus lifts the chair up again and brings it down - narrowly missing the moving bird! It’s a game of cat and mouse as Janus keeps slamming the chair on the ground as Crow rolls around. It’s rather amusing for those watching in the crowd, but I assure you, it isn’t for either competitor. Crow is tiring already, smoking kills, while Janus is getting increasingly frustrated as he continues to miss. *THWACK!* That is until he finally connects with a tremendous chair shot to his opponent’s back! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH! The Antichristian Phenomenon cries out in agony as he feels a couple stitches come loose. Blood is starting to stream. With a sense of urgency, Crow crawls along the floor and under the ring as Janus bellows laughter. The Hell Machine continues to laugh whilst he walks closer to his opponent. But, unexpected to him, Crow swings from under the ring and SMASHES a Singapore cane into the giant’s knee! Cyclone Comet applauds, “Clever tactic used there by Citizen Crow, using the ring as a shield from Janus’ vision to gain an equaliser.” “Janus should have known Crow was up to something,” adds Bobby, “I guess he’s a little dumber than this ‘Terry’ fellow.” Janus drops the chair and doubles over to grab a hold of his knee, but realises that this is bad idea as it leaves him open to various attacks. He shoots upright quickly... but he’s played right into the Antichrist Superstar’s hands. Crow was already in the midst of springboarding off the apron and rearing his leg straight into his opponent’s face! The Hell Machine stumbles into the railing and falls on his knees but Crow isn’t stopping his assault just yet. In fact, he’s already back on the apron... He jumps off, holding the singapore cane high in the air and BREAKS IT OVER THE GIANT’S HEAD! Janus falls back to the floor and Crow jumps on for the pin. ONE! TTTNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Janus throws Crow off of himself, once again showcasing his superior strength. “And Crow is still going for those quick pins, in the hopes of getting the Hell Machine down for the three early,” intelligently comments Riley. Janus is already rising and not looking to get hurt or be forced to seriously hurt his opponent, Crow rolls into the ring. He has to think of a way to beat Janus without going against Jessica’s wishes. It’s crazy what a man will do for love. And it’s crazy what a crazy man can do. Janus growls upon seeing his opponent and climbs into the ring, but before he can get a second step, Crow rushes forward and drives the shoulder into his knee. The Hell Machine stumbles onto the ropes, but is quickly spun around and slammed onto the mat by a ferocious dragon leg whip from the Antichrist Superstar. Crow continues to work the leg by grabbing a hold of one... and forward-flipping over Janus’ body in a very Bret-Hart-esque move. “Citizen Crow is going back to the strategy that was so successful against Janus back in their Best Of Five match series, working the leg and probably applying the sharpshooter to finish,” states Comet. Bobby Riley nods, “Janus has lost to Crow’s sharpshooter twice before, if he can get it locked in very soon, he may just get Jessica’s wish and not have to hurt Janus... all that much, anyway.” Crow proceeds to perform the same move again, and then pulls Janus to the ropes. He elevates the Hell Machine’s leg on the second rope, jumps into the air and elbow drops the knee into the canvas! The giant roars in pain and clutches at his leg, but Crow doesn’t stop, he simply does the move again. Once again. And one more time! Not stopping the assault, Crow pulls Janus’ to the middle of the ring via the leg... AND APPLIES THE SHARPSHOOTER! “Oh, look! Citizen Crow has got the sharpshooter locked in and he’s syncing down on the pressure!” The Antichristian Phenomenon’s face turns red as he uses all his might to support the massive legs of the Hell Machine. Janus is roaring in agony and is trying to crawl towards the ropes. He’s getting closer. And closer... He’s there! The referee quickly comes in to break the hold, which Crow relinquishes. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t want the match won NOW, as he pulls Janus back into the center of the ring and tries to apply the sharpshooter again. Not this time though, as the Machine from Hell moves his legs wildly and kicks Crow into the corner. Janus stands up slowly, shaking his leg out, and hobbles forward to the corner. He latches onto an arm and whips Crow into the opposite corner. Face first is the bird’s connection and he stumbles out... right into the waiting arms of Janus! Janus locks on the full nelson and heaves Crow overhead with ease – nailing a vicious snap full nelson suplex! “Superlative full nelson suplex! Citizen Janus now has the advantage with that swift but horribly painful move. Though, I wonder how his knee is feeling...” says Comet. “He’s big, he’s tough. He can handle it,” remarks Bobby. The Hell Machine could go for a pin right now, but instead, he decides to torture his opponent until he cries and begs for mercy. Janus picks Crow up like a fucking rag-doll and whips him into the ropes. Crow rebounds and flies head first into a huge yakuza kick from the big man! The Gothic Warrior is knocked silly yet still manages to remain standing. This is unfortunate, as it allows the giant to apply a belly to belly lock... ...AND SUPLEX HIM OVERHEAD! Janus roars and doesn’t stop his barrage of offence! There’s still much more to come for Crow. The Hell Machine kneels down next to his opponent... and rips off Crow’s shirt! “Ooooooo!” giggles Bobby Riley. “Citizen Janus is now proving how vile a monster he is by violently removing Citizen Crow’s shirt and revealing the numerous stitches on his stomach and back. He has no honour.” Janus laughs loudly at the bruised and stitched body of the bird... and he laughs even more when notices some of the stitches have come loose. Sadism then pops into his head with an idea. Janus takes his finger and rides it into Crow’s flesh... ...and rips out the stitches!!! “Ugh, that’s horrifying!” shouts a shocked superhero. Janus dives into every wound, digs around and rips out the stitches and staples! Crow is in ABSOLUTE AGONY! He writhes around on the canvas as pain shoots through every limb in his body! Janus laughs and leaves Crow to cry in pain so he can go under the ring to pick up some more toys. This time, he pulls out a chair... and a white bag that is filled with something that can’t be made out. Janus rolls back into the ring, opens the bag and dumps the contents all over Crow! The Antichrist Superstar SCREAMS IN AGONY, IN FUCKING AGONY! IT’S SALT, JANUS HAS COVERED THE FRESHLY WOUNDED CROW IN SALT! “Oh dear! That’s not what I think it is... is it, Comet?” “I believe it is, I believe it’s salt. This has to be a pre-meditated attack by Janus, surely we don’t have a bag of salt under the ring at all times! At least, I think.” Crow rolls around in an effort to stop the agony, while Janus just laughs and raises the chair in the air! *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Comet is horrified at the bloody mess in the ring before him, “Citizen Janus is in total control of this match up... after just beating Crow to death with a chair!” “Well, Crow brought it on himself, trying to not hurt Janus because of Jessica! I mean, damn, a man has to defend himself!!” shouts Riley. Crow is bloodied, beaten and absolutely fucking battered; the Hell Machine’s assault has been devastating. Janus looks down upon his bloody opponent. “You remember me now, don’t you, Crow?” Crow’s head cocks right up and stares into the eyes of the Hell Machine. “Hahaha... that’s right, it’s me, ol’ J-A-N-U-S, JANUS!” The Gothic Warrior grunts and hocks a bloody loogie into Janus’ face. The giant growls as he wipes the loogie off his face. “Hmph... I have something for you, old friend.” Janus stomps on his opponent’s face and then turns around, striding out of the ring to the outside. He bends down and looks under the ring for Crow’s present. “No, he didn’t bring that here...” sulks Comet. “YES, HE DID!” shouts Bobby whilst he jumps out of his seat in excitement... “IT’S THE EQUALISER!!” “AND IT’S COVERED IN LIGHT BULBS!!!” RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! The crowd is jumping up and down in their seats for the long awaited reappearance of the EQUALISER! Janus rolls into the ring to meet his fallen opponent. Crow just isn’t going to lie there and take a beating from the Hell Machine though. Using the last ounce of dexterity in his body, the Gothic Warrior pushes off the ground, slides his leg around... and takes Janus’ feet out from under him! The giant falls onto his back and howls at the hit to his leg but still manages to hold onto the equaliser whilst Crow jumps to his feet, launches into the air, arches his back and backflips two-hundred-seventy-degrees – connecting with the standing Evenflow Moonsault! Lateral pin! ONE! TWO! *SMASH!* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! “GOOD GOSH!” screams Comet, “Citizen Janus has just broken the pinfall attempt by SMASHING THE EQUALISER ACROSS SUPERHERO CROW’S BACK! What a heinous act!” “It may be heinous but it was great presence of mind! Crow did not realise to remove the Equaliser from Janus’ range and did he pay for it!” adds Riley. ====BACKSTAGE================================= Jessica watches the match from Crow’s locker room and is stressing hard. Her head is in her hands and she doesn’t know what to do! She stands up and paces around the room, pulling her hair out all the while! “Aaaahhh, that’s it!” she screams as he throws her cigarette into the ashtray and runs out of the room. ================================================ The Antichrist Superstar yells in pain as he’s pushed into the air by a monstrous giant. Janus has ripped open every single bit of stitching on his body and created some more holes that will need stitching! Glass is sticking out of Crow’s back and blood is pissing out by the gallon... but is Janus finished yet? FUCK NO! He wrenches Crow up by the hair and roughly pulls him around the ring. Switching his grasp on his opponent to the arm, Janus sends Crow flying into the ropes... ...Crow rebounds off at the speed of light... STRAIGHT INTO A FULL POWER PULL SHOT WITH THE LIGHT BULB COVERED EQUALISER! THE CRICKET BAT BREAKS IN HALF ACROSS HIS SKULL! “HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!” “Oh. My. Gosh.” Cyclone Comet is absolutely lost for words. As is Bobby Riley, “...” “Superhero Crow has been damned to death by the kryptonite that is the Equaliser.” “Yep, that’s it, he’s dead,” adds a serious colour commentator. The connection has sent Crow reeling, the momentum taking him through the ropes and to the outside. This is where he lies... twitching and convulsing. Janus stands in the ring, holding the remains of the Equaliser. He throws it out of the ring and raises his arms into the air. BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! “The fans show their love for the man who just killed their second favourite superhero,” says a shocked Comet. “Usually, I’d cheer... but I don’t feel I shou.............. oh, wait a fucking minute, who the hell is that at the top of the stage!?” “...why... why it’s Citizen Jessica! What the heck is she doing here!?” “I don’t know, but she better get out of here if she knows what’s good for her,” correctly comments Bobby Riley. Jessica tries her damn hardest to get to the ring as fast as possible. Janus lets his arms fall and begins to walk to the ring ropes, looking to go outside and score the pinfall. But Jessica rolls into the ring and yells, “TERRENCE!” thus causing the Hell Machine to twitch and turn around to face her. Janus is ready to split the skull of the female who called his name, but... he sees that it’s Jessica. “Terrence, stop! You’re going to kill him!” Janus hobbles a step closer. “Terrence... I love you... and I love him... please don’t make this worse than it already is...” Janus hobbles a step closer and cocks his head to the side, like a puppy dog listening to a strange noise. “Listen to me... I can help you... we can take you to Frood and help you get back in control...” Janus stops listening and starts to circle around Jessica, and this causes her to move around and closer to the side where her man lies struggling to regain his senses and energy. Cyclone Comet has had enough, “I cannot sit idly by and watch this heinous monster taunt this damsel like so!” “Wait, Comet! NO!” shouts Bobby Riley, who tries to grab a hold of Cyclone Comet as the superhero goes to serve up a dish of JUSTICE! Cyclone Comet slides (flies) under the bottom rope and places himself in-between Janus and Jessica. “Hold it right there, you vile monste-” before Cyclone can even finish his sentence, Janus rushes forward and nails the commentator in the stomach with a vicious big boot! Comet stumbles but is quickly pulled back in by a huge hand grasped around his throat... “Oh dear.” JANUS LIFTS COMET INTO THE AIR AND THROWS HIM DOWN INTO THE CANVAS WITH AN INJURIOUS CHOKESLAM! Jessica screams. BBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! “Someone get a medic down here now! Cyclone Comet has just been chokeslammed by Janus! Someone stop this maniac!” The scream of his girlfriend has willed Crow to somehow pull himself up via the apron. Fear overtakes Jessica as a furious giant is standing only a few feet away. Janus smirks evilly and stares deeply into his sister’s eyes. Crow peers his head over the apron and screams, “JEESSSIIIICCCCCAAAA!” Jessica looks over her shoulder to look at her boyfriend and this momentary glimpse away from Janus allows him to rear back his arm, fully wind up and THROW HIS FIST FORWARD! The Antichrist Superstar’s eyes widen. Jessica turns her head back to face Janus... AND GETS HER HEAD TAKEN CLEAN OFF BY AN UNBELIEVABLY POWERFUL KNUCKLE BOMB! SHE FLIES INTO THE ROPES AND SPLATS ONTO THE CANVAS! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! “HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!” “SHIT! Janus just belted his own sister! What the hell is going on here!?” shouts Bobby Riley. Crow screams at the sight of his Jessica getting knocked unconscious by the fist of Janus... his mortal enemy. “NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Crow drops to the floor, pants uncontrollably and clutches at his face. His mind races... “This is the point of no return. There is no coming back from this. No holding back...“ The Gothic Warrior up all the pain, all the agony and all the fucking blood loss to move his arm under the ring and pull out his weapon of choice. The. Glass. Light. Tube. He stands up and jumps onto the apron with a face of hatred. The time has come for Janus to feel the hate. Crow steps through the ropes and charges at Janus with the glass tube reared back... but no! He fakes the giant out and drops to nail a low dropkick to the knee! The Hell Machine hobbles backwards, and then feels the wrath of his opponent, who swings the glass light tube straight into his face! Janus is knocked into the corner where the Antichrist Superstar unloads a barrage of devastating and bone-breaking Wunder Kicks! Medical staff and Bobby Riley get Jessica and Comet out of the ring while this happens... swelling has appeared on Jessica’s face and blood oozes from her mouth. Crow notices this and it sends him into a frenzy of rage! He starts clawing at Janus’ eyes with his long nails and doesn’t stop until the Hell Machine pushes him away. Blinded by the blood surging out of his eyes, Janus runs forward in attempt to clothesline his opponent... however, Crow ducks under the arm, swings around the body, applies a front face lock and DRIVES JANUS” HEAD INTO THE CANVAS WITH A STIFF DDT! YYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Crow doesn’t give a fuck about the pin; instead, he rolls to the outside and goes under the ring. To the delight of the crowd, he pulls out the following items... Glass light tubes, five of them. All filled with something metallic. And a GLASS table! He has something planned for the Hell Machine as he sets up the table on the outside... oblivious to the fact that Janus is now right behind him. Janus clenches his fists together and cracks Crow across the back with a double axe handle! The attack sends the Gothic Warrior reeling forward; afterward Janus lifts Crow up charges at the ring post – breaking his opponent’s back! The Hell Machine stomps on Crow before going under the ring and pulling out another glass table. Janus moves both tables next to each other and close to the turnbuckle, directly next to the apron. Following this, he picks up the glass light tubes and places them on the tables. He then wrenches Crow up and hits a couple punches before rolling him back into the ring. The big man follows and proceeds to seat his dazed and bloody opponent on the turnbuckle. Bobby Riley finally gets back to his commentary position, “Sorry about that, fans, due to Janus’ actions, I had to abandon my position to go assist the meds. It seems that Janus is ready to finish Crow off once and for all!” Janus steps through the ropes and stands on the apron. He grabs Crow’s throat with both of his hands, gripping tightly and waiting for Crow to turn blue... No! Crow digs his claws into Janus’ arms and starts to ferociously scratch! Janus’ grip loosens with every scratch... and one arm loses grip - allowing Crow to move closer and scratch into the Janus’ eyes! “RRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!” The Hell Machine lets go of the hold! Crow pulls Janus’ head in and applies a front face lock! Before Janus can even realise what’s going on... Crow has jumped off the turnbuckle... and he’s swinging around... “HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!” TORNADO DDT THROUGH THE LIGHT TUBE COVERED GLASS TABLES! CROW HAS MURDERED JANUS! CROW SLUMPS AN ARM ON JANUS! ONE! TWO! TTTTHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Bobby Riley jumps out of his seat and applauds, “Crow wins! Crow beats The Hell Machine!” “And the winner of this bout, as a result of pinfall... The Antichrist Superstar, CRRRRRRRROOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!” The medical team rushes back down to the ring once again and hastily removes Crow from the wreckage, as they know he wants to see Jessica. “Wow. That match was something...” begins Riley as highlights start to roll while he recaps, “Crow was reluctant going into the match, due to Jessica having a problem with him hurting Janus and vice versa. However, Crow was unable to keep the game of cat and mouse and trying to get an early pin up, and Janus eventually took over with some hard impact moves. Then, the shit started to hit the fan, Janus went insane. Cyclone Comet and Jessica being the innocent victims. And upon seeing Janus hurting his girl, Crow snapped and willed himself to defeat his opponent. Crazy what the love for a woman can do to someone.” The camera follows Crow getting helped up the aisle. “Now we go to an extended commercial break and when we return, hopefully Comet will be back...” --- © A Match Of Crow: 2004.

“You all set Gus?” The image shakes and flicks into full life, showing somewhere backstage at the Memorial Coliseum and standing in the middle of the corridor, Dace Night. “Well… tonight sees the start of the bets of five series between myself and Tom Flesher. I’ll have a lot more to say about this online at my website, www.horrorcore.com, as I’m no good with words. But I will deliver this to all the fans, and to Tom Flesher. Tom, don’t think you’ve got the upper hand so easily, I’m going to turn up and fight with everything I’ve got in these matches. I will fight you to the last Flesher. If I lose… I just know your game plan so I can work around it. If I win.. maybe it is an upset, but it defiantly wont help your mind. Don’t forget as well, you HAVE to face me in a Hardcore Match and you know fine well what will happen. You’re going to try and take me out in the Submissions Match… I’m going to do the same in Hardcore. Then, we’ve got two more matches we might reach, which could swing either way if either of us survives. So Tom Flesher, this is going to be a war, a clash with everything we’ve got in the ring. No one knows who will win but I do know if you beat me and capture the World Title again… I’ll be right on your heels ready for another fight. Hope you’ve been watching your tapes Tom, you’ll need it.” The words come slowly, but Dace’s glare never fades and he growl drops deeper and deeper as he goes, focusing all his feeling on the fight with Tom Flesher. Cutting a hand across his neck, Dace signals its over. Gus drops the camera and the sound of Night’s boots echo through the corridor as the image fades out into the next match up.

We return from another commercial break to SWF Lockdown, where the lights have dimmed down and "Not Today" by Livewire has just started...which heralds the arrival of the new 'upset kid' "Hollywood" Spike Jenkins. Head down, Spike steps onto the stage and glares down at the steel stage beneath his feet... *BOOOOOOOMMM!!!* ...as white pyro goes off either side of him. But, there's no need to focus on that, when CYCLOOONE COMET~! is sitting at ringside... "Welcome back..." Cyclone Comet's heroic voice booms as we're back from a commercial break, and back live. "...to SWF Lockdown. We're live in Portland Oregon, which so far Bobby Riley has been unable to think up a joke for. And for that, I'm sure you will agree, we can all be thankful for. Cyclone Comet here at ringside with the overly effeminate fruitcake known as Bobby Riley..." "Err...Hi!" "Thanks...as you can see, "Hollywood" Spike Jenkins is on his way to the ring, ready to challenge for the USJL Cha..." "TRIPLE CROWN Championship!!!" Riley interrupts. "Get it right." "Sorry...'Triple Crown' Championship. Regardless of name or legacy, on Storm, Spike made the current champion Landon Maddix tap out, so..." "It was...a...CHOKE!!!" "Tehnically, it wasn't a choke." "You said that last week! Why call it a 'rear naked choke' if it's not a choke?" "Why call you an announcer, when technically, you're not?" Comet sneers back, which shuts Riley up. "Anyway...tonight, Spike gets a shot at the title...and if the result is the same as on Storm, we will have a new champion. Don't put it past Spike either." "I don't put anything past him...but he doesn't deserve to be a champion. He'd make a terrible champion. Do you realise he lets his twelve year old daughter smoke at the table in front of her kids? Horrible championship material." "Obviously, I don't need to tell you all at home that Robert's word is worth about as much as the clothes he's wearing. Not a lot." By now, Spike has entered the ring and is now waiting on his opposition's arrival... "This contest is scheduled for one fall, and is for the USJL CHA...TRIPLE CROWN CHAAAMPIONSHIP!!! In the ring...the challenger. From Hollywood, California. He weighs two hundred and twenty five pounds..."HOLLYWOOD"...SPIIIIIKEEE...JEEEEENKIIINSSS!!!" ...not even acknowledging his introduction, as he glares down the aisleway with focus etched on his face. By now, all the fanfare for Spike has died down, leaving him to wait impatiently against the ropes...as suddenly, the lights begin to dim and a faint guitar riff starts to play through the arena. Understandably, the crowd are more confused than rabidly angry, obviously not smart enough to put two and two together, and realise who's coming out. The big clue is not too far away though, as the drums begin to kick in... "PREPARE...FOR...LANDON!" ...WAAAAAHHHHH... *DUM DUM* "Megalomaniac" by Incubus begins to kick in, just as Landon Maddix steps out from behind the curtain laden with gold...one JL belt in each hand, and the US Title around his waist. But despite being weighed down in championship belts, Maddix clearly isn't in the mood to gloat about his success...glaring right back down at Spike in the ring as he walks purposefully down the ramp, with Megan Skye struggling to keep up behind him. "Oh boy...Landon means business here tonight." Riley beams expectantly. "This should be fun..." "And the opponent...accompanied by his 'Perfect 10' Megan Skye. He hails from Huron, South Dakota and weighs two hundred ten pounds...the reigning and defending SWF USJL TRIPLE CROWN CHAMPION! This is...LANDON..."LA CUCARACHA"...MAAAAADDIIIIIXXX!!!" Maddix walks around to the front of the ring as the camera is poisitioned, hopping to the apron and giving Megan and helping hand up before holding the ropes for her to enter the ring. Landon stops however, turning back to the crowd before glaring down at the apron beneath his feet... "HEY MEG - A -LOMANIAC" ...waiting until those lines are screamed out, before snapping back up, throwing his gold filled arms in the air to a tumultitude of boos from the Portland natives in the crowd. That doesn't bother him however, as he turns and enters the ring where assigned referee Eddy Long is waiting to take the belts off of him. Landon wants one more pose with the belts first though, before beginning to heap the gold on Long. "Sit back Comet...grab your Pepsi Max, and prepare for a great show from Landon." "Don't count out Spike..." "Why not? The name Spike is synominous with suck. Spike Jenkins. Spike Lee. Spike from 'the company which cannot be named for legal reasons'..." "What about Spike, the former SWF World Champion?" "..." Now Long has all the belts, he attempts to go through the usual pre-match belt-showing...but, finds it so awkward to lift all three due to the way he's holding them and decides to give up and just hand them out of the ring. Landon stands in the corner, busily adjusting his knee and elbow pads, all the while staring across the ring to where Spike is going through his own preperations. All that remains now is for Long to call for the bell...but Landon isn't waiting for that, striding out of the corner and into the center of the ring as Spike does the same. *DING DING DING!* The bell has obviously now rung...not that it matters to Spike and Landon, who are going nose to nose in the ring with Landon utilising some trash talking tactics to try and intimidate the challenger. But, that's just not gonna happen. Infact, rather than back down in worry, Spike simply grins at the seething Maddix...who backs away from Jenkins, shaking his head in disbelief. He gets a few steps back before changing his mind, and swinging back with a right hand...which Spike deftly blocks, before kneeing Maddix in the gut. Now it's Spike who swings with a right, only his connects, and is promptly followed up with a series more to rock Landon back towards the ropes. The Triple Crown Champion collapses against them from the barrage of blows, but is immediately pulled away by Jenkins and irish whipped across the ring. Hitting the opposite ropes, Landon rebounds back as Spike raises an elbow...which Landon ducks under, before catching Spike in a schoolboy... ONE! T... ...quick kickout. "Oooh...nearfall!!!" gasps Riley fakely. Spike rolls back up quickly, and immediately lunges forward for a tie-up, only for Maddix to duck under the arms and catch another schoolboy... ONE! ...even quicker kickout. "Oooh...ANOTHER nearfall!" Riley again gasps. Once more, Jenkins is up quickly, a little caught off-guard by the speed of La Cucaracha. Again he moves in for a tie-up, and again Landon tries to weave into a roll-up attempt, but Spike knees him in the gut, before turning and locking on a side headlock... ...which Maddix quickly thrusts out of, before scurrying away into retreat in the corner. "Wow...Landon Maddix wants NO part of that side headlock!" Comet points out. "No, he just doesn't want to get choked out like he did on Storm!" "LANDON SUCKS! LANDON SUCKS! LANDON SUCKS!" The gleeful fans take the opportunity to heap some unflatterring chants on the USJL 'Triple Crown' Champion, as he pulls himself up in the corner and quickly composes himself. Spike is already moving in on Landon however, so Maddix stays backed up in the corner...but catches the challenger walking in with a boot, before manouvering him into the corner... *SMACK!* "WHOOOOOO!!!" ...and nailing a knifedge chop! Spike holds his chest in pain, as Landon reels back again... *SMACK!* "WHOOOOOO!!!" ...and nails a second! "Ha ha!" chuckles Riley. "Spike is being lit up like a blunt in the hands of a student...which is kinda ironic, considering..." "Can you say 'blunt' on T.V?" "I don't know...but now you said it too. If I'm going down, I'm dragging you with me buddy." Spike again clutches at his chest, as Landon grabs him by the arm and whips him across the ring towards the opposite corner, only for Spike to hold on and reverse. It's Maddix who crashes into the corner subsequently, as Jenkins charges in after him...cartwheeling just in front of the corner, before throwing his feet out for the Tidal Wave...but Landon has vacated the corner, causing Spike to land flat on his face! The only slightly dazed Jenkins quickly pulls himself back up, but Maddix is waiting, leaping into the air and Dropsaulting off the challenger! Spike is down again, and Landon is on his knees...the perfect position to grin out at the fans at ringside. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Undettered by the dis-respect, Landon flips Spike over and makes another cover... ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! "It's been a lightning quick start to this match...and that's three pin attempts by Landon already." observes Comet. "He's obviously eager to get out of Portland with his belt as soon as possible." "Wouldn't you?" sneers Bobbo. "This place is like a third-world country compared to what Landon's used to!" Hopping to his feet, Landon quickly grabs Spike and begins to pull him off the mat...not worried by Eddy Long's reprimands for the handful of hair he has. Hollywood is still a little dis-orientated, as Maddix shoves him back into the turnbuckles and nails a quick European uppercut to snap Spike's head back. The force staggers Jenkins out of the corner, and into a boot from Landon who quickly locks on a front facelock... "OH MY GOD CHOKE~!" Comet wails sarcastically. "CALL FOR DA BELL~!" "Oh shut up!" Eddy Long possibly hears Comet, or is acting on orders from Zenon, as he decides to check if Maddix is using a choke, but decides that the hold is legal. That leaves Spike having to get out of the hold on his own merits, which he begins to with some jabs to the ribs of the champion. However, Landon raises a knee into Jenkins' jaw to stop him, before grabbing the arm of the challenger and hooking it into suplex position. Attempting a lift, Landon finds Spike a little hard to lift...but puts more effort into a second attempt, lifting Jenkins up into the air. The challenger is left hanging momentarily, before Landon releases Spike's tights and allows him to fall into a BRUTAL neckbreaker from high in the air...floating over into a quick cover moments later... ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! "And only a two off The Landslide." points out Cyclone. "Maddix is trying relentlessly for a quick win tonight." Landon looks a little peeved that he only got two, taking his frustrations out on Spike with a series of right hands...pulling away before Long can move in and reprimand him. Meanwhile, Spike has begun to favour his neck after The Landslide, which Landon notices and grins widely at, before turning to Megan and letting her know the he knows about Spike's neck. But as Spike gets up, it's clear he knows that Landon knows...but Landon doesn't know that Spike knows that he knows, and walks in confidentally towards the challenger. Jenkins is able to react however, picking up Landon for a scoop slam... ...which Landon floats out of, landing behind and spinning Spike around into a right hand which stuns the challenger. Quickly Maddix follows up with a quick kick to the gut, before locking on another front facelock while he stops to mug for the cameras. A theatrical pull-back of the leg earns Maddix a few boos from the crowd, as a split-second later he brings it back and falls with a SNAP DDT, which nearly lives up to it's name as far as Jenkins' neck is concerned. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Hearing the crowd's boos, Landon...who seemed to be preparing to cover Spike again...stops and looks around the sold-out Portland crowd, with a shake of the head and a wag of the finger to Long. He's not done. Not yet. Spike is looking to get up, but Maddix drives a knee to the face to stop him. It only works momentarily, as Spike defiantly tries to get up again...this time getting a kick to the jaw, before Landon leaps into the air, spinning around and hitting a 360 Legdrop. But again, rather than go for the cover, Maddix gets back up and takes some more time to taunt the crowd, allowing Jenkins time to recover in the process. "This is great Comet!" beams Bobby. "Spike Junkins' title hopes are dissolving like a snail in a salt factory, and it's so enjoyable it's untrue." "That was a HORRIBLE metaphor Bobby. What the hell is a salt factory?" ".....the place they make salt?" Finally finishing his conversation with a couple of particularly vocal ringside haterz, Maddix turns back around to see a groggy Spike trying to pull himself up with a hold of his neck, and with a grin the Triple Crowner backs up into one corner of the ring and holds his hand up high... *STOMP!* "Oh boy...tune up the choir Comet!" *STOMP!* *STOMP!* *STOMP!* *STOMP!* *STOMP!* Spike is back to his feet, and the crowd are in a frenzy as Maddix bounds out of the corner to deliver Spike with some Sweet... ...Disciple... ...Musi... ...DUCKED! "Wha...!?!" Landon wheels back around in confusion, as Spike has readied himself to swing with the Last Dance... ...but that too is ducked, leaving Spike dis-orientated. Maddix promptly charges into the ropes while Jenkins is still regaining his bearings, rebounding in Spike's direction with a flying forearm, which Spike has no idea is coming until it's too late... *WHAM!* Landon lands on top, and hooks a leg... ONE! TWO! KICKOUTATTWOBYSPIKE!!! "And ANOTHER nearfall!" gasps Comet. "Spike Jenkins is determined to win his first SWF gold here tonight!" "No chance. I told you last week was a fluke...Landon is dominating here tonight." "Like Spike dominated him on Storm." "Fluke..." Clearly a little pertubed at not getting a three, Maddix begins to voice his concerns to Long, while Spike is again dragging himself back up despite the punishment he has taken in the past few minutes. Landon eventually pulls himself away from Long and walks over to where Spike has just reached his feet, slamming a right hand into the forehead of the challenger before whipping him towards the ropes. Spike can't stop himself...until that is he catches hold of the top rope, and halts himself. Wearily he slumps back against the ropes, as Maddix reacts and charges towards Hollywood... *SMACK!* ...who gets a boot up... *SMACK!* ...AND NAILS THE LAST DANCE!!! "YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" The crowd pop, as Spike falls back into the ropes again and tries to clear his head of the codwebs, unable to capitalise on the knocked out Maddix. "Spike Jenkins just NAILED Landon with that Last Dance superkick!" booms Comet. "And that may have changed the tide of this match enough for Spike to get some gold!" After a good few seconds, Spike finally pulls himself away from the ropes and grabs Landon by the hair, opting to add more punishment before attempting a pinfall. Dragging Maddix up, the challenger grabs his opponent by the arm and irish whips him across the ring, before backing into the ropes. Spike then takes a tumble forwards, and looks for the rolling lariat...which Landon is able to roll under, causing Spike to whiff the clothesline and catch nothing but thin-air. Quickest to react is the champion, running up behind Spike and pushing him into the ropes in preperation for a roll-up, but Jenkins holds onto the ropes and pushes Landon off. The champ rolls through to his feet, and charges again but Spike charges out from the ropes too...ducking under a Maddix clothesline, and hitting the Phantom Neckbreaker! Maddix bounces head-first off the match, as Jenkins makes the cover... ONE! TWO! NOONLYATWOCOUNT!!! Spike slams his hands to the mat in frustration at the nearfall, quickly getting back to his feet and calling for Maddix to get back up as he backs into the corner. Groggily Landon begins to recover, looking to be favouring his neck just as Spike is favouring his while standing in the corner. A few moments later, Landon regains his vertical base, at which point Spike charges out of the corner with the cheers of the crowd behind him, throwing out a Yakuza Kick... ...which Maddix ducks, before quickly diving onto Spike's back, and attempting to clamp on the Land of Nod! "Here we go!" beams Riley. "It's time to go to sleep for Spike!" "But...no...Landon can't lock this on, because Zenon's banned all choke-holds from this match!" "It's not a choke..." "If a rear-naked-choke is a choke, then the dragon clutch certainly is." "It's not called the dragon choke, or a choke clutch. It's not a choke!" Spike however is well-versed in the knowledge of a dragon clutch, and is able to twist and turn his head for long enough to avoid being clamped in the hold. But he knows he can't fight forever, so Jenkins instead quickly focuses on unlocking Maddix's legs from around his waist...which he manages to do, allowing him to flip Maddix over and into position for Spike's version of the dragon clutch, The Silver Lining! "CHOKE! THAT'S A CHOKE!" Riley wails as Spike tries to lock it in. However, Landon knows what's coming and how to counter, turning to the side which leaves him reverse front facelocking Jenkins. By now, Eddy Long has reacted and is on the look-out for any choke-holds...so rather than risk disqualification, Maddix changes tact and whips his free arm around to drop Jenkins back-of-the-head-first to the canvas! "Landon Eye!" a decidedly happier Riley booms. "That's got to be all this goof can take!" Thinking quickly, Maddix reaches over and grabs a leg... ONE! TWO! THR... NOSPIKEGETSASHOULDERUP!!! "YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" "And only two!" beams Cyclone. "Spike keeps his title hopes alive, and Maddix can hardly believe it!" Indeed, Landon is furiously complaining to referee Eddy Long about the count, showing signs of desperation at not being able to put Jenkins away. But seeing that Long is not backing down, Maddix angrily gives up and rolls off...out to the ring apron, where he pulls himself up and begins to climb to the top rope. Currently Jenkins is still down, but Landon takes a while to get to the top rope and by the time he reaches his destination, Spike is beginning to pull himself up which forces Landon to re-think his strategy. "SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!" The crowd rally behind the challenger, who is unaware of Maddix's position and groggily looks around for him around the ring...eventually turning around enough for Maddix to stand on his perched position and propel himself off the ropes, flying through the air like a missile... ...but Spike was playing possum, turning away the Prepare For Landon... ...AND CATCHING LANDON COMING DOWN WITH THE BAD BEAT!!!!! "YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" The crowd explode, as Megan is looking on it total shock at what just happened. "BAD BEAT TO THE FLYING LANDON!!!" Comet erupts once he's over the shock. "LANDON IS OUT!" "No.....no..." Spike is slowly beginning to move first, still favouring his neck, but in blatantly better shape than the champion...who has shown no signs of moving since crashing into a Bad Beat. The crowd meanwhile are pumped up, possibly sensing that Spike has the match won and willing him to make a cover. "SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!" "Spike has this match won! He just needs to get a hand on Maddix, and we've got a new USJL Champion!" gasps Comet, clearly pleased at the turn of events himself. "He's three seconds away from the USJL Title!" "Will you shut up!" Riley whines. "This is HORRIBLE..." Slowly Spike hears the crowd's cheers, and begins to crawl over to where Landon is still lying motionless and all Megan can do is watch on in horror from ringside, as Spike inches closer... ...and closer... ...before dropping a hand across the champion's chest... ONE! TWO! THRE... NOOOOO!!! MEGAN PULLS LANDON OUT FROM THE COVER!!! "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" "What the hell...GET HER OUT OF HERE!!!" blasts Comet. "We should have a new champion right now!" "BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!" The crowd are quite clearly furious, as Eddy Long looks up in confusion, but puts two and two together upon seeing Megan's poorly executed look of innocence...rolling from the ring, and asking Megan if she pulled Landon out of the cover. Again Megan tries to look innocent, but fails, so Long has no choice... "YOU...OUT!" ...to banish her to the back!!! "YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Riley can't believe it. "NO! You can't do that! She's the Toddess!!!" "That's the least she deserves after costing Spike the title." "Landon was just about to get a shoulder up..." "Oh, SURE he was..." Megan clearly doesn't want to go, and starts throwing a hissy fit while Long tries to force her out, without doing anything that would provoke a lawsuit...or a slap. But meanwhile, back in the ring Landon is still out cold as Spike drops down and has the cover again! Landon wouldn't be able to kickout...if Long wasn't tied up with his soon-to-be-departing valet that is. Once again the crowd are going nuts, trying to get Long's attentions, but he's still busy making sure Megan Skye is leaving the ringside area. "This is ridiculous Bobby." bemoans Comet. "Spike Jenkins is getting screwed here!" "Phff...he wishes." By now, Spike has thoughtlessly gotten up from the cover, and is yelling at Long to get back into the ring...forgetting all about Maddix, who is meanwhile gallantly pulling himself up on the ropes, despite not having a clue where the hell he is. Spike sees him, breaking away from where Long and Megan are STILL arguing, and turning back to Maddix who drops to his knees from exhaustion. Or so it seems, as angrily the challenger grabs Maddix by the hair... ...BUT GETS A HEADBUTT TO THE GROIN!!! "Oh...for crying out loud." sighs Comet. "Is this kid INCAPABLE of cheating!?!" With a groan of man-pain, Jenkins doubles over and holds his groin as Landon staggers backwards upon reaching his feet and collapses back into the corner...realising his surroundings, and hopping to the middle rope. Megan is now finally walking up the aisle...albeit very slowly...so Long is now turning back to the ring, just in time to see Landon lock up Jenkins and launch off the ropes... "CRASH LANDON!!!" Riley erupts. Jenkins jerks off the mat from the impact, but is quickly turned back onto his back by Maddix, who makes the weary cover... ONE! TWO! "No...not this way!" THREEEEE!!! *DING DING DING!* "Damn it!" snarls Comet angrily. "Landon Maddix steals yet ANOTHER victory." "Megalomaniac" hits and the boos around the arena are quite unsurprisingly deafening, as Landon rolls off the cover and to the outside where he collapses to the floor. Luckily Megan is back, having not left ringside at all, to help him up and retrieve the three belts from the timekeeper's table. "Here is your winner...and STILL USJL Triple Crown Champion...LAAAAANDOOON..."LA CUCARACHA"...MAAAAADDIIIIIXXX!!!" Another generous helping of boos is heaped on the retaining champion, as Megan places the belts across his shoulder as best possible while helping to carry her charge back towards the locker-rooms. "Praise the Almighty Todd, Triple Crown Landon still lives!" Riley beams in his usual sacriligious manner. "Spike Jenkins had this match won. Had it not been a title match, Eddy Long probably would have disqualified Landon...but used his discretion, not wanting to take Spike's title opportunity away in that manner." "No...instead, he let Landon BEAT that opportunity out of him!" Megan and Landon continue their treck up the aisle, recieving heavy-duty boos all the way...as back in the ring, Spike is just beginning to come to and realise that his title dreams have just been squashed in perhaps the cruelest way possible. And all he can do now is watch on as Maddix takes his collection of belts from his shoulders, and holding them all aloft as best as possible, a slight smirk on his otherwise battle-weary face as he celebrates his questionable victory. "We'll be back after this break, with a whole lot more to come...hopefully, that doesn't include the injustice we've seen in this one." "Oh, get over it Comet. I don't want you dragging the tone down for when Taamo get out here." "I wouldn't DREAM of it..." And right on cue, we fade to commercial...

*knock-knock* Alexander Zenon continues to stare down at the paperwork on his desk, the paperwork that never seems to go away no matter how much he does of it. Yes, he asked this man to come to the office, but why did he have to turn up right when he was in the middle of Austin Sly’s expense account? It’s not like keeping track of the Sly One’s freeloading is easy at the best of times. Zenon marks a quick asterisk against Sly’s somewhat suspicious claim for a “Personal Trainer - 30 minutes” and pushes the paper away, turning his seat to face the man in the doorway. “I was told you wanted to see me,” Toxxic tells the interim Commissioner. The ICTV champion is leaning against the doorframe, arms folded. The tone of voice is neutral bordering on friendly, the body language relaxed, the right side of the mouth hinting faintly at a smile. All in all Toxxic looks and sounds much like Toxxic almost always looks and sounds unless he’s decided he doesn’t like someone - and Zenon still isn’t sure whether he fits into that category or not. Not that it matters; it’s the Straight-Edge Sensation who needs to worry about whether Zenon does or does not like him. “Yes, I do,” Zenon tells him, flicking a quick glance at the counter on the video in the corner of his office. In the right place; good. “Come and sit down, and while you’re here you can explain something to me.” “OK,” Toxxic replies, easing down into the offered seat and then looking around. “You know Zenon, it’s amazing how no matter what arena we go to, your office always looks the same...” Zenon’s finger rests on the remote control as he turns back to face his guest. “I want you to-” “-I mean, you’d think that, say, Delaware would have different decor to South Carolina or Florida or wherever,” Toxxic continues, waving one hand vaguely. “I dunno, I mean maybe all these places were built by the same guy or something-” “Toxxic,” Zenon says sharply, determined not to lose his temper. Yet. “I want you to explain this to me.” So saying, the Commissioner presses ‘Play’ and footage from earlier in the night starts to roll. Toxxic pushes upwards and straightens, carrying David on his shoulders like a boy lifting his girlfriend up to see her favourite band at a festival - but before the crowd, the commentators or even Blazenwing himself can fully register what is going on Toxxic has reached up, locked his hands behind his opponent’s neck and pulled forwards. Blazenwing topples off Toxxic’s shoulders. And as his body falls down, head on a collision course with the canvas, Toxxic sits out. *BAM!!* “Well?” Zenon asks, pressing ‘Pause’. With an effort, he keeps his voice level. Preliminary checks have indicated that David Blazenwing hasn’t suffered any major damage, but it was a close thing. “What, exactly, was that?” “I call it the Dangerlust,” Toxxic replies, one side of his face quirking up into his trademark grin - the grin that was noticeably absent from his match against Blazenwing up until he dropped the former SJL wrestler on his head. “Do you like it?” “Like it!?” Zenon splutters. With an effort he composes himself. “I’ll ask you again; what was that little move for?” “That was me making sure,” Toxxic replies, and now the smile has disappeared. Not that this troubles Zenon, of course. “Making sure of what?” the Commissioner growls at his ICTV Champion. “Making sure that we get another injury? Making sure that no-one else thinks of coming back to the SWF? Toxxic, I’m sure I’ve explained to you the size of the roster before. By some miracle - or more likely, my presence in charge - we had no less than three debutants or returnees tonight. This is promising; this indicates growth. What I DON’T want is for one of them to be shipped off to hospital straight after his first match!” Zenon jabs his finger angrily at the Brit and tries to resist the temptation to lean across his desk and slap Toxxic in the mouth. “Sure, I wasn’t expecting David Blazenwing to turn into the next Charlie Matthews, but you never even gave him a chance - you’re lucky that you DIDN’T cripple him and his wife didn’t sue, because you’d be on your own! And don’t give me that crap about ‘making sure’ - you and I both know damn well that you could have taken him down without resorting to that... whatever the hell it was! I gave you Blazenwing for a REASON, dammit, and that was to give you a test to make sure you were fit and well before I started booking you against the top stars again, not so you could get your thrills from trying to break someone’s neck!” Zenon leans forward to continue his tirade - but Toxxic leans forward too, and for a moment Commissioner and Champion are nose-to-nose over the desk. “I warned you once,” Toxxic reminds him, voice deceptively mild. “If you put people in the ring with me, they will get hurt.” The straight-edger sits back and cracks his neck from side-to-side, then stares back at the seething Zenon. “I want you to understand me, because I’m not sure you do. I don’t enjoy hurting people. But I do enjoy winning, and in order to do that, I have to hurt people.” The faint hint of a grin starts to play around Toxxic’s mouth again as he continues. “I warned Blazenwing before the match to stay down - he should have listened.” “That’s bullshit,” Zenon fires back. “I don’t care what you told him, there was no call for what you did. God help him, Blazenwing was always going to try his best and that doesn’t mean lying down for your convenience!” “And Kibagami dropping me on my head with the Demonstar was called for?” Toxxic retorts... and it’s obvious from Zenon’s face that he’s struck a nerve. “Well Alex, you make the matches - if you don’t want me hurting the new guys, why don’t you put me in with a veteran? Say, someone you don’t like very much? Someone you might enjoy seeing injured?” “Oh, so that’s where this is going is it?” Zenon says, a grim smile crossing his face as he sits back in his turn. The smile disappears as he makes a swift chopping gesture to indicate that there is no way in hell he’s going to get taken in. “No. Not going to happen.” “I want Kibagami,” Toxxic tells him, looking the Commissioner straight in the eye. “You want him gone. What’s the holdup here?” “Because I can’t rotate this entire Federation around one man’s ego!” Zenon spits, and for a moment it is unclear whether he is referring to the Straight-Edge Sensation or himself. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the impression that if I put you in a ring with Nathan only one man is going to walk out. And that,” he continues as Toxxic unconsciously nods his head, “is not acceptable. Did you see the figures for Storm? You vs Kibagami drew good figures, but Danny vs Nathan drew much, much higher. I’d like to say that it was just you in the first one and Danny Williams and the World Title in the second that got the viewers, but I can’t. Like it or not, for some reason people are behind that fucking psychopath ex-junkie... and he’s now my World Champion.” Zenon slumps in his chair and passes a hand over his eyes. Everything that he always wanted to avoid seems to be coming true right around now. “I have responsibilities. God knows I tried to stop this before it got to this stage, but now it’s here I can’t take action. Kibagami is the World Champion” he shudders even saying that sentence “and the people like him. He’s good for business. If I set you against him I either lose my World Champion or my Intercontinental-Television Champion, and I can’t afford to do that.” The Commissioner sits up straighter, and fixes Toxxic with a stare of his own. “It’s not going to happen. You go back to defending your ICTV belt - in fact, I don’t think you’ve even defended it once yet, have you?” Zenon pauses for a moment, considering challengers, and then continues before he gets sidetracked. “You’ve just been beaten by Kibagami anyway - I can’t put you against him when there’s Danny and Duran, not to mention Dace and Flesher to consider. When you earn a title shot, or Kibagami loses the belt, or the viewers start to desert us and he’s no longer an important draw - then and only then will you get into the ring with Kibagami in singles competition.” Toxxic’s face starts to darken, but Zenon isn’t finished yet. “And if I see you using that ‘Dangerlust’ thing again you had better have a DAMNED good reason for it, because the moment you hit someone with that I will be looking at the case for suspending you.” The Commissioner leans back in his chair, suddenly tired of this. “Now get the fuck out of my office.”

… As various limbs scattered around ringside are collected and returned to their rightful owners following the previous encounter, the Memorial Coliseum comes alive once again as we return from the break, ready for the next match of the evening! The camera pans through the jam-packed arena, catching the electric atmosphere of the people, until the camera finally settles and focuses on the two usual suspects at ringside. “Welcome back loyal citizens!” greets Cyclone Comet, an achingly huge grin on his dial. “And we are glad to have you back, as you are all just in time to witness the debut of two rookies into the SWF fold!” “Yes, I am literally bursting at the seams with excitement,” remarks an incredibly dry Bobby Riley. “I’m sure they’re a regular dynamic duo.” “Now, now Robert, remember when you were apart of a dynamic duo? Wait, wasn’t it just yesterday?” Riley is none to impressed “Oh har, har, har. But I’ve seen these rookies come and go, and they’re a dime a dozen! Trust me, they’ll crack from the pressure, or fade into obscurity.” “Well one man has already proven you wrong, as he’s been wrestling for over a decade, and can still go with the best of them! But while he’s no rookie wherever he wrestles around the world, the SWF is a FAR different experience, but I know everyone is glad to have his years of experience on board!” “- And his years of alcohol abuse as well,” Riley follows with a condescending grin. “Let’s just hope the guy doesn’t stumble and fall on his way to the ring…” Almost on cue, “Lapdance” strikes up and the fans rise to their feet, hoping to catch a glimpse of the newest SWF addition, only to be blinded by multi-coloured lights flashing to life. A sense of awe hits the fans as a lone spotlight flickers to life, and shines down on the centre of the stage. The lyrics cease, signaling the dramatic entrance of one Ryan Dustin, arms folded, jacket fluttering behind him. He smiles, nodding his head as he hears the warm welcome from the capacity crowd, who know when they’re looking at a future champion. “Well, he didn’t stagger out here, so that’s somewhat promising…” comes Riley’s snide remark. “Citizen Dustin is no fool when it comes to wrestling in front of the fans,” Comet shoots back, admiring the way Ryan greets the fans at ringside. “He’s got the experience and knowledge on his side to take him far here, let’s just hope he still has the desire.” “Who needs desire when you have the warm embrace of one Jack Daniels by your side?” “Who you share you bed with is none of our business.” Whilst Dustin reaches the ringside area, looking left and right, listening to the cheers, Funyon, mic in hand, makes his introductions… “Ladies and Gentleman, the following match is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from Carson City, Nevada, he stands six foot three inches tall, and weighs in at two hundred and twenty eight pounds - please welcome to the SWF, the Real Deal…” …He pauses for effect… “… RYAN DUSTIN…!” Nodding his head approvingly, soaking in the crowd’s energy, Dustin pulls himself up onto the apron and onto the second rope by the nearest turnbuckle, getting a better look at his future fans, before standing on the very top of the turnbuckle, and back flipping into the ring! “Wow, he can do a flip!” “Yes he can! And so much more!” Comet responds, totally ignoring Riley’s obvious sarcasm. “From what I know of both men, they have similar styles, and there is barely any difference in size, so this will come down to experience in my mind, and Citizen Dustin will surely take it!” The fans soon begin to die down and Dustin begins to warm up, using the ropes to stretch his weary muscles, and a swig from his hip flask to loosen himself up. A suspiciously long and awkward pause follows, as the fans look to the entranceway, but no sign of Dustin’s foe. Finally, there’s nothing but silence, making the fans, and even Dustin, just a tad uncomfortable… Until suddenly… [b“BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM[/b] Muse’s “Hyper Music” suddenly and alarmingly kicks up, and with each strike, a blinding flash strikes the arena! The song really kicks into gear, and Lezaire comes striding out, and confidence written on his face, proven with a sly grin. Charging down to the ring, Ace exchanges pleasantries with the fans nearby before sliding underneath the bottom rope ready to face his opponent, who sizes him up in a “picture frame.” Lezaire dismisses him quickly and turns his attention to the crowd, drawing heat from the masses. “And, his opponent…” Funyon bellows, “From Vancouver, BC, Canada. He stands six foot four, and weighs in at approximately two hundred and twenty eight pounds… he is…” “… ACE LEZAIRE…!” “Hmmm, this kid doesn’t look too bad, nice physique… very nice physique…” “Well, well, Ace Lezaire. He’s cocky, he’s brash… heck, he’s an egotistical Acehole! I’ve never seen him inside the ring before, so let’s see if he can back up his words with actions…” The two men square off, looking eye to eye, Lezaire mouthing off unpleasantries while Dustin waits calmly, simply grinning. He cracks his knuckles as Ced Ordonez, the official for this bout, points to ringside to begin this match! DING! DING! DING! “…And here we go!” It’s the new school meets the old school as Lezaire and Dustin face off, one grinning from ear to ear, bouncing up and down like a hyperactive toddler. The other waits, stone faced, quietly confident. No prizes for guessing who is who. Motioning for Steve to zoom in, Ace looks away, bringing his arm down, gearing up, before… CRACK! …following through with an open handed slap across Dustin’s jaw! “…And already Lezaire shows what sort of man he is; what sort of morale fiber he possesses!” Cries an outraged Superhero. Riley is of course, delighted. “Beautiful! I love it! This is a young man’s game, and Ace has let him know that in emphatic fashion!” The shot resonates through the arena, causing the fans to cry, “OOOH!” as Dustin’s face is wiped away from the vicious slap! The fans soon shower their distaste for the young Canadian with resounding jeers, but that is soon broken as - BAM! - Dustin evens the score, sending a lightning Shotei strike directly into Ace’s ribcage! Cheers finally erupt in orgasmic fashion as Ace struggles to breathe, clutching at his stomach. A grin soon breaks out on Dustin’s face as he takes the young man and propels him across the ring with an Irish Whip, raising his arm to the fans in acknowledgment. Bounding back from the ropes, Ace is suddenly thrown across the ring by an Arm Drag! Lezaire picks himself up but the Real Deal gives him no time to dust himself off as he throws him into the corner and begins to wail on Lezaire with European Uppercuts, striking with deadly accuracy! “As I said, Dustin is no fool, no slouch inside the ring! Once that bell rings, he’s in a zone, calculating and proficient, and Citizen Lezaire better wake up and smell the coffee soon, or he’s in mighty trouble!” Ace’s complete oversell is justified as Dustin knocks him six ways from Sunday, before taking him by the hand and whipping him into the opposite turnbuckles. Lezaire hits with a thud, but has no time to react, no time to dive away as Dustin charges and leaps into the air, crashing down on the poor Canadian with a Stinger Splash! “No! Not so soon, this can’t be true…” Riley refuses to believe, watching in vain as Lezaire stumbles out from the corner, a faraway look in his eyes… “Citizen Dustin may just strike a tremendous blow for justice, and finish this nefarious cretin in no less than a minute!” Ace loses his bearing for a few seconds, enough time for Dustin to lock his arm firmly across Lezaire’s chest, before lifting him up from the mat, pirouetting around and… WHAM! …bringing him down with a Sambo Suplex! The crowd is literally on their feet, as Ced Ordonez slides over, counting the fall in swift fashion! ONE! TWO! NO! Yet another, “OOOH!” is heard amongst the fans as Lezaire kicks out, but they remain pleased as Dustin goes back to work, undeterred by the near fall. Ace scrambles away in retreat, trying to buy some time, but Dustin soon catches up with him and backs him against the ropes, rearing back before… CRACK! …Rifling off an echoing Knife-Edge chop to the Canadian! CRACK! “Such impact!” CRACK! ”Citizen Dustin has come out here with something to prove, and he has shown us his goods mere minutes into this contest!” Riley’s ears suddenly burn, as that shrieking moan heard is from Lezaire, covering his chest, reeling from the sharp blows that leave their mark almost immediately! Dustin has no sympathy for the devil as he whips Ace into the strands, but the sly Canadian grabs hold of the top rope for dear life! Lezaire manages to brace himself, but Dustin is in no mood for games, and charges directly at his cowering opponent! Dustin’s attempts to knock his opponent to the outside are thwarted as Ace lowers his head, and Dustin is sent hurting high into the air! Riley finally appears smug as he watches Dustin come down with sheer delight. “Lezaire finally finds an opening, as the Real Deal proves to be nothing of the…” … But the veteran is nothing if not cunning, and plants his feet on the ring apron to land safely! Ace, of course, celebrates his first great victory in the SWF, playing to the crowd, asking them to give it up. They cheer all right, but only for the man who waits diligently on the ring apron, and as Lezaire turns around to survey the damage… … Dustin suddenly vaults over the top rope, landing on top of Ace with a slingshot Bodypress! “Citizen Dustin once again one ups Ace, who looks more the fool after taking his eye off the wily veteran!” says Comet, with utmost pleasure. “Oh, what were you about to say Robert, ‘nothing of the sort’?” His partner grumbles, “Shush you, I’m more concerned about Ace, as he’s in a perilous position once again!” Riley bites his nails as Ced is on the ball, sliding over to make the count! ONE! TWO! NO! Stalwart as always, Dustin shakes off his disappointment, trying to grab hold of the Canadian, but Ace crawls away towards the sanctuary of the ropes, desperately needing at least a minute or two to regroup! Steve makes a point to put the camera right in Ace’s face, focusing on the pure agony written on his face. That agony is soon replaced by fear as Dustin takes Lezaire by the head and drags him to his feet. Dustin holds Ace in place who tries to squirm away, but Dustin has him in his vice-like clutches. He looks at the fans, seeking their approval. They don’t know what he has planned, but they know they’ll like it! Dustin raises his arm into the air, flashing a wicked smile, before bringing his arm down towards Lezaire’s neck… “Oh my god! He wouldn’t! He couldn’t!” Riley scrambles to find the words, trying to stop Ryan by sheer power of suggestion. “What? What!? What is it!?” Comet asks, desperate to know as Dustin’s arm takes what seems like an eternity to come down. Wrapping his arm around Lezaire’s neck, Dustin tightens his grip, with… …A side headlock. “Oh, lord, Dustin shows such disdain for his opponent, such contempt for his abilities and his character that he’s chosen to break him down and humiliate with a headlock!” “What, is he drunk!?” Riley asks, quite seriously. “Maybe our world champion could get away with such a move, but this Dustin, just walks in and thinks he owns the place…” The crowd pops like crazy as they watch the Real Deal cinch in the hold, delaying the inevitable for just a little while longer. Ace shakes his head, his eyes growing wide, realizing the severity of his situation. In one sudden and swift movement, Lezaire reaches underneath Dustin, lifts him up by his leg and throws him over his shoulder! “He countered!” Riley exclaims, finally finding something to crow about. Despite Riley’s enthusiasm, Dustin again displays his ring awareness by flipping out of the move and landing on his feet! However, determined not to give Dustin the upper hand quite so easily, Ace connects with a spinning Sobat kick, finally! Lezaire doesn’t play to the crowd this time; instead he heads to the ropes behind Dustin, bounces back off them and dives across the ring… … Hurtling into the back of Ryan’s knee and bringing him down with a Chop Block! “Dastardly! Despicable! Totally reprehensible!” Comet cries in an uproar! “Yet, effective.” Riley simply explains, proud of his young apprentice. The fans, after witnessing Dustin dominate the young buck for so long, are devastated by this turn of events, and make sure to let Lezaire in on their disapproval! The amount of booing is tremendous, but Ace simply strikes a heroic pose, pointing to Steve and giving a thumbs up. Beneath him, Dustin begins to move, grabbing at his knee, trying to shake away the numb feeling, but Lezaire soon puts a halt to that as he begins to stomp on the Real Deal mercilessly. Lezaire takes a few steps back, before hopping forward and leaping into the air, bringing his knee down across Dustin’s forehead! The fans jeer as Lezaire grins, lazily hooking the Real Deal by the leg… ONE! TW- NO! Cyclone is still shaking his head. “Citizen Dustin has been scouting the talent all weak, no wonder he missed Lezaire. He’s had to resort to cheating, to underhanded, treacherous tactics to even gain a foothold in this match!” “Hey, it’s his first match, gotta cut the kid a break or two,” responds Riley coolly. “It was Dustin’s mistake that led to this; he has no one to blame but himself. He had a ‘blonde moment’ if you weeeeel.” “He can’t rely on Citizen Dustin to make any more mistakes, however. Maybe, just maybe, Dustin became a little too complacent, a little cocky even, but he knows, through years of experience, to learn from his mistakes.” Dustin crawls away, bringing himself to his feet with aid from the turnbuckles. Lezaire is there to meet him with straight right hands, taking out his frustrations on the veteran. Ace sends Dustin into the opposite turnbuckles, but the whips reversed! As Ace thumps into the corner, Dustin follows him in, leaping onto the second rope, looking to send Lezaire flying with a Monkey Flip! Ace thinks on his feet, grabbing Dustin around the ankles and spinning around, sitting him on the top rope. Before Dustin can react, Lezaire takes him by the leg and spins around, dragging the Real Deal down from the top rope and taking him down with a Dragon Screw! “Well, well!” exclaims Riley, thoroughly impressed. “Lezaire finally gets the better of Dustin, and looks to be targeting that left leg of his. A smart strategy, considering Dustin’s dominance over the match.” “Impressive move, but unless Canadian Citizen Lezaire can capitalize, I’m not sold on him!” Dustin falls on the flat of his back as the crowd rises to their feet, as Lezaire takes a leaf out of the Flair book, keeping hold of Dustin’s leg and spinning around… “…But maybe now?” Riley asks with a smirk. … Taking Dustin’s right leg and falling onto his back, locking on a Figure Four Leg Lock! The crowd can’t believe what they’re seeing! Dustin writhes in pain as it courses through his leg, Lezaire putting the torque on his left leg as much as he can, all the while smiling to the camera’s and inciting the crowd! “Apparently Lezaire can’t learn from his mistakes! His premature celebration backfired the first time, and now he’s up to his old tricks!” Dustin begins to fight, knowing this move all too well, and every which way to reverse it. He claws into the mat, trying desperately to turn onto his side and turn the tables on the rookie, but while Ced turns his back for even a second, Lezaire reaches his arms back and hands onto the bottom ropes at the corner, holding himself in place and prolonging the torture! Cyclone can barely hear himself over he fans as they cry fowl! “The one moment Citizen Lezaire shows some promise, he ruins it all with cheap tactics such as this! Absolutely deplorable!” “I beg to differ, my colourful cohort.” Remarks Riley with a satisfied grin. “I believe it shows great ring presence, knowledge of the inner workings of the squared circle, a brilliant mind for…” “Oh can it, Robert! I know your confused about a lot of things, but this is as plain as day. Lezaire needs to resort to these measures to prevail, and… wait… wait just a minute…!” Ced turns around and Lezaire lets go of the ropes, and Dustin picks his spot with care, putting as his might and energy as he rock back and forth, Ace looking back at him, shaking his head, shouting “NO!” But he can’t stop Dustin as he finally rolls onto his side, straining even further until… … He reverses the hold! The crowd goes absolutely ballistic as Lezaire scampers forward, ending the crowd’s joy as soon as it begins by grabbing onto the bottom rope, breaking the hold. The crowd deflates, but Dustin soon kicks it into gear, climbing to his feet to meet Lezaire, denying him the right of being first up. Lezaire can’t believe it, this over-the-hill drunk has gotten up so easily. Ace attempts to knock him down permanently, whipping him into the strands and awaiting his return, going downstairs and dropkicking him in the knee! Dustin grunts, but stays on one knee, refusing to fall again. Lezaire looks at him, an unsure look painted all over him, but he tries again as Dustin climbs to his feet, hitting a second dropkick to the weakened joint! But still, Dustin won’t go down, and the fans soon begin to cheer, Lezaire shaking his head! “This shows great heart from the battle-hardened pro, refusing to bow down to the likes of the Lezaire, an enemy of justice, and popping the crowd all the while!” “These lost, washed-up old drunkards never know when to lie down and stay away, always need to be apart of the business somehow,” Riley says with a shake of the head, while taking a swig from his hip flask. Ace demands the crowd be quiet, and hopes to beat Dustin senseless to do so! The Canadian steps forward, taking an extended wind up before jabbing the Real Deal across the jaw! BAM! BAM! BAM! Dustin is reeling from the stinging lefts and rights, as Lezaire plants a kiss on his fist, smiling as he spins around, discus style, hoping to land the ‘knockout’ punch… … But it never comes! Dustin adeptly ducks beneath Lezaire’s wild punch, and while the kid’s back is turned, Dustin reaches underneath Ace, links his arms between his legs and lifts him off his feet, bringing him into the air… WHAM “He got him! He got him!” Comet shouts again and again! … Nailing him with a Teardrop Suplex off one leg! The crowd is suddenly resurrected and stands up tall as Ordonez slides over as Dustin hooks Lezaire by the leg… ONE! TWO! THR… NO! “OOOH!” The fans cry, knowing Dustin was so close to victory. Riley too knows it was close, and begins to sweat… “That was too close for comfort. I didn’t expect this at all from Dustin, I didn’t think he could keep up…” Dustin proves quite the opposite, bringing Lezaire to his feet and throwing his arm across his shoulder, grabbing a handful of tights and taking him over with a Snap Suplex at breakneck speed! “Citizen Dustin has shown to be quite proficient with his Suplexes, even while hobbling on one leg! Not only can he keep up, he can go the whole nine yards! If he can chain these Suplexes together in a “Blond-Moment” it may just be the ball game!” With a swivel of the hips, Dustin works his way back to his feet, keeping hold of Ace and lifting him into the air, completely vertical this time. But his plans go awry, as Lezaire begins to fight desperately like the scrounger that he is, trying to send Dustin off balance. He finally succeeds as Dustin’s leg gives out, and Lezaire counters with a sudden Victory Roll! ONE! TWO! THREEEEE… NO! Comet breathes a sigh of relief with the crowd, but only for a brief moment. “He only just escaped Citizen Lezaire’s vile clutches, but Lezaire is so desperate, he has to stay on the ball!” Both men scramble to their feet, hoping to gain precious milliseconds of time, but both men are up together. Lezaire attempts a leg sweep to bring Dustin down, but the Real Deal jumps over the top to avoid contact. A swift Shotei to the jaw stuns Ace, long enough for Dustin to whip him into the ropes… but it’s reversed! The Real Deal is sent hurtling into the strands, coming back and ducking underneath a Spinning Roundhouse, sprinting into the opposite ropes hoping to catch Lezaire unawares on the rebound. As he returns, Lezaire catches him, leaping up onto his shoulders! “Surely Dustin can’t hold onto Ace for long, which is a brilliant move on Lezaire’s part. He has Dustin right where he wants him…” …But just as it seems Dustin’s knee will buckle once more, he falls onto his back, letting Lezaire falls across the top rope with a hot shot! Ace clutches his throat as he chokes, unaware that he’s heading back-to-back with Dustin… Dustin takes Lezaire’s head and grips onto his chin tightly… “It’s the REAL DEAL! A move known the world over, putting down countless opponents effortlessly! Dustin has it in the bag!” Comet cries, echoing the feelings of the entire crowd. Just as Dustin is about to slam Lezaire down for the knockout blow, Ace simply kicks the back of Dustin’s right knee, causing a sudden spasm as Lezaire strikes the vital spot. Dustin lets go as his whole body stammers, and Lezaire pounces! “What did I tell you! He’s had it worked out since the beginning!” Riley ambitiously claims. Spinning around, Lezaire takes Dustin’s left leg and lifts the 228 pound frame up from the canvas, bringing his leg down across his knee with a skin breaker! Dustin doubles over from the sudden impact, giving Lezaire enough time to take him by the neck, twist around and… …And… WHAM! “STUNNER! I can’t believe it! Lezaire finds the tiniest opening and capitalizes, nailing the Ace Crusher on the Real Deal! This can’t be true!” Comet stares blankly in the ring as Lezaire drops his entire body weight on top of Dustin, and Ced counts! ONE! TWO! THREEEEEEE! YES! DING! DING! DING! The fans are outraged! They hail abuse and taunts upon Ace Lezaire as he slides out of the ring and stumbles up the ramp as fast as he can, Steve following in close pursuit to capture the victory. Funyon announces, “The winner of this match… ACE LEZAIRE!” “I never doubted him for a single second, not one.” Riley says, ultimately pleased with the outcome. “It’s just not right! Justice takes another body blow here tonight as Ace Lezaire cheats his way to victory and takes the victory by the skin of his teeth, but Ryan Dustin will want his revenge in due time, but for now, Ace Lezaire picks up his first victory here in the SWF…” Grinning from ear to ear, Lezaire raises his arms in triumph, as the fake cheers fill the arena, and Ace graciously accepts the applause. “Ugh, this is an absolute travesty, but, we must soldier on! As we have more exciting Lockdown action after the break, so stay tuned!”

"SIIIIIII-LENT..." The crowd are still chanting. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “With those words from Citizen Kibagami out of the way it is time for our first match,” Cyclone Comet gushes as the cameras pick out signs reading ’The Section Behind Flesher’s Ego Can’t See’ and ‘Dance Ced, Dance!’ before returning to the announce table, “and Citizens, this will feature a man who is no stranger to our new World Champion!” “Bah, it is a disgrace that Toxxic is curtain-jerking,” Riley spits. “Still, not to worry - he’ll be back on track after he has brushed aside this minor distraction.” The lights in the Memorial Coliseum go down... BOOOM! ...and the stage explodes into emerald flames as Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’ thunders out of the speakers! The Smarktron starts showing clips of the SWF’s newest superstar, although very few remember him from the SJL and as the man himself starts to walk down the entrance ramp they need Funyon to remind them... “Ladies and gentlemen, the following non-title contest is scheduled for one fall,” the ring announcer booms. “Introducing first, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; weighing 245 lbs; DAAAA-VIIIIIID... BLAAAAAAAAAA-ZENWING!!” Blazenwing is not recalled by many, but the SWF faithful know who he’s up against and so he gets a small pop as he enters the ring - a pop that turns to confusion as he sits down and begins to bang his head against the turnbuckle. “Robert, this is a man who could go a long way in the SWF with some direction,” Comet claims. “Direction?” Riley asks. “He couldn’t find his way out of a shopping mall, and you know it!” “I assure you, Citizen Blazenwing’s navigation abilities are very good-” “Getting to the ring doesn’t count!” Papa Roach fades out (mercifully) and the crowd hushes. They know who’s coming out next, and they want all their breath to properly welcome him. Abruptly the Smarktron blacks out; then jagged white letters flash up the words ‘Prepare To Be Proved Wrong’ as the guitars of Lostprophets’ ‘We Still Kill The Old Way’ blast out over the arena... “BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” The Smarktron cuts to an image of Toxxic taking Mike Van Siclen off a balcony and through a table with the Toxxic Shock Syndrome, the devastating landing timed to coincide with the... BOOOM! ...explosion of red pyro that announces the SWF’s premier straight-edger! The Smarktron cuts to a close-up of Toxxic’s face with its familiar lop-sided grin - but the grin is noticeably absent from the features of the man who strides through the smoke, not waiting for his girlfriend to catch up. Toxxic’s grey eyes are locked on the ring, and on his opponent for tonight. “And his opponent,” Funyon resumes, “from Nottingham, England; weighing 218lbs; accompanied to the ring by Jet, he is the SWF Intercontinental-Television Champion... ‘The Straight-Edge Sensation’... TOXX-IIIC!!” Toxxic rolls into the ring but doesn’t ascend the ring post and annoy the fans as usual. Instead he strips off his “Hardcore Punk” T-shirt and tosses it back over his shoulder to the floor, cracks his neck from side-to-side and signals that he’s ready to go. But the fans have their own ideas. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “Why are they chanting that?” Riley asks, exasperated. “He’s not even here anymore!” “Partially a show of respect for the new champion, Robert,” Comet answers, “but equally to get inside Toxxic’s head. His loss to Citizen Kibagami was his highest-profile match to date - and he blew it.” “Maybe,” Riley concedes, “but Toxxic is in anything but a good mood - are these people trying to get Blazenwing hurt!?” *DING-DING!!* Blazenwing steps forward and reaches his hand out to Toxxic in a show of sportmanship - but the Brit simply raises two fingers in the classic V-sign in response. Aggrieved, Blazenwing tries again, determined to do things right this time around - but without his expression changing, Toxxic grabs the arm and snaps Blazenwing over in an armdrag! “Criminal!” Comet yells. “Citizen Blazenwing was just being sporting-” “Comet, the message it clear;” Riley anwers, “either wrestle, or muck about. I don’t think Toxxic is in any mood to show anyone respect right now.” Blazenwing comes to his feet, shaking out his right arm. His eyes narrow and he approaches Toxxic again, and this time the two lock up. Blazenwing presses forward, his superior bulk and strength offsetting his height disadvantage - but Toxxic abruptly drops backwards and takes him over with another armdrag! "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Blazenwing rolls through and back to his feet, but before he can do anything more than turn around Toxxic is on him and laying in with his trademark European Uppercuts. *WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!* The newcomer’s head snaps back on his neck as he’s pressed against the ropes. Toxxic grabs his opponent’s arm and hauls, seeking to send Blazenwing across the ring, but the Wisconsin native reverses the whip and ducks his head for a back bodydrop... *CRUNCH-WHAM!* ...only to get hit with the Sobering Thought facecrusher/DDT combo! Toxxic’s expression is still stony as he rolls Blazenwing onto his back and makes the cover: ONE! TWO!! TH-Kickout! But Sexton Hardcastle only finds two as Blazenwing’s shoulder leaves the canvas. Toxxic sits back on his haunches briefly and cracks his neck again, then hauls his man up by the hair and whips him towards the turnbuckle. Blazenwing manages to reverse the momentum once more, but again doesn’t realise that this is exactly what the ICTV champion had in mind - and gets flattened by a flying clothesline as Toxxic vaults to the top buckle and comes diving back with the Role Reversal! “And this, Comet, is Rookie-Busting 101,” Riley exclaims happily. “Blazenwing has no clue what he’s up against here - the hottest commodity in the SWF right now!” “Robert, David Blazenwing is hardly a rookie-” “Has he been in the SWF before?” Riley responds. “No? Rookie. Don’t give me any of that SJL or ‘former-world-champ-in-the-Phillipines-but-we-never-heard-of-him-here-despite-him-being-a-WORLD-Champ’ crap. Rookie.” Blazening comes up to his feet again, shaking his head to try and clear it, but Toxxic isn’t going to give him the chance. Instead the straight-edger balls up his fists and Blazenwing’s head is rocked by a RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! DISCUS CLOTHESLINE! “And Toxxic doesn’t even bother with the windup tonight, Robert!” Comet calls in surprise as the Straight-Edge Sensation forgoes his usual ‘baseball pitcher’ routine and just knocks Blazenwing clean over the top rope! However the resourceful newcomer manages to hang and pulls himself up on the apron - only for Toxxic to run to the corner, vault off the second buckle, fly over the ropes himself and take Blazenwing out to the arena floor with a springboard hurricanrana! "SIIIIIII-LENT..." But that doesn’t stop the chants. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Blazenwing clutches the back of his neck - he landed hard on it, and the arena floor is even more unforgiving that the ring. But David Blazenwing wants for it to work this time in the SWF and he starts to stand up, unaware that Toxxic has got back in the ring, hit the far ropes and is even now accelerating towards him again... “Running Somersault Senton!” Comet calls in half-admiration, half-despair as Toxxic’s body plummets over the ropes and crushes Blazenwing down again. “Citizen Blazenwing has yet to get in any offence!” Toxxic pushes himself up. Ignoring the pain in his own neck he cracks it side-to-side again. The fans are still chanting at him, but while before he would have turned to argue with them he has no interest in that now. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." He has only one thing on his mind. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Blazenwing is still fighting to stand, so the straight-edger helps him up- *THUNK!* -and introduces his head to the ringpost. Sexton Hardcastle yells down at the ICTV champ, who simply rolls Blazenwing back into the ring and then jumps up onto the apron. Blazenwing has ended up in just the right position, so without further ado Toxxic vaults up to the top rope... “MONDO!” shouts the Heel Section, slightly caught out by the lack of the three fingers that are normally held up to herald the Triple-Jump Moonsault. ...to the top turnbuckle... “AKIMBO!” ...MOONSAULT! “A-GO-GO!” *WHAM!!* “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!” “Blazenwing got his knees up!” Comet screams in delight as Toxxic rolls away from the impact, clutching his ribs. “And JUSTICE~ finally makes an appearance in this opening match!” “Don’t get too excited Comet,” Riley replies snidely. “This is an awfully long show for you to be sitting there in damp Spandex.” Toxxic starts to stand, facing away from Blazenwing, and the newcomer sees his chance. Persuading his battered body to move the ex-SJLer runs forward, grabbing Toxxic’s head in a 3/4 facelock on the way past and bringing him down with a running Diamond Cutter! *WHAM!!* “Blazecution!” Comet yells as Hardcastle drops to count... ONE! TWO! TH-Kickout! “...what did you call that?” Riley asks as Toxxic gets his shoulder up. “That is the Blazecution Robert,” Comet informs his commentary partner. “Why do you ask?” “Well, because it looks to me rather like Spike Jenkins’ ‘Bad Beat’,” Riley replies. “And that move has won matches for Spike.” “Well, Toxxic is still in good condition since it was Citizen Blazenwing’s first offensive move-” “-and he can’t hit it properly?” Riley finishes. “Christ, he sucks worse than Spike. And incidently Comet, everything about this man so far has been offensive.” Blazenwing starts to pull Toxxic up. He now knows exactly how dangerous his opponent is, and the newcomer is determined to keep the pressure on. Blazenwing quickly hooks Toxxic for a vertical suplex and hoists the Brit high into the air... *WHAM!!* ...then brings him down HARD on his back! Without releasing the hold Blazenwing starts to get up and lift his opponent again... “Citizen Blazenwing could be looking for rolling verticals here!” Comet says excitedly. “You mean like Johnny Dangerous does?” Riley asks disinterestedly. ...but Toxxic isn’t eager for his back to taste canvas a second time, and the Straight-Edge Sensation drops his weight backwards to bring Blazenwing down with a small package! ONE! TWO!! THR-Kickout! “David Blazenwing gets his shoulder up before the count of three!” Comet calls as the newcomer squirms out of the pinning predicament. “This man is determined to make an impact in this match!” “Yeah, he probably wants to impersonate more SWF wrestlers,” Riley agrees. Blazenwing only come up to his knees and Toxxic advances on him - only to receive a shoulder in the gut! With the straight-edger doubled over and gasping David rises to his feet and slaps his thigh, comes off the ropes and jumps into the air, seeking to bring the back of his leg down on Toxxic’s head and drive the ICTV champ face-first into the canvas - but Toxxic moves, and Blazenwing lands on his hip! *THUD!!* “And Blazenwing goes for a Caribbean Cutter, but fails miserably to rip off Wildchild!” Riley laughs. “Bobby, play-by-play is my job...” Comet protests. “Not now Spandex Boy, I’m having fun here!” Toxxic is still wheezing, which may explain why he doesn’t immediately press his advantage on the pained Blazenwing. Instead he waits for his opponent to come to his feet again before taking a quick step sideways and lashing a boot towards the newcomer’s jaw- *WHAP!* -but Blazenwing catches it! “You won’t get David Blazenwing like that!” Comet declares as Blazenwing looks around at the crowd, drumming up support against the trapped and glowering Toxxic. “Try to use his own finisher against him, will you?” “Comet, everyone and their mother uses a superkick,” Riley sighs. “What makes Blazenwing’s so special?” “The weight of JUSTICE~ behind it of course.” The crowd noise is rising, and Blazenwing is catching his breath all the while as he moves around a little, forcing Toxxic to keep hopping on his one free foot and preventing the chance of a surprise enzuigiri. Looking into the Straight-Edge Sensation’s grey stare Blazenwing grins - and spins his opponent round, catching Toxxic in a rear headlock before spinning the Brit down to the mat with a vicious rolling neckbreaker! “Blazenwing surpasses himself!” Riley yells as Toxxic’s head bounces off the canvas. “That was either Mike Van Siclen’s ‘Russian Roulette’ or Spike Jenkins’ ‘Roll The Joint’!” “Robert, please...” Comet pleads as Hardcastle drops to count once more: ONE! TWO!! TH-Kickout! But whatever it was it’s not enough to keep Toxxic down, although Jet does look a little worried at ringside. David Blazenwing is still smiling as he hauls his taller, thinner opponent back up. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." He doesn’t care that the crowd are chanting someone else’s name. This is his chance to make it big. All he has to do is knock off the ICTV champ in this non-title match and he can be well on his way to making an impact. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Blazenwing locks his hands in a rear waistlock and his smile broadens. “Well Robert, who is this impersonating?” Comet snaps. “Or will you admit that a German suplex is a fairly widespread move?” “Oh it is,” Riley agrees, “but it’s a moot point anyway...” Blazenwing hoists backwards, seeking to bring Toxxic down onto his neck and shoulders - but the Straight-Edge Sensation flips out and lands lightly on his feet as Blazenwing’s momentum puts him down on his back! “...because You Can’t ‘German’ Toxxic!” Riley finishes with relish. “Only Dace Night and Nathaniel Kibagai have managed it, and even I will admit that they are masters of their art!” “...” “The art in question being getting far too high up the card on miniscule amounts of talent, but still,” Riley shrugs. Blazenwing is no fool, and he realises at once that something hasn’t gone according to plan. Accordingly he tries to scramble up and set matters aright - but before he can do more than sit Toxxic drops on him from behind and locks in a reverse headlock of his own. Try as he might, Blazenwing can’t escape... and the grip is tightening. “Excellent in-ring strategy from the Hot Commodity,” Riley declares as the straight-edger squeezes. “Toxxic is using this time to simultaneously recover from Blazenwing’s moves and wear his opponent down!” Toxxic stares straight ahead as Blazenwing struggles. From here he could probably lock in the Repeat To Fade and make the newcomer submit - but that’s not how this has to end. Reaching a decision, the Straight-Edge Sensation hauls Blazenwing up until the man from Wisconsin is standing, albeit arched painfully backwards in the reverse headlock. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." The crowd really aren’t doing Blazenwing any favours. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Having brought his man up, Toxxic takes a second to set himself - then drops again, driving Blazenwing’s neck into his knee. Before the vertebrae have even finished screaming the Brit twists his opponent over and falls backwards into another DDT! *WHAM!!* “Detoxx!” Comet calls. “But Toxxic used a DDT there instead of the Diamond Cutter he usually favours.” “It’s called ‘strategy’, Comet,” Riley informs him loftily. “Blazenwing uses a Diamond Cutter - of sorts - and Toxxic didn’t want to take the risk that he knows how best to counter one!” “I know all about ‘strategy’ thank you Robert,” Comet tells his broadcast partner. “Although not the ‘Marketing’ sort eh?” Riley needles. “Or maybe ‘Comet Strikes IV’ would have done a bit better at the box office!” “Quiet, miscreant.” Blazenwing’s eyes are slightly unfocused now from the battering his skull has taken, and Toxxic judges that the moment is right. Clamping a front facelock on his luckless adversary the Straight-Edge Sensation brings Blazenwing to his feet... and reaches forward to hook his right leg behind the knee from the inside. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “Caffeine Bomb!” Riley calls jubilantly. “Nice knowing you David, you can go back to the Phillipines now!” "SIIIIIII-LENT..." Blazenwing is heavy for the straight-edger to lift, but manageable. Toxxic hoists him up into the air, starts to rotate him in order to bring him down on his skull... ...the crowd hold their breath, hoping against hope that the newcomer can escape... ...and in mid-air, David Blazenwing manages to twist around and land on his feet behind the startled Brit. “RRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!” Blazenwing knows better than to try the German again, but the reverse headlock was good to him last time. Before Toxxic can react he clamps it on, raises one arm in the air - then twists around and sends the straight-edger crashing to the ground, driving his elbow into Toxxic’s chest as he does so! *WHAM!* “Landon Eye!” Riley splutters in horror as Blazenwing rolls away from the downed ICTV champ. “It’s vaguely amusing to see him ripping off Wild & Dangerous, Spike Jenkins and even Mike Van Siclen, but Landon Maddix!? Comet, I refuse to watch this man desecrate the moves of the Disciple of Todd!” “Robert, calm down,” Comet curtly informs the plump colour commentator. “I can’t remember the last time you did any sort of move to another man that wasn’t banned in 20 States.” Blazenwing gets to his feet in the corner, head still swimming from his narrow escape. His eyes light on Toxxic, starting to struggle to his feet... but by lucky chance, facing away from his opponent. Blazenwing starts to grin, and he raises his right foot - then slams it down on the canvas. *THUMP!!* “Comet, tell me he’s not doing this,” Riley manages weakly. *THUMP!!* "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “Tell me he’s not setting up for Sweet Disciple Music.” *THUMP!!* "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “Robert, you said yourself that everyone and their mother uses a superkick,” Comet protests. “What’s your problem now?” *THUMP!!* "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “But that setup?” Riley complains. “The stamping on the mat? That is Landon Maddix!” *THUMP!!* "SIIIIIII-LENT..." “Citizen Blazenwing came up with this ‘setup’ to the Full Effect all on his own,” Comet informs Riley. “It’s not his fault that the Cockroach happened to do the same!” “Well he might have checked first,” Riley mutters dispiritedly. *THUMP!!* *THUMP!!* *THUMP!!* Toxxic gets up to his feet, shaking his head to try and clear the cobwebs. He hears the thumping behind him, increasing in tempo, and instinctively turns around to see what it is. Blazenwing darts across the ring with a quick side-step run-up and lashes a boot out at Toxxic’s jaw- *WHAP!!* Caught. And for the first time tonight, the lopsided grin appears on Toxxic’s face. But there is no humour there, and David Blazenwing has the sudden and very disconcerting impression that the Straight-Edge Sensation isn’t actually looking at him at all. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." He’s looking at someone else. "SIIIIIII-LENT..." The grin disappears as quickly as it arrived, and Toxxic throws Blazenwing’s foot away. The newcomer’s boot describes a half-circle through the air, and as his body turns away from the straight-edger Blazenwing feels two shoulders being placed behind his knees. Toxxic pushes upwards and straightens, carrying David on his shoulders like a boy lifting his girlfriend up to see her favourite band at a festival - but before the crowd, the commentators or even Blazenwing himself can fully register what is going on Toxxic has reached up, locked his hands behind his opponent’s neck and pulled forwards. Blazenwing topples off Toxxic’s shoulders. And as his body falls down, head on a collision course with the canvas, Toxxic sits out. *CRASH!!* Toxxic doesn’t even have to move for the pinfall. He just lets Blazenwing slump forward in the cradle a little so his shoulders touch down. ONE! TWO!! THREEEEEEEEE!! *DING-DING!!* “L-ladies and gentlemen,” Funyon stammers as Toxxic releases his hold and gets back to his feet, face virtually expressionless once more, “here is your winner... TOXX-IIIC!!” The guitars of Lostprophets start up, but Toxxic pays them no more mind than he does the jeering crowd. For once, the man who has seemed obsessed with getting a reaction from the people isn’t bothered by them. He rolls out of the ring, speaks a couple of words with Jet who is still holding his ICTV belt, and together the two set off up the ramp. “Robert...” Comet says after a second. “What... what was that?” “Comet, I don’t know,” Riley replies, sounding equally stunned. “But I’ll tell you this - he didn’t steal that from any other SWF wrestler!” “Will you give it a rest?” Comet snaps at his partner. “Citizen Blazenwing has just been dropped in his head from a height of around nine feet, and you’re still cracking ‘jokes’ about his wrestling style!?” “No, I’m informing our viewers what an innovative competitor our Intercontinental-Television Champion is!” Riley protests. “Surely you’ll admit that he is a credit to this federation?” “Robert, I fear that Justice may find you wanting,” Comet replies wearily as the EMTs come down to the ring to check on David Blazenwing. “Well Citizens, next up we have two completely new competitors in Ace Lezaire and Ryan Dustin - stay tuned to find out which of these young studs will be making waves in the SWF pool, right after this commercial break!” FADE OUT-

Tom Flesher walks silently down a hall in the back of the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. His black gear bag embroidered with the Superior One logo (available for $34.95 at http://www.theSWF.net/) swings at his side as he reaches the door with his nameplate screwed on. He pushes the door open, flicks on the lights and drops the bag onto the coffee table, then has a seat on his couch. He sits for a moment, taking a glance at his watch. Finally, Allison Onita comes sprinting up to him, the flare on her knee-length blue skirt ruffling as she runs in the door. “Did you go see Alex?” Flesher asks as she enters, not even looking up as he unzips his bag and begins fishing through it. He pulls out a pack of Camel Turkish Royals and a lighter. “I sure did,” she beams, as Flesher lights up a cigarette. “Did he fill you in?” Flesher asks, puffing a cloud of smoke. “Uh huh,” Allison says with a smile. “I’ve got some bad news and some good news.” “Good news first,” he says. “You’ve got the first two matches won,” she says. “Tonight, it’s straight singles rules, and Smarkdown next week , I’ll be surprised if Dace even shows up… it’s going to be a submission match!” Flesher grins broadly. “I can’t believe he booked that…” “Well, don’t get too excited. Match three is hardcore.” He leans back and raises an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?” “Afraid not,” Allison says, sitting down next to him. “And that’s all Zenon’s releasing today. He’s letting you prepare for the first three matches, since those are happening regardless, but he hasn’t decided on stipulations for the last two yet. He says he’ll cross that bridge when he gets there.” Flesher takes another long, contemplative drag on his cigarette as he puts an arm around her. “So what do you think, Allison?” “He gave you the first two matches,” she says. “You’re a hammer, Tom, and anything you do early on is going to carry over. You know you can beat Dace tonight, so set something up for the next match.” Flesher sourly flicks the end of his cigarette into an ashtray. “But seriously… hardcore… F**k.” He takes another drag. “Well,” he says with a shrug, “at least I’ve got two wins lined up to start the series.” “Absolutely,” says a sweetly-smiling Allison as she scoots closer and sits herself on Tom’s knee. “And you’re such a hammer… so before you go crack Dace’s spine, why don’t you stick around and do some nailing?” Flesher smirks and reaches around Allison’s body, cupping her breast as the picture fades out.

Card: MAIN EVENT SINGLES MATCH - FIRST OF FIVE Tom Flesher vs Dace Night Who is the king of the hill? The cream of the crop? Who should be the number one contender? This best of five series will determine it. In the first match, all the rules apply. A win here isn’t the end of the world for the loser, but momentum is a tough thing to turn around... Rules: Standard singles match. TAG TEAM TITLES #1 CONTENDERSHIP OVER THE TOP BATTLE ROYAL Alan Clark vs Coy West vs John Duran vs Todd Royal vs Austin Sly vs Jimmy “The Demon” Liston vs Tryst vs Insane Luchadore Tag division’s heating up! The last two men remaining in the ring challenge the In Crowd for the straps! Rules: All men start in the ring at the same time. Eliminations occur when people go over the top rope and BOTH feet touch the ground. CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP Jacob Hemlsley vs Todd Cortez Todd goes for double gold, but the pipe-wielding maniac could stop him here! Rules: Standard singles match. HARDCORE MATCH Janus vs Crow With the tag titles gone, Janus and Aecas no longer have to see eye to eye. Janus has a lot of aggression built up... and Crow likes making people bleed. Sure, that works. Rules: None to speak of. USJL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Landon Maddix© vs “Hollywood” Spike Jenkins By defeating him in a non-title, making him tap out, Spike Jenkins earns a title shot. Can Spike make it a two-fer? Rules: Standard singles match. SINGLES MATCH Ace Lezaire vs Ryan Dustin Two young bucks (NOT THAT KIND, JANUS) tangle it up here. Someone’s getting a win in their debut match. Rules: Standard singles match. SINGLES MATCH David Blazenwing vs Toxxic David Blazenwing... is back in the SWF? Yeah. Yeah, he’s back. Amazingly somehow. Toxxic demanded this match to break the returnee in, and he gets it. Rules: Standard singles match.