"Ladies and gentlemen," declares ring announcer Funyon. "All Hallows continues with the following tag team contest, set for one fall!"
The lights quickly dim as the sounds of the Mad Capsule Markets' "Tribe" pound into the house that Jordan made famous. A strobe light quickly jumps in, perfectly timed with the song while the letters T.K.O. flash onto the Smarktron.
"Introducing first: from Saitama, Japan. At a total combined weight of 483 lbs, they are accompanied by Chris Card and Natasha. They are TORU Takahara, and KOJI Kitano. This... is... T - K - O!!"
While their caucasian counterparts stand close and offer polite golf applause, the duo from the Orient stand under the Smarktron, arms crossed and glowering at the Chicago crowd. A split second later, TORU downs a quick swig of his Awamori and KOJI flashes his most defiant double finger. The foursome then briefly resume their way to the ring. After shedding their unnecessary entrance attires, the team then proceeds with their simultaneous ring entrance. They throw their best possible intimidating glares at the ring announcer, but the man with the mic is not deterred from doing his job. "Tribe" quickly fades away and makes way for the very different Beatle composition known as "Helter Skelter".
"And their opponents: from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At a total combined weight of 522 lbs; Daniel Smith, and Tod James Stuart. The G - T - A - Fight Team!"
The first to come out is the always stoic Daniel Smith in his standard royal blue tights and his sleeveless Wrestling Clinic t-shirt. Very close behind is partner Tod James Stuart, who's decided to go for cheap local heat by wearing one of those popular "fake jerseys" ringer t-shirts that feature the Blackhawks logo on the front and the name and number of the one goalie who's been prominent in both Toronto AND Chicago, #30 Ed Belfour. While he's getting a few cheers out of the crowd, he's not too far behind his partner who walks as always to the ring with determination. As the Canadians reach the ringside area, all four competitors soon lock eyes with one another. Referee Eddy Long does his best to keep the Japanese contingent at bay, long enough for their opponents to enter the ring. The Toronto natives take an important second to size up the opposition, four people that do nothing but look down upon them from a perch of disdain and superiority. While Mr. Card and Ms. Natasha are ushered out of the ring, Helter Skelter quickly fades away and the image we're witnessing rapidly becomes a tense four-way staring contest.
"All four men are almost forehead to forehead as we're set to go underway here." notes Mak Francis.
"It'll be interesting to see, Mak." notes Suicide King. "We're seeing two teams at a crossroads in their respective careers. TORU and KOJI were the nearly invincible tag team champions suffer the beginning of what is probably the long fall down from the top of the world, and they're none too happy about it. On the other hand, the Fight Team's all about proving themselves. Slowly but surely they're climbing their way up and what better way to do so than by getting past the former champs."
As the opening bell is called for, the match's first salvo is officially launched by KOJI as he grabs a handful of Stuart's Belfour shirt and tears off a portion! This helps Eddy Long in designating the legal men as he forces Daniel Smith and TORU out to their respective corners. Meanwhile, Stuart quickly replies to the insult in kind as he unleashes a barrage of forearm shots to the side of the head. KOJI is sufficiently staggered, but he manages to fight back with his own elbow strikes to the head. Stuart wobbles all the way to the ropes, allowing KOJI to take two steps back and charge with another fierce elbow strike. However, Stuart uses his opponent's momentum against him, sidesteps him and has him *sail* over the top rope and onto the floor!
"A little emergency strategy session seems to be in order for TKO." observes Mak. "As Chris Card is quick to get in KOJI's ear. This doesn't appear to be the start they had in mind."
Following a lengthy conversation, KOJI finally enters the ring under the warnings of Eddy Long. Both men finally converge for what appears to be the first collar and elbow tie-up of the match, but Stuart is fooled by his Japanese opponent as he's the victim of a vicious eye gouge! Eddy Long sternly warns him about such a misdeed, but he receives a none-too-polite finger as a reply. KOJI follows it up with a hard kick to the midsection, and a series of clubbing forearm blows to the upper back. Latching onto his wrist, KOJI sends the Canadian to the ropes with an Irish whip. He rears back with another massive elbow strike, but Stuart ducks under. KOJI quickly bends down for a back bodydrop, and this time Stuart does a quick spin around his opponent, hooking arms in the process. The end result is Stuart reversing the maneuver into an Irish whip of his own. On the return bounce, Stuart tries to flip his opponent over into a hip toss, but it's blocked! KOJI buries a fist in Stuart's gut that doubles him over. He places his leg over the Canadian's head and gracefully backflips himself free. KOJI quickly charges but gets taken down with a lightning fast armdrag! He almost immediately regains his feet, but runs into a second armdrag! Not one to be outquicked by the silly Canadian white man fool, KOJI regains his footing for a second time. But it is he who is the fool, as Stuart changes course and blasts his opponent in the face with a heavy forearm shot!
KOJI staggers to one knee from the blow, but Stuart is quickly on him with an arm twist. Straining, KOJI tries to strike out of it, but Stuart further cinches the hold in to prevent that. He further adds to the attack with a series of shin kicks that connect with KOJI's chest. Once sufficiently neutralized, Tod places his right boot onto the side of KOJI's face and drops down to his back, driving his foot in KOJI's head!
"TKO can't seem to get any good offense started." notes Mak. "Just as Tod Stuart connects with the Slapshot! And here's our first cover of the match!" he adds, as Stuart quickly swoops on top of his opponent with a lateral press.
"One!"
"Tw--"
Before Eddy Long can finish registering Two, KOJI is quick to roll his shoulder up. Stuart traps KOJI in a front facelock and brings him to a set of ropes. After immobilizing him with a few forearm shots, Stuart grabs KOJI's arm and peels him off into an Irish whip, but KOJI spins his hips around and uses all of his weight to reverse the move. Stuart takes the trip to the ropes instead. But when KOJI tries to establish dominance early with his hardest shoulder tackle, it is he who gets knocked down to the mat due to his lack of size. Tod takes off into the adjacent ropes, allowing to roll over to his stomach. Stuart hops over him, which then allows his opponent to spring to his feet. He tries to catch the returning Tod with a lunging clothesline, but the Canadian ducks under the blow. KOJI dashes after him and hops onto his shoulders, hoping to take him down into a victory roll; but Stuart tosses him forward and lands into a double-knee gutbuster! Rather than go for a pincover; Stuart rolls back to his feet and awaits the rise of his opponent. KOJI barely takes a knee as Stuart appropriates him into the uranage position and drives the back of his head into his own knee! He lifts him back up and quickly chains the move into an STO! This time, he falls on top for the cover.
"One!"
"Two!"
Despite the abuse, KOJI is still able to kick out early. Stuart traps the man in a front facelock and walks over to his corner. After slapping hands with Daniel Smith, Stuart forces his opponent into the neutral corner. Smith soon joins him as both send the Japanese fighter into the opposite corner with a double Irish whip. Stuart places himself back first into the corner and offers his hand, which leads to Smith whipping his own partner. But the move is reversed however, and it's *Smith* who takes the trip full force into a corner splash onto KOJI!
Tod James Stuart is up next as he takes off into a dash... into Daniel Smith's arms? Holding his partner in a semi bearhug, Smith does a quick 180 and rams Stuart back first into their opponent in the corner! While Eddy Long is busy rushing Stuart back to his corner, Smith peels KOJI out of the corner. He bends him over and runs his arm through his legs.
"This could already be it, King!" says Mak. "Spirit Breaker is coming up and it'll be a short night for TKO!"
"Do not underestimate the former champions, Stumpy." adds King. "I don't think Chris Card has said his last word on the matter."
Indeed, just as Smith has KOJI easily lifted up on his shoulder, Chris Card is up on the apron and yanking his man to safety. Like a thief in the night, Card is back down to ringside and referee Eddy Long is none the wiser as he sees KOJI collapse into a tag to his partner TORU. With his most vicious sneer, the man climbs into the ring while Smith is only too happy to welcome a little larger competition. After a few seconds of circling and sizing up, Smith is the first to break the ice with a simple Bring It gesture. TORU unleashes his fiercest warrior's cry and strikes first with a stiff kick to the leg! Smith replies by rearing back and connecting with a hard forearm shot to the chest! TORU replies with his own shot to the head! Smith replies to that one with a stiff overhand chop to the chest, drawing the appropriate Woo from the crowd. TORU cringes from the blow, but responds with a chest forearm of his own. But he might as well have been elbowing a pillow as Smith absorbs it and unleashes a series of rapid fire forearms to the head! He then grabs TORU's head into a double collar clinch and *drills* him with a series of five Muay Thai knees to the head and chest. Not letting up, he pushes him backwards with a series of hard palm strikes to the chest that forcefully back TORU into a neutral corner once again. He turns around as if to have his back to him and lets loose with his alternating elbow strikes to the head!
"This isn't how he normally does it," notes Mak Francis. "But this is what Daniel Smith very simply refers to as Me Hitting You. And damned if it's not effective."
"Sure it looks effective, and I sure as hell would not want to be on the receiving end of that." replies Suicide King. "But if you look carefully, Ed Long is a liiiiittle too slow to get in there and force the men out! And now Chris Card is only too happy to remind him of that fact."
While Chris Card chews out Eddy Long for what he blindingly perceives to be a breach in the rules, Daniel Smith locks TORU into a front facelock and backs into his own corner. This allows Tod James Stuart to slap his partner's shoulder, which Long will call as a tag. Smith then takes two steps forward while Stuart embarks on a quick climb of the ropes. In an impressive display of timing, Smith moves out of the way while Tod soars through the air and plants the sole of both feet into TORU's upper back with a double stomp! With TORU effectively collapsed in a mess on the canvas, Stuart capitalizes by dropping several quick elbows on the back of his opponent's head. He punctuates this flurry by throwing himself into the ropes, leaping, and landing a knee drop to the very same area. He rolls his larger opponent over and puts on a lateral press with his forearm grinded into his face for good measure.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Thr-"
While Stuart is initially upset at the near-fall, he then realizes TORU was simply using the full two and a half seconds of rest allotted before throwing the shoulder up. Before the man can shake the cob webs loose, Stuart quickly latches onto him and applies yet another front facelock to keep him grounded.
But after barely 10 seconds of being in the hold, TORU is still able to get up to his feet. Relentless, Stuart still contains him with several more knee strikes to the head. This allows him to switch to an arm twist once again, and another series of shin kicks to TORU's chest He tries to yank himself free, but Stuart still manages to place his boot against TORU's head. What he doesn't see is TORU's arm lightly dangling over the top rope. This allows Chris Card to grab onto his charge's limb and prevent him from taking any damage while Stuart carelessly throws himself onto his back with no favorable result! TORU sees the proverbial blood and strikes. He quickly maneuvers himself behind Stuart and carelessly drops him to the mat with a nasty backdrop suplex! Catching his breath, he sends a vicious glare to the crowd while mocking Stuart's own raised fist pose, which he gladly turns into an Up Yours gesture. Now purely going into Time Wasting mode, he motions to his manager with the universal Give Me It signal, which prompt Chris Card to toss him his flask of Awamori. Eddy Long had been warned of the effects of the drink when introduced into unfamiliar anatomy, and he warns TORU in accordance; but the man simply wants a refreshment. He takes a mighty swig, and gulps it down as if it were mere water. After sending a possibly none too flattering Japanese remark at the official, TORU finally tosses his drink back to his manager, who inserts it back into his blazer's interior pocket.
"You know," begins Mak. "I have no idea why, but before the show Chris Card nearly insisted that I try and taste that Awamori. One sip and it made me sick to my stomach! That stuff is vile!"
"Heh, yeah I know. I heard you coughing up a lung all afternoon." replies King. "And seeing as your misery is my pleasure, I was in quite a good mood before we started the show!"
In no mood to attempt a cover for the time being, TORU basically toys with his opponent. Just as Stuart is attempting to regain his footing, TORU casually grabs a handful of hair, presses Stuart's face against his shin and then carelessly *scrapes* his face against the laces of his boots. While Stuart writhes in agony on the mat, TORU nonchalantly ignores the warning from the official, and casually repeats the maneuver. This draws a more stern warning from Eddy Long, but TORU replies with a very basic stare that's meant to say Don't Fuck Me With Me, White Man. Ever the fighter, Stuart tries to pull himself to his feet by yanking on his opponent's knee pads and tights, but TORU soon puts an end to those aspirations as he drops the Canadian with an unforgiving back breaker! He shoves the writhing Tod to his back, and hooks the leg for his team's first pincover of the match.
"One!"
"Two!"
Fighting against much larger weight, Stuart has to use all of his energy in order to lift his shoulder up. Stuart attempts to fight back with a series of weak right hands to the abdomen, but TORU shuts him up with a heavy boot to the side of the head! He grabs hold of the Canadian with two handfuls of hair and sends him running into the ropes with an Irish whip. Stuart has enough awareness to duck and avoid TORU's first lunge, but he's not so fortunate the second time as TORU catches him in a bear hug and *drives* him down to the mat with a spinebuster! In a slight mock towards Stuart's partner Daniel Smith, TORU then slaps both hands against Stuart's chest, as he crouches down for yet another cover attempt.
"One!"
"Two!"
Wasting no time following the kick-out, TORU muscles Stuart up to his feet and into a neutral corner of his own. He has an assortment of offensive options at his disposal, but he chooses to rub his own forearm back and forth into Stuart's face! Eddy Long is quick to step in with his count of five, which successfully draws TORU out of the corner. He pulls in the official closer and launches into an angry shouting tirade in his native language. You or I or everyone else would seemingly think this is yet another barrage of insults. This however, has effectively drawn the attention of the referee away from the match in itself; which allows Natasha to step onto the apron and bury some finger nails into Stuart's face! Daniel Smith attempts to enter the ring and put an end to the injustice, but Eddy Long is quickly on his case about trying to enter without a tag. What's more amusing to the Japanese contingent is that TORU was simply telling Mr. Long about his plans for the evening after the show. Language barriers. Gotta love them...
Returning his attention back to the match, TORU takes another second to showboat, and finally whips Stuart to the opposite corner. Letting out another battle cry, TORU charges... and hits nothing but boot! He shakes off the blow, and charges again... and this time hits an elbow! Stuart quickly hops onto the second rope, but we'll never get to find out his intentions. None other than Chris Card is seen holding him in place by tugging on his leg. TORU is quick to capitalize as he dashes forward and blasts Stuart with a vicious headbutt! While the smiling Card fixes his cufflinks into place, TORU joins Stuart on the second rope and easily lifts him up in a slam position. Boosting himself off the strands, TORU sails through the air with a moonsault, scoring with the Blockbuster Slam! Cover!
"One!"
"Two!"
"Kick-out by Stuart!" states Mak. "You almost had to give the assist to Chris Card on that one."
"That's what I call being there for your team, Francisco!" replies King. "I don't expect you to grasp that right away."
Instead of capitalizing on the offense, TORU chooses to parade around the ring, further mocking Stuart's fist pose. And just when he gets within range, he *blasts* Daniel Smith in the face with an elbow strike! This successfully enrages Smith who tries to force his way into the match, but sees a striped obstacle in his way. Receiving the signal from Card, KOJI joins his partner in the ring for a two-man beatdown of stomps and kicks on the fallen Stuart, further raising the ire of Daniel Smith and the crowd in general. And just as Long has convinced Smith to return to his corner, TORU exits the ring and leaves KOJI to pick up the pieces. He nonchalantly flips Stuart over to his stomach and coldly places a hard kick to the shoulder blades. Then placing both feet along Stuart's back, he further taunts the Canadians by riding the waves, using Stuart's prone body as the proverbial surfboard. This is the perfect lead-up to his next move, as he places his foot on his back, grabs both hands, lifts him up and then *cracks* him back on the mat with the Darkness Stomp! Once again, he opts not to cover... Instead, he offers the crowd a disdainful slash of the throat. And (possibly) an insult to the referee...
"King, you can't possibly agree with TKO's strategy right now!" says Mak. "They're basically looking past the Fight Team, and aren't even trying to win this!"
"TKO are the former champions!" replies King. "They carried the tag division for so long on their backs! The GTA Fight Team are basically the lowest rung of the ladder! They should be HONORED to face TKO!"
KOJI seals his fate... by flipping Daniel Smith the double bird. As Eddy Long manages to keep an irate Daniel Smith from joining the fray, Chris Card sends the illegal man once again in the ring for more double damage. KOJI and TORU make full of use of the referee's distracted state as they both back Stuart into a set of ropes. Chris Card is only too happy to hop one knee onto the apron and immobilize the Canadian by grabbing the back of his tights (this only further enrages Daniel Smith, who's none closer to getting the official to TURN THE F AROUND). After a pair of humiliating slaps courtesy of KOJI, both men take hold of Stuart's wrists and peel him off into a double Irish whip. The Japanese fighters lock their hands together in hopes of a stinging double clothesline. Just as he bounces off the ropes, Stuart has enough awareness to duck under the powerful strike and continue his run... into a suicide dive to the outside on Chris Card! As the crowd perks up from the resurgence, Stuart starts peppering the fallen manager with a series of rapid fire right hands to the side of the head; a small token of payback for all the interference pulled by Mr. Card. His two charges in the ring waste no time in dashing to his rescue. But just as they cross the ropes to the outside, Stuart rolls back inside under the bottom rope. Despite the abuse he's taken for the majority of this match, Tod Stuart begins the slow and long crawl towards his corner and his partner's outstretched hand.
"Tod James Stuart has literally been manhandled throughout this match!" utters Mak Francis throughout the cheers of the crowd. "You and I could see him start to fade away, but he just created his own break and he's about three feet away from tagging in the massive Daniel Smith!"
"Lemme ask you something." retorts Suicide King. "Is Chris Card booked to wrestle tonight?! Is he wearing his wrestling gear?? No!! He's a fully licensed *manager*! And Stewie just created his so-called 'break' by taking advantage of a defenseless manager! This is the so-called underdog team that everybody wants to get behind?! I'm appalled at such a concept! I'm starting to think your eyes, your brain and your deductive capabilities are seriously starting to atrophy along with those slabs of meat you call legs!"
TORU is the first to reach Stuart. He leaps with a giant elbow drop, but Stuart avoids it with a quick roll to the side! KOJI is in next as he latches onto Stuart's ankle, trying to reel him back in towards the TKO corner. Pulling as hard as he can, Stuart first tries to get up onto his one free leg and move forward, but that soon proves fruitless. Instead, he spots TORU gingerly getting to his feet and staggering about. Waiting for the one split-second he needs, Stuart twists his body around and throws himself on his back in one fluid motion, and uses both feet to push KOJI off of him... and into his partner! As the Japanese contingent collides with one another, Stuart finally makes that one last desperate lunge towards his corner... and TAGS in Daniel Smith!
"Here comes Dan The Man!" exclaims Mak. "And now TKO's strategy of keeping him outside and pissing him off is finally going to bite them in the Fukuoka!"
Like the proverbial 10-story apartment on fire, Daniel Smith wastes no time getting into the ring. The first victim in his sights is KOJI, who gets mowed down to the mat with a vicious clothesline! Without breaking stride, he rears back for a mighty forearm blow on TORU, but he's caught with an elbow of his own! TORU is fully intent on caving in Smith's face, but the larger Canadian, fueled by pure adrenaline, is hardly flinching. When TORU realizes he's doing the equivalent of punching clouds to create thunder, Daniel Smith unleashes a mighty roar that lets everyone know he does not wish to be hurt by conventional means. Before TORU can resume his offense, Smith is now the one hammering elbows into his opponent's face. TORU staggers all the way back to a corner, but Smith will not let him rest. He peels him off with a strong Irish whip, and just as TORU's back collides with the opposite turnbuckle, Smith is one second behind as he connects with a massive corner clothesline! Instead of following up with his usual short-arm clothesline, Smith takes a few steps back to allow his opponent to stagger forward. With a snap of the wrist, Smith's hand is wrapped around TORU's throat. Exerting minimal effort, TORU feels his body being lifted up, and immediately back down with a seated chokeslam!
"Miracle On Yonge Street!" exclaims Mak.
Having regained his senses, KOJI dives at Daniel Smith in an attempt to contain him. But that also proves futile against the much bigger Canadian as he effortlessly catches him and takes him down with a T-Bone suplex! Just behind Smith, TORU is seen pointing to his knee, no doubt signaling for his Busaiku Knee Kick. Just as Smith turns around, TORU charges, but Smith sidesteps him! This results in TORU driving his knee into the turnbuckles. Doubling him over with a toe kick, Smith hooks both of TORU's arms and successfully plants him with a double underhook powerbomb! After a few chest pounds that put the crowd on the GTA side, Smith spots Chris Card getting to his feet. He collects the dazed TORU by his head. Once Card is up (but wobbly), Smith runs the full length of the ring, and tosses TORU over the ropes, and onto Chris Card! The whole pile tumbles to the outside, much to the horror of Natasha.
Desperate to turn the tide back to his team's side, KOJI goes with what has always worked best for him: speed and agility. He leaps onto an unsuspecting Smith, desperately trying to take him down with a hurracanrana. While hammering away at Smith's head with repeated right hands, KOJI fails to realize that Smith is essentially holding him in a powerbomb position, casually walking around the ring. Tod Stuart seems the door opening and manages to blind tag his way in just as Smith's arm is in range. He expertly climbs the ropes and waits...
Unfortunately for him, KOJI eventually sees that the much larger Daniel Smith is merely toying with him and playing his part for what will be the eventual fall of TKO in this match. He stops his flurry of fists long enough to see Tod James Stuart perched up on his corner's top rope and leaping off... into a hooking clothesline!
"There it is! The 21 Gun Salute, out of nowhere!" exclaims Mak.
As Smith completes the tandem move with a devastating powerbomb, Tod Stuart is quick to land on top of KOJI with a lateral press while Smith adds more weight by pressing both hands on his partner's back. While Natasha tears the proverbial hairs from her delicate head, Eddy Long is in position.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!!"
"Ring the bell!" orders the stripe-clad official.
"Bottom of the ladder you say?" asks Mak Francis. "Well King, it appears like Tod Stuart and Daniel Smith have just taken a HELL of a step up that ladder!"
As Helter Skelter fires up to a cheering and satisfied crowd, the man with the mic makes it official.
"Here are your winners: The G - T - A - Fight Team!!"
"Sure, beating a team like TKO is an accomplishment in its own right." replies Suicide King. "But from here on in, it only gets harder. Whether it's singles or tag team competition, there are NO easy roads to the top! If the Toronto boys want to prove they can make it, they have to drop their whole Woe Is Me mentality and start thinking like winners! And as for TKO, best way I can describe it: off night. They'll bounce back from this, and Card's gonna have them back on a winning track in no time. Let the Canadians celebrate their much needed win. Me, I'm going on a pizza run!"
"While my partner goes on the hunt for a deep dish right here in Chicago, we got a lot more coming up, including the NEW tag team champions defending their belts against the NYC! Stick around; THIS... is All Hallows!"
...
