Zeel1

<< .25 Unmasked >> IFL Bloodsport VIII The crowd was buzzing as always, even more than usual. They were inspired by the series' first Do Or Die last week. But more than that, rumors were abounding about what was going down this week. The audience had been around long enough to understand the pattern. This was the fourth show since Killer Instinct, after all... Sivian: Welcome to another episode of IFL Bloodsport! The energy in the air is a particularly vile one tonight. A vibe of impending carnage... Hazazz: Bwahaha, well that's always what you get with the IFL! But I know whatcha mean. A real, real nasty night's on the horizon... that night might even be tonight! Sivian: We know that the great Malell is set to make a big announcement tonight, and-- well, as if on cue... Hazazz: All hail! All hail! Hazazz: WOOOOAAAAAH!! Sivian: I'll say... what a monumental night we have before us. Hazazz: S-Surely, with this much at stake, someone will end up dead right?! All those tournament matches, a shot at Immunity, someone's gonna have to kill! Sivian: Mmm, perhaps... but when you go in there knowing you'll have more fights that same night, it'd be a natural instinct to try and conserve yourself. They may play it safe early on, and simply focus on getting a victory. Hazazz: That ain't the IFL way at all, darlin'! I just know they'll wanna tear each other apart for this kind of opportunity... heheh, let's go, let's go!!! Hazazz: Hahahh, gotta keep your head on a swivel buddy! Sivian: Jay Briscoe is quite set on going after Bobby Roode. For whatever reason he's determined to fight for the fallen James Storm. I appreciate violence, but it's for such a misguided purpose... Hazazz: I know what you mean, but I love seeing feuds like this develop! This has to come to a head in the arena eventually! Sivian: Likely so. But first, Roode has Zack Sabre Jr. to contend with! Sivian: My, my. I really don't think we've shone enough of a spotlight on just how dangerous Zack Sabre Jr. really is. Hazazz: I dunno which way a humans' limbs are supposed to bend, but I'm pretty sure he bends 'em the wrong way! And that's awesome! Sivian: And I believe he can do just that to anyone in the tournament. That's going to make him quite a threat. Hazazz: Maybe so... but here's my pick right here! Hahah, let's go, Alberto! Sivian: He certainly has quite the chance as well, but I don't suspect Charlotte will be laying down for him. Hazazz: Hahah, that was awesome! Hell of a battle! Two relentless warriors! Sivian: Absolutely. I'm not sure if Alberto expected to have such a brawl on his hands but Charlotte again proved to be quite the opponent. Hazazz: Wonder if he's got anything left between those legs...? Bahahahaha! Sivian: If not, she'll decimate the rest at the nearest opportunity! Hmhm, I'd love to see that. Hazazz: You and me both, doll! Nyeheheh... eh... ugh, but now it's time for Kenny Omega... and this Galaxy guy, I still don't have much of a read on... Sivian: I think that goes for all of us. ----- Inside the tunnel, the Sole Survivors stood, minus Penta who opted to remain backstage. Owens was looking to psyche up Callihan for his upcoming match as Alberto limped his way over to them. Roode was sitting against the wall, looking bummed to have lost in the first round, and troubled in general... they all wanted to keep that Immunity title within their corps. But no sooner than Alberto joined them did they get an unexpected guest. "Um... excuse me..." Fenix nearly jumped out of his skin as he whipped around to see Frightmare standing just a few feet behind him. They all took up some form of defensive or combative stance, and the CHIKARA alum backed up at the sight, his hands up. "H-Hey, hey, I come in peace! I don't want any trouble!" "Well trouble's about to find you." Callihan growled. "Got some guts, walking up to us by yourself..." "I-I just want to talk! To... to Fenix..." Frightmare uttered. Fenix glanced backwards at his cohort, before taking a single solitary step forward towards Frightmare. "...What?" "I... um... I know that, all you guys want to do is... is kill... everyone. But I'm not... we both know I'm not a threat to any of you. So taking me out tonight... it wouldn't really make much of a difference." he conceded. He seemed entirely stripped of self-worth. "And I also know that... your mask isn't really that big a deal to you, atleast not in this place. You wouldn't have any problem unmasking..." "What are you getting at?" Fenix impatiently asked. "I... just... it does mean something to me." Frightmare responded. "I know that's stupid but it does. So I was gonna ask if you could please, just for this night, if you could... just give me this win? J-Just let me beat you... please?" Fenix looked stunned, as snickers rose behind him. "Ohhh my God, perro..." Alberto chuckled. "How desperate must you be... to even think about coming up to us of all people to ask for something like that?!" Frightmare just bowed his head, having no adequate rebuttal. Fenix stared him down as the wheels seemed to turn in his head. It almost looked like he was contemplating this. But then, he began to nervously yell out, "D-Don't act like I can trust you! Just 'cause you're one of the 'good guys', you think I'll believe anything you say? You're just... trying to lure me into a false sense of security is all!" "N-No, that's not true!" Frightmare interjected. But Fenix wasn't gonna hear any of it. "I don't buy it! There's no way that mask means anything to you! You aren't even a real luchador, you're just some kid playing pretend! You aren't fooling me... I-I'm taking you down tonight!" "Yeah, you heard him." Penta hissed. "Get the hell out of here." Again, Frightmare had no response. He just turned and walked away, his shoulders slumped... ----- Hazazz: Ghk...! Nnnggh... nngrrgh...! Sivian: ...I do believe that last match just broke my partner. Not that I can blame him. That was just- Hazazz: Why the f*ck is Kenny even here?! Ugggh if I were Malell I'd have skewered him the moment he walked in! Why let someone like this taint our sacred blood-soaked arena?! Sivian: Now Hazazz, we've talked about this. You shan't question Malell again... Hazazz: I-I know but... goddamn, this far in, stuff like this is STILL happening! It's ridicu-- Sivian: ...Th-that's... Hazazz: ...For once I... e-even I'm speechless... Sivian: This goes against, what little tradition IFL has to uphold... Do Or Die matches are only meant to solve bloody grudges, after one grows to hate another to dare challenge them to-- Hazazz: Who the hell cares?! This is incredible! Either Kenny dies, or he has to kill his closest ally! Nyehehehhe, I love it! Sivian: Well, I'm a bit of a purist. But I won't claim that the match doesn't fascinate me... it's a worthy main event for that show, no question. Hazazz: Hot damn and we follow that up with the last match of Round 1, Seth Rollins and Sami Callihan! Hoo-hoo boy, am I ready for this! I love the IFL so much!! Sivian: I should perhaps teach you the definition of 'speechless' at some point... Hazazz: Well what do you know! Old man's got some fight left in him after all! Sivian: Almost surreal to see Funk lay out Callihan like that. Quite the inversion of the norm. Hazazz: Yeah and you know what...? I-I think he wants more... I think he's gonna go for it! Hazazz: OOOOOUUUUUUGUHWOW... wwwwwow! What a challenge! I love it! Sivian: It's certainly going to be a bloody match, perhaps even moreso than Callihan's bout with that Dreamer fellow. But I must say, it's a foolish challenge. Terry Funk has gotten in cheap shot sneak attacks, but face-to-face, he's yet to look like a genuine threat to anybody, much less someone with Callihan's brutal streak. Hazazz: Oh yeah, no arguments here! The old bastard's diving headlong into his own grave for sure! But he's doing so with enthusiasm! Gotta love it! Sivian: Well, that's one match we now know will be taking place in just a few days' time at the Bitter End. But we still have plenty more left for tonight. In fact, I can't help but notice that as the Sole Survivors are clearing out, it seems Fenix is being left behind... which means his bout with Frightmare is up next. The loser of this match must unmask. Hazazz: HEYEAHAHAHAHEEEEHUHHhhhhhh I really don't don't give a crap about that... Sivian: Yes, I think the audience shares the same sentiment. But those masks are important to those men... apparently. Hazazz: Eh, hey. Whatever gets them tearing at each other! Ain't no such thing as a bad excuse for a bloodbath! Sivian: My goodness, I had no idea Frightmare had so much fight in him. Hazazz: Yeheheh, what a war! Man, you know the IFL is firing on all cylinders now! It's just violent brawl after violent brawl! Awwwwwww man this is what this place was made for! Sivian: Well, by the stipulation of this match, Frightmare must now unmask. Hazazz: Heh... yeah, that's nice, I guess. Sivian: It is our job to make these stipulations sound meaningful, you realize... Sivian: Well.... it seems the deed is done. Hazazz: Uh... wha? Sorry, guess I dozed off there... ngh, 'kay, back to the tournament! Sivian: Yes, we have semi-finals action up now. We begin with perhaps the two most keen submission specialists in the IFL squaring off... Hazazz: Heheheh, in the IFL, you submit by giving up your life!! Sivian: Well, well. Much as he'd hate for me to say it, Alberto was certainly out-wrestled in that one. Hazazz: Heh, no kidding. He's a bit of a hothead, that one. Gets so focused on getting that tapout, he loses sight of everything else. But I love that about him! He's a pain-making machine! Sivian: I quite enjoy him as well, but his aggression cost him on this exchange. ZSJ shall advance... but who will be facing? Hazazz: Well, Zack had a much easier time in the first round, thanks to Jay Briscoe rearing his ugly head before that match. He won just now... and Galaxy was literally handed a victory, not a scratch on him after that match. So I don't see what chance Rollins has. Sivian: For your standards, that's fine logic partner! Hazazz: Heheheh, this guy talks funny... Sivian: I thought for sure you'd be more excited partner. He just promised to kill Tetsuya Naito. Hazazz: Huh- wait... is that what he said?! Hazazz: Damn... that Rollins is a tough one. I really didn't give him a prayer there but he pulled it out! Sivian: Similar to Alberto, Galaxy allowed himself to be distracted in that match. Though, not in quite the same way. He's on a different wavelength from everyone else on the roster, it would seem. Hazazz: Yeah, he's pretty weird, huh? Getting to be fun to watch, though! Man I hope he can take out Naito... Sivian: As do we all. But now it's time for our truly major matches... these will each determine who will be in the Immunity match at the Bitter End. We know that the final bout of this evening will see Seth Rollins take on Zack Sabre Jr. But before that, we have a title defense... Kevin Owens and Jay Lethal shall finally settle this! Hazazz: Yannow, if you really wanna win with some finality, there's only one way to do it... bwaheheheheh, get 'em, Kev!! Hazazz: BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! No shot for you!!! Sivian: Well, it's not the most courageous of moves or quite what a warrior would do, but Owens opts to fight another day. Hazazz: Hey, I'm just glad that title's staying on a natural born killer like Owens! And Penta'll thrash him just as well! It's a win in my book! Hazazz: Damn, but that Lethal's a lucky one! He keeps narrowly avoiding elimination and usually it's not even by his own doing! Sivian: Well he can certainly make it hard to take him out when it counts, but regardless of how much we hate them, he has some fine backup... that's for sure. Hazazz: Eeuuuugghhh... well, whatever! Penta got the win, so I'm happy. We're down to our main event now! Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Seth Rollins! Sivian: Indeed. Rollins has been through a much harsher night than ZSJ, that much is apparent. But at this point it seems a fool's errand to count him out... Hazazz: Hey... what are you tryin' to say?! Sivian: My God! What an incredible effort from Seth Rollins! I had no idea he had so much fighting spirit within him! Three grueling matches, but he survived for that shot at Immunity! Hazazz: Damn, it takes a lot to get you to yell! But you're right, babe! Awesome stuff! Heheheh, never doubted him for a second... Sivian: You're lucky no one can hear you backpedal right now, not with this crowd so uproarious! Hazazz: Yeah, and they're really loud too!

So I've been working on this next show for the past few days but it's been taking a while... mostly because it's ended up being much bigger than intended. It's main feature is a one night 8-person tournament where the winner gets a shot at Immunity. And this was meant to go by relatively quickly but... I'm a sucker for tournaments and it actually does contain some big matches so uh, can't really help myself. So yeah it's gonna end up being a fairly major event unto itself... That being the case, I figure I can go ahead and show off the brackets. Feel free to make predictions~

Much appreciated. It'll never be mandatory or anything, but always welcomed.

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p></p><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2373069&postcount=68" rel="external nofollow"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;"><<</span></span></a><span style="font-size:12px;"> </span><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">.24 Entry III</span></strong></span><span style="font-size:12px;"> </span><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2374801&postcount=76" rel="external nofollow"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">>></span></span></a></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#8B0000;">"You want to know why you're here...?"</span></p><p> </p><p> <em>"Ngh..."</em></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#8B0000;">"...some are brought in to be destroyers..."</span></p><p> </p><p> <em>"Stop it..."</em></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#8B0000;">"...and some... are brought to be destroyed."</span></p><p> </p><p> <em>"No..."</em></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#8B0000;">"You're here to be fresh meat. You're here because, quite simply, we needed </span><span style="color:#8B0000;"><em>victims</em></span><span style="color:#8B0000;">."</span></p><p> </p><p> <em>"YOU'RE WRONG!"</em></p><p> </p><p> "Hey... Colby! COLBY!"</p><p> </p><p> Colby Corino shot awake, in a cold sweat, being shaken. He was surprised to see Frightmare standing over him. In the dark, in that mask, it wasn't really the most welcome thing to jar awake to. </p><p> </p><p> "Wh-what the hell are you doing here...?" he groaned, pushing his hands away.</p><p> </p><p> "I... I heard you from the main hall." Frightmare quietly explained. "You were having some kind of awful nightmare."</p><p> </p><p> He glanced over at the Briscoe Brothers, who Colby was rooming with. They were incredibly sound sleepers apparently. Funk and Dreamer used to be in that room as well, but... </p><p> </p><p> "Ugh... thanks, I guess." Colby grunted, running his hands through his hair. </p><p> </p><p> "Dude, are you okay?" Frightmare asked.</p><p> </p><p> Colby grimaced, looking away from him. "I'm fine..."</p><p> </p><p> "You sure haven't been acting fine." Frightmare replied. "You busted Ishii open for no reason two weeks ago. And now you try to knock me out? Eat me up out there and make me look bad? What the hell, man?"</p><p> </p><p> "I've changed up how I work. Deal with it." he hissed.</p><p> </p><p> Frightmare shook his head. To Colby's disgust, he sat on the bed next to him. "Listen. We all saw what happened with Bate last night. It's obvious that he's... just too young to be going through all this and it's breaking him. And you're barely any older than he is. And I'm, worried about you too..."</p><p> </p><p> Frightmare couldn't have expected the fury that lit up in Colby's eyes when he said that. He was going to keep talking but it became clear that was a poor idea. Colby leaned in to get into his masked face. He still wasn't trying to wake the Briscoes but his voice turned to a growl. <em>"You think I'm just as weak as he is, don't you?</em> You feel sorry for me?! <em>You just, you just see a victim when you look at me, don't you?!</em></p><p> </p><p> "I... n-no, that's not what I was-"</p><p> </p><p> "Why the f*ck are you spending any time worrying about me? Now that Madison's dead, you're the weakest one here!" Colby seethed. "Try to hide your f*cking tears behind that mask... is that why you still wear it? Huh? Does it make you feel brave?!"</p><p> </p><p> "Colby, where is this coming from...?" Frightmare sullenly asked.</p><p> </p><p> "Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're just a goddamn idiot." Colby continued. "Maybe you still don't get the situation you're in, maybe you're still in denial. Refusing to let anyone see you unmasked, are you kidding me?! You're still a goddamned luchador through all this, is that how you think?!"</p><p> </p><p> Frightmare just bowed his head, not sure how to respond.</p><p> </p><p> Colby sat up and kept laying into him. It was becoming progressively difficult for him to not raise his voice. "I'm not... I'm not a victim... you are! The only reason you're still here is because nobody fears you! Or they've just forgotten about you! But eventually the day will come and there won't be a damn thing you can do about it!"</p><p> </p><p> In the background, Mark Briscoe seemed to start to stir. The two of them both noticed this and Colby muttered, "Just... just get out of here."</p><p> </p><p> Defeated, Frightmare retreated back to his own room. He sat onto his bed... it was hard to tell, but he was almost definitely crying as he grabbed for his journal.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>-----</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> No one gets it. No one gets me. For the longest time, even I didn't...</p><p> </p><p> We're all falling apart here. Bate broke down after Owens threatened him. He's as scared as any of us, he's just showing what we're hiding. Atleast, that's how I look at it.</p><p> </p><p> Colby... I barely recognize him. He's nothing like the shy kid who got dragged into this place two months ago. God, two months of this... not even that long really. But it feels like I've spent a lifetime here. Anyway, we all have our own ways of trying to adapt, and Colby, he's... clearly going off the deep end. He's insecure. He knows he's young and small. One of the most feeble-looking here. He thinks the whole world looks at him as a target, like he has no chance of saving himself. No means of fighting back against any of them. So he lashes out. </p><p> </p><p> It's not his fault. None of this is anyone's fault but Malell's...</p><p> </p><p> This far in, I'm still being questioned about my mask. I must really be a joke to a lot of these people by now. But at first, even I barely understood why I kept it on. Why I refused to let anyone see my face. </p><p> </p><p> But now I know. I've found my reason. It's not because I'm trying to hide anything or because this is all a game to me. It's... just...</p><p> </p><p> This is what I did back on Earth. This is what I did when things were normal. Ever since I got the gimmick, nobody in wrestling had ever seen me unmasked. Nobody that knew I was Frightmare anyway. Once you break that, there's no turning back. It's a permanent shift.</p><p> </p><p> I want more than anything to go back to normalcy. And I guess... as long as I keep this mask on, as long as I keep up the tradition, I figure I can still go back and everything can go back to how it was. </p><p> </p><p> As long as I keep this mask... I won't change, like Colby has. I won't break like Bate or any of the others have. As long as I keep this mask, I keep myself. And I... I can keep some form of hope. Hope that I can go back to my old life. Hope that I can start living again.</p><p> </p><p> It's... a pretty stupid thing to cling to. But it's mine. It's all I've got. </p><p> </p><p> So I'm keeping it... until the end.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:right;"><p>Signed,</p><p> Frightmare</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>-----</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> Little did Frightmare know, as he wrote in his journal, he was being watched...</p><p> </p><p> In a hidden off control room, there were a multitude of screens... every room in the building displayed via cameras so small as to be unnoticeable. But they painted a clear picture. </p><p> </p><p> The whole place was shrouded in shadow in the night, but there was an infrared quality to the video feeds that made this a non-issue. And as Frightmare finished up his entry, Malell watched.</p><p> </p><p> His eyes were uncanny. He could make out every single word he wrote down.</p><p> </p><p> And as he read it... a wicked smile crossed his face.</p>

By request, I added a little section on factions in <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2330643&postcount=2" rel="external nofollow">this post</a>. Made little logos for them all too!

Okay so I've been a bit sheepish about mentioning this. But uh, I got myself in a position where I needed a source of income pretty badly and didn't have it. No job to speak of, not really anyway. So I needed to dedicate myself to writing other stuff, freelance work and such. I really, really wanted to keep working on this though. So I figured I needed a way to somehow make it into a theoretically profitable thing, even if minorly. Obviously it's got a ton of real people involved, playing characters that are owned by companies at that, so I can't exactly sell it as-is. Going in and changing the names seemed lame to me, you'd lose a lot of the built-in history some people have, like Owens and Zayn or the Golden Lovers. And it'd just turn everyone into a stand-in character which, eh. I might one day make a version of this with actual original characters but it's not really in the plans right now. But yeah, that being said, I can't directly profit from it. So what I did instead was, I set up a Patreon where the story is also (very, very slowly) being rolled out in a modified form. It's entirely free on there, the idea is simply that people could give tips if they wanted. I feel weird about linking, I've put it off for a long time but uh... it's never gotten even the slightest bit of attention on there so I knew I'd have no other choice but to eventually. So it's here. For the foreseeable future, the chapters will still be posted here first. Nothing will really change. But if you feel the need to support me, you can. Anyway hope you enjoy today's chapter, and also hope you don't mind that it's a bit recappy in places. It's been a while since we've had regular updates and it's touching on stuff that's been hanging in the background for a bit. << .23 It Should've Been You >> Jay Lethal and his Pact-mates hurried their way through the tunnel after his win over Kevin Owens, for a fairly distinct purpose. They knew the Sole Survivors would not be far behind. And indeed, no sooner than they sat down did the Immunity Champion come storming in, his troops backing him up closely. Owens looked absolutely furious as he scanned the room. Tyler Bate was trying his best to stay scarce as he sat there in the corner, his friends in the Pact converging around him. But none of this helped, as Owens locked his gaze on the young man. He pointed directly at him and howled, "Just what the hell were you doing back here, huh?! What was so important that you couldn't come out and fight me, Bate?!" Kenny Omega stood up, as did Kota Ibushi, Jay Lethal, The Briscoes, even Frightmare, to block Owens' path. Kenny spoke up, "Back off, Kevin! I don't know what you're thinking here but you don't have any reason to single him out! And he sure as hell had no reason to go out there." "Oh don't give me that! Bate knows exactly what this is about!" Owens shouted. "The hell are you talking about?" Lethal interjected. "What, you don't know?" Owens scoffed. "What's the matter, Bate, you never told them? Huh?! Never told your friends about what a coward you are?!" A few sideglances came Bate's way. He just bowed his head in shame. Still, the Pact-mates knew which side they were on and stood in defense of the young man. Weeks prior, a mini tournament was held at Killer Instinct to determine the Immunity Champion. The four involved discussed beforehand and agreed on winners, though Owens knew from the beginning he wasn't going to heed the plan. Per random drawing, their usual tactic, Bate was meant to head to the finals. But after Owens advanced over Ishii in the first match, Bate got cold feet. Even back then, before Kevin showed his true capacity for murder, before the Sole Survivors revealed themselves, Bate was squeamish about facing the increasingly erratic Owens. When he relayed this to his opponent, Sami Zayn, Sami opted to take the win and face him instead, assuring him that Owens wouldn't bring any harm to his closest friend. Indeed, since then, Bate hasn't told a soul about this. The only other two who knew were Ishii, who rarely said a word even to his own stablemates, and Kevin himself... "Tell them." Owens spat. "Tell them how it should've... it should've been you! Tell them how there's not one good reason for you to be standing here right now!" Kevin started to advance, growing increasingly rabid by the second. Even his fellow killers were beginning to hold him back now. Fenix cried out, "Hey! Come on, he's not worth it! He's not worth it! Let's just get out of here!" Fenix, Penta & Alberto escort Owens through the room whilst Callihan led the way, leering at anyone who dared look at them funny. Roode followed close behind as if serving as backup. The members of the Pact cleared a path for him, but made sure to keep between him and Tyler, looking to protect him. The entire time, Owens refused to take his gaze off of Bate, who was trying not to look petrified, and only partially succeeding. As he walked past him, he seethed under his breath, “I promise you… you’re dead.” As the Sole Survivors made their way into the hall and to their room, every head in the main room turned to look at Tyler. For a few tense moments, he tried to hold it in… but there was no way to avoid it. He slumped his back to the wall and slid down it, tears streaming down his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands. “Hey. Tyler, man, you’re gonna be okay...” Mark Briscoe spoke up. “Don’t… don’t let him get me...” Bate pleaded, looking up at them, sobbing. “I don’t… I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go...” It was then that the same realization hit them all. Amidst all this bloodshed and betrayal, this chaos and carnage, this peril and paranoia… here was Tyler Bate. Like a high schooler drafted into a war. Just a kid, in the middle of all this... ----- Colby Corino walked through the hall, his teeth grit, his fingers quivering. When he came into the room, his eyes didn’t rise to greet a single person. Kenny stood up and called out to him. “Colby! Hold on a second. We really need to talk about what you’ve been doing out there.” Colby just completely ignored him and kept walking. Kenny reached out, gently grabbing his shoulder. Colby violently ripped away from his grasp. For a moment he sneered at Kenny as though he were about to take a swing. He saw only concern in his leader’s eyes… Colby calmed down, but still didn’t say a word. He just turned and kept on walking. None of his allies seemed too pleased with this… ----- He leaned against the wall, the strange green liquid streaming slowly down his chest. He was shrouded in shadow, the only one in his room… still he gazed up, as though he could see the night sky… “Ahhhh what a glorious night… the Nubile has returned to her birthplace… to the birthplace of all of us...” he sighed, his smile a mile wide, open and gaping. “That sheer, pure darkness in the sky… it was where we spawned and it is where we shall all disappear. Ahhhhhahahaha… hahhahahhahahha...” Back and forth, back and forth, his head slowly bobbed to the right and then to the left and back again… “Still I have not yet achieved my first liberation… oh whom oh whom might I set my eye on…? Who is the first that I send into that vortex…?” He stared upwards, imagining the abyss that hung over the IFL coliseum. As though trying to get a clearer look, he took two fingers and pulled his eyelids open to peak at the night. Somehow, his smile yet grew… “The Herald… but of course. You call to me… you can’t help but beckon to me… even before I was born you wished to face me. Hmhmhmhm… it’s as though you’re begging to fade away… you want me to end you.” Slowly Johnny Galaxy rose to his feet. “...I humbly agree to your request...” ----- Nobody watched the main event. Charlotte didn’t want her friends in the Honest Few interfering, and they were so confident that Madison would have no allies that they didn’t see much point in hanging around to see it. The Sole Survivors had already begun their meeting shortly after the Lucha Bros returned from their match. Those in the Pact just couldn’t bare to sit and watch someone die. And the others just saw no reason to care. So nobody knew who won until they saw her come through the tunnel. But nobody was at all shocked to see Charlotte. She too was exceedingly quiet as she came in. But unlike Colby, nobody rose to address her. In fact, most just avoided eye contact entirely as she walked by. They didn’t miss anything. There was nothing in those eyes… ----- Owens paced back and forth, still in a fury. His allies are just watching him, largely dumbfounded. "Dude, what's going on with you and Bate?" Roode asked. "I mean I get it, you've got a grudge but... is this really the most important thing right now? We can take someone like him out anytime." "He's right. We've got much bigger threats to deal with that than little niño." El Patron added. "If it were up to me, we'd be looking to get rid of Zack Sabre Jr. first... we need to plan for-" "Don't you get it?!" Owens yelled. "He's... my friend had to die because of him!" Callihan shook his head. "I thought we were past this..." "You agreed to focus on what's best for the group." Penta noted. "And I have! God, that's all I've done for the past two weeks! I've kept my Immunity title, I've recruited a new member and we've had four eliminations in that time... I had one night with nothing else going on. So I went for Bate." Owens replied. "Because he needs to die..." "Kevin, look, I get it. You blame him for what you had to do to Sami." Bobby spoke up. "But you've gotta understand that... you were always going to have to get rid of him anyway. And I know he was important to you but, you didn't do anything wrong. None of us, none of us are doing anything wrong! We're just doing what we have to do to survive." Owens cut his eyes at Roode. "...R-Right?" Roode asked, becoming nervous in his steely glare. "Like, I mean... everyone... everyone's gonna be out for blood eventually. Anyone here, anyone would stab their best friend in the back if they're cornered long enough. At the end of the day, you've gotta watch out for yourself. The others, they're just lying to themselves. Eventually they'll understand, they're no better. We're just... we're just beating them to the punch, right?" "Is that what you've been telling yourself?" Owens growled. "I... I mean it's the truth!" Roode responded. "Like, you're not gonna like hearing this, but let's be honest. Zayn... he'd have turned on you eventually. Stuck here long enough, surrounded by violence long enough, he'd have snapped. He'd have tried to take you out if you didn't do it first." "You're wrong..." Owens shook his head. "He had the chance and he didn't take it." "Well, hey. That was after one month." Roode shrugged. "If he had enough time... it'd be inevitable. And look I know how you feel. It's not like I wanted to turn on Storm. But it's the same thing, he'd have got me if I didn't do it first." "You're wrong." Owens echoed. "Uh, hey, can we not-" Fenix tried to intervene. "What the hell are you talking about?" Roode asked, ignoring Fenix. "I knew James Storm better than anyone else here! And I liked the guy but saving his own skin was his top priority, that's why he banded up with me! But if betraying me could earn him another day, I promise you, he wouldn't have hesitated!" "You don't know what the f*ck you're talking about!" Owens shouted, getting into Roode's face, taking him off-guard. The others tensed up, as if they were about to go to blows. "He wasn't going to betray you, Roode, you're full of shit!" "And what makes you so damn sure of that?!" Bobby spat. "Kevin, don't-" Alberto tried to interject. "Because we came to him first!" Owens shouted. There were a couple of audible groans as Fenix and Alberto just looked away. Otherwise, there was a stiff silence for a good few seconds. Penta looked on grimly, not pleased with this either. Callihan remained stonefaced. Roode, on the other hand, was in quiet disbelief. "...Wha... what did you just say?" "We agreed not to mention this, but now I think you need to hear it..." Kevin sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "We went to Storm first. We made him the exact same offer we made you. He could've been in this group instead... you could've just as easily been the one to die. But he said no. He turned us down. He knew he'd have had an extra bit of safety in numbers and he had to know he was making himself into our enemy in the process. But he wasn't willing to sell you out. And that's why he's dead, and you're still here." Roode was aghast. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a step back as he sputtered, "B-But... why would... how could he...?" "Because you're wrong." Owens flatly stated. "Because the others aren't like us. Look, I... believe in what we're doing. I think it's the only way out too. That doesn't make us right... that doesn't make us good guys. We're the ones that are able to get out of here because we're big enough bastards to do it. That's what sets us apart... nothing else." Roode's gaze lowered. He seemed shaken up by the revelation. "So... like a bastard... I'm going to put all the blame for all this on Bate." Owens grumbled, as he turned and walked off. "And once he's gone... my every regret goes along with him." The others watch as their leader makes his leave. Penta, Fenix and the Lucha Bros make their leave. Callihan stays behind and turns to Roode, who seemed frozen in place. "...He's right about one thing." Callihan spoke up. "We can't pretend to have the moral high ground. That's the kind of thinking that'll get you killed. If you want to have any chance... you need to embrace what you are." "...I... need some time to process this." Roode replied, in a near whisper.

<p>Well... haven't seen this one before.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="g66tOmX.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/g66tOmX.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

Thought I'd take a crack at this, not really someone who can do artistic stuff but recolors aren't usually much of an issue. With this one though, turning black into an actual color isn't too easy and it wasn't helped by the fact that it's actually not a particularly detailed shade job when you get into replacing it. It looks fine as black but replacing it with another color makes it seem extremely flat. So I know this isn't how it's supposed to be but I figured I'd offer these as an alternative: Maybe the tradition changed after his generation... they were running out of primary colors anyway.

<p>Thanks~ </p><p> </p><p> It's nice to get another chapter done. No idea when I'll be able to do the next one but it'd been too long. Next two shows are major ones, I can tell you that...</p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2355056&postcount=56" rel="external nofollow"><span style="color:#8B0000;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><<</span></span></a><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">.22 Do Or Die</span></strong></span> <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2373069&postcount=68" rel="external nofollow"><span style="color:#8B0000;"><span style="font-size:12px;">>></span></span></a></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:8px;">IFL Bloodsport VII</span></span></strong></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> For once, there wasn’t a cacophony of guttural screams to open the show. Instead, the assorted aliens were partaking in a ritualistic endeavor in which the thousands of them stomped their feet, tentacles or equivalent against the marble flooring. The pounding was in unison, steady and fervent, echoing out into the abyssal reaches of space… </p><p> </p><p> This was a tradition, one that the audience developed on their own. It was how they always heralded the arrival of a Do Or Die match...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Welcome back, fiends and perverts alike, to the domain of beautiful brutality.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> AAUUUUGH, it feels like it’s been ages! How can a single week seem so damn LONG?! </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Well, weeks <em>are</em> significantly shorter back on your home planet, partner…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Ah, yeah that’s true… but no, that’s not why! It’s because I knew this time we didn’t have to sit and hope for a slaughter! Heheheh, on this week’s show, we have a definite!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> You’re absolutely right about that. Tonight, for the first time in this series, we have a Do Or Die match! Charlotte made the challenge to Madison Rayne, and as always it was considered to be accepted automatically. Longtime viewers will know exactly what this is, and for those that don’t, it’s very simple. A winner will be decided only after they pull the opponent’s plug, sending them cascading up into the vast emptiness of space.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> <em>Dammit, how many times do I have to tell you not to get me so f**king horny at the table?!</em> Uggggh this is gonna be amazing! Hahaha, there ain’t nothing quite like a sure thing! I’m too amped, let’s get this started already!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Easy now… that match is of course our main event, but first-- oh my, what’s this now…?</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="FIJbDfk.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FIJbDfk.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> The stomping gave way to the usual raucous cheers as they saw their hero Kevin Owens emerge from one of the tunnels, his Immunity Championship proudly - or perhaps just protectively - wrapped around his chest and locked across his plug. He usually had a quiet, cold ferocity about him but on this night, he looked much more eager to storm out there, much more openly furious. No one was sure why, but they were happy to find out…</p><p> </p><p> After aggressively ripping the microphone away from the bipedal axolotl that acted as the night’s referee, Owens shouted out to his adoring faithful, <em>“You wanna see death tonight?!”</em></p><p> </p><p> As always, the answer was a resounding yes.</p><p> </p><p> “Great! Great… because I can give you that.” Owens growled. “In fact… I NEED to give you that.”</p><p> </p><p> The crowd erupted once more with this. But from the look on Owens’ face, this was much more than a quest for disturbing cheap pops. He really meant it.</p><p> </p><p> “See, there’s something I’ve been holding back for way too long. Something I’ve wanted to address for weeks, but thanks to this title here, I’ve been preoccupied. So far, I’ve always had to worry about my next title defense.” Owens explained, his thinly contained rage finally beginning to bubble over. “That’s why… I did what I did last week. See, I was supposed to defend this title tonight as well, but I got ahead of that. I got it out of the way at the last Bloodsport, so this time… this time I fight for me! You hear me?! THIS ONE IS FOR ME!”</p><p> </p><p> He took a moment to start pounding the microphone against his own face, delighted at his own bruise and the crowd was getting into a frenzy.</p><p> </p><p> Finally, he just came out and said it. “Tyler Bate! Get the f**k out here!” he shouted. “It was supposed to be you! At Killer Instinct, you were the one! <em>You were the one who was supposed to die!</em> But you were too much of a damn coward… you just, you couldn’t just face me could you? <em>You couldn’t just die, could you?!</em> And that’s… that’s why… wh-why… nggh you son of a bitch, I’m gonna set this right! Tonight is your last night, you hear me?! Get out here and fight me!”</p><p> </p><p> Owens threw down the microphone and stormed around, gesturing for his impending arrival. This was of course a classic pro wrestling scenario, and it seemed a classic IFL scenario as well, as they were fully on-board. As Kevin impatiently paced back and forth atop the dirt, eyes darting between the various entrance tunnels, the world watching waited for Bate’s arrival…</p><p> </p><p> ...and waited, and waited, but it didn’t come. The young man did not emerge. After a full minute passed, finally a figure walked out and Owens’ gaze locked onto it… but he was disgusted to see it wasn’t the one he was looking for.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="NjAxbZU.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/NjAxbZU.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Jay Lethal made his arrival to a symphony of boos, his face one of determined anger. He obtained a microphone of his own, as Owens stood frozen, staring bullets through the stalwart member of the Pact. </p><p> </p><p> “Owens, you don’t tell us what to do. You may have Immunity but that doesn’t mean you have any authority. And if you want Bate… then you’ll have to wait.” Lethal stated, to a deepening rage from the crowd. Jay had to pick his words carefully, knowing it wouldn’t be good for Tyler to paint him as a coward. “Tyler doesn’t… he doesn’t think you’re worth his time. But me, I got plenty of time for a fight tonight.”</p><p> </p><p> Kevin hollered, “You had your shot!” loudly enough that, even without a mic, he wasn’t quite inaudible. </p><p> </p><p> “Oh, this isn’t about your title. I don’t want Immunity… I just want a crack at you, Owens. A legit one this time.” Lethal declared. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what happened last month. Before you showed the rest of the galaxy what you were capable of… you showed <em>me</em>. You were lording over me when I had my guard down and… if you were left to your own devices, I know I wouldn’t be standing here right now. That isn’t something I can let go of, Kevin… tonight I’m getting my pound of flesh.”</p><p> </p><p> Lethal tossed his mic away and, whether the crowd liked it or not, it was him who stepped up to Owens in the center of the arena. Kevin was seething, but the official seemed to have no problem signalling for the start of the match.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Jqu425k.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Jqu425k.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Hmph… don’t care much for Lethal but atleast someone had the guts to come out and fight! </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Just what did Owens mean about Tyler Bate? It was meant to be him…? It seems we’ve missed something.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Hey… when it comes to violence, I’m not one for asking ‘why’! Heheheh… take ‘em down, Kevin!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="EfvdvkB.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/EfvdvkB.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="rcbuLWf.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/rcbuLWf.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Jay Lethal vs. Kevin Owens</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Last week, Lethal was spent from the word go, having gone through a rough fatal four way match before even seeing Owens. This time around, the playing field was much more even and though Lethal preferred being a peacemaker, there was a part of him that really wanted to knock the taste out of Owens’ mouth at this point. Especially now that he seemed to have it out for the Pact’s youngest member…</p><p> </p><p> So, mad though Owens was, Lethal was prepared to face him this time. The two locked up and began trading blows immediately. Of course that wasn’t at all to Lethal’s advantage, but he knew Kevin wasn’t thinking particularly clearly. In standing and banging with him, he got him dead focused on aiming for Lethal’s head, convinced that he’d just eat the blows. So he was able to catch him off-guard when he ducked a shot and dove in for a takedown. Owens pounded on Jay’s back as he came in, but couldn’t stop from being brought to the ground. </p><p> </p><p> This left him relatively helpless as Lethal got in a half dozen clean shots on his face, before the much larger Owens managed to shove him off. Lethal got up to his feet first in the ensuing scramble, and rushed him again, this time shoving him into a rock formation. It didn’t crumble, seemingly sturdier than most others. Lethal reared his fist back, and Owens got his hands up to block his face… but this was another little diversion, as Lethal instead aimed a precise low dropkick to Owens’ knee, slamming it awkwardly into the stone behind him. Owens cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground.</p><p> </p><p> As the two men fought, slowly both factions spilled out into the arena. The Sole Survivors and the Pact each circled the battle, ready to aid in/prevent an elimination at a moment’s notice. If either combatant noticed, neither showed it, much too enthralled in the fight.</p><p> </p><p> Lethal swiftly grabbed the now damaged leg, and lunged forward, using his own momentum to slam that leg into the stone once more. As Jay stood up, the increasingly rabid Kevin tried kicking him away, but this just made it easier for him to grab onto his wounded leg. He proceeded to go into an old classic, applying the figure four leglock. He winced a bit, as even applying this hold as a shoot was actually pretty painful, but he had it in tight and Owens flailed in anguish. </p><p> </p><p> He refused to give him the satisfaction of tapping out, however. Instead he reached out for the stone, grasping it and using it to roll them both over. In one decisive motion, he rammed the legs of both Lethal and himself into the rock, causing mutual howls of agony. When this didn’t cause him to break, Owens simply did it again… and then a third time, hurting himself just to spite Lethal! Pissed, Lethal broke the hold and shot up so he could climb the rock formation. Owens’ leg was in too much pain for him to evade in time, and Lethal knew it, so he went ahead and flew off with a Hail To The King elbow drop, burying the point of his elbow into Owens’ chest. He covered him, but the stubborn Owens kicked out at 1.</p><p> </p><p> Lethal stood and began laying in some stomps, but Owens surprised him with an upkick - using his injured leg no less, ignoring the pain - his shin ramming between Lethal’s legs in a bit of payback from last week. Lethal doubled over, clutching himself as he remained standing over his opponent. Owens sat up and made use of the momentum to unleash a destructive headbutt, nailing Lethal on the crown of his head! They were both woozy from that one and Lethal collapsed. The ruthless Owens stood again, grabbing the dazed Lethal by the cornrows and positioning him in a seated position against the stone. He stepped a few yards back, so he could get a running start. A wild Cannonball slammed Lethal hard against the unforgiving stone - this one just had no give whatsoever!</p><p> </p><p> Owens was stinging from this as well, but he didn’t seem to care. He dragged Lethal away from the rock and pinned him… but Jay narrowly kicked out! Owens shouted out in frustration, yelling at Lethal that he’s not even the one he wants and that he should just stay down. He yanked him up and tried to position him for a powerbomb… but Lethal slumped to the ground to escape and started scooting away, aimlessly punching the air as if he were truly out of it. Owens got cocky at the sight of this, and advanced… but that was exactly what Lethal was hoping for.</p><p> </p><p> A well-placed front kick caught Owens in his banged up shin, threatening to snap his leg in two, and proving that Jay had much more of his faculties about him than he led on. This doubled Owens over and he had to hold onto the stone for balance as he stood on one leg. This put him in prime position for Lethal to reach out and pull him into an inside cradle. The leverage was just too much, he was pinned too deep and couldn’t kick out. Lethal scored a win over the Immunity Champion, and swiftly made his escape.</p><p> </p><p> Jay went over to his group and they all made their exit, as Owens’ boys flocked to him just the same. Their leader was outraged… not least of which because, as he looked out to the members of the Pact, he realized that Bate hadn’t even shown his face in <em>this</em> capacity...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Jay Lethal, by pinfall, after an inside cradle at the 11:13 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="EQPvKAQ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/EQPvKAQ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Lethal slipping by Owens once again. He’s not particularly easy to beat, and even harder to take out, it seems.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> I know! It’s so disappointing… he has the potential to be such a great killer! I can see it!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> You’re certain you’re not just saying that because of his name?</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> That’s only part of it! Anyway speaking of a natural born killer, here comes Ishii!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="0K4vhmf.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/0K4vhmf.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="EGLglZe.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/EGLglZe.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Marty Scurll vs. Tomohiro Ishii</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> This match, secretly pitting two members of the Honest Few against one another, is of course an entirely worked one. Some parts of the crowd could see through this but largely they were able to convince them, as Scurll allowed Ishii to bash him around as much as he wanted. Marty tried hitting back as stiff as he could manage in response, but it simply wasn’t his style so it didn’t look that great. So Ishii took the advantage again and never gave it back.</p><p> </p><p> After a particularly ruthless headbutt, Ishii covered Scurll, with the whole arena convinced he was beaten. But Marty kicked out! A couple of head-rocking lariats followed but still he survived! In the end, it took two consecutive Brainbusters from Ishii to get the win! This was effectively done, as Ishii came out looking good as always and made Marty look damn tough in the process.</p><p> </p><p> Just to further save face, Ishii went for Marty’s plug, all part of the plan of course - Marty countered by grabbing Ishii’s hand and doing his fingersnap gimmick, giving him time to limp away.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Tomohiro Ishii, by pinfall, after two consecutive Brainbusters at the 8:31 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Ahhh, dang! He was finally gonna do it… but that Scrull dude has more grit than I thought! Heh, man what a beast Ishii is, though...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> ...Hrm.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> “Hrm”?! What do you mean, “hrm”?! Ishii’s the best!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Yes, of course he is. Well, it’s time for our next match now and--</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> <em>Man,</em> Funk looks like Hell! Heheh, what makes that old bastard keep coming back out here?!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Well he doesn’t exactly have a choice...</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="W6oSkBK.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/W6oSkBK.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="sY9zM1c.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/sY9zM1c.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Terry Funk vs. Johnny Galaxy</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Terry Funk hobbled his way out, looking largely uninterested in this match, not to mention wildly unprepared physically, but he was never one to back down regardless of his condition. Galaxy, for his part, strolled on out like a megastar in his own mind. The audience was atleast more warmed up to him than last time, but it would likely take a while for them to get their hatred for his former incarnation totally out of their minds.</p><p> </p><p> The match was signalled to begin and Terry put up his dukes, but he was so slowed from injury that he knew he had no real prayer of jumping in and hitting the extremely mobile and much fresher Galaxy. So he instead stood and waited for him to make the first move, hoping that he could manage a counter-attack on his warped adversary. But Johnny didn’t make a move either… or atleast, not an offensive one. </p><p> </p><p> His arms flowed up and down and he seemed to be gazing at his hands… he refused to take off his sunglasses, but one could only imagine the faraway look that would’ve been in his eyes. He just moved, as though made of water, whilst the beleaguered Funk stared on, utterly puzzled. </p><p> </p><p> Boos started to slowly pour in as neither looked particularly interested in fighting… but unfortunately for Terry, Galaxy was so quizzically distracting that he didn’t notice the pounding footsteps behind him until it was too late. Callihan rushed in and caught him with a wicked elbow to the back of the head that landed him facefirst onto the ground. Terry tried to force his way up, but Sami laid in stomps to his arms, legs and back until he was debilitated. </p><p> </p><p> He knelt down, a knee grinding against Terry’s side as he grabbed him by the hair and yanked his face out of the dirt. With his other hand, he brushed against the plug that kept Funk tied to the alien world’s gravity. </p><p> </p><p> “It’d be so f*cking easy, Funk… you realize that?” Callihan hissed. “So goddamn easy to kill you right here.”</p><p> </p><p> Funk glared up at Sami, his eyes glazed… but still defiant, he spat right into Sami’s eye. Callihan jolted up, holding his eye, enraged. From his jacket he pulled his usual club and walloped Funk over the back of the head with it… he was out cold.</p><p> </p><p> Sami spat on his limp frame in return and walked away, uttering, “So damn easy… you’re not even worth killing.”</p><p> </p><p> As Galaxy’s head tilted to and fro, eventually his eyeline finally came to rest on his opponent… who was now entirely unconscious. Barely aware of what even happened, Galaxy shrugged and rolled Funk over. He laid out atop him, his arms spread in a pose of great salvation, staring straight up at the deep abyss in the sky as the official counted the three.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Johnny Galaxy by pinfall, after Sami Callihan interfered and attacked Funk, at the 3:22 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="gGQm0Nt.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/gGQm0Nt.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Ohhh, that was excellent. Classic, truly.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> What? How can you say that?! The guy had a perfect chance to eliminate his top rival and he just let it slide!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> True, but what a message it sends. It tells Funk that he sees him as that little of a threat, as though he could simply take him out any time he felt like it. But more importantly, it’s the kind of thing that would truly shake those watching from the warrior’s chambers… especially Funk’s hideous Pact-mates.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Harrumph… I guess… just seems against the spirit of things is all.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> One thing’s for sure: Sami Callihan has been in complete control of every situation he’s walked into thus far. I’m eager to see where we go from here.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Well if you ask me, then… eh? Ugh. If you ask me, these guys coming out are worthless!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="evhIhfq.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/evhIhfq.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="E7L4i6U.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/E7L4i6U.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> A solid array of boos are levied as the Briscoe Brothers, known allies of the Pact, make their way out. If they had been familiar with the two’s work back on their homeworld, they might’ve noticed the stark contrast. There was no loid boisterousness to them, merely a quiet intensity.</p><p> </p><p> Jay Briscoe took up a microphone, his eyes steely. “...Bobby Roode. Two weeks ago, my brother and myself… we were up against you and James Storm. And I had a feeling, during that match, that something was off about you. Because while the three of us were mourning in the only way we could on this shithole of a world, wearing out our bodies to cleanse our souls… you stood back and watched. You were appalled… you had no idea what we were doing. And you wanted no part of it. Because you couldn’t understand what we were feeling… you didn’t feel that pain, man. Everyone’s lives being torn apart around you and you didn’t feel shit.... I think on some level, I knew. I just wanted to be wrong...”</p><p> </p><p> The Briscoes entirely ignored the crowd, who became increasingly seething at their passing empathy. Indeed the very idea was significantly more offensive to them than an insult could ever be.</p><p> </p><p> Mark spoke up, “Bobby, I don’t believe in a man fighting another man’s battles for ‘em. But Storm… he’ll never get the chance. He’ll never be able to get revenge. F*cked up as this whole situation with Charlotte and Madison is, atleast she gets a chance at payback. But Storm can’t even get that much… all ‘cause he trusted your ass. Somebodies’ gotta make you pay. And I don’t see why it shouldn’t be us.”</p><p> </p><p> Jay proceeded, “In case it ain’t clear enough yet, we’re calling you out here. You and any of the other cronies… face us. I goddamn dare you.”</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Hah! Please, Roode did the right thing! And he'd end these bastards for sure!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Well, looks like he'll get the chance to prove that.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="evhIhfq.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/evhIhfq.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="E7L4i6U.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/E7L4i6U.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="rvHNlOf.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/rvHNlOf.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="IgIRL7m.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IgIRL7m.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>The Briscoe Brothers vs. Bobby Roode & Alberto El Patron</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Roode, somewhat begrudgingly, comes out with Alberto El Patron in tow. In contrast, Alberto looks ready to scrap. Both of the brothers Briscoe are ready to go after Roode, who swiftly backed away from their advancement. This in turn helped Alberto pick them off with well-placed kicks. He got a particularly sharp kick in on Mark Briscoe’s right arm, bending it awkwardly at the elbow. As he went down to try and work in a Cross-Armbreaker, much to Mark’s struggle, Roode dove onto the prone Jay and started laying in punches. But Jay just ignored the blows and shoved him off of him. </p><p> </p><p> Roode stood up straight and started laying in stomps… and Jay clearly feels them all, yet gets up to his feet anyway, blinded by fury. Roode seems a bit shaken as he continues trying to lay in punches, but Jay catches him with a wicked shot to the throat that halts him cold. A stiff (duh) clothesline follows and he gets in a full mount to rain down strikes, catching Roode good enough to leave some bruises. Meanwhile, Mark rolls up Alberto to counter the dogged attempt at a Cross-Armbreaker, getting a 1 count and forcing Alberto to break the hold to escape. </p><p> </p><p> Alberto stands and lays in some stomps, but is distracted when he notices how much Roode is being pounded. He starts heading over, but Mark sprang up faster than he expected, catching him with a chop block and taking him to the ground. It really seemed that the Sole Survivors underestimated the fire of the Briscoes on this occasion, as Mark crawled over and cinched Alberto into a headlock, driving his fist into his forehead time and again from this position. Meanwhile, Bobby frantically tried to escape the mount from Jay, reaching up to violently rake Jay’s eyes, finally getting him to halt his attack. Bobby threw Jay off, then nailed him with a kick, the toe of his boot once again targeting the eyes. Bobby hoisted Jay to his feet and tossed him gutfirst into a rock formation. He hit it solidly with a resounding thud… yet bounced right back to lay Roode out with a clothesline!</p><p> </p><p> But as he hopped on Roode again, Mark found that trying to put a headlock on an actual MMA fighter and olympic-caliber wrestler was perhaps not the smartest move, as Alberto swiftly countered out of this and back suplexed him hard against the dirt. This time he was out enough that El Patron was able to rush over and catch Jay with a running knee to the ear, knocking him off of his partner. This caught him so flush that blood could be seen trickling from that ear. Alberto seemed quite content seeing this, taking his time dragging him up to his feet… but Jay caught him by ruthlessly biting his fingers! As Alberto yelled out in pain from this, Jay delivered a solid knee to his groin which laid him out!</p><p> </p><p> Jay turned back to Roode who remained on the ground, shaken by the look in the bleeding Jay’s eyes. He didn’t seem to want anything to do with the furious Southerner. But it turned out, he was just stalling… as before Jay could get to him, Penta El Zero M came rushing in out of nowhere to blast him with a running forearm shiver! He wasted no time hoisting him back up and planting him with a Package Piledriver! Suddenly Roode gained a surge of courage, hopping up and laying in stomps to the fallen Jay. </p><p> </p><p> Mark Briscoe fought to his feet and tried to charge at Penta, but the luchador countered, grabbing his wrist and forcing him to the ground! He singled out the arm, leaned back deep and did his damnedest to snap his already wounded arm! While this didn’t really break it like it might in kayfabe, it sure as hell came close. Bobby Roode meanwhile rolled Jay over to go for the plug… but that’s when the Golden Lovers emerged to make the save! Unsurprisingly, Rey Fenix was ready in wait to back up Penta and this match quickly deteriorated into an all-out brawl between the two groups from there! </p><p> </p><p> Amidst the carnage, Alberto managed to roll Mark Briscoe into a Cross-Armbreaker, and the pain was such that he had no choice but to tap. This was perhaps also motivated by wanting to put a stop to the carnage, as an elimination could happen any time in such a situation.</p><p> </p><p> The fight continued from there, with hands being thrown for several more seconds until Kenny and Kota managed to drag Jay away from Bobby. Jay pointed to him as he was forcibly taken away, promising that he’d be after him again. For his part, Bobby didn’t look too excited about that...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winners: Bobby Roode and Alberto El Patron, by submission, after Alberto made Mark Briscoe submit to the Cross-Armbreaker, thanks to interference from Penta El Zero M at the 10:45 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Quite the brawl there. I’ve become accustomed to mayhem like that closing the shows. Refreshing to see it happen right in the middle of one.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Hell yeah! That chaos oughta be the whole damn show!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> We’re certainly getting there! And though the Sole Survivors got the win there, it’s clear there are still major issues between the Briscoes and Bobby Roode.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Yeah, what’s up with that, anyway? I mean who would want to avenge a guy like James Storm? That dude’s last act was standing over Roode like he was gonna defend him with his life… how revolting. That’s not the conduct of an IFL warrior!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="g8tL1Fo.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/g8tL1Fo.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="wSnUGvD.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wSnUGvD.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Colby Corino vs. Frightmare</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> This was a fairly quiet match by IFL standards, as the crowd wasn’t much impressed with either man. Colby’s sudden violence against Ishii last week, even causing him to bleed, was nice but seen as a one-off fluke by most. And Frightmare’s masochistic shtick was atleast enough to keep him from getting lynched, but it didn’t seem primed to make him a huge star in their eyes. Knowing this, they went in with the agreed upon intention to work a quick match, one with Frightmare as the winner, thanks to Colby drawing the short straw.</p><p> </p><p> Still, Colby fully intended to work stiff while he could and Frightmare saw no issue with that. Frightmare attempted to throw hands and get an advantage on occasion, but Colby no-sold and kept going, eating him up in wrestling terms. This still didn’t upset his opponent much as it simply allowed him to play up his gimmick of enjoying the pain. But after Colby knocked Frightmare to his backside, he reached down and tore at his mask, legitimately trying to take it right off. </p><p> </p><p> To this, Frightmare finally put up a real resistance, frantically slapping Colby’s hands away and adjusting his mask as he slid backwards. From his body language, it was clear he was shaken. Colby grit his teeth, every muscle in his slight frame tensing, much to Frightmare’s confusion. “Is this a game to you?!” he growled.</p><p> </p><p> Before his opponent could answer, Colby caught him with a very real kick right between the eyes that laid him out flat. Colby yanked him roughly to his feet and tossed him against the marble wall, not holding back in the slightest. Frightmare gasped, “Wh-what are you doing?!” but Colby responded with a wicked superkick, bashing his head against the barrier… and then another and another and another in rapid succession! By the time he was done, Frightmare was woozy, mildly concussed, as he sank to a seated position.</p><p> </p><p> Colby dragged Frightmare by the ankle to put him flat on his back and covered him. “Just stay down.” Colby seethed. Frightmare didn’t understand where this was coming from but he didn’t want to fight. So he simply acquiesced and allowed himself to be pinned. Colby stood up quick from the pin, not even allowing the referee to raise his hand as he stormed away. But he did note the increased fan reaction…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Colby Corino, by pinfall, after a series of Superkicks against the marble wall at the 5:58 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="gGQm0Nt.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/gGQm0Nt.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Well well, the fire from Corino burns brighter every week.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> That’s a real pretty way to say he’s kicking a lot of ass!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Indeed. It’s taken him a while but it’s nice to see the young man is adapting to the battlefield.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Same here! It’s nice to know he’ll atleast put up a fight before he gets eliminated! Heh!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> And up next, this should be a very fun one to watch folks…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Eh, wait, you actually read your format sheets?! Weirdo. Well, let’s see what we have, I guess, uh… oh. <em>Oh.</em> Oh wow, this is amazing! </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Yes, I think this would even be worth hearing from him first...</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="ziOrRQo.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ziOrRQo.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> Tetsuya Naito emerged and the crowd nearly gives itself collective whiplash, going from a cool content to vile disdain within a heartbeat. They didn’t know what the commentators knew, about what was coming. Naito did, yet somehow he seemed unaffected, just smiling at the utter hatred being poured on him.</p><p> </p><p> Perhaps against his better judgement, he took up a microphone. “This place is truly in a sad state. We just watched a child beat up another. My former dream opponent, the mighty John Hennigan is now a shell of himself. And then you have my opponent tonight… could you get any less threatening? I mean truly, he’s...”</p><p> </p><p> Naito found himself interrupted by the roar of the crowd as it abruptly turned to a huge ovation. For once, he took note of the audience, whipping his head around to see the man emerging from the tunnel…</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="5Rj2bn9.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5Rj2bn9.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Naito didn’t freak out, but he atleast took this seriously enough to drop the mic and keep his gaze transfixed on the encroaching behemoth that was Braun Strowman. From the look in his eye it seemed all too clear that he wasn’t the cuddly man they knew backstage.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="XOXFuwL.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/XOXFuwL.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> <em>GET HIM!</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="vSimaHn.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/vSimaHn.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="5Rj2bn9.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5Rj2bn9.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Tetsuya Naito vs. Braun Strowman</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Suffice to say, Naito made use of his quickness like usual, evading the grasp of the giant Braun. Strowman wasn’t your typical lumbering big man though, and managed to stay within about arm’s reach of him. This was aided by the fact that Naito was scrambling on his backfoot as Braun ran straight towards him. But due to this he wasn’t paying too much attention to his surroundings and ended up backed against a wall. As Braun reached out towards him, Naito took a big risk and ducked down to slide between Strowman’s legs, ending up on the other side of him. He smiled, having not been sure at all that such a thing would work.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><em>”Run… don’t stop… running…”</em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> Naito took a moment to glance up at Strowman’s back, just out of curiosity. He saw that Strowman’s shirt had a hole in the back of it where his plug poked through. Braun turned to find Naito, who remained prone on the ground for whatever reason. Braun reached down to grab him by the hair and force him up in one ruthless yank. But Naito timed this out and pushed off the ground with his hands and feet at that very moment. Using Braun’s strength to give his hop an extra boost, Naito managed to clock him in the face with a furious single legged dropkick, the bottom of his boot crashing into Stromwan’s nose.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><em>”Don’t fight… run…”</em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> Naito landed on his feet as Strowman staggered back into the marble wall. On a regular man, that would’ve almost certainly been a knockout blow. In fact if Strowman were in his usual state he might’ve been rendered unconscious himself but in that moment, he merely seemed inconvenienced by it. Still Naito followed up with a low dropkick to the monster’s tree trunk leg, bashing it against the marble. Trying to chop down a larger opponent was generally considered wise, but this seemed to do exceedingly little to Braun. So little in fact, that by the time Naito sprang back up, he was prone for a counter-attack and received one as Strowman clubbed him in the back of the head. This took him right down to the ground and may have even knocked him out, atleast for a split second.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><em>”God no, God no, please…”</em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> Strowman grabbed Naito by the hair and forced him to his knees. His body seemed entirely limp in his hands. The crowd’s ovation reached a deafening decibel as Braun reached towards Naito’s plug… but suddenly, Naito sprang to life, kicking against the wall to perform what looked like a Destino attempt! Of course such a move wasn’t going to bring down Strowman, but Naito found himself hanging on his back with one arm around Braun’s neck… and he found himself face-to-face with the monster’s plug! With The Honest Few’s creed in mind, Naito made a grab for it!</p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><em>”End it...”</em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> But Braun was shockingly quick to repel this with a brutal back elbow blast to Naito’s face, his head whipping back unnervingly from the impact. This was enough to force Naito to release his hold on Braun’s neck and he fell limp to the ground once more. This time, he didn’t seem to be faking it. And Braun revelled in picking up Naito’s limp carcass. With an unholy throw, Strowman tossed Naito several feet through the air and he crashed right through a rock formation, crumbling it into rubble. Strowman stormed over and mounted Naito, pounding his face with fists, quickly busting open his lip and a cut above his eye. But somehow, wounded as he was, Naito had the wherewithal to smack his hand against the ground repeatedly, and the ref counted this as a tapout!</p><div style="text-align:right;"><p><em>”Someone… help him…”</em></p></div><p></p><p>Strowman stood straight up and eyed the referee. That poor axolotl backed up meagerly, trying to calmly explain that submitting to strikes is in fact a legal finish in the IFL. This allowed the battered Naito the chance to catch him low with an upkick, before desperately combat rolling backwards to gain some distance. Naito zipped up to his feet, but swiftly stumbled to his backside. Meanwhile, Marty Scurll, Tomohiro Ishii, Zack Sabre Jr and Seth Rollins spilled out from the back to scurry over to their stablemate. </p><p> </p><p> For whatever reason Naito asked them to let him handle Braun himself, but now that the match was over, they knew he needed them to get out of there alive. ZSJ and Rollins stared Braun down as the other two helped Naito to his feet and carted him off. Strowman glared but backed away. As he was being helped to the back, Naito smirked and glanced back to see Braun disappearing into a tunnel.</p><p> </p><p> But he also spotted someone else in a different tunnel, out of the corner of his eye, watching on… the distinct silhouette of Johnny Galaxy.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Braun Strowman, by submission via strikes, at the 11:29 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Whuh… HOW?! </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Testuya Naito… what a slippery one he is. Like him or not, his evasive skills are one to behold. I’m reminded of the great Éalú from the IFL’s halcyon days…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Oh geeze, don’t compare Naito to <em>him</em>! Ugh, no one could ever eliminate that guy! I want Naito dead dammit!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> I have to call it like I see it, partner. I don’t like it anymore than you do. But we may have to deal with Naito for this entire competition at this rate.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Uggh no, no… not gonna think about that! I’m just gonna focus on, uh… oh, the Lucha Bros! Nice!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="4N92MpZ.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/4N92MpZ.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="qI99sk8.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/qI99sk8.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="LpdTYqd.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/LpdTYqd.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="kHLQjve.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/kHLQjve.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Seth Rollins & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lucha Brothers</strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Seth Rollins and Zack Sabre Jr stuck around in the arena as their opponents arrived. This one was frenetic and dangerous from the outset, as Fenix and especially Penta were all too ready to go for an elimination, or atleast do a ton of damage. And of course the banner members of the Honest Few were quite prepared to turn that tide against them if need be. </p><p> </p><p> The Lucha Bros ran in, and Fenix did manage to take down Rollins but ZSJ ended up catching Penta in a reverse headlock to stop him in his tracks. Fenix rained down fists on Rollins’ face, but ZSJ hip tossed Penta right onto his brother to put a stop to that! As they both collapsed in a heap and Rollins rolled out of the carnage, ZSJ looked to put Penta into one of his complex holds… but Rey was back up to break that up before he could get very far. ZSJ scrambled up but caught a wild spin kick to the ear from Fenix before he could get all the way to his feet. Fenix helped him the rest of the way up, before dishing out a crisp snap suplex. Rollins approached him from behind, looking to take advantage, but Fenix was paying attention and caught him with a surprise pele kick, the toe of his boot nailing him flush between the eyes! </p><p> </p><p> Rollins dazedly fell onto his back, that blind kick caught him remarkably well… so Fenix opted to focus on Zack Sabre Jr, keeping him down on the ground with stomps and more sweeping kicks. Penta made his way to his feet and saw a prone Rollins, grinning wickedly to see him so helpless. He yanked the unconscious Rollins to his feet and shoved him closer to some of those old faithful rock formations. Meanwhile, Fenix laid in more stomps on ZSJ… only to get his ankle caught! The submission specialist tripped him up, forcing him to the ground and began singling out that leg! Fenix desperately kicked up towards ZSJ’s face and one caught him clean under the chin, staggering him. Fenix sprang up into almost a headstand, wrapping his legs around ZSJ’s head and headscissoring him back into the dirt.</p><p> </p><p> As this went on, Penta roughly slammed Rollins headfirst into the stone. His apparent concussion issues weren’t gonna be aided by that, nor Penta’s next move, as he decided to leap up into the air and give Rollins a curbstomp of his own! But Seth had enough life in him to evade this, and Penta ended up stomping his own foot painfully against the solid rock. As he staggered back, Rollins sprang up, used the stone as, well, a stepping stone before leaping into a wild knee lift that crashed into Penta’s nose and knocked him onto his back! And several yards away, Fenix was climbing up a rock formation of his own, looking to launch himself into a moonsault to finish ZSJ off… but ZSJ managed to coil his legs around the airborne Fenix’s head on the way own, locking him into a triangle choke! </p><p> </p><p> Meanwhile, Rollins picked Penta up and positioned him on his shoulders for a powerbomb! He rushed towards the marble wall, planning to toss him right into it, but Penta was still with it enough to deliver some solid elbows to Rollins’ forehead. This not only stopped him but caused him to collapse in a heap, letting Penta fall harmlessly to the dirt. It was clear his head was becoming increasingly fragile… and Penta sought to make it all the worse, pulling Rollins to his feet, and planting him ruthlessly with a Package Piledriver! Not content, he picked him right back up and leaped up as high as he could to deliver a second one, even more crushing than the last, the top of Rollins’ head driven into the ground, his neck compressed. </p><p> </p><p> All the while, Fenix struggled mightily in the triangle choke. Zack Sabre Jr grabbed one of the luchador’s flailing arms, contorting it and twisting it, forcing it painfully towards the ground as his legs continued to squeeze on Fenix’s neck! He could take no more and furiously tapped out! ZSJ sprang to his feet and scanned the field to see Penta kneeling over the fallen Rollins. Penta grabbed hold of Rollins’ plug and tried to figure out the technique to pull it out… but ZSJ made it to him in time, grabbing him by the wrist and forcing him into a snug hammerlock! He yanked him to his feet and shoved him away. Penta stared a hole through ZSJ, but glanced over to see his brother tending to his wounds…</p><p> </p><p> Penta and ZSJ each decided helping their partners to the back was a more important goal on this occasion. Rollins was so out of it he wasn’t even responding to ZSJ’s questions as he aided him through the tunnel…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winners: Seth Rollins & Zack Sabre Jr., by submission, after a modified triangle choke at the 14:37 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Jqu425k.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Jqu425k.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Always a delight to see the Lucha Bros, such a lovely brand of violence.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> I’ll say! They never seem to win but they’re awesome to watch!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> They’re not really trying to win, partner. They only care about softening up the opposition and taking them out.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> My kinda guys! Heheh, and… and… oh man. Oh man, do you hear that?! It’s starting up again!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> Of course. That stomping is back, the very same cadence that we heard to start our program tonight. The crowd beckons for the Do Or Die Match…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Yes! YES! Let’s get this thing started!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46275" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="D0Ufe0i.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/D0Ufe0i.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">---</span></span></strong><img alt="6Ii4Oh7.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/6Ii4Oh7.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong><span style="color:#8B0000;"><span style="font-size:14px;">---</span></span></strong><strong> </strong><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Do Or Die Match</span></strong><strong> </strong><strong><span style="color:#8B0000;"><span style="font-size:14px;">---</span></span></strong></p><p> <strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Madison Rayne vs. Charlotte Flair</span></strong></p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#8B0000;">-------</span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Madison slowly, hesitantly, shakily walked out. Her face was dour, tear-stained… she was terrified. It was as though she was walking into her own grave, and she was painfully aware of it. Tauntingly, Charlotte seemed to be taking her time coming out, letting Madison stand there in the center of the arena and seethe and shudder to herself. The audience took to taunting her, as her body language was so apparent that even those in the cheap seats knew she had zero confidence in her own survival.</p><p> </p><p> Finally, Charlotte stormed out. She seemed the complete antithesis to Madison. Confident, determined, without a hint of hesitation. Her face was bereft of fear, but this time it wasn’t a mask. She was too driven to get revenge to spare even a passing thought to the possibility of losing here. Her life was on the line just as much as Madison’s was, but she couldn’t have been more confident that she was the one getting out alive.</p><p> </p><p> Charlotte stepped up to look Madison in the eye, and of course Rayne couldn’t help but take a step back, her hands raised in fear. “W-Wait, wait… please… we can talk this out! I-It’s not too late!”</p><p> </p><p> “Like hell it’s not.” Charlotte growled. “Since the moment you stabbed me in the back… it’s been way too late, Madison.”</p><p> </p><p> “Just let me explain! I was never… I didn’t mean… I just wanted to get out of this damn place alive, Charlotte.” Madison pleaded. “I just wanted to keep on the good side of those, those killers, they-”</p><p> </p><p> “You’re no better than any of them.” Charlotte cut her off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. This match is happening and they’re only gonna let one of us go free. So shut the f*ck up and fight me.”</p><p> </p><p> Rayne bit her bottom lip, her fist tightening, quivering. It was obvious Charlotte was letting her take the first crack, for whatever reason, and she knew it was a terrible idea to go for it. But it’d probably be an even worse idea to let her start instead… so she sucked it up and threw a punch, somewhat wildly, in the vague direction of her face.</p><p> </p><p> With startling ease, Charlotte caught this, grabbing her by the wrist. Madison wasn’t exactly famous for her fast hands. Charlotte proceeded to squeeze and twist her arm, and the pain was enough to send her down to a knee, howling. With a pump her leg, Charlotte rammed her knee into Madison’s face, sending her head whipping back. But since Flair kept hold of the arm, Madison couldn’t go down to the ground, instead remaining in that same position… for another bone-crunching knee. This one seemed to break her nose and Charlotte let her fall to the dirt. </p><p> </p><p> As she writhed in pain, Charlotte yelled, “Get up!” and punctuated her command with a ruthless stomp to Madison’s solar plexus. She wheezed, the wind knocked out of her as she rolled to her front and desperately picked herself back up. Madison dove at Charlotte’s midsection, trying to take her off-guard, but all she managed to do was take her back a step as Charlotte hooked her in a front facelock. With a pivot of her hips and a powerful pull, she tossed Madison by the head right back to the dirt.</p><p> </p><p> Charlotte didn’t wait this time, reaching down to grab Madison by the hair. She began to forcefully drag her, kicking and screaming, across the dirt over near the barrier wall. She yanked her up to her feet and shoved her into the wall, Madison’s back bouncing off the marble. Just as she was seizing up from this, Charlotte caught her with a wicked spear that rammed her significantly harder into the wall. Rayne was screaming in agony as Charlotte grabbed her by the hair and thrust her back to the ground. </p><p> </p><p> With Madison down on all fours, Charlotte momentarily gazed at the plug on her back. But she decided not to go for it, delivering a furious punt kick to her ribs instead, flipping her and sending her rolling a couple feet. She waited for Rayne to rise, but she made no attempt to. She just sobbed… her tears darkening the dirt. Angered at the display, Charlotte again yelled, “Get up!”</p><p> </p><p> “...Wh-why…?” Madison wept, looking up at Charlotte with tear-filled eyes. “We… we b-both know that you’re… going to kill me. And there’s nothing… I can do… why don’t you just, get it over with?! Isn’t that r-revenge enough?!”</p><p> </p><p> “This isn’t about revenge.” Charlotte clarified. “It’s just like I said… I have to destroy my weakness. I can’t afford to show you mercy.”</p><p> </p><p> “Y-You… you <em>idiot</em>...!“ Madison snapped, her teeth grit in rage, even as tears continued to fall. “You think… you think you have any idea… <em>you</em> want to talk about being <em>weak</em>?!”</p><p> </p><p> Rayne forced herself up to her feet, wincing all the while. “L-Look… look at me! I’m f*cking… I’m 5’3. 120lbs. And I love being in the ring but I don’t even <em>wrestle</em> like a shoot fighter! I don’t… God, I don’t belong here, don’t you get it?! I have no place here! I c-can’t fight, I can’t survive this… I knew from the beginning, I was never going to survive this! Everyone here is afraid of what <em>might</em> happen, but I <em>knew</em>, Charlotte…”</p><p> </p><p> Madison took a step towards Charlotte, her anger seemingly overriding her terror for the moment. “Do you have any idea what that’s like?! God, you f*cking… <em>you don’t even know what weakness is!”</em></p><p> </p><p> As Madison yelled, she threw her hands towards Charlotte repeatedly. That’s all one could call the motion, as they couldn’t be called punches or slaps. She just found herself pounding fruitlessly on Charlotte’s chest and shoulders. Charlotte took a breath as she simply took these blows, to basically no effect… and she realized that, indeed, the two of them were never quite in the same plight…</p><p> </p><p> She reached forward without warning, grabbing Madison by the back of the head to end her ‘assault’, and with one powerful shove, she threw her facefirst this time into the marble wall. She was unconscious before she even hit the ground. Charlotte stepped over her and sighed as she pulled out her plug. She turned and walked off, not wanting to see her limp body as it rose…</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Winner: Charlotte Flair, after pulling Madison’s plug following a shove into the barrier, at the 9:40 mark</strong></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> AHHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT HER GO!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> There is nothing like the sweet irony of watching a fallen fighter rise to their demise...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Hazazz:</strong> Ohhh every match should be a Do Or Die match! Hahahahah, mesmerizing...</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Sivian:</strong> They wouldn't be as special if that were the case, partner. Not to mention it'd make for a very short series... in any event, for Hazazz, I'm Sivian, signing off from another great edition of Bloodsport. May someone you know die soon. See you next week!</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Sxbljqc.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Sxbljqc.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p>

I've recently been working for a site called TheOvertimer.com, which provides news and columns on wrestling. I contacted Adam Ryland about doing an interview to help promote TEW2020 and he was kind enough to agree. I'll be sending in my questions pretty soon. If there's anything in particular you'd really like me to ask, feel free to post them here! I can sort it out so he doesn't have to.

Do their exist any CZCW Women's and Trios title renders? Not having any luck finding them. If not, I'd really appreciate if they could be made.

I'm playing with Genadi's May 2001 mod and working under the basis that WWF did in fact go through with the supposed original plan of rebooting WCW as it's own show in order to maintain it's audience, with it eventually taking SmackDown's spot and having it's own roster. The vast majority of my top matches and shows have been WWF ones as WCW's began with passable but noticeably lesser match/show ratings and have been gradually building with time, as though they really are their own company, which I always found neat. But rebuilding WCW through this lens has always been my main focus with this save and I think it's the more fun thing to look at. Since it's not even close to being the top 10 matches in my promotion's history, I think looking at the most significant ones for the revived brand makes the most sense. Disc 1 #1. WCW Tag Team Championships: Natural Born Thrillers © vs. Booker T & Diamond Dallas Page – B- (74) (Nitro, July 2001) The main event of the first-ever Nitro of the brand new era of WCW, the promising but endlessly arrogant O'Haire and Palumbo were quick to interrupt WCW World Heavyweight Champion Booker T as he ushered in the new age of WCW. The two were looking to make a big statement as they swarmed him, only for him to be saved by another beloved icon in DDP. The main was on, billed as WCW's present vs. WCW's future. This was a physical brawl, a fight for status as the Natural Born Thrillers fought tooth and nail to take the top spots of their two more famous foes, but Booker and Page weren't backing down an inch. But right when victory looked in hand, Diamond shockingly turned and planted his own partner with a Diamond Cutter, leaving him for dead and easy pickings for the hungry tag team to finish off. #2. WCW United States Championship Tournament Final: Lance Storm vs. Mike Awesome – B+ (84) (SummerSlam 2001) Rather than rush into giving WCW their own PPVs, the decision was made to build to that slowly over time and focus on TV for the most part, with one exception: two marquee matches on each of WWE's Big Four PPVs, thanks to their groundbreaking new agreement! And this was the first of those crossover matches. When Booker opened the inaugural Nitro, he relinquished the United States title, making way for a hotly contested 16-man tournament! Storm defeated Chris Candido, Konnan and Curt Hennig to advance to the finals, whilst Awesome had to go through Dustin Rhodes, Shane Douglas and Chris Kanyon to meet him there. The tournament also included the likes of Fit Finlay, Vampiro, Buff Bagwell and Monty Brown among others, but ultimately it came down to these two wholly different, yet extremely talented athletes in what ended up being one of the most showstealing bouts on a very stacked SummerSlam card. Awesome's incredible might mixed with ahead-of-his-time agility was a terrifying challenge for anyone, but Storm's smooth technique and incomparable conditioning kept him from ever looking overwhelmed. Ultimately on this night though, Awesome took the win and made a statement as one of the key names to watch in WCW. #3. WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T © vs. Diamond Dallas Page – B+ (88) (SummerSlam 2001) DDP wasted no time in making his intentions clear. He wasn't part of the WCW revival for glad-handing sentiment, he was there for one thing; his own success. After turning on Booker on the very first Nitro, the bout between the two seemed inevitable. Whilst Booker did defend his title before this, namely against the man who pinned him in that match, Sean O'Haire, this was easily his biggest challenge he'd faced in the technically new reign. These two hard-working WCW loyalists knew they were representing the brand on what was just months prior considered enemy turf and they did everything they could to send the right message. After a tooth and nail war, Booker retained his title in a match that let the world know that WCW was truly back. #4. WCW Tag Team Championships: Natural Born Thrillers © vs. The APA – B+ (85) (Nitro, September 2001) Some may not have expected this to be a big-time match worthy of Nitro's main event, but no one involved gave a damn about that. In front of a hot crowd that'd followed the APA's dogged pursuit of the tag titles ever since emerging in surprising fashion on the debut Nitro, everyone seemed ready for the hated Natural Born Thriller's reign to end and the two veteran brawlers gave everything they had to make it happen. After a true knock-down, drag-out classic, Palumbo and O'Haire proved once again that, like 'em or not, they're legit, barely edging out the APA in a clean victory. This was a fine main event on it's own but it would have historical significance after the fact as being the last tag title match for Farooq and Bradshaw. The next week, after a loss to Kronik, Farooq turned on Bradshaw in a shock, violent assault, quickly rechristening himself under his true name, Ron Simmons. #5. WCW Television Championship: Chris Candido vs. Vampiro vs. Brian Lawler vs. Monty Brown vs. Dustin Rhodes vs. Chyna – B (79) (Nitro, October 2001) For weeks, dozens of wrestlers had been vying for the honor of winning the new and improved WCW Television Championship, a title that promised to be one of the most competitive and coveted ever due to a rule that, true to it’s name, it would be defended exclusively on Nitro and WCW Saturday Night, never to be contested on a PPV. But it would be defended weekly on one or both of these two shows, a rule that would make it one of the hardest titles ever to keep hold of. Everyone involved in this six-way free for all had gotten there by winning similar multi-person matches, a testament to the roster's depth. Among them was Chyna, who left WWF after months of bickering with Vince McMahon over his refusal to allow her to continue competing with men and going after men's titles. She swiftly found herself getting just such an opportunity here. But while she would eventually have her own run with this title, this night belonged to the unpinned rising superstar Monty Brown, who went on to prove himself a tough, fighting champion. #6. 4-on-4 Traditional Survivor Series Match: The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko) vs. Team WCW (Booker T, Ron Simmons, Diamond Dallas Page & Konnan) – B (81) (Survivor Series 2001) Part of WWF's agreement with WCW saw them send the Radicalz, a group that initially became famous for defecting from WCW mind, over to Nitro for promotional work. This supposedly cordial visit soon deteriorated to the Radicalz running down WCW and proclaiming that they hoped that the brand would fail again. The roster didn't take kindly to this of course, and among the chaos that ensued... Norman Smiley ended up rolling up Perry Saturn to take the WWF Hardcore title! As far as Vince was concerned, this was the ultimate insult. A WWF title on WCW soil?! Unable to let it stand, he demanded the Radicalz return the next week and set this right. Through wild circumstance and a few title changes' worth of madness, including Booker T of all people taking the Hardcore title for an hour or so, eventually they were able to secure the title and bring it back to Raw... but they made several enemies in WCW in the process and they refused to forget. Two weeks later, when Perry Saturn was attempting to wrest the European Title away from Nick Dinsmore who had only seven days prior upset Eddie to take the title in his debut, none other than Diamond Dallas Page jumped the barrier on Raw to screw him out of the victory! Unable to let this go, Perry went on to reclaim the Hardcore title and opted to go to Nitro, knowing that this particular belt could be defended in any situation that came up. Using it as a bartering chip, Perry called out Page and offered to defend it against him, provided he agree that all parties were barred from ringside. What resulted was the first time a Hardcore Title match had ever headlined a show more major than Heat, and the match was a wild weapons-filled brawl. Saturn, to his credit, did not look at all out of place against the top WCW star, but could not quite put him away. He would come to regret this challenge, as a Diamond Cutter off the second rope through a table ended his reign; WCW ended up going into Survivor Series with the Hardcore title! While the match itself was great, few knew at the time the ramifications it would have. Fed up with the group's constant struggles with WCW, Vince gave the Radicalz a last-minute ultimatum at Survivor Series. If they couldn't beat the team comprised of their biggest WCW enemies, they'd be fired from WWF! With their WWF careers on the line, the Radicalz were willing to do anything it took to beat the WCW contingent, but they had quite the task on their hands, as they happened to make enemies of four of the promotion's best. There was one thing in their favor though. Booker and DDP still weren't exactly friends, but much more pertinent is that Ron Simmons was smackdab in the middle of his own campaign to take the WCW Title and he was really getting under Booker's skin in the process. The tension between the two of them was palpable as they refused to even stand on the same apron. The Radicalz made the most of their talent and used every dirty trick they could, but overcoming three former WCW Champions alongside one of Mexico's biggest ever stars was easier said than done. Their desperation showed when Eddie suplexed Booker stomach-first on the barrier and went up to the apron for a Frog Splash. Booker managed to escape this, leaving Guerrero to land onto his abdomen on the barricade. This debilitated him horrendously, enough for Booker to toss him into the ring and swiftly capitalize with a Scissors Kick and the elimination, leaving the Radicalz without their leader ten minutes into the match! Fortunately for them, Booker and Simmons' incessant arguing finally came to a head when Ron surprised him with a vicious spinebuster after tagging in and then simply making his leave, letting himself get counted out. In spite of DDP and Konnan's best efforts, they couldn't get the tag from Booker in time. Saturn and Malenko eventually held him down for a diving headbutt from Benoit for the pin. Just like that, Radicalz were up 3-to-2. DDP and Konnan weren't about to give up though, even if they were taking considerably more damage now. They picked their spots and, as DDP and Malenko struggled in a crucifix cradle test of strength, the former suddenly spun in front of him and nailed a Diamond Cutter for the surprise win. This victory was short-lived though as Saturn and Benoit were quick to swarm on him with a double team. Moments later, Saturn hit a DVD on DDP as Benoit held Konnan back with a crossface on the floor, and it was down to a 2-on-1. Benoit threw Konnan into the ring and tagged in to pound on him, but he proved his resilience. Before long, Benoit went to put him into a Crossface proper, but ended up bundled up into a La Magistral for the shock win, putting things to a 1-on-1. Saturn tried to put the hurt on the significantly more worn down Konnan, but his toughness continued to shine through and a Rings of Saturn attempt was reversed into the Tequila Sunrise for the submission victory... and thus, the Radicalz lost their spot in the WWF. #7. WarGames: The Radicalz (Eddy Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko) vs. Latino World Order (Konnan, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy and Essa Rios) – B+ (84) (Starrcade 2001) It's safe to say nobody hates WCW more than The Radicalz. Already pushed to defect over a year ago, WCW's top stars ended up getting them fired from their jobs at WWF as well. With few other options, the humiliated team ended up signing with their former company once again, but they didn't do it with their tails between their legs. Before the ink even dried on their new deals, they made their intentions clear; they wanted to destroy WCW from the inside out. The Radicalz had already embittered themselves towards the LWO during their several run-ins on Nitro in the months prior, but the resentment boiled into fullblown hate after their leader Konnan put the nail in the coffin of their WWF careers. Their first official appearance as WCW wrestlers in over a year saw them assault and bloody him, kicking off a progressively dangerous, personal war between the two factions. One story of note within the battle was Chavo Guerrero Jr., the silly loco boy who had for months asked to join the LWO, much to their hesitance as he rather clashed with their image. But on the same night that they finally relented and gave him his own LWO shirt, he showed his true lying, cheating and stealing colors, assisting his uncle Eddy to help him defeat LWO's own ringer Essa Rios. Displaying a new fiery attitude, Chavo officially became the fifth Radical, tying up the numbers. With five men on each side, a decision was made... Starrcade was always WCW's biggest show of the year, but this time it was going to be their first genuine, world-reaching PPV since returning. They needed to go all out to re-establish WCW as a power, and nothing could possibly be more WCW than a WarGames match! What followed was by far the wildest, fastest-paced, high flyingest WarGames match ever, with Super Crazy in particular wowing the world by climbing up the cage within the structure and hitting a death-defying moonsault onto all five of his opponents. But ultimately, the match came down to the still injured Konnan - who had not wrestled since the initial attack over a month prior - getting his wounds reopened in a major way before being locked into the Crossface, this time unable to counter. As the other Radicalz held back his allies, the badly bleeding Konnan eventually succumbed to his wooziness and passed out within the hold. With this, the Radicalz won the first major battle in their war against WCW. #8. WCW Tag Team Championships: Natural Born Thrillers © vs. The Hardy Boyz – A (92) (Starrcade 2001) The Natural Born Thrillers' tag title reign pre-dated the fall of WCW in it's original incarnation. They initially won them at the third-to-last PPV before they closed, back in January. Since the promotion's return, they had kept a death grip on them, with their reign closing in on a full year as they came into Starrcade. After retaining over two of WCW's all-time greats on the return episode of Nitro, they went on to defend against the likes of the APA, the New Age Outlaws, Patricide (Dustin Rhodes & Brian Lawler), the Party Crashers (Scotty 2 Hotty & K-Kwik) and even the legendary Road Warriors. Wrestling those titles away from them seemed truly impossible. But the Hardyz were never very big on the word 'impossible', and they looked to prove that they were up for the task of ending the second-longest WCW Tag Team title reign in history. And in a tag classic for the ages, the two hot tandems clashed reckless abandon with brute explosiveness. In the end, experience and heart won out as the Hardyz ended up putting an end to the Natural Born Thrillers' stellar run, and put themselves in rarefied air among teams to have won gold in both WWF and WCW. #9. Title Unification Ladder Match: WCW Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms © vs. WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam © – B+ (86) (Starrcade 2001) RVD made an instant splash in the WWF, winning the Light Heavyweight title in his debut in which he answered an open challenge from his long-time rival Jerry Lynn. He swiftly established himself as far and away the most dominant champion in the title's history, amassing 13 defenses over the next seven months. He repelled challengers like Lynn, both of the Hardyz, X-Pac, Brian Lawler, Christian, Dean Malenko and others. Most notably he won a special triple threat match at Vengeance in which himself, European champion Matt Hardy and Hardcore champion Chyna all put their titles on the line in a free-for-all; two months into his tenure and he was a triple champion! Suffice to say, there was a huge buzz surrounding the exciting and unique Van Dam, especially when he made the shock move to jump ship to WCW right in the middle of his reign, convinced that they offered stiffer competition at his weight class, especially with many of his toughest challengers already having made the same move. He continued his incredible run defending against WCW's cruisers, including a win over Chavo Guerrero Jr, but from the word go, WCW Cruiserweight Champ Shane Helms kept a close eye on Rob and always seemed to be seething over his victories. Helms had similarly established himself as an all-time Cruiserweight champion just as Rob was doing the same with the Light Heavyweight title. Shane had originally won it on what many thought was the final Nitro that March, and since WCW's return, he'd put together 11 defenses, turning back the challenges of names like Billy Kidman, Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, Rey Mysterio Jr, Matt Hardy and even the legendary Tiger Mask IV. And yet all the world's eyes were on RVD... he couldn't stand it. The tension was immediate and after a few months worth of grandstanding, posturing and sending messages from afar, the two finally met face to face and a challenge was put forth. They both agreed that they needed to find out once and for all who was truly the best at their weight class. And so it was decided that both of their titles would be hung from the rafters in a Ladder match to unify the two championships! The match was a true spectacle, one that proved to many that Shane Helms may well have been on Rob's level. But ultimately it ended in fittingly showstealing fashion. With Helms climbing the ladder and inches away from the titles, RVD managed to springboard himself from the ropes directly onto the upright ladder... with a chair in hand! With a swift toss, RVD hit a seemingly impossible Van Daminator, landing back on his feet on the rungs whilst Shane was sent hurtling into a conveniently placed table. The win was academic from there, with Van Dam ushering in a new age for the Cruiserweight division. #10. WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T © vs. Ron Simmons – A* (99) (Starrcade 2001) Ron Simmons stripped himself of his WWF name, which he referred to as... something else, and unleashed several years of frustration at how his career had gone. Sure, he'd become beloved to a wider audience, but only after allowing the WWF to fool the world into thinking he wasn't cut out to be a major singles star. He was quick to remind everyone of his former success in WCW, of being the first-ever black world champion in wrestling, something he took dearly seriously. Showing signs of his persona prior to the APA, he brought up the struggles his race had endured in the business, and how some had responded to it better than others... he proceeded to call out Booker T and accuse him of becoming a glad-handing stereotype for the sake of his success. Naturally Booker wasn't happy to be characterized as, well, a caricature... for his part, he was equal parts offended and sad that someone he used to look up to so much had turned into such a bitter, hateful man. The challenge was laid down, and accepted, that Simmons would face Booker for the world title at Starrcade. As the weeks went on the feud became all the more intensive, as Simmons proved more and more desperate to reclaim his former glory and defeat the 'fraud' for the sake of their race. Booker snapped at him for missing the big picture of what was going on. The two of them were headlining Starrcade together, they were making such positive history... but his every word tainted the occasion. Booker vowed to not only prove just how real he is, but to put on a match worthy of it's place in history. It did not disappoint. The audience had been whipped into a frenzy as everyone knew, in equal measure, that Simmons was indeed a huge star, but one that needed to be proven wrong. Booker attempted to outspeed Ron, just as he tried to outpower him in kind, but by the end of this grueling affair they both looked as equals. After both a Bookend and Scissors Kick failed to work, it took a Houston Hangover to the back of a doubled over Simmons' head to take him down. After the match, Booker attempted to go for a handshake, and Simmons seemed to contemplate it... but he couldn't bring himself to do it, eventually just turning and walking away. But Booker wasn't going to be dismayed on this night. He knew... he could feel it in his bones, that WCW's return to PPV was a stellar success and they were on the verge of a glorious new age in WCW, one that would surpass all that came before it. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Disc 2 1. WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T © vs. Eddy Guerrero – A* (96) (Royal Rumble 2002) Thanks largely to those in WCW, the Radicalz had a rough latter half of 2001, but they did close it out strong with a WarGames win over the LWO. This quickly established them as a big threat in WCW now that they were officially on it's roster again - whether they were happy about having to sign on or not. So it was no surprise when team leader Eddy Guerrero set out for the World Heavyweight title soon after. He made a big splash onto the scene, winning a fatal four way eliminator that also included Matt Hardy, Chyna and Monty Brown enroute to defeating DDP - who'd won his own such eliminator - later in the night to earn a title match. Booker being one of the original few to give the Radicalz trouble in their Nitro visits nearly six months earlier, Eddy made it clear that he could really hold a grudge as he blamed him for his downfall from the WWF. Of course in Booker's eyes, he should be thanking him for leading him back to the big leagues! And to be perfectly fair, the bout would come on a big stage, with the WCW title defended on a WWF show for only the second time, and this time on none other than the Royal Rumble! When the match came, it was a classic to be sure, but marred by the rampant interference from the other four members of the Radicalz. A well-timed Scissors Kick took out Chavo Guerrero, but he still had Saturn, Malenko and Benoit to deal with! A chair-wielding DDP eventually came out to even up the odds - Booker and Page's shared loyalty to WCW bringing them together against the Radicalz, in spite of their past differences - but despite his most valiant efforts, all he could ultimately do was lure their assault onto himself instead. And while this did serve to even up the playing field in the ring, the damage was done; Eddy managed to lie, cheat and steal to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. 2. Cage Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championships: Natural Born Thrillers © vs. The Hardyz – A (91) (Superbrawl XII) The Natural Born Thrillers, Palumbo & O’Haire, were the only tag team champions that this era of WCW ever knew. When they came to Starrcade, it’d been nearly a full year since they won the tag titles back at January’s Sin PPV, one of the final major events of the original WCW. And since the return of Nitro back in July, they had defended those titles time and again against top competition, and it looked as though they couldn’t be beaten. But the Hardy Boyz proved that they were beatable, vanquishing them and taking their titles. Needless to say, they weren’t happy about that and weren’t going to take it sitting down. After spending all of 2001 holding down the fort in the WCW tag division, the Thrillers were fervent in their pursuit of reclaiming the gold. They finally got a shot two months later at Superbrawl XII. After a run in from Patricide, one of the other tandems in the intensifying division stopped a previous rematch attempt before it could even get started, it was decided that the Hardyz & Thrillers would square off in a cage match to settle their feud. The steel confines suited them well, as the cage just barely contained their ferocity. The brute strength of Palumbo and O’Haire sent the much smaller duo into the cage walls. But it accentuated the high flying antics of the Hardyz just as much. Being an Attitude Era-tag team cage match, it ended when either both members of a team were eliminated from contention or when the survivors from a team escaped the cage. Everyone predicted it when the match was announced and of course the inevitable occurred: Jeff Hardy did something stupid. In this case, a Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage, which actually landed him right onto Palumbo, in pinning position no less! But while he got the pin to eliminate him from contention, he was so rocked by his own maneuver that he was easy pickings for O’Haire to finish off, bringing it down to a one-on-one! Sean O’Haire and Matt Hardy had a bruising battle, but of course O’Haire got the better of the exchange eventually and saw fit to climb out to make his escape. But Matt got his bearings in time to grab his ankle, stopping his pursuit, before climbing up with him! As the two fought atop the cage, Palumbo returned to ringside to help, only for Jeff to limp his way back and brawl with him! As this went on, Matt out-grappled O’Haire… and hit a mind-blowing Side Effect, taking the both of them off the top of the cage to land on their partners below! This signaled the enthralling end of the match… but it seemed that both Matt and O’Haire landed at the same time, ending in a draw! While the Hardyz were of course pleased to retain, neither team were satisfied with this outcome, and it was clear things were far from over... 3. WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rob Van Dam © vs. Lance Storm – A (91) (Superbrawl XII) From the beginning of his run in the returning WCW, Lance Storm was aiming to become a champion once more, reclaiming the days in which he amassed an embarassment of gold in the original WCW's final year. He came close right from the start, making it to the finals of the US title tournament, but would lose out in the end to Mike Awesome. Over the next few months he didn't give up in that quest, enlisting the help of manager Jim Cornette as well as Awesome's old rival Masato Tanaka to aid him in pursuing the champ. But that failed thanks in part to equalizer Curt Hennig. The increasingly frustrated Storm wasn't going to give up on his title hopes however, clutching them tight as he and new Camp Cornette member Jerry Lynn teamed up to qualify for Starrcade's Battlebowl. Then, finally, Storm achieved the big PPV win he'd been hunting for since that Summer, claiming the prize. And since he last eliminated star cruiserweight Rey Mysterio Jr. to do it, he decided that this win made him No. 1 Contender for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. RVD, fresh off unifying said championship with his Light Heavyweight title, saw no issue with that. But Lance and his Camp Cornette cohorts sure saw issue with Rob. The stern and serious group despised his laid back stoneriffic attitude, accusing him of wasting his own stellar potential thanks to his habits - this in spite of the staggering success he'd had in the half year prior! To that end, Storm saw fit to teach him the error of his ways when they clashed at the Royal Rumble... but despite all his best efforts, and advice from Lynn on taking down his famed rival, Lance couldn't beat him straight up. Furious, Camp Cornette decided to hell with traditional values and holier-than-thou virtues. Rob Van Dam was rife with constant attacks in the next few weeks, most notably a violent assault from Tanaka! Seeking revenge, he wanted a match with any of them, but of course there was only one option they wanted to give him; putting his title on the line against Lance once again. Though he enthusiastically accepted, he probably shouldn't have. He came into the match at Superbrawl with a badly injured leg, bad news for someone facing a man with a famous single leg boston crab! Storm cinched in the hold tighter than ever before when he inevitably rolled him into it, but Rob wasn't going to tap through any level of pain and made it to the ropes to break, fighting his heart out. He even got pretty close to winning anyhow, and got some comeuppance on Masato in the process, hitting him with a Van Daminator when he tried to interfere! But that proved a poor decision, as it only served to hurt his leg all the more. He tried to go up for the Five Star Frog Splash anyway, but his leg gave out as he climbed. He managed to stay up there and valiantly stand, but by the time he finally went soaring, Lance had all his faculties about him and was merely playing possum. He sprang up and superkicked him out of the air, for the pin, finally becoming champion once more. 4. WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Eddy Guerrero © vs. Diamond Dallas Page – A (92) (Superbrawl XII) Eddy’s title celebration ceremony was quickly spoiled by both Booker T and DDP who were hungry to reclaim WCW’s honor. And while Eddy would successfully defend against former champ Booker the week after - albeit by even more dubious means than the initial title win - Booker and DDP got one over on the Radicalz seven days later with a win in a tag match that saw DDP pin the champion, earning a title match! And he followed that up with a win over Chris Benoit in a stellar bout, which by stipulation meant that the Radicalz were barred from ringside for this Superbrawl bout! But while Eddy no longer had any help, by no means was he forced to fight a clean match and this only allowed him to pull out every trick in the book, mano-a-mano! Thankfully, Charles Robinson had been around the block a few too many times to fall for his attempts to bait a DQ victory, but at the end of the day, Eddy’s talent level combined with a litany of cheap shots and cheaper tricks were just too much for even DDP to handle and he escaped with the gold once more, a devastating blow in his self-professed war on WCW’s biggest stars. 5. No Disqualification match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Eddy Guerrero © vs. Mike Awesome – A* (96) (Nitro, March 2002) While he’d dealt with what he considered WCW’s present, Eddy was far from done as he looked to destroy WCW’s future. And Mike Awesome exemplified that future in the eyes of many, pegged by the world to end the year as WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Eddy generously offered him a shot to make that happen even earlier than predicted, on one condition: he agreed to make it No DQ. While this suited Awesome’s sensibilities just fine, it also meant the Radicalz could interfere at will, and they very much took advantage of that. Benoit, Saturn, Malenko, Chavo, every last one of them took their turns coming in and assaulting Awesome. But amazingly, nay, freakishly, Awesome managed to beat back every single one with his magnificent power. They each gave him a challenge, but he was ultimately able to plant them all with an Awesome Bomb… every member except the man himself. Their constant attacks allowed him much-needed breathers, saving him from certain defeat on many occasions! You could truly see the regret on his face for ever thinking this was a good idea… but milliseconds after Awesome put down Benoit, Eddy got him a chair-assisted low blow, followed by a harsh shot over the head. He put the chair to his chest for the proceeded Frog Splash for good measure, and narrowly put away the terrifying Awesome. He breathed quite the sigh of relief as he rolled away from that ring... 6. Sting vs. The Giant – B+ (83) (Nitro, March 2002) In a time where WCW’s heroes were struggling against the underhanded and vicious Radicalz, an icon emerged. One who had led the charge through such a challenge in the past, one who was not going to let the promotion be killed once more, one embodied WCW more than anyone else. It was the man called Sting… and his sudden arrival after nearly a full year on the sidelines was a shock to the wrestling world. He wasted no time in making his mission statement known, wordlessly pointing his bat towards the WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Eddy Guerrero. But while he arrived to much fanfare and the world immediately began fantasy booking him taking down the hated Radicalz, he wasn’t going to get his shot so quickly. Eddy was quick to point out that, icon though he may be, he couldn’t get a title match based on name value alone! He demanded that Sting earn his title shot, and the Stinger agreed with the sentiment. A match was made for Sting, in his first match in twelve months, to face a mystery opponent of Eddy’s choosing. He was prepared to go through any member of the Radicalz… but was shocked to find none other than the seven-foot tall Giant emerging! Hungry to get back into the title picture himself, he proved a weighty challenge for Sting, a helluva welcome back to WCW! But after a heroic underdog battle, the likes of which made him famous in the first place, Sting chopped down the Giant with a Scorpion Deathdrop, immediately erasing any argument for keeping him out of the title picture! It was no surprise when the announcement was made the next week… Eddy would defend his title against Sting at the Granddaddy Of ‘Em All, WrestleMania! 7. WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Lance Storm © vs. Taka Michinoku – A* (99) (WrestleMania 18) When WCW returned, many members of WWF’s roster sought new employment, particularly those that had fallen by the wayside and gotten lost in the star-filled shuffle. And of those, few seemed quite as squandered as that of Taka Michinoku. Perhaps the most talented men to ever set foot in a WWF ring, he was nigh on forgotten by the time WCW made it’s comeback, struggling to even find opportunities on Heat. For the original Light Heavyweight Champion, who had bested some of the greatest in his weight class in a tournament to crown the inaugural champion just four years prior, it was quite the shame. It’s no surprise that he and long-time partner Funaki made the jump to the land that made the term ‘Cruiserweight’ famous. But when Kaientai continued to struggle against a deep tag division, Taka had to make the tough choice of breaking out on his own once more. His climb up the ladder was tough and arduous, but after about eight months, he found his way into the first-ever WCW Cruiserweight Classic! This entirely original concept saw 32 stellar talents compete in a fiery tournament that would conclude at Superbrawl! And the stakes were high, as the winner would not only receive a cruiserweight title match, but said match would take place at none other than WrestleMania! Taka battled his way through the grueling tourney, defeating Evan Karagis, AAA legend Blue Panther, and former stalwart Cruiserweight Champions Shane Helms and Dean Malenko, enroute to the final. There, he squared off with Jerry Lynn in a fantastic battle, and proved once and for all that he deserved to be regarded as one of the top cruiserweights in the world by defeating him live on Pay-Per-View! This was huge not just because he won the tournament, but also the message it sent, defeating an associate of champion Lance Storm’s! It’s safe to say it caught the proud Canadian’s ire, as he saw the loss as an affront to the stubbornly arrogant Camp Cornette. He demanded to go in alone as he fought for the group’s honor. Taka, meanwhile, fought for personal redemption, to cement himself for good this time, to earn a victory that would forever make him a star. And so the two incredibly gifted competitors squared off on the grandest stage possible. It was a masterpiece to be certain, as much a showcase of agility and athleticism as it was a clinic on technical wrestling. Shockingly, Camp Cornette proved true to their word, as Lance was completely on his own after seeing his allies off on the stage. In the end, he may have ended up regretting this… as after about 20 minutes of wicked action, Taka caught his leg off a superkick attempt, and pulled him in, and up, for a Michinoku Driver, the second of the match! This one put Storm away and completed Taka Michinoku’s long road back to glory. 8. Four-Way TLC Match For The WCW World Tag Team Championships: The Hardyz © vs. The Natural Born Thrillers vs. Patricide vs. The Filthy Animals – A* (96) (WrestleMania 18) The Hardyz put themselves on the Mount Rushmore of tag teams when they managed to add the WCW tag team titles to their collection of tag gold. And they did so on WCW's greatest stage, Starrcade, by defeating the long dominant Natural Born Thrillers at that! But the Thrillers were far from done with their pursuit of the titles they considered their property. And when the steel cage match between the two teams ended in controversy, it caused quite a stir, not least of which because of what had already happened earlier in the night! After all, a No. 1 Contender's tag team match was also on the show, in which the Filthy Animals defeated X-Pac and Kid Kash to earn the next shot. But that put them at odds with the Thrillers, who argued they still deserved a shot, and perhaps had a point. And just to make matters even more confusing, just days after Superbrawl, Patricide - the team of Dustin Rhodes and Brian Lawler, brought together over their disdain for how their fathers have overshadowed their own careers - went and beat the Hardyz in a non-title match! It was a win by dubious means granted - a brass knuckle shot behind the ref's back, to be precise - but it was a win nonetheless. That meant three teams had a fine argument for being the next challengers, heading into a WrestleMania in which all of WCW's major titles would be defended! This left WCW's championship committee in quite the bind... but thankfully, the Hardyz themselves had quite the solution in mind for this ordeal. Of course, their answer would be a four-way TLC match! As you can imagine, this was a wild and brutal match. The Hardyz were incredibly comfortable in there, but had to contend with the amazing ladder-scaling agility of Mysterio & Kidman, the barbaric, table-shattering power of the Thrillers, and the no-good, chair-stomping wickedness of Patricide! While the champs put forth a hell of an effort, they took one risk too many and the match ended up being one by the other high-flying duo. The Filthy Animals scored a huge WrestleMania win, putting the entire tag division on notice in the process. 9. Falls Count Anywhere Triple Threat Match For The WCW United States Championship: New Jack © vs. Bradshaw vs. Mike Awesome – B+ (84) (WrestleMania 18) When Ron Simmons was defeated by Booker T at Starrcade, he took it hard. He had seen the match as his last real shot at reclaiming the former glory, though he’d prove that wasn’t quite true… still he was left paranoid, desperate to retain his spot. So to help him do just that, he called in some reinforcements. That is to say… he brought back the Nation, one that he claimed was more powerful and loyal than ever, learning from his past mistakes. With him, stood old friends D’Lo Brown and Charles Wright, as well as new blood in the form of K-Killings and Elix Skipper. With Simmons as their fearless leader, D’Lo and Killings as a tag team, Skipper representing them in the Cruiserweight division and Wright as their interference-running heavy, they were a formidable force. They ran roughshod over their first two months, but at the first sign of setback, Simmons again showed his mounting desperation to stay on top. The Nation’s enemies, Bradshaw, Mike Awesome, The Road Warriors, and K-Killings’ abandoned former partner Scotty 2 Hotty formed to defeat them at Superbrawl. It ended with Bradshaw finally getting a pin over his former partner, no less, and this sent Simmons into a frenzy. He wasted no time in planning a perhaps drastic counterattack. Simmons revealed the existence of a secret weapon that he was ready to unleash on WCW, a step in the war that even his allies thought may have been going too far… but despite their protests and Ron’s own hesitation, that secret weapon was revealed. And that secret weapon was none other than the criminally dangerous New Jack. He burst onto the scene as you would expect, with a cacophony on unconventional tools of war, most notedly a railroad spike, which he carved into the head of US Champion Bradshaw, leaving him in a deep pool of blood upon his arrival. Two weeks later - much sooner than any doctor would recommend - Bradshaw put the title on the line against him in a No DQ match, and while he tried to bring as violent a fight as he could, there was just no matching New Jack in sheer psychopathy. Less than a month after arriving, New Jack had claimed the US title, and combined with his aiding of K-Killings in becoming Television Champion, he’d quickly turned the tide in WCW’s intensifying, deepening war to determine the dominant force. Bradshaw wasn’t giving up the fight, however, nor was Mike Awesome who was still seeking his rematch after losing the title at Starrcade three months prior. He was especially fired up given that Bradshaw won the title in a four-way, also including Masato Tanaka and Shane Douglas, and it was Douglas who Bradshaw pinned the title in the first place, not Awesome! Thanks to this bit of tension, and the shared desire to be champion once more, the two made it clear that they weren’t likely to double up on New Jack… so, being an anarchic sort, the champ dared the both of them to go up against him at WrestleMania, so long as they agreed to a match of his choosing… Falls Count Anywhere! As you can imagine, these three went all up and down the stadium, through the streets and back… before the match ended in heart-stopping fashion. Deep into the stands, Bradshaw, battered, bloody and bruised, was laid out on a table, knocked unconscious after New Jack had wrapped a lead pipe around his head. Awesome and New Jack proceeded to fight their way to an upper deck, where New Jack planned to jump off. But Awesome overwhelmed him and did him one better… hitting a ridiculous Awesome Bomb, a nearly 20 foot drop, that sent the both of them onto Bradshaw, through the table! Needless to say, all three were out… but in a wild stroke of luck, New Jack ended up on top of both his adversaries, scoring a pin despite entirely unconscious! Thus ended perhaps the most violent match in WrestleMania history... 10. WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Eddy Guerrero © vs. Sting – A* (99) (WrestleMania 18) This was it. The biggest match WCW had seen since it’s return, and among the biggest in it’s entire existence. For the first time, the WCW Championship defended at WrestleMania. For the first time, the iconic Sting would step into an official WWF ring, and at the Show of Shows no less. This wasn’t just an instant classic in the making between two all time greats. It wasn’t just a megastar of the last generation squaring off with a burgeoning megastar of the current generation. And as prestigious as the title was, and with how much it meant to both of them, the bout was still about something bigger than that. This was a match with WCW’s soul on the line. For Eddy to win here would validate everything that the Radicalz stood for, and make it clear that their way was superior, that liars and cheaters would always best the honorable. In Sting’s eyes, it wasn’t just a match he wanted to win, or even a match he needed to win. It was a match that WCW needed him to win, and the most important match of his life. He’d defeated the wildcard that was the Giant on his first night back. Alongside fellow WCW stalwarts Booker T and DDP, he’d defeated Chavo, Malenko and Saturn in a six-man tag. He’d defeated Chris Benoit in a stellar Nitro main event just days earlier. He had jumped through every single hoop the Radicalz had forced him through. Now there was just one left… to take down Eddy Guerrero, to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion once more and to finally bring justice back to the promotion that he held so dearly to his heart. As expected, it was an amazing clash, strength meeting skill as the two athletes went to battle. Eddy threw one dirty trick after the other at Sting, but he had learned how to combat them all, thanks to a lifetime of learning from the best… indeed, eventually they all seemed to fail him and 15 minutes into the match, Eddy was wholly overwhelmed. Naturally, the Radicalz then came down in full force, surrounding the ring, prepared to do whatever it took to keep that title on their leader… But they didn’t anticipate just how ready WCW was to strike back. In spite of not having matches of their own, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Konnan and Monty Brown all showed up ready to defend WCW’s pride and they took it to the Radicalz! After a wild brawl at ringside, they managed to chase them off, just as Sting got the knees up on a frantic Frog Splash attempt! A winded Eddy backed up into the corner… leaving himself open for a wicked Stinger Splash! With all of WCW’s top heroes cheering him on, Sting locked in the Scorpion Deathlock and Eddy had no choice but to submit! Time will only tell if the war here is over or if it's only getting started... but for now, WCW reigns supreme! Digital download bonus: 1. WCW World Heavyweight Championship Cage Match: Booker T © vs. The Giant – A (89) (Nitro, November 2001) 2. WWF Hardcore Championship: Perry Saturn © vs. Diamond Dallas Page – A (89) (Nitro, November 2001) 3. WCW World Tag Team Championships: Natural Born Thrillers © vs. Road Warriors – B (79) (Survivor Series 2001) 4. Rob Vam Dam vs. Ron Simmons – A (91) (Nitro, November 2001) 5. WCW Television Championship: Chris Kanyon © vs. Monty Brown – B+ (85) (Nitro, December 2001) 6. WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: Rob Van Dam © vs. Jerry Lynn – B+ (85) (Nitro, December 2001) 7. Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page – A* (100) (Nitro, December 2001) 8. WCW Cruiserweight Classic Finals: Taka Michinoku vs. Jerry Lynn – B (82) (Superbrawl XII) 9. WCW Television Championship: Vampiro © vs. Shane Helms – B+ (85) (Nitro, April 2002) 10. The Mega Powers vs. Kronik – B (77) (WrestleMania 18)

Got a little Fight For The Fallen preview and predictions column up at the site I'm writing for, just wanted to share.

<p>Round 1, Match 4: </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="giphy.gif" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/giphy.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <span style="font-size:14px;">Seed #5 - Sami Zayn</span></p><p> </p><p> For my money, Sami Zayn was the original true blue top babyface of NXT. He made a big splash in his debut on the black and gold brand in May of 2013, defeating Curt Hawkins and then, stunningly, Antonio Cesaro back-to-back. In doing so, he immediately began one of the four feuds that not only defined his tenure in NXT, but did a lot to define NXT itself. His 2 out of 3 Falls rematch with Cesaro was the first taste of NXT for many, due to the buzz it garnered and even with the lofty standards of today's NXT, it still holds up quite nicely today.</p><p> </p><p> Sami Zayn's rivalry with Cesaro would raise the bar in NXT in terms of pure match quality. His betrayal at the hands of Kevin Owens set the tempo for how heated the show's feuds could get. But it was in many ways the angle with Bo Dallas that would create the blueprint for NXT's long-term storytelling. Bo was by far the most hated heel they had at the time, and Sami, by far the most beloved face. So it was only natural that a lengthy angle would ensue between the two.</p><p> </p><p> Sami was relentless in his pursuit of Bo's title, and the two battled wits just as much as they wrestled. To any watching, it seemed like the only natural conclusion was for Sami to one day finally unseat him as champion. He would be the one, without question, to take down Bo Dallas and wipe that unnaturally huge smile off his insincere face once and for all. It was the era-defining feud and it needed it's era-defining ending.</p><p> </p><p> But then... it never happened.</p><p> </p><p> Ultimately Sami lost his last shot at Bo. Adrian Neville would go on to defeat him instead, and while he was popular, he wasn't really close to being the same level of star. It felt... wrong, somehow. Neville would go on to have a record-breaking long reign on top of that, with Sami desperately struggling to claw his way back into title contention all the while. He got closer and closer everytime and at one point even pushed Neville into pulling out a few dirty tricks to keep his reign intact. Until finally, the night came where he took him down, in perhaps the best match in the brand's history up to that point.</p><p> </p><p> The celebration was uproarious... but short-lived. Sami's best friend Kevin Owens, who debuted earlier that night, turned on him in shocking fashion, powerbombing him into the apron. This was in many ways the first true shockwave moment NXT had ever seen. And it made Owens a prime villain, especially when he went on to defeat Sami in brutal fashion to take the title mere months later.</p><p> </p><p> Like Gargano, the brevity of the reign kept Sami from being any higher on our seeding. But also like Gargano, he's much too important to the title and brand's identity to be any lower.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ElAN.gif" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ElAN.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <span style="font-size:14px;">#12 Seed - Samoa Joe</span></p><p> </p><p> Samoa Joe had a curious run in NXT. He debuted in big-time fashion, confronting Kevin Owens at TakeOver: Unstoppable after he'd mercilessly beaten the legit injured Sami Zayn. This seemingly set up the next big angle, but it... kinda didn't. Himself and Owens only squared off once, on a regular NXT episode and that bout ended in a No Contest. We were seemingly building towards a huge title showdown between the two but the story just sorta faded away. Finn Balor beat Owens for the title instead whilst Joe mostly hung around fighting other bruisers.</p><p> </p><p> This would actually pay off a bit later, as Joe and Balor would go on to win the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic together, only for Joe to turn on him soon after, angry at not receiving a title shot in spite of his successes. He would go on to have a very, very long feud with Finn and actually lost two straight TakeOver main event title shots, only to surprisingly take the gold at a seemingly random house show in Lowell, Massachusetts. One can only surmise this was done so as to allow Finn to just barely beat the record for longest reign before taking him out, but it certainly took something away from Joe's crowning. Nobody saw it happen!</p><p> </p><p> After finally finishing Balor at the next TakeOver, he went on to drop it to Shinsuke Nakamura a couple months later. The two then traded it back and forth to become the only men to hold the title twice. That's cool, but Joe really seemed more like the type to hold the thing for a long time without any breaks.</p><p> </p><p> I have a lot of respect for Joe, but I personally find his NXT run disappointing.</p><p> </p><p> When he came to NXT, he was 36 years old and he'd already been wrestling for 16 years. For a 280lber, putting that weight on his knees for that long, it's hard to stay at the same level of athleticism. Big dudes get that wear and tear at a faster rate than others, generally speaking. He's still a good big man, but from watching his major NXT matches, I always felt that his best work was behind him. Seeing him on the main roster has never really changed my mind. And that's okay, it happens to everyone eventually. He's still very effective in 10-minute bouts. But to me, he wasn't really at the level of 20 minute headlining TakeOver bouts anymore. He's just a guy who came in too late, from my perspective.</p><p> </p><p> It's cool that he was there, it's cool that he held the NXT title. And it's cool that he feuded with the likes of Finn and Shinsuke, but I never thought his matches with either were ever that great. The most sad example was at TakeOver: Dallas where they started off hot and for a moment it looked like he was finally ready to change that. But he suffered a cut minutes into the match that caused it to be constantly stopped and slowed down, much to his and the crowd's frustration. So this too ended up being nowhere as good as it could've been on paper.</p><p> </p><p> But hey, that's all just one guy's opinion. Joe's legacy will always be that of being perhaps the most talented super heavyweight of all time, and rightfully so. And he'll always bring a legitimacy to everything that he does.</p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:10px;">And now... our Tale Of The Tape!</span></p><p> <img alt="GoldenGauntletZaynvsJoe.png" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GoldenGauntletZaynvsJoe.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="GoldenGauntletZaynvsJoeTaleOfTheTape.png" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GoldenGauntletZaynvsJoeTaleOfTheTape.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Assuming everyone's firing on all cylinders here, this would be a lights out match. Needless to say, Sami would be playing his Underdog From The Underground role to quite the advantage here. Joe would bully him and throw him around but Sami would keep getting back up, showing the damage slowly mounting in that way only he can but never once backing down. It'd be a great opportunity for Sami to show his rarely seen hard-hitting strikes, as you'd need to bring all you can to really hurt Joe.</p><p> </p><p> The two of them could even trade submissions if they wanted. See if we could get a Coquina Clutch countered into a Koji Clutch. The two have had big matches before and they went over quite well so this would certainly be interesting to see. Who wins this time around? That's up to you!</p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://twitter.com/WritingJth/status/1149736287735361536" rel="external nofollow"><span style="font-size:10px;">Vote on this match here!</span></a></p>

Round 1, Match 3: Read the preview and vote here!

<p>Yeah, it works for me, they're just taking their time making these public... which is annoying because these twitter polls can only be active for 7 days! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> To heck with it, here's that write-up:</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="AlmasGargano.gif" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/AlmasGargano.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:12px;">#8 - Andrade 'Cien' Almas</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Destiny hasn't been kind to every NXT Champion. Andrade sure seemed to have luck on his side though. Undeniably talented as he was, unlike everyone else in the lineage, it really seems like he wasn't meant to become NXT Champion. He was setup to be a fine contender for it, but not one who would quite hold the gold. But an injury to champion Drew McIntyre changed all of that, and he ended up being in the right place at the right time to claim the title.</p><p> </p><p> In that situation, most would find themselves dropping it within days. But to their credit, they ran with it and man did it work. Now, I mean no disrespect to any former holders... but recent champs Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode had set a certain precedent for their defenses. They were slow-paced posedowns, and they were very effective thanks to the incredible charisma involved, the crowd responses were electric for it, no arguing that. But they were always following such exciting, nonstop action that they seemed a tad underwhelming watching at home. The main event was practically never the match of the night on these cards, always outshone by the Women's or Tag Title matches.</p><p> </p><p> That isn't the case anymore and we have Cien to thank for that.</p><p> </p><p> The match in which he defeated McIntyre for the title was, in my opinion, the best NXT title match I'd seen in years. And he followed that up with a defense against Johnny Gargano at the next TakeOver that earned NXT it's first-ever 5 star match. Even after his reign ended, his influence is still felt as it really seems like he raised the bar for NXT title matches going forward. For our money, that puts Almas in the upper half of NXT Champions... but what do you think?</p><p> </p><p> As an aside, I really miss the days when Andrade has his full ringname. I always thought it was cool that you could say any of the three names by themselves and they worked.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ezgif-1-f697172821cb.gif" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ezgif-1-f697172821cb.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>#9 Seed - Seth Rollins</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> There's nothing quite like being the first. So many great talents have held this title since and many more will going forward. But there's only one man who can lay claim to being the original. Before he was burning it down on the main roster, Seth Rollins was proudly holding - and swinging - the NXT Championship. A fitting name, and a lovely little bit of foreshadowing of what was to come for the future Kingslayer.</p><p> </p><p> This accolade earns him a lot of points, as does the fact that he was far and away the best choice. But in a way, that statement also describes why he isn't higher than #9 in our seeding. On it's inception, NXT did have a lot of talented guys, but fittingly, many of them were still developing. Aside from Kassius Ohno, nobody else was really at the level of being a world champion. Which meant he was a bit lacking for big time challengers and stellar title defenses.</p><p> </p><p> I mean, he won the title by defeating Jinder Mahal in a tournament final so uh... yeah, it was a different time. Also docking him was how his reign was cut short by his unexpected call-up. His leading the Shield and suddenly sporting SWAT gear was also really jarring for those actually following it, and it caused NXT's top babyface to abruptly end his reign as a heel.</p><p> </p><p> In a different circumstance, he could've easily been in the top 3 in our seeding. Maybe this tournament will serve as vindication...</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:12px;">That brings us to our Golden Gauntlet Tale of the Tape:</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="GoldenGauntletRollinsvsAlmas.png" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GoldenGauntletRollinsvsAlmas.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="GoldenGauntletRollinsAlmasTaleOfTheTape.png" data-src="https://theovertimer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GoldenGauntletRollinsAlmasTaleOfTheTape.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Now see, if Rollins had challengers like Almas his reign would've had a much bigger legacy... funny how that works out. Anyway, this would be an absolutely classic match, one that I'd love to see get a chance to headline a PPV in real life some day.</p><p> </p><p> These two have very similar styles. Speed and technique would blend beautifully here, mixed with the occasional brutal knee or elbow. Cien's awesome manager Zelina Vega would no doubt play a role with key interference spots. An interesting thing about this fantasy aspect is the question of whether or not Rollins would have the Shield by his side, like he did in his final defenses originally. But personally, I'm imagining this as whitemeat babyface Rollins all by his lonesome trying to take on the devastating double threat of Andrade and Vega... you can look at it however you want though.</p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://twitter.com/WritingJth/status/1146528817403564032" rel="external nofollow"></a></p><p> Who wins...? You tell me! Vote here!</p>

<p>Hm, guess it's not actually available publicly yet. I was under the impression the direct still worked but maybe not. I did change it but I imagine it'd be the same effect.</p><p> </p><p> Ah well it'll be working fairly soon.</p>

Round 1, Match 2: An exciting clash of two men known for speed and technique! Choose your victor!

Round 1, Match 1: Voting still ongoing!

Heya all. I was given permission by a moderator to plug this and give updates here, and I greatly appreciate it. I recently started to become a wrestling columnist, currently working for a brand new site called The Overtimer. It's still in the development stage so it's a bit rough around the edges, but it has given me a nice bit of creative freedom to try something new, and I'd like to share that with you guys. I've been kicking around this idea for a while. It's inspired by the minor fad where every March, people will make their own March Madness style brackets featuring anything they can think of. Songs and movies and stuff. I know that with atleast some of them, the idea is that fans can vote on the results. Basically one big poll except it's a tournament, which to me makes it a million times cooler and allows for some fun presentation. I felt like this idea could work really easily with wrestling themes. So I devised the Golden Gauntlet, in which I will be 'running' tournaments just like the above, but with wrestlers, events, promotions, tag teams, theme songs, eras or anything really. Anything that could reasonably used to theme something like this around. I'm also making TV-style match-up graphics for this, as well as Tales of the Tape, and in the posts themselves I go into each champion's legacy and end with a little preview of what the match might be like. For my first go-round I wanted something simple and relatively quick. So I opted to go for a tournament to crown the greatest NXT Champion of all time. This is because thanks to Adam Cole's title win, there have now conveniently been exactly 16 of them, which is pretty perfect. Just for fun, my girlfriend and I went through and seeded them based on how good a champion we considered them to be. This was based on how big a moment their crowning was, match quality as it pertained to their title win and defenses, how much they did to elevate the title and brand as a whole whilst holding it... stuff like that. All a matter of opinion of course and ultimately who wins is entirely up to the voters. If #16 takes the whole thing I won't be upset. The voting is done through twitter polls, all of which will be linked to within the articles themselves. No sort of walls there, any guest can vote. The intro post going more into this has been published and is linked to below. That post will itself be updated for every new match posted. If this interests you at all, I'd really appreciate if you checked it out and considered voting! Thank you for your time~ Golden Gauntlet #1: Crowning The Greatest NXT Champion Ever

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback a ton, and I'm glad you aren't forgetting about this, trust me, I haven't either. I actually think about it a fair bit. It's just been a very hectic few months. Got my first-ever job, swiftly lost it, then quickly got another... had to move, which wasn't near as stressful as it could've been but still, an adjustment. And now my laptop of several years is busted, probably for good, which means that teeeeeechnically I don't have this save at the moment... but running a game alongside this was always a tad superfluous anyway, I don't exactly need it for telling the story. Even if I felt I did, I could remake the scenario pretty quickly and just continue like nothing happened, which I might do, it does make it easier to keep track of putting shows together and whatnot. But it's not a big of a hindrance as it would be for other types of diaries. This is just where I wanted to post the story so using TEW 2016 was sorta mandatory. But yeah, can't really give an ETA at the moment, but I'll try and work it out soon. This is among my favorite things I've ever done and there are so many future moments I'm so excited for. I haven't once given thought to calling this off, I'm definitely going to atleast finish the first season and with any luck I can make this a reoccurring thing. Who knows, might could finish it before 2020's out and make that jump for the next one... Maaaaaybe I can see if I can start work on this again in the next week or so? But I can't promise anything, other than I'll definitely try and this story will see it's conclusion. In the meantime, really appreciate y'all keeping it alive.

<p>Honestly there are some e-mails I feel like I could just go without seeing, it's real easy for an inbox to get cluttered, so I definitely see myself using this. </p><p> </p><p> It'd be nice if there was a prompt to set these as a default like with preferences, not sure if that's how it works in WMMA or not.</p>

Changing sexuality is fairly different from changing sex. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

<p>Kinda knew the sexuality changing thing would be controversial the second I saw it... putting that out as a minor change to skip by was probably a mistake, it could really use some explaining, as to the intent and implementation, as far as what the news stories would look like when this occurs.</p><p> </p><p> If it's just for coming out scenarios or genuine discoveries, which I imagine would mostly be reserved for the younger workers, then I don't think there's a problem there. I've seen workers in the game as young as like 16, 15, wouldn't really be anything strange about having questions at that point.</p><p> </p><p> If people just randomly 'turn' one way or the other than obviously that's silly at best and insensitive at worst, but I'd assume that's not how it'll work.</p>