Only the Strong Survive

[FGA Office]

And now, Frontier Grappling Arts presents… ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE!

Our camera pans around the Melrose Ballroom. Despite the closed set, there are a small number of “fans” at ringside and some up in the balcony. Making up the “fans” are members of the ring crew, along with some wrestlers in the crowd. Some of the wrestlers are local talent. Some you’ve seen before. Others are unfamiliar to the FGA audience.

Kris Cruise: Welcome, everyone, to the Melrose Ballroom! Welcome, everyone, to Queens, New York! Welcome, everyone, to Only the Strong Survive! I am your host, Kris Cruise! Joining me as always is my colleague, Stephy Auger! Stephy, FGA is returning to Pay Per View here tonight and man, do we have a jam-packed show! I feel like I say that every time a Pay Per View event comes around. But you can’t look at this card and say that it’s not stacked from top to bottom.

Stephy Auger: Yes it is, Cruise. We’ve got nine matches on tap here tonight. Every single championship will be on the line! Every single one! Unbelievable!

Kris Cruise: Indeed it is. Kicking off tonight’s pay per view will be the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Championship as Ace Voltage looks to continue to define his legacy in FGA by defending his championship against Cassius Reed.

Stephy Auger: The Funky Dragon is salivating at the chance to finally win FGA gold here tonight. He’s won Rey Del Aire. He’s won a tournament. But now he wants gold to call his own. Tonight could be the night that it finally happens.

Kris Cruise: Right after that, Lowri Moss will be defending her Pride Championship against Tyler Storm.

Stephy Auger: Storm is looking to regain the Pride Championship that he lost at the top of the year to Lowri. For Lowri, she’s looking to make her reign as Pride Champion a memorable one. For Storm, this is his one and only match here tonight. For Lowri, it’s her first of three matches and her first of two title defenses. Lowri has put herself in a high risk, high reward scenario. If she wins out here tonight, she could be holding three titles with a Gold Rush Rumble to boot. If she loses, she walks out of here empty handed.

Kris Cruise: In our next title match on the docket, Ashley Marie Chase gets her one on one shot at the 15 Championship against Mark Bisley.

Stephy Auger: AMC has been dying to get this one on one match. There’s no Lesser Ashley or Ashley #2 involved in the match this time. There’s no third wheel to cost her the match. It’s just her and Bisley, one on one. But, if she loses, Cruise? She can’t put the blame of Ashley Sands. She can’t throw someone else under the bus. She’ll have to look herself in the mirror and accept to defeat. That’s something that Mark Bisley will try his damndest to make a reality here tonight.

Kris Cruise: You mentioned how Lowri Moss would be in three separate matches here tonight. We’ve got to talk about the Triple Threat Tag Team match pitting Pendragon, the FGA World Tag Team Champions, against the Hellcat Spangled Death Squad, the FGA United States Tag Team Champions, against Silk & Cyanide, the former US Tag Champions.

Stephy Auger: This is for all the marbles. Everything is up for grabs here. This isn’t just for both sets of tag titles, Cruise. But word came down from Leonard T. Asherman just before the start of the show that this is going to be a unification match for both sets of titles. FGA will only see one set of tag team titles going forward!

Kris Cruise: Speaking of US titles, the United States Championship will also be on the line!

Stephy Auger: Sadie San Francisco’s open challenge continues here tonight. She’s successfully defended her title twice. Will the third time be the charm for tonight’s challenger?

Kris Cruise: Later on in the show, Cordy Stevenson will defend her International Heavyweight Championship against Savannah Taylor!

Stephy Auger: Savannah Taylor is still miffed over losing the International Title at last year’s Autumn Annihilation to Cordy Stevenson. But just like I mentioned earlier, there’s no third wheel this time around. It’s going to be Savannah and Cordy, one on one. We saw what happened earlier in the summer went those two went head to head elsewhere. Savannah was victorious! She’ll be looking to repeat that performance tonight and become a two-time, two-time International Champion!

Kris Cruise: Then, Fujiko Mine and Seth Iser will finally share the ring once again. Fujiko, the record-setting, record-breaking FGA World Champion will look to defend her championship against the 2020 Wildcard Lottery winner, Seth Iser!

Stephy Auger: This is a rematch that has been in the making for quite some time. Even more history is on the line for the Apex Goddess here tonight. For Seth, he’s looking to become a World Champion for the first time in years.

Kris Cruise: Then, we’ve got the Gold Rush Rumble in our main event! 30 grapplers will try to outlast each other to become the number one contender for either the FGA World Championship or the FGA International Championship. The Winner will receive that title shot at All-Star Showdown Nine! Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got an excellent show for you tonight, including Ashlyn De Luca taking on Theodore Harris’ mystery client. Before we send it down to the ring, let’s send it to the back where one of the participants in tonight’s opening contest is standing by.

[FGA Office]

The camera fades into a locker room area. We see a folding chair in the middle of the room, the Mid-Atlantic Legacy championship laying on it. Out of the corner of the shot, we see Ace Voltage wearing his wrestling gear and an Ace Voltage t-shirt.

Ace Voltage: You know, this championship’s name is very appropriate for me. Legacy. My wrestling legacy spans over a decade. I was not even on TV until four years into my career. I’ve gone through a lot over this past decade. And whenever my time is up, I want my legacy to live on.

Ace walks over to the chair and picks up his title.

Ace Voltage: Wherever I go, I want to leave my legacy. I want EVERYONE to know how damn good I am at what I do. Sure, I’ve had a few hiccups along the way. But this is no redemption tour. I am in the prime of my life and nobody can touch me! Nobody can touch this beauty.

He holds the Mid-Atlantic Legacy championship towards the camera as it zooms in on the title.


Ace Voltage: My legacy here at FGA? It’s just getting started. I produced one of the best rookie years in this company. The fact that I did not win any accolade for it is a sham! But, we’ll let bygones be bygones. I have more important things to worry about.

Ace takes a seat on the chair and puts the title over his shoulder.

Ace Voltage: Piper Lennon. Chaz Holiday. Nando Fresno. And next up? Cassius Reed.

Ace chuckles to himself.

Ace Voltage: It’s actually ironic how this all came about. I used Mr. Reed to get what I needed. He actually helped me send Chaz back to retirement, where he belongs. But now he thinks he deserves a shot at my beauty?

Ace pats his title.

Ace Voltage: Such a joke. Nobody is deserving of this title more than me. Nobody deserves more respect than me. And once I defeat Cassius in the middle of the ring tonight, everyone will have to show me the respect that I so deserve. I’m the Main Event. I am a technical wizard. Cassius Reed can talk all he wants, but the fact is that I am better than him. We all know it. I just hope that after tonight, once I kick Reed back into obscurity, that FGA Management can find me a worthy opponent.

Ace stands up and looks into the camera.

Ace Voltage: Maybe after Lowri Moss loses tonight, I’ll give her a rematch, this time for my title. Maybe I pay my old friend Ashley Marie Chase a visit in the ring and defend against her. Maybe a debuting superstar worthy enough can fight me for my beauty. But, does it really matter? Of course not. Because I am the GREATEST Mid-Atlantic Legacy champion ever! And once I defeat Cassius Reed tonight, there will be no disputing that.

Ace puts his title down for a second as his takes his shirt off.

Ace Voltage: Nobody is touching my title. Ever.

Ace throws his shirt at the camera and it fades to black.

[FGA Office]

MID-ATLANTIC LEGACY CHAMPIONSHIP
(c) Ace Voltage vs. Cassius Reed

It’s not my fault your girlfriend likes me,
I do her hard like fucking warp speed,
Your Dad’s mad, it’s not my fucking fault,
That your Mom wants to fucking fuck me!

As the intro to “You Suck” by Pour Habit blasts throughout the arena, out from the back bursts Cassius Reed! Slowly rotating in his gold lined black ring robe Cassius soaks in the atmosphere for just a moment. Spinning to face the ring, he shadow boxes at the top of the ramp a short time more, before posing, spreading his arms wide, and sprinting down to the ring at full pace!

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall and it is for the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Championship! Introducing first, the challenger, fighting out of Funkytown, USA, and tipping the scales tonight at 205lbs… CASSIUS! REED!

Sliding in under the bottom rope, he quickly rolls onto his back before kipping up! Giving a quick smirk and raised eyebrow to the referee, he turns and leaps to the top of the nearest turnbuckle, before whipping off his ring robe with a flourish. He poses just a moment at the top of the turnbuckle, smug grin on his face, robe hanging from his hand, before dropping back to the mat, consigning his entrance gear to the outside whilst he finishes warming up for the match with more shadow boxing.

Kris Cruise: Cassius Reed was looking to keep his tournament streak alive earlier this year in the Wildcard Lottery. But he ended up being defeated in the quarterfinals by Cassius Reed. The Funky Dragon now finds himself with another chance to win a championship in FGA. Reed’s come close many times, only to fall short. Will tonight finally be the night?

Stephy Auger: I don’t know, Cruise. For me, this is a win-win because Cassius and Ace Voltage are two of my favorites here in FGA. But a part of me can’t help to root for Cassius in this one.

The arena goes dark and "Thunderstruck by AC/DC starts blaring over the sound system. As the words "THUNDER" are shouted into the arena each time, the lights flash yellow.

I WAS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A RAILROAD TRACK

A white spotlight shines on the ramp and Ace Voltage appears once the lyrics start. He is wearing a black jacket with his name on the back and his light blue tights. He shines a smirk to the crowd, zips open the jacket to show his shiny championship around his waist as the rest of the lights come on, with yellow and blue lighting flashing around. He walks down the ramp, nodding his head to the music, laughing to himself when he hears the boos and insults from the crowd.

J.A. Aldridge: His opponent, hailing from London, England! Weighing in at 15.8 stone! He is the reigning… defending… Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion, ACE VOLTAGE!

As he's going down the entrance ramp, he walks close to the guardrail ready to slap the hands of the one or two fans. Before he can slap their hands, he quickly rips his hands away, smirks to the booing fans and walks down to the ring. He jumps up onto the apron and steps into the ring. He walks to the corner, jumping on the second rope, looking out into the crowd. He raises his championship in the air, smirking and yelling to the fans, "I am the Main Event." After a few seconds, he jumps down, takes his jacket off and waits for the match to start.

Kris Cruise: You heard the strong words from Ace Voltage before the start of this contest. He wants his respect.

Stephy Auger: Damn right he is. Ace Voltage, in my opinion, is the most underappreciated wrestler on this roster. Show after show, members of this roster gang up on him to put him down. They don’t appreciate his greatness. They don’t appreciate the legacy that he’s building. But when he’s the one left standing tall, they’ll have no choice but to give him the respect that he deserves.

Voltage and Reed start things off with a lockup. After jockeying for position, Reed moves Voltage across the ring. Once Voltage is pressed up against the ropes, the ref steps in and calls for a rope break. Just before the count reaches five, both men break it up. The Funky Dragon quickly takes advantage and starts to unload a combination of body blows! When Voltage starts to block low, Reed switches targets and hits the champion with multiple right hooks to the head. He then sends Voltage into the far ropes. When the champion returns, Reed throws him down with a hip toss. Reed then hits the ropes, comes and throws out a running leg drop. He misses after Voltage rolls out of the way. The champion scrambles back to his feet and tries to lock up Reed in a Sharpshooter, only for Reed to use his leg strength and push Voltage off of him. As Voltage stumbles into the corner, Reed scrambles back to his feet and charges into the corner. Just as Reed is about to strike, Voltage ducks and dumps him over the top rope. Reed lands on the apron, catches him with a shoulder thrust through the ropes and brings him down with a sunset flip… only for Voltage to roll through it. He quickly drags Reed back towards the center of the ring before flipping over into a jackknife pin.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Reed bridges up, turns and brigs Voltage down with a bridging northern lights suplex.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage gets his shoulder up.

Reed pulls up Voltage and wrenches the arm before whipping him into the ropes. When Voltage comes back, Reed tries to throw him down with another hip toss. Voltage blocks it. Reed then tries to muscle him down with another hip toss. Again, Voltage blocks it. Voltage goes to counter with a clothesline when Reed ducks, reaches back and yanks him down with a neckbreaker. He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Another nearfall there for the challenger. Both men will be competing later on in the Gold Rush Rumble. A win here tonight in this championship match would be a huge momentum boost for either man.

Reed picks up Voltage and whips him back into the ropes. He doubles Voltage over off the rebound with a knee strike before executing a split-legged Stunner. Voltage stumbles back until Reed runs over and sends him over the top rope with a running clothesline!

Stephy Auger: If that happens later on tonight, Ace Voltage will be eliminated from the Rumble!

The Funky Dragon turns and hits the far ropes. Reed runs back across the ring before bringing Voltage down with a slingshot huracanrana to the floor!

Kris Cruise: The high risk pays off for the Iron King as Voltage goes down!

Voltage is rolled back inside before Reed rolls back in and makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage kicks out.

Reed takes Voltage, heads into the corner and slams him face-first into the top turnbuckle. He then turns Voltage around before sending him slumping down in the corner with a flurry of right hands. Reed then steps back towards the center of the ring before charging over towards the corner. Voltage flinches when Reed throws himself at him. At the last second, Reed lands in a handstand before launching back towards the center of the ring with a back handspring. Reed chastises Voltage for flinching while the champion slowly pulls himself up in the corner. He charges out of the corner to attack when Reed knocks him down with a discus punch to the face! Voltage gets dropped to the canvas with another right hand. Reed goes to follow up with a belly to back suplex when Voltage rolls over his shoulder, lands on his feet, grabs him from behind, runs and chucks Reed over the top rope. Voltage turns away and raises his arms in the air. Unbeknownst to him, Reed is hanging from the top rope!

Kris Cruise: Reed’s clearly been practicing ways to stave off elimination in the Rumble.

The Funky Dragon is able to “skin the cat” to pull himself back into the ring. With Voltage still taunting members of the crowd, Reed runs up from behind. Voltage does a double take when he sees Reed hop onto the middle rope in font of him before jumping back and landing on his shoulders. Before Reed can deliver the Son of Funkenstein (springboard reverse huracanrana), Voltage grabs him by the back up of the legs and pushes up, sending Reed flipping off is shoulders. Once Reed lands on his feet, the champion rushes over and knocks him down with a running lariat.

Kris Cruise: Voltage is lucky he countered that maneuver in the nick of time.

Stephy Auger: If Cassius was able to hit the Son of Funkenstein, we would have a new champion right now.

Voltage take Reed and whips him back into the ropes. When Reed returns, Voltage lifts him up across his back before bringing him down with a Samoan Drop. He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Reed kicks out.

Voltage lifts Reed up for a belly to back suplex when Reed rolls over his shoulder, lands on his feet and quickly rolls him up with a school boy pin.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage kicks out.

After both grapplers scramble back to their feet, Voltage doubles Reed over with a kick to the midsection before bringing him down with a running neckbreaker. The champion stats to circle Reed before delivering stomps to parts of the body. He then bounces against the ropes, comes back and delivers a knee drop across the face. Voltage makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Reed gets his shoulder up.

Voltage takes Reed and sends him into the corner with an irish whip. The champ rushes in, connects with a running clothesline and follows up with a running bulldog! He pulls Reed over before making the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Reed gets his shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Voltage only gets a two count. But the champion is continuing to build his lead in this matchup.

Stephy Auger: Ace was on the wrong end of the early portions of this match. Now it’s the champion that’s in control.

Voltage sits Reed up before slapping on a Sleeper Hold. The ref gets back down and asks Reed if he wants to give up. Reed waves him off. Reed starts to battle his way back to his feet before hitting Voltage with a left elbow to the midsection. Another elbow connects. After a third elbow frees him, Reed motions towards the ropes until Voltage grabs him from behind and brings him down with a Reverse DDT! He then pulls Reed back up, takes control of his back and delivers two rolling German Suplexes! Voltage sets up for a third when Reed counters with a back elbow to the face. Another elbow connects. Reed then performs a standing switch and goes for a belly to back suplex, only for Voltage to roll over his shoulder and land on his feet. The champ quickly takes control of Reed’s back and brings him down with two more rolling German Suplexes! Voltage sets up for a third to complete the trio when Reed counters with another back elbow to the face. Two more elbows connect before Reed performs a standing switch and brings him down with an inverted facelock backbreaker. He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage gets his shoulder up.

Reed makes the cover again.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage gets his shoulder up.

Reed quickly swings over into the mount on top of Voltage and rains down MMA punches. Reed continues to overwhelm Voltage with punches before standing up and stomping away at him. Voltage is then pulled up off the mat before finally being brought down with a belly to back suplex. The Funky Dragon returns to his feet before landing down hard across the midsection with Funky Knee, Funky Do (Kneecolepsy)! With Voltage down, Reed heads across the ring before making his way out to the apron. Reed scales to the top turnbuckle, flips off and nails Voltage with a diving somersault leg drop! He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Voltage gets his shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Cassius nearly got him.

Stephy Auger: He was so close.

Reed gets to his feet before heading back out to the apron. He then makes his way over towards the corner before climbing the turnbuckles. As soon as he gets one foot on the top rope, Voltage rushes over and cuts him off with a punch to the midsection. Voltage climbs up to the middle ropes and nails him with another punch to the midsection. After he hits Reed with a forearm strike, Reed comes back with a punch to the face. The Funky Dragon answers another forearm strike with a punch. Before Voltage can deliver another blow, Reed catches him with the Spanish Archer (Bionic Elbow)! Voltage gets hit with another Spanish Archer. Reed grabs Voltage with both hands and slams him face-first onto the apron before bringing him down with an avalanche version of SWEET CHRISTMAS (sunset flip powerbomb)!

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd gasps when Voltage gets his shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: I thought we had a new champion!

Stephy Auger: So did I!

Reed takes Voltage and positions him on the mat before heading back into the corner. He makes his way to the top turnbuckle, flips off for Plan C (Starship Pain) and misses when Voltage rolls out of the way!

Kris Cruise: Plan C failed for Cassius Reed!

Stephy Auger: Who is gonna get to their feet first?

The referee checks on both champion and challenger before starting his count.

ONE!






TWO!






THREE!





FOUR!






FIVE!






SIX!

Reed gets up to a knee, only for Voltage to rush over and knock him down with the Ace of Spades (Shining Wizard)! He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Reed gets his shoulder up.

Voltage pulls Reed up off the mat before bringing him down with a vertical suplex. Reed is brought back to his feet before winding up on the received end of a butterfly suplex. Voltage then takes Reed, lifts him up and places him with a Cradle DDT! He goes for the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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T-NO!

Reed gets his foot on the bottom rope.

Voltage brings Reed back towards the center of the ring. He lifts Red up before planting him with a brainbuster! Voltage makes the cover.

Kris Cruise: Good ring awareness there by Reed to avoid the three count.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd gasps when Reed gets the shoulder up.

Stephy Auger: How much closer can you get!?

Voltage pulls Reed back up, takes control of his back and finally hits three rolling German Suplexes! He sets up Reed for a fourth when he spins Reed, pulls him back towards the corner and delivers a butterfly suplex into the turnbuckles! Voltage slowly makes his way across the ring before setting up shop in the corner. Back across the ring, Reed struggles to pull himself up using the ropes. As he turns around, Voltage charges across the ring and blasts him with Thunderstruck (Helluva Kick)! He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THREE!

The crowd boos as “Thunderstruck” hits the speakers.

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout… aaaaand STIIILLLLL the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion, ACE VOLTAGE!

The boos continue as Voltage gets his arm raised in victory.

Kris Cruise: Ace Voltage has done it! He has successfully turned away the challenger of Cassius Reed to retain his Mid-Atlantic Legacy Championship!

Stephy Auger: How about every stand up and give Ace Voltage his respect! Can he get his respect now? Can Ace Voltage finally get some respect around here?

Kris Cruise: I’ve always said that Ace is a great wrestler. But he brings it all on himself. He continuously puts his foot in his mouth! He continuously ruffles the feathers of the other grapplers here in FGA!

Stephy Auger: The only thing I see Ace continuously doing is retaining his championship! I can tell you one thing. That won’t stop anytime soon.

[FGA Office]

Returning backstage, a zoomed in shot of a TV playing the closing moments of Tyler Storm vs Lowri Moss is shown. Just moments before Tyler jumps off the top rope, looking to hit Paranoia Plummet. You hear the commentator voices boom when he crashes with the matt after Lowri rolls out of the way. Then in just swift motions, Lowri hitting Nos Da, getting the 450 Splash, and a 3 count to seal the match. A few moments pass watching the Pride Championship being handed to Lowri, then a pan away from the screen to a few feet away where Tyler is sitting down in a chair and re-watching all of that directly. He's motionless watching it all, reliving a very hard moment for himself, but watching Lowri raise the title does give his aching heart enough will to shine a small smile.

Tyler Storm: You know...as many times as I've had the chance to watch this, this is one of the first times I can do so since coming to a closure with myself about that night, and finally see how much that moment meant to Lowri. The way she hugged the title with both of us draped on the ground after a hard match, the way she dug in that whole battle to get the job done...it's honestly awesome to see, weirdly enough, even knowing that dude laying there next to her is feeling like the biggest failure in the world.

He lets off a heavy sigh and fixates his glance away from the television, looking directly forward and shaking his head at himself.

Tyler Storm: It has been a long, and I mean long, 7 months. Whether that is because of the current times we live in, or moments like that, I can say that I had some very tough to deal with coming-down-to-earth moments in this recent timeframe that have tested me mentally on a different level than anything else I've ever dealt with. Years are years of being that underdog kid, got a few lucky breaks but even with those big break moments never really found proper spotlight, but finally found a few places to truly call home in this industry. And when he did, people finally started to say his name a lot more knowingly, people finally started getting that vibe of what has been building up all these years. This kid matured, he earned a good family life, he earned his scars, he earned respect for the way he fought back from something very few people are able to do. And he climbed, he clawed...right to the top of the mountain he aimed for...the underdog now was the head of the pack. At least, temporarily.

Tyler's gentle smile fades off, but his tone remains a constant calm.

Tyler Storm: I learned much more clearly in my much more understanding mind in this business what being at the top means. I learned how quickly things can turn, and how quickly you can fall back on your back without a thing to show. It feels almost as equivalent as that crash of me missing my Paranoia Plummet against Lowri back in February. And it is a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone, but I also know I'm not the first or last person to have that feeling. I broke down, I cried myself through hurt feelings, I questioned my abilities...the realization of being able to get to that Pride Championship and have it just leave so quickly was one of the hardest pills for me to swallow in my career. More than any short lived world title I've had or other championship I've held, for some reason, this one was the one that stabbed at me the most because of how badly I wanted it more than anything.

He shrugs his shoulders and lowers his head a bit to recap to himself.

Tyler Storm: Maybe it's because of those battles with Seth Iser during the first go around to earn a shot and the second go around to take the title from him. Maybe it was seeing the path of someone like Fujiko and where that title can eventually lead. Hell, maybe it was losing to Fujiko and getting that feeling from her during that whole first shot I ever got at it that she never considered me a challenge. I was just always hungry for the Pride Championship, and I forever know that my ultimate goal the moment I was able to start wrestling again when I returned to pro wrestling from my back injury, it was for this championship. Pride is where I wanted to make my mark first, and while I did get to hold it, I know I'm not satisfied with that reign, and I know the people that supported me and loved me and got me to that point deserve better. That's why I'm at this point tonight, throwing all my chips onto a single opportunity, and if I lose I have nothing to fall back on. My only ability for success tonight is to honor the Pride Rules, fight Lowri Moss, essentially beat her 2 times...and regain one of the most important pieces of hardware I've ever had the honor of holding in my professional career.

Raising his head back up, Tyler gives a peaceful grin again and nods.

Tyler Storm: I know full well I am getting a much more difficult and different challenge than the last time I faced Lowri. She's got a big chip on her shoulder tonight, what with defending this title, defending the tag titles, competing in the Gold Rush Rumble. She is aiming for immortality tonight and I have to respect it. It's something that one day I'd love to aim for myself. But I'm okay for now with being the equivalent of David fighting Goliath one more time, facing someone who I know has every right and capability of beating me, but digging out some sore of ability deep inside to get the job done tonight. I respect Lowri, I consider Lowri an ally, I consider Lowri a friend, I consider her an inspiration. Win or lose, she is going to forever be someone I cherish here in FGA, and someone I want to succeed at the highest level. It's the reason why I am honored to face her again, the reason why I'm honored she even gave me another shot, the reason why I was proud to help save her from an unnecessary attack on the last Vertigo. I don't want an excuse tonight, I wanted to face the best, and I'm facing the best, and I get first dibs at the shot at her. I am ready to finally face my demons, no matter the outcome, but the desire in me intends for only one outcome to be true tonight. I know Lowri is gonna be ready to fight off that outcome, and I welcome that fight. So at this point, all I have left to say is...I'm ready to re-establish my Pride.

That gives enough inside of Tyler to burst up from his seat, and head off to the right as we fade away.

[FGA Office]

As the attention of the camera switches elsewhere, Amanda Johnson is seen standing somewhere backstage at the Melrose Ballroom, microphone in hand.

Amanda Johnson: We’re just moments away from the first match of what is sure to be an action-packed show, and joining me now is someone for whom this night is going to be an especially busy one, as she will be involved in no fewer than three matches-- one half of the FGA World Tag Team Champions, and the FGA Pride Champion… Lowri Moss!

The camera pans out and there is a pop from the audience when the double champion comes into view, albeit a smaller one than normal, due to the current restrictions over attendances. She smiles wryly, as she makes a quip.

Lowri Moss: I hope people aren’t going to be sick of the sight of me by the end of the show.

Amanda smiles good-humoredly. Lowri is dressed in her ring attire, ready for her busy night, and she has her half of the world tag team titles draped over her left shoulder, while the Pride Championship is resting on her right shoulder.

Amanda Johnson: Lowri, as I just alluded to, tonight you’re going to be in two championship matches, firstly defending the Pride Championship against Tyler Storm, followed later by you and Neal Durden defending the World Tag Team Championship against both the Hellcat Spangled Death Squad and Silk & Cyanide, in a match in which the United States Tag Team Championship will also be at stake. Then, finally, you’re going to be one of the thirty participants in the Gold Rush Rumble.

Lowri nods her head, as if to confirm what Amanda just stated.

Amanda Johnson: And so, ahead of all that, knowing everything that’s in store for you over the course of the next few hours, how are you feeling right now?

That wry smile is still present on Lowri’s face, as she responds.

Lowri Moss: I guess this is the calm before the storm, right?

She then lets out a small sigh, before continuing.

Lowri Moss: Thinking about each of those matches - three big, important matches - stirs up various different emotions for me, Amanda, but I think the overriding one has to be excitement. I’ve put a lot of effort in to get myself ready for this night, knowing the challenges that lie ahead of me, and yet, as I wait to set foot inside the ring for the first of three times tonight, I know there’s still a lot of hard work to come, if things are to play out the way that I want them to: I want to retain the Pride Championship; I want Neal and I to retain the World tag titles, and to regain the US tag titles; and then, I want to win the Gold Rush Rumble. Like I said, I know I’ve got a lot of hard work in front of me if I’m to achieve all that, but if the prospect of all that hard work didn’t excite me, then would I truly deserve what it is that I say I want?

Following that rhetorical question, Lowri again pauses very briefly, this time to take a breath.

Lowri Moss: And besides, as a professional wrestler, if competing in big matches on a marquee show like this doesn’t excite you, then what does excite you? I remember when I spoke to you back at Grapple Kingdom, Amanda, you said that night had the potential to be one of the biggest nights of my career, and tonight, the same applies again-- probably even moreso; now it’s up to me to produce three performances in the ring that’ll deliver me the three victories that I want.

Amanda Johnson: I know you and Neal are going to talk separately about your triple threat tag team match, and we’ll come on to the Gold Rush Rumble later. For now though, I would like to discuss the Pride Championship match with you.

Lowri gestures to Amanda, inviting the reporter to proceed with whatever question she wishes to ask.

Amanda Johnson: Tonight you’ll be defending the Pride Championship for the first time since becoming champion, and as I’ve already mentioned, you’re going to be defending it against Tyler Storm, the man who you defeated to win the title earlier this year. That match was Tyler’s first - and ultimately, only - defense of the Pride Championship, so now that the roles are reversed, with you as the champion and him as the challenger, how confident are you that you can avoid having your reign also come to an end in just your first defense?

Lowri Moss: Well, I’m certainly more confident now heading into this match than I was back in February, when Tyler was the champion and I was the challenger. Prior to that match I spoke to Jessie Pederson, and during that interview I gave a list of reasons why Tyler was the favourite and why I was the underdog, which wasn’t an attempt by me to play mind games, or to take any pressure off myself and pile it all onto Tyler, it was genuinely how I felt at the time. Now, seven months later… Tyler is still more experienced in pride rules matches than I am, as the match in which I won the title is the only pride rules match I’ve been in up to now, but having beaten him once in a pride rules match, I’m confident I can do it a second time - in fact, I know I can do it a second time, I now just need to get in the ring and do it… which admittedly is easier said than done, but even so, I’m confident that in an hour or two from now, my unbeaten record in pride rules matches, and consequently my title reign, will both still be intact.

Amanda Johnson: You just brought up the matter of pressure, and how in your first encounter you believed it was all on Tyler, with none of it on you; again, with the roles of champion and challenger now reversed, do you think the pressure on each of you is also now reversed?

After first taking a second or two to contemplate the question, Lowri provides a response.

Lowri Moss: For the most part, yes. There’s undoubtedly more pressure on me this time than there is on Tyler, with me being the champion, and with it being my first defence, but that doesn’t mean the pressure is off him completely. Remember, he’s the one who asked for this match, and while I was more than happy to accept his challenge, now that he’s getting the chance he wanted, a chance to regain the Pride title, there’s a fair bit of pressure on him to do what he couldn’t do last time and get the better of me. I mean, if Tyler beats me, maybe he and I will have a third match for this belt.

She glances down at the Pride Championship on her right shoulder, before quickly returning her attention to Amanda.

Lowri Moss: Although depending on what happens later on in the show, my focus might be on something else after tonight. If I beat Tyler though, then where does he go from there?

Lowri gives a shrug of her shoulders, with that question left hanging in the air. She then readjusts her two title belts, as Amanda proceeds to ask another question of her own.

Amanda Johnson: The Pride Championship is of course the second singles title that you’ve held here in FGA, having previously held the Mid-Atlantic Legacy title, and I know that your reign as the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion fell below the expectations you set for yourself.

An interjection from Lowri confirms Amanda’s statement.

Lowri Moss: By some distance.

Amanda Johnson: With that in mind, is there a determination on your part to now have what you would consider a better reign, as Pride Champion?

Lowri again takes a moment to ponder the question, before she answers.

Lowri Moss: Amanda, last week I was in a match with the current Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion, Ace Voltage, and that brought back memories for me of my time two years ago as the champion. Ace claimed he’s already a better Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion than I was… and to be fair to him, he may well be right-- especially if he goes and beats Cassius Reed.

As unpopular as Ace Voltage is with so many of the FGA roster, Lowri does not have any issue giving credit where credit is due.

Lowri Moss: The Mid-Atlantic Legacy Championship is always going to have a special place in my heart, as it’s not just the first title I won here in FGA, it’s the first title I won full stop.

For those of you from North America, for “full stop” read “period.”

Lowri Moss: I spent much of my first year in FGA chasing it, it took me four attempts to win in, and after I finally won it, I remember saying I wanted to have a reign as champion like the ones that Izzy Anders and Sadie San Francisco had before me. But that didn’t happen. Instead my reign was ended in only my second defence, by Marlon Cure. And now that I’m the Pride Champion, yes, obviously I want to have a better reign than the one I had as the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion. If my reign was to come to an end in my first defence, I suppose I would at least be in some illustrious company, but after having previously wanted to try to come close to matching what Izzy accomplished as Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion, now I’m eager to avoid matching what she, Savannah Taylor, Chris Bond, and of course Tyler, did as Pride Champion.

Lowri again casts a gaze towards the Pride Championship perched on her shoulder, desperate not to join the list of grapplers who have lost that particular title in their first defense, a list that includes the quartet she just named.

Lowri Moss: I guess in some ways that for Tyler, being the Pride Champion meant the same to him as what being Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion meant to me. While it wasn’t the first championship of his career, it was his first title in FGA, and he actually spent longer chasing it than I did chasing the Mid-Atlantic Legacy title. I remember the first shot he had at it, while Fujiko was the champion; I remember Only the Strong Survive last year, when he beat Brian Stryker in a thirty minute ironman match, in the final match of their best of five series, to earn another shot at it; and I remember the two matches he subsequently had with Seth Iser, the second of which saw him finally become champion.

She stops to take a breath, before continuing.

Lowri Moss: But then came his match with me, and the abrupt end to his reign. Having fought so hard to win the Pride Championship, I know it hurt Tyler to have his reign come to an end so soon afterwards. When I lost the Mid-Atlantic Legacy title, the sight of someone else carrying the belt I had put so much effort into winning was hard for me to stomach at first, it took me several weeks to accept, and while seven months have passed since mine and Tyler’s previous match, I wouldn’t be surprised if at the back of his mind, with how hard he fought to win the Pride Championship, he has a feeling like it should still be in his possession right now, not mine.

Amanda Johnson: The mutual respect that exists between you and Tyler is quite clear for all to see, and was exemplified last week by him coming to your aid, when you were the victim of a post-match attack at the hands of Erin Mariani. Does being in the ring with someone who you have an amicable relationship with make things more emotionally complex than being in there with an opponent for whom there’s no love lost?

There is a shake of the head from Lowri.

Lowri Moss: I wouldn’t say it complicates matters, or anything like that. After all, whenever Neal and I have been opponents, I’ve never hesitated to kick him in the face.

The memories of which cause her to chuckle.

Lowri Moss: If anything, it makes it easier for me to keep my emotions in check. If I’m in the ring with someone I loathe, like, say, Dom Harter, to use an example from my past, then there’s a danger I might be so wound up that I end up playing right into their hands, and do something that’ll cost me the match. When I’m in the ring with someone like Tyler though, where there’s no bad blood between the two of us… well, there’s still the possibility I might make a mistake at some point during the match, but if I do, it won’t be born out of anger.

Her face bears that wry smile once more, as she continues.

Lowri Moss: I think there are a lot of similarities between me and Tyler. We both have a similar approach to how we go about things. We’re two respectful, hardworking competitors, who try to do things the right way, who take pride - pardon the pun - in what we do, and who do it without any ego; I’m confident of keeping hold of my title, but I’m not going to stand here and talk about the match as if the outcome is a foregone conclusion, and while I’m sure Tyler fancies his chances of regaining the championship, I don’t expect you’ll hear him guaranteeing a victory either. I do, however, expect him to bring his best, and to show why he was able to become the Pride Champion in the first place, while everyone should expect me to give my all-- my best-- as well, regardless of what is still to come for me later in the night; I hope we’ll be able to give everyone a fitting sequel to the match we had earlier in the year… and obviously, I also hope that the result will be the same again, second time round, and that whatever else happens later on, I’ll be leaving here as still the Pride Champion.

Amanda Johnson: I don’t want to keep you much longer, as I’m sure you’re keen to go and finish getting ready for your match with Tyler, but I’ve just got two more questions for you, the first of which concerns the Gold Rush Rumble. Needless to say, your aim, along with everyone else in the Rumble, will be to win it, but while it remains to be seen who’ll leave here tonight as the World Champion and as the International Heavyweight Champion - Fujiko Mine or Seth Iser, and Cordy Stevenson or Savannah Taylor - I wonder, have you given any thought as to who you would want to face if you were to win the Rumble?

Lowri again shakes her head in response to Amanda’s question.

Lowri Moss: Not really, Amanda. I’ve got so much on my plate that I haven’t really thought at all about anything beyond tonight. If I was to be victorious in the Rumble, that would leave me just one win away from accomplishing my ultimate goal, of holding the top prize in FGA, but there are so many variables, so many things that could happen, before I can start thinking about being in the main event at All-Star Showdown. But since you brought up Fujiko, Cordy, Seth and Savannah…

A momentary pause follows, during which Lowri scratches the back of her head.

Lowri Moss: They’re four elite wrestlers, Amanda, and I’ve got reasons to want to face each of them. Take Seth, for instance. I’ve already faced him this year, in the semi-finals of the Wildcard Lottery, in a match that I lost, so if he was to win tonight, it would be great to not only challenge him for the World title, but also to have the chance to even the score with him. I’ve also already faced Cordy in a one-on-one match this year, but that was a match I won, and if she’s still the International Heavyweight Champion after tonight, I would be happy to prove that it wasn’t a fluke - that it wasn’t an upset - while at the same time, she probably wouldn’t mind having the chance to get her win back. And as for Fujiko and Savannah, I’ve yet to have a one-on-one match with either of them, so if Fujiko retains, or if Savannah beats Cordy, what better scenario for that first one-on-one match with them, than to be challenging them for their title?

Lowri smiles, relishing the prospect of each of those four potential matches.

Lowri Moss: Until the announcement was made a few weeks ago on Vertigo by Geoff Penzer, I wouldn’t have anticipated that in addition to the tag title match and a Pride Championship match, I would also be in the Gold Rush Rumble. But you know what? Back at the start of year, I wouldn’t have anticipated that a month later I would be challenging for the Pride title, and look how that turned out; when you get opportunities like this, whether expected or unexpected, you have try to make the most of them, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing once I’m in the Rumble.

Amanda Johnson: Okay, final question. You’ve already talked about how this could be one of the biggest nights of your career, given everything that you’re competing for tonight, but there is though the possibility that you could leave here with nothing, so stood here now, as a double champion, are you at all worried that you could end the night having lost both of your titles, and having failed to win the Gold Rush Rumble?

Lowri Moss: I’m well aware what the worst case scenario tonight is for me, Amanda-- and no, that doesn’t worry me.

A half-smile forms on Lowri’s lips, almost in defiance of the suggestion that she might not win any of the matches she is in tonight.

Lowri Moss: Prior to pretty much every match, on every show, you’ll hear at least one of the competitors confidently state that they’re going to win. And sure, most of the time, they probably are genuinely confident that they’re going to win. Sometimes though, what you hear is false bravado, from someone who is afraid of losing; they see winning as their only option, and daren’t think about what’s going to happen if they lose. But I’m not afraid to lose, Amanda. I’ve lost multiple titles before; I’ve had record-breaking title reigns that finally came to an end, while I’ve also had title reigns that didn’t make it past the first defence, and tonight, I could have both of those things happen within the space of a couple of hours-- and then to top things off, I could fail to win the Rumble as well. I know I could fail to win all three of the matches I’m in, and if that does happen, I’ll learn from it and make sure I do better next time. By my reckoning though, there’s just as much chance of me winning all three matches as there is of me losing them.

What was previously a half-smile on Lowri’s face now resembles more of a smirk.

Lowri Moss: This is definitely going to be the most demanding night of my career so far, I’m not going to try to pretend otherwise. In fact, for as long as I wrestle, I may never have another night as demanding as this one. It would be difficult enough to win all three of these matches if they were going to be taking place on three different nights, never mind all on the same night. Sure, I’ve wrestled three matches in one night before and won them all, but those were three standard one-on-one matches, whereas… I mean, if the Pride Championship match goes the full distance, then that on its own will be like three matches in one for me to start my night with. I’ll give that match my all though, for however long it lasts, then I’ll rest for a bit before giving the triple threat tag match everything I have, and then come the Rumble… maybe I’ll have nothing left, and will have to be wheeled down to the ring.

She chuckles again, imagining such a scene.

Lowri Moss: In all seriousness though, I believe I’ll be able to find a second wind, or even a third wind, and then… who knows? Maybe, just maybe, you’ll see me cap off a career making night by winning the Gold Rush Rumble. It's certain to be the most gruelling night of my career, whatever happens, but as far as I see it, there’s no reason why it can’t also be the most rewarding.

Lowri follows that remark with a wink, and the camera then cuts back to ringside, ready for the opening contest of the night.

[FGA Office]

FGA PRIDE CHAMPIONSHIP
(c) Lowri Moss vs. Tyler Storm

The lights begin to slow fade out to the opening tunes of "Eye of the Tiger" before flashing quickly back on once the rifts of the guitar begin playing, along with being met with flashes of blue and gold light on the stage. Once the song picks up into its normal tune about 25 seconds in, Tyler Storm rushes out from behind the curtain to a positive pop, bobbing his head to the beat of the song and mouthing out to the fans.

Once the lyrics start, Tyler begins making his way down the ramp, walking along the left for the first half of his trek to the ring and high-fiving fans or talking with them, and doing the same in the second half of his walk on the right side. Before long he reaches ringside and after interacting with a few more people at ringside, he works his way up the stairs onto the ring apron. He rubs his feet off for a few moments, then gripping onto the top rope he jumps up and slides his legs in between the top and middle ropes and into the ring.

J.A. Aldridge: The following contest, being contested under Pride Rules, is for the FGA Pride Championship! Introducing first, the challenger! Hailing from Tuscaloosa, Alabama! Weighing in at 215 pounds… TYLER STORM!

The song goes on for a few more moments with Storm motioning out to the crowd for a reaction before rushing to one side of the ring just as the drawn out "Eye of the Tiger" lyric hits, landing his right foot on the bottom rope and his left on the middle rope with his arms spread out open with the audience cheering. He then hops back off the ropes and walks over to his corner as the music fades.

Kris Cruise: While Lowri Moss will be competing in her first of three matches here tonight, Tyler Storm will only be competing for the Pride Championship here tonight. He decided to forgo the Rumble to bet on himself in this Pride Championship match. That’s how much getting back this title means to Tyler.

Stephy Auger: I said it way back then when he made the announcement and I’ll said it again tonight. Not entering the Rumble was a foolish move on his part. There’s no fallback option. There’s no backup plan. If Lowri loses her first two matches here tonight, at least there’s always the Rumble later on. For Tyler, this is it. He’s putting all his eggs in this basket and for the life of me, it doesn’t make any sense. Then again, he IS from Alabama, you know. They’re not exactly known for their intelligence down there.

Kris Cruise: Don’t start, Stephy!

Stephy Auger: What? What did I do? You know I’m right! If you don’t want to admit it on the air, that’s fine. But deep down, you know I’m in the right.

“Loner Boogie” by Boy Azooga plays over the PA system, and once the song's intro finishes, Lowri Moss walks through the curtains, out onto the stage, with a broad smile on her face and her title around her waist. Lowri takes a moment to scan the cheering crowd, before making her way towards the ring, and as she does so, she slaps the hands of some of the fans that reach out to her.

J.A. Aldridge: His opponent, hailing from Llanelli, Wales! She is the co-holder to the FGA World Tag Team Championship, as well as the reigning… defending… FGA Pride Champion, LOWRI MOSS!

After arriving at ringside, Lowri climbs the steps up onto the ring apron and steps through the ropes, before heading for one of the corners and climbing to the second rope. Lowri gestures to the fans by making the ILY sign with her right hand, in acknowledgement of their response to her arrival. She then takes the title from around her waist and holds it aloft, eliciting further cheers and applause. She continues to hold the title in the air for several more seconds, as she again surveys the crowd, soaking in the reaction.

Kris Cruise: Lowri Moss became a double champion for the second time when she won the Pride Championship earlier in the year from Tyler Storm in the Quarterfinals of the Wildcard Lottery. Lowri is focused on the huge Tag Team match later on, as well as the Rumble. But this Pride Championship match is equally important. We’ve heard her speak before about how her reign as Mid-Atlantic Legacy Championship was a let down in her eyes. She doesn’t want the same to be said about her current reign as Pride Champion.

Stephy Auger: Well, I personally wouldn’t call her time as Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion a let down. Now was she as good of a champion as Ace Voltage is now? Of course not. Neither her or her “mam” Izzy Anders can touch Ace Voltage’s reign as Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion.

Kris Cruise: Well I would respectfully disagree there. Ace has a ways to go to get to Izzy’s level as Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion...

Stephy Auger: See! There you go not giving Ace his respect again!

Kris Cruise: …as I was saying, Moss wants a singles title reign that she can be proud of here in FGA. That all starts here tonight with a successful defense against Tyler Storm. But that will be easier said than done.

Stephy Auger: Will Lowri think twice about leaving everything out there in the ring tonight? She’s got two more matches after this. This match is all Tyler has tonight. If Lowri loses this match, she’s still got her half of the World Tag Team Titles… for now. If Tyler loses, he’s got nothing. Both champion and challenger are in interesting positions.

“LET’S GO, LOWRI!”
“LET’S GO, TYLER!”

“LET’S GO, LOWRI!”
“LET’S GO, TYLER!”

“LET’S GO, LOWRI!”
“LET’S GO, TYLER!”

Both champion and challenger acknowledge their supporters in the crowd before turning their attention back to each other. Moss and Storm make their way towards the center of the ring. A handshake follows before they take a couple of steps back to size each other up. A collar-and-elbow tie up ensues. After jockeying for position, Moss gains the advantage with a side headlock. She then quickly performs a standing switch before transitioning into a hammerlock from behind. Moss keeps control of the arm until Storm spins out and reverses into a hammerlock of his own. Moss reaches back to try and throw Storm off of her, but she’s unable to complete the throw. She then reaches out towards the ropes, but she’s nowhere near them. The Pride Champion then fakes a back elbow to the face with her free arm before spinning out and reversing into another hammerlock. The ref checks in with the challenger and asks if he wants to give up. After Storm refuses, he reaches back with his free arm, hooks it underneath Moss’ left arm before spinning out and reversing into another hammerlock of his own. The reversal is met with applause from the crowd. Storm remains in control until Moss reaches back with her free arm, hooks Storm by the back of the neck and muscles him down to the mat. Moss remains in a seated position until she performs a shoulder-to-shoulder side roll before quickly getting back to her feet and reversing into another hammerlock. The Pride Champion is met with applause after the reversal. Storm then fakes two back elbow strikes to the face before quickly spinning out and bringing Moss down to the mat with a drop toe hold. Before Moss can even get back to her feet, Storm latching on an ankle lock while on one knee.

Kris Cruise: Storm’s got a hold of the ankle!

Moss lets out a groan as Storm twists the ankle. The referee gets down and asks the champion if she wants to give up. When Moss refuses, Storm twists the ankle some more. Moss continue to writhe in pain on the mat until she quickly turns over onto her back and uses her free leg to push Storm off of her. She then scrambles back to her feet, only to get ran over with a running shoulder block. Storm then takes off into the ropes. When he returns, Moss gets back to her feet and leapfrogs over him as he continues to run the ropes. When Storm returns, Moss sets up for a hip toss. Storm blocks it and throws out a clothesline to counter. Moss ducks the lariat and quickly takes control of his back before bringing him down with an O’Connor Roll.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Storm kicks out.

Storm scrambles back to his feet, only to get brought down with a japanese arm drag. A second japanese arm drag returns him to the mat before Moss latching onto his arm. The ref gets down and asks the challenger if he wants to give up. Storm shakes his head ‘no.’ He then battles back to his feet and goes to throw Moss off of him with a scoop slam, only for Moss to roll through it and bring him back down before reapplying the armbar. The referee asks Storm again if he wants to give up. The challenger refuses. After making his way back to his feet, he moves Moss into the near ropes before shoving her off into the far ropes. When Moss returns, she avoids a Storm grapple by sliding through his legs. As Storm turns around, he ducks a Question Mark Kick and catches Moss’ leg on the way down before reapplying the ankle lock!

Kris Cruise: Storm’s got a hold of Lowri’s ankle again!

Stephy Auger: I think we’re seeing what the gameplan is.

Moss remains standing on one foot until Storm kicks her leg out from under her. He then leans forward as he cranks away at the ankle.

Kris Cruise: Storm wisely got Moss down to the mat.

Moss tries to fight through the pain as she remains in the prone position. The officials asks her if she wants to give up. The champ refuses before rolling through, sending Storm off of her and crashing into the corner. As Storm turns around in the corner, Moss rushes in and catches him with a running European Uppercut. She follows up with another European Uppercut before Storm is whipped into the far corner. Moss runs across the ring to attack until Storm ducks and dumps her over the top rope. As Storm turns around, he gets doubled over with a shoulder thrust through the ropes. Moss then slingshots herself over the top rope before bringing him down with a sunset flip. Instead of being pinned, Storm rolls through the sunset flip and quickly wraps up Moss’ arms before turning her over into the Texas Cloverleaf!

Kris Cruise: What a counter from Tyler Storm!

Stephy Auger: Yeah, but look at the positioning. Look at where he’s got Moss at. She’s right next to the ropes. Can she find a way out of the hold or will she be forced to use up one of her three rope breaks?

Storm arches back as he has Moss within arm’s reach of the ropes. Moss groans as Storm continues to pull back on the hold. The ref asks Moss if she wants to give up. She shakes her head ‘no.’ She then reaches back with her right arm and tries to grab Storm’s ankle to pull his leg out from under him. But Storm remains in control in the squat position. Moss is left with the choice of either reaching out and grabbing the rope or remaining in the hold and getting worn down. A frustrated Moss reaches out and grabs the rope.

Ref: ONE!

Storm lets go of Moss’ legs before making his way back towards the center of the ring.

Kris Cruise: I know Lowri hated to give up a rope break, especially this early in the match. It was a tough decision. But it was also the right decision. Smart move by Tyler Storm.

Stephy Auger: I know, I’m shocked he showed some level of intelligence, too.

Kris Cruise: Stop it, Stephy.

Moss makes her way back to her feet before slowly inching out of the corner. Champion and challenger size each other up before lunging in for another collar-and-elbow. NO! Moss ducks under, goes behind and takes control of Storm’s back with a rear waistlock. Storm fakes another back elbow to the face before quickly reaching down, grabbing Moss’ ankle and yanking her leg out from under her, breaking the hold. He quickly spins in place before trying to turn Moss over into another ankle lock. But Moss uses her free leg to repeatedly kick away at Storm. Storm continues to get hit with multiple kicks to the chest before a kick right underneath the chin breaks the hold. Storm takes several steps back before regaining his footing. He shakes off the blow as Moss gets back to her feet.

Champion and challenger once again circle the ring. They inch forward for another lockup. Moss tries to duck under. But Storm is ready and quickly squats down to catch Moss in a front facelock. The challenger cinches down on the hold as Moss tries to free herself. The ref kneels down and asks Moss if she wants to give up. The champion refuses. After latching onto Storm’s arm, Moss continues to work on breaking his grip before quickly spinning out and reversing into an arm wrench. A second arm wrench follows. Storm is shown to be in a bit of discomfort as yet another arm wrench is delivered. Moss then uses her foot to presses down on Storm’s left knee pit, bringing him down to a knee. The Pride Champion quickly transitions into a cravat. Storm reaches up and tries to pull Moss’ arms off of him, but its to no avail. A crank of the cravat causes Storm to let out a groan. The referee asks Storm if he wants to give up. When he refuses, he gets brought down to a seated position with a snapmare before winding up on the receiving end of a soccer kick to the back. Moss blasts him with a second soccer kick! The thud from the impact echoes throughout the arena. Moss sizes Storm up before delivering a third soccer kick, which causes Storm to arch his back in pain. Storm is then flattened with a shoot kick to the chest before Moss hits the ropes. Moss returns and motions for a move when Storm quickly rolls out of the way towards the side of the ring. The challenger rolls over to a knee before getting back to his feet.

Kris Cruise: I don’t know what Lowri had planned, but Storm got the heck out of dodge.

Stephy Auger: Those soccer kicks from Moss definitely shook him up.

Kris Cruise: We know Moss has that soccer background, so she’s dangerous with the kicks. But I think she also hit Tyler with those kicks to let him know that the ankle locks and the Texas Cloverleaf didn’t wear her down that much.

Storm slowly makes his way back over to Moss before locking up. After jockeying for position, Storm gains the advantage with a side headlock. Moss lets out a groan as he wrenches down on the hold. The ref asks the champion if she wants to give up. When Moss refuses, Storm brings her to the mat with a side headlock takeover. Storm remains in control as Moss slowly reaches her arm over. After placing her hand underneath Storm’s chin, she slowly pushes his head back until she’s able to reverse into a grounded headscissors. Storm tries to pull Moss’ leg from around his neck, but it’s to no avail. So the challenger tries to fight his way out of him with hammer fists to the leg. Storm then tries to rip Moss’ leg from around his neck. But once again, he’s unsuccessful. He then turns down the chance to quit before turning over onto his knees. He hits Moss with more punches to the legs before pressing down on them. The crowd gasps when Storm quickly slips out, pops back to his feet and wraps up Moss’ legs. He tries to turn her over into another Texas Cloverleaf, but Moss uses her leg strength to shove him off into the corner. After Moss returns to her feet, Storm rushes out of the corner. He throws out a bicycle kick, but Moss catches his foot. She then swings Storm’s leg away from her before taking control of his back with another rear waistlock. Storm then rushes forward, hooks his arm underneath the top rope and tries to yank back to send Moss flying off of him. But Moss hangs on for dear life! With Storm’s right arm hooked on the top rope, the points it out before calling for a rope break.

Ref: ONE!

Moss lets him go and steps back towards the center of the ring. Storm is seen shaking his head over getting caught in the ropes and being docked a break.

Kris Cruise: Crafty move there by the champion.

Stephy Auger: Now they’re both down to just two rope breaks.

Storm makes his way over to Moss and engages in another lock up. They jockey for position until Storm gains the advantage with an arm wrench. After Storm executes a second arm wrench, Moss rolls forward, leans back, kips up, spins in place and reverses into a hammerlock from behind. Moss keeps the hold applied until she spins Storm towards her before bringing him down with a side headlock takeover. NO! Storm blocks the move. Moss tries to muscle him down with another side headlock takeover. But again, Storm blocks the move before throwing Moss down with a Backdrop Driver! The cheers continue as he makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Moss kicks out.

Stom pulls up Moss and doubles her over with a boot to the midsection before hitting the ropes. The challenger comes back, jumps up and knocks Moss down with a Scissors Kick across the back of the neck. The cheers continue as he pulls her over before making the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Moss kicks out.

Storm sits up Moss and places her in a rear chinlock. The ref is quick to get down and ask Moss if she wants to give up. After she refuses, she turns over to a knee before slowly battling back to her feet. Moss then hits Storm with three elbows to the midsection to break the hold. She then takes off into the ropes. When Moss comes back, the crowd cheers when Storm knocks her off her feet with a spinning heel kick! Storm pulls Moss back up, takes control of her back before dumping her with another Backdrop Driver! He goes for the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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T-NO!

Moss gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Tyler nearly took the first fall.

Storm grabs Moss, drags her over to about three feet away from the ropes before placing her in a Camel Clutch!

Stephy Auger: Now he’s got her in another submission.

Moss is in a world of hurt as Storm pulls back on the hold. The referee asks Moss if she wants to give up. The champion refuses. So Storm pulls back even more, which causes Moss to let out a guttural wail. Storm stays locked in position as he’s got Moss perfectly positioned on the mat. Moss tries to rip apart Storm’s grip. But the challenger has the hold locked on tight. The referee steps to the side and gives Moss a chance to reach out and grab the ropes. Moss is within arm’s reach. But the champion refuses to give up another rope break. The official then asks her if she wants to give up. Moss responds by wagging her finger. Storm continues to keep the hold applied before letting go to deliver a jumping seated senton across the back. The challenger pours on the offense by hitting not one, not two, not three, not four but five elbow drops across the upper back! He then pushes Moss even closer to the ropes before making the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Moss gets her shoulder up.

Storm pulls Moss into a front facelock as he backs up into the corner. He climbs up to the middle ropes before planting Moss with a Tornado DDT! He makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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T-NO!

Moss gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Tyler was so close!

Stephy Auger: He’s starting to run away with this one. Moss better think of something quick or els she’s gonna be down one fall!

Storm pulls up Moss and doubles her over with another boot to the midsection before hitting the ropes. Wrestling’s Swiss Army Knife returns and throws out another Scissors Kick. This time, he whiffs when Moss slips out of the way. The champion quickly takes control of his back. She starts to lift him up for a German Suplex when Storm counters with a back elbow to the face. He then performs a standing switch before slapping on a Sleeper Hold! The crowd responds with a gasp as they see Moss trapped in another submission.

Kris Cruise: Tyler’s got her!

Stephy Auger: Moss is gonna get put to sleep!

Moss flails her arms wildly before reaching back, grabbing Storm’s head with both hands and pulling him into a sitout jawbreaker!

Kris Cruise: Oh, what a counter!

With Storm dropping down to a knee, Moss slowly turns over to her knees. When she looks over and sees Storm in position for a Shining Wizard, her eyes light up. The crowd is behind the champion as she gets back to her feet and takes off into the ropes. When she returns, she slows down as she sees Storm running past her. The crowd gasps, then cheers when Moss turns around and gets caught with a springboard roundhouse kick!

Kris Cruise: Lowri got rocked with the Hardcastle Treatment!

The crowd is at a fever pitch as Storm pulls Moss back to her feet. He leans forward to set up an Alabama Slam. Before Storm can lift Moss up, she counters with a clubbing strike across the back. Moss hits another desperation clubbing strike, then another. After a double ax handle connects across the back, the crowd gasps when Moss slowly lifts Storm up before planting him with a cradle piledriver! Moss is met with cheers and applause as he turns over into a cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Storm kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Only two!

Moss pulls Storm up and hits him with two European Uppercuts before whipping him into the ropes. The champion throws out a dropsault, but does so too early, allowing Storm to hang on the ropes. After Moss lands on her feet, Storm rushes back in. The crowd gasps when Moss throws out Breuddwydion Melus (Superkick)! But Storm catches her foot. He then swings her leg away from him, takes control of her back and tries for a third Backdrop Driver. But Moss counters with four elbows to the head. She then takes off into the ropes. When she returns, she slows down when she sees Storm running past her into the same set of ropes. Storm then comes off the rebound and slows down when he sees Moss run past him into the ropes. As Storm turns around, the crowd cheers when Moss knocks him off his feet with a spinning heel kick of her own! She makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Storm gets a shoulder up.

Moss picks up Storm before pulling him into another standing headscissors. She motions for another cradle piledriver until Storm grabs her by the legs and stands up. He then positions Moss on his back before bringing her down with the Rolling Tide (Air Raid Crash Neckbreaker)! Storm pulls Moss back to her feet before turning her in a back to back position. Storm shouts out at the crowd, “TIME TO…” The crowd responds with “BE WITNESS!” before Storm clobbers Moss with the Hybrid Crackdown (Inverted Headlock into Rolling Elbow)! The cheers continue as he peels Moss off the mat, lifts her up onto his shoulders and drives her down with the Eye of the Storm (Electric Chair Driver)!

ONE!
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TWO!
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THREE!

TYLER STORM - 1
LOWRI MOSS - 0

Kris Cruise: Tyler Storm has jumped out to a 1-0 lead in this Pride Championship match! The pressure is now on Lowri Moss! The champion has to win two straight falls to retain her championship!

Stephy Auger: Lowri Moss was already under a bunch of pressure. She was already dealing with the pressure of competing in three high profile matches on pay per view. Now she has to win two straight falls to walk out of here still the Pride Champion. Her back is against the wall, Cruise. Neal Durden isn’t there on the apron. She can’t tag out to him. She has to dig deep to pull this one out. I don’t think she’s got it in her!

Kris Cruise: What!?

Stephy Auger: You heard what I said! If I were her, I’d forfeit the 2nd fall and save my energy for the Tag Title match and the Rumble.

Kris Cruise: Well thankfully, you’re not her! There isn’t an ounce of quit in that young woman. She knew well in advance the task that she had in front of her here tonight and she was going to meet it head on. Yes, her back is against the wall. Yes, she’s got a ton of pressure on her. But she can do this. She can pull this off!

Stephy Auger: So you say.

The second fall begins as Storm marches across the ring towards Moss. The Pride Champion gets pulled off the mat before Storm heads into the corner and slams her face-first into the top turnbuckle. He then turns Moss around before unleashing a barrage of European Uppercuts. A dazed Moss is then whipped into the far corner. Storm charges across the ring to attack when Moss catches him with a back elbow to the face. Storm shakes off the blow before rushing back in. This time, Moss catches him with a European Uppercut. Storm shakes off another blow before rushing back in. Moss tries to catch him with a boot to the face when Storm slams on the brakes and catches her foot. He then drags Moss from out of the corner, swing the leg away from him and takes control of the back. He hoists Moss up for yet another Backdrop Driver when Moss rolls over his shoulder and lands on her feet. She sets up for a German Suplex when Storm counters with a back elbow to the face. After performing a standing switch, the crowd gasps when Storm lifts Moss back up onto his shoulders for the Eye of the Storm!

Kris Cruise: Tyler’s got her up!

Stephy Auger: Yes! YES!

Before Moss can be driven down, she counters with elbows to the top of the head. She then slips down from behind, spins Storm towards her and catches him with a scorpion kick to the face! Moss then starts to chop Storm down with shoot kicks to the leg. After the last kick knocks Storm down to a knee, Moss turns and hits the ropes. When Moss comes back, Storm rises off his knee to attack when Moss brings him down with a running STO! She makes the cover.
ONE!
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TWO!
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Storm gets the shoulder up.

Moss pulls Storm up into a front facelock before bringing him down with a swinging neckbreaker. She makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Storm gets te shoulder up.

Moss takes Storm, grabs him by the side and brings him down with a russian leg sweep. The champion then heads into the corner before climbing the turnbuckles.

Kris Cruise: What’s Lowri looking for here?

Moss makes her way to the top. She looks back, flips off for a moonsault, and lands down hard across Storm’s knees!

Stephy Auger: He got his knees up!

Moss bounces off the knees before rolling across the ring. She remains down in the prone position as Storm turns over on all fours. The challenger crawls over towards the champion before locking her in the Double Underhook Crossface!

Kris Cruise: Tiger’s Cage!

Moss howls in pain as Storm pulls back on the hold. The referee asks her if she wants to give up. Moss refuses. So Storm stars to repeatedly yank back on the neck.

Stephy Auger: Give it up, Lowri! Just give up! Save yourself! Think of Neal! Think of the tag titles! Think of the Rumble!

Moss is seen kicking her legs as she’s helpless on the mat. With both arms tied up, she can’t reach out and grab the ropes. Moss remains in a world of hurt as Storm continues to repeatedly yank back on the neck. He’s trying his hardest to get Moss to submit. He’s fighting like hell to get the submission and regain the Pride Championship. But Moss continues to hold on. The referee continues to check in with Moss. He asks Moss if she wants to give up. He gives her the opportunity to quit. But Moss refuses. Moss continues to hang on as she reaches her right leg out… and gets her foot on the bottom rope, forcing a rope break. The crowd applauds Moss for getting to the ropes.

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE!

Storm breaks the hold.

Kris Cruise: Moss showed a lot of heart there to hang on and make it to the ropes.

Stephy Auger: You call it heart, I call it stubbornness. She’s got two more matches here tonight and she’s doing herself no favors to try and win two straight falls in this one. She’s getting worn down with submission after submission. I don’t care how good her stamina supposedly is. Eventually, everything will catch up to her here tonight.

Storm reaches down, pulls Moss up and leans her against the ropes before firing off a blistering knife edge chop. A second knife edge chop connects and echoes throughout the arena. Moss is doubled over after ending up on the receiving end of a third stinging knife edge chop. Storm cups Moss’ chin and slowly lifts her head up before snapping her head back with a hard European Uppercut. He then sizes up Moss before clobbering him with a spinning forearm, sending the champion crumbling down to the mat. He quickly drops down and makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THRE-NO!

Moss instinctively goes to put her foot on the rope, only to quickly opt out and throw her shoulder up at the very last second.

Kris Cruise: She almost gave up her last rope break there.

Stephy Auger: It’s a shame that she didn’t.

Storm picks up Moss, pulls her into a standing headscissors, lifts her up, heads into the corner and delivers a Buckle Bomb! Moss immediately drops down to a seated position in the corner. Storm then drags Moss out of the corner before picking her back up. She’s pulled into another standing headscissors being before lifted up onto Storm’s shoulders. Storm rushes into the corner before delivering another Buckle Bomb! Moss bounces out of the corner before crumbling to the mat. The challenger reaches down and slowly lifts Moss up. He then leans forward, lifts Moss up, spins and throws her down hard with an Alabama Slam! Storm drops down, rolls across Moss and hooks the near leg.

Stephy Auger: That’s it. It’s over. New champion.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd gasps, then cheers when Moss gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Not so fast!

Storm slowly pulls Moss back to her feet. He keeps the dazed Moss held up until he turns and heads into the far ropes. Storm comes off the ropes and goes for a yakuza kick when Moss catches his foot and quickly brings him down with a dragon screw leg whip!

Kris Cruise: Moss countered the big boot!

Storm rolls across the ring before favoring his knee. Moss is seen approaching as he gets back to his feet. Before he can defend himself, Moss scoops up the leg. Storm reaches out for the ropes. But he’s unable to grab anything as Moss drags him back towards the center of the ring. The Pride Champion looks around before throwing Storm down with another dragon screw leg whip! Moss reaches over and lifts up Storm’s leg up off the mat before delivering a grounded dragon screw leg whip!

Kris Cruise: This isn’t good for Tyler Storm! Lowri is starting to go after the leg! She’s trying to ground him.

Stephy Auger: I don’t care how good of a striker Moss allegedly is. She can’t keep up with Tyler Storm on her feet.

Moss picks up Storm, moves him into the corner and unleashes a barrage of shoot kicks to the chest! While Storm is still feeling the effects of the kicks, Mos takes off into the far corner, comes back and nails him with Just for Kicks (Running big boot to a cornered opponent followed by a running Facewash)! She then drags Storm out of the corner towards the center of the ring before flipping over into a jackknife pin.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Storm struggles to bridge up. He then turns over, turns again, hooks Moss’ arm and tries to bring her down with a backslide pin. Moss fights to remain on her feet. Storm fights just as hard to try and bring her down to the mat. Storm leans back before leaning forward. Moss then rolls over his back, lands on her feet and blasts him with a bicycle knee strike right to the face! Storm gets whacked with a roundhouse kick to the head! A Question Mark Kick follows, dropping him down to a knee. After cracking across the head with a Switchblade Kick, Moss hits the far ropes, comes back and flattens him with a Shining Wizard! The cheers continue as she makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd applauds when Storm gets his shoulder up.

Moss picks up Storm before taking control of his back. She tries for another German Suplex when she gets caught with a back elbow to the face. Storm performs a standing switch, grabs Moss, runs and throws her through the ropes. Storm turns and heads back to the ring to recover. But unbeknownst to him, Moss landed safely on the apron. She then walks along the apron before climbing the turnbuckles. Back down in the ring, Storm stands up straight. When he turns around, he does a double take as Moss flies off the top before knocking him down with a diving crossbody!

ONE!
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TWO!
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THE-NO!

The crowd cheers when Storm gets the shoulder up!

Kris Cruise: Moss nearly tied this one up!

Moss takes Storm and whips him into the ropes. When Storm comes back, Moss goes for a leapfrog when Storm catches her, turns and throws her down with authority with a spinebuster! The crowd gasps at the sight of the vicious spinebuster. Moss’ body goes limp when the back of her head smacks hard off the canvas!

Kris Cruise: Moss isn’t moving, Stephy. She’s not moving!

Stephy Auger: It’s all but over, Cruise.

Moss remains splayed out on the mat until Storm slowly pulls her off. He then scoops her up across his shoulder before hoisting her up even higher. Storm holds Moss in place for the Bite Wound (Crucifix Cutter) until Moss starts to kick her legs. As Moss slips down from behind, she lands with an inverted front facelock on Storm! Her eyes widen before spinning and driving him down with the Nos Da (Rolling Cutter)! The crowd explodes with cheers at the reversal! The cheers continue as she makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THREE!

TYLER STORM - 1
LOWRI MOSS - 1

Stephy Auger: What!?

Kris Cruise: Lowri reversed the Bite Wound! She hit Tyler with the Nos Da! We’re all tied up!

Stephy Auger: Storm had her. He had her beat, dammit!

Kris Cruise: Tyler Storm had Lowri dead to rights. But Lowri had one last reversal left in her and was able to win the second fall. We now go to the third and deciding fall, Stephy.

As the ref calls for the start of the third and final fall, both grapplers charge in from their respective corners. Storm throws out a bicycle kick, but he whiffs when Moss rolls underneath it. He rushes back over to Moss when he gets knocked off his feet with a spinning heel kick! Moss takes Storm and sets up for an irish whip, only to get reversed. When Moss returns, Storm returns the favor with a spinning heel kick of his own! Storm turns and heads into another set of ropes as Moss starts to pick herself up. The challenger comes off the rebound and motions for a strike when Moss knocks him off his feet with a dropsault! She pulls Storm back up and tries for another German Suplex. Once again, she gets countered with a back elbow to the face. Storm follows up with two more back elbows for good measure before taking off into the ropes. As he returns, he slows down when he sees Moss running past him into the ropes. Moss comes off the rebound and motions for a running STO when Storm brings her down with a Sling Blade! Storm pulls pulls Moss back up before setting her in another inverted headlock. Storm shouts out at the crowd, “TIME TO…” The crowd responds with “BE WITNESS!” before Storm throws out another Rollin Elbow! NO! Moss ducks the elbow, quickly takes control of his back and brings him down with a bridging German Suplex!

ONE!
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TWO!
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TH-NO!

The crowd cheers when Storm gets his shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Beautiful bridge there by Moss, but she only gets two.

Moss heads into the corner before climbing the turnbuckles.

Stephy Auger: She’s going back to the top.

Once Storm is back to his feet, Moss stands up from the crouched position, flips off for a moonsault, and gets caught in mid air!

Kris Cruise: Uh oh

Storm hoists Moss up even higher before bringing her down with the Bite Wound! He makes the cover.

Stephy Auger: There it is!

ONE!
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TWO!
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TH-NO!

The crowd applauds Moss when she gets the shoulder up.

Storm takes Moss and whips her into the corner. The challenger rushes in for an attack when he gets countered with a European Uppercut. Moss turns away from him in the corner and goes for a Slice of Heaven (Springboard enzuigiri), only for Storm to roll underneath it. As Moss gets up, Storm goes for another Hardcastle Treatment, only for Moss to roll underneath it. As Storm gets back to his feet, Moss rushes over to attack when he scoops her up, spins and throws her down with a Blue Thunder Bomb!

ONE!
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TWO!
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TH-NO!

The crowd cheers when Moss gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: These two are throwing everything at each other!

Stephy Auger: We’ve heard how much this title means to the both of them.


Storm takes Moss and sets up for an irish whip. But he gets reversed. When Storm comes off the ropes, the crowd gasps when Moss throws out the Breuddwydion Melus (Superkick)! But Storm is able to catch her foot before muscling her down into an ankle lock!

Kris Cruise: Tyler’s got Lowri in another ankle lock!

Storm remains standing as he cranks away on Moss’ ankle. The ref asks Moss if she wants to give up. She shakes her head ‘no’ before pushing herself up off the mat. Moss stands on her hands before rolling forward. But Storm rolls through it and returns to his feet as he keeps the ankle lock applied! Storm continues to crank away on the ankle as Moss yells out in pain. Moss gets up on her hands before rolling through. Once again, Storm rolls through it and returns to his feet as he keeps the ankle lock applied! Storm is seen shaking his head ‘no’ at Moss over her failed attempts to break the ankle lock. The challenger continues to crank away on the ankle. Moss tries to pull herself towards the ropes. But Storm easily drags her back towards the center of the ring before dropping down and grapevining the leg as he keeps the ankle lock applied!

Kris Cruise: Oh no...

Stephy Auger: It’s over now!

Storm cranks away at Moss’ ankle while the champion lays helpless on the mat. A look on anguish is shown on the champion’s face during a close up shot. The referee asks her if she wants to give up. But Moss declines. So Storm continues to crank away at the ankle.

Stephy Auger: Give up! Give up before he breaks your ankle!

Moss cries out in agony while trapped in the submission. The referee gives her yet another chance to give up. But Moss refuses to give up. The Pride Champion reaches forward, plants her hands on the mat and struggles to drag herself forward. Moss strains herself as she reaches forward and slowly drags herself across the mat. The crowd in attendance is fully behind Moss at this point as she struggles to use whatever strength she has left to scratch and crawl across the mat. Moss lets out another yell as she slowly drags herself even closer towards the side of the ring. The Pride Champion reaches out… and grabs onto the bottom rope, forcing a rope break. Moss’ effort is met with cheers and applause from the crowd while the ref calls for a rope break.

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE!

Storm breaks the hold.

Kris Cruise: Lowri is showing a lot of heart and determination in this match!

Stephy Auger: Yeah, but at what cost? It’s a given that she won’t head into that tag team match at 100%. Ditto for the Rumble later on. You know Neal Durden is mad that his tag team match didn’t go first. At least he’d have a partner who would be 100%!

Kris Cruise: Stop it, Stephy!

The crowd gasps as Storm quickly grabs Moss and drags her back towards the center of the ring. Before he can reapply the ankle lock, Moss turns over to her back and nails Storm with an upkick to the chin that knocks him down!

Storm leans over and tries to shake out the cobwebs. The challenger continue to feel the effects of the kick as Moss pushes herself up on all fours. Once Storm turns over to a knee, Moss gets back to her feet. But her ankle is weak, which causes her to stagger over and collapse against the ropes.

Stephy Auger: See! See! Loo, what did I tell you!

Kris Cruise: ...

The Pride Campion tries to limp over towards Storm to hit a Shining Wizard. But Storm beats her to the punch as he gets back to his feet and knocks her down with a bicycle kick!

Kris Cruise: Moss is clearly hobbled by that ankle.

Stephy Auger: Neal Durden mind as well kiss those Tag Team titles goodbye!

Storm slowly pulls Moss off the mat. He throws out a spinning forearm. Storm whiffs when Moss ducks the blow and counters with a headbutt. The crowd cheers as Moss cracks him with another headbutt. A European Uppercut knocks Storm back. Moss pushes forward before another European Uppercut knocks Storm further back. The Pride Champion then moves Storm into the corner before unloading on him with the Scarlet Barrage (Alternating rapid-fire knife edge chops and forearms to a cornered opponent)! Moss continues to attack as Storm slumps down in the corner. She reaches down, pulls Storm back to his feet before firing off another Scarlet Barrage! Storm continues to be overwhelmed with the attack before he’s pulled out of the corner and brought down with an STO! As Storm remains sprawled out on the mat, Moss rolls out to the apron. The Pride Champion slowly pulls herself up using the ropes before she starts to gingerly climb the turnbuckles.

Kris Cruise: Moss is going back to the top!

Stephy Auger: Yeah, because that worked out so well for her last time!

Moss reaches the top turnbuckle. She slowly rises up from the crouched position…







...flips off for the 450 Splash…





… and hits nothing but canvas with Storm rolls out of the way!

Kris Cruise: OH NO!

Moss bounces off the mat before rolling towards the center of the ring. The Pride Champion remains curled up. The referee is quick to rush over and check on the champion. Back in the corner, Storm is slowly pulling himself up using the ropes. Once he’s back to a vertical base, he turns and sees Moss down on the mat. So he immediately crouches down. Storm waits impatiently as Moss struggles to pick herself up off the mat. After Moss is finally back to her feet, she slowly turns around as Storm charges out of the corner. Storm lunges himself at Moss for a spear, only to get countered with a bicycle knee strike! The crowd explodes with cheers over the reversal!

Stephy Auger: Gah!

The cheers continue as Moss slowly turns over and makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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.
THRE-NO!

The crowd cheers when Storm gets his shoulder up.

Moss picks up Storm and pulls him into a standing headscissors. She’s about to lift him up for another cradle piledriver when Storm counters with a standing double leg takedown. He quickly wraps his arms around Moss’ leans before leaning back and catapulting her into the corner. Moss stumbles away from the corner as Storm hits the ropes, comes back and tackles her down with a spear! Storm pulls Moss back to her feet, takes control of her back and dumps her down with another Backdrop Driver! With Moss down, Storm heads into the corner. The crowd is at a fever pitch as Storm scales to the top turnbuckle. He takes a quick look back before flipping off and crashing down across Moss with the Paranoia Plummet (Diving Corkscrew Moonsault)!

ONE!
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TWO!
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.
THREE!

The crowd explodes with cheers as “Eye of the Tiger (Metal Cover)” blasts over the PA.

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout… aaaaaaaand NEEEEEWWWWWW FGA Pride Champion, TYLER STORM!

The cheers continue as Storm gets his arm raised in victory. After being handed he Pride Championship, Storm drops to his knees and clutches the belt.

Kris Cruise: Tyler Storm has done it! Tyler has defeated Lowri Moss to reclaim the Pride Championship! What a match we just saw, Stephy. This was one of the finer Pride Championship matches that we’ve seen in quite some time.

Stephy Auger: Yes it was. Tyler Storm did what he had to do win back the Pride Championship. You see him on his knees cradling and crying over the belt. But what about Lowri Moss? She won’t be heading into that tag team match at 100%. Her ankle was clearly hurt. That doesn’t bode well for Pendragon’s titles hopes later on, let alone her chances at winning the Gold Rush Rumble.

Kris Cruise: Well that remains to be seen. We’ll try and get word on Lowri’s condition as we head into the Triple Threat Tag Team Unification Match. But once again, we want to send our congratulations to Tyler Storm, the new Pride Champion.

[FGA Office]

We head backstage of the Melrose Ballroom where the most recent FGA signee Mighty Sparrow is walking towards catering with a pair of headphones around his neck and a rather neutral looking hooded sweatshirt. He keeps moving in the direction until he’s stopped by a very large man, at least a foot on him. Broad shoulders, bald head, squinting with one eye and the big yellow letters of SECURITY inscribed on the back of his shirt. Sparrow looks around, confused as to why said bald-headed security is stopping him and tries to walk around him.

To which the security guard side steps (really it was more or less strafing, almost sliding) in front of him to keep him.

Security: Listen buddy, local talent isn’t welcome to catering. You guys were told you had to stick to the concourse and from there you go find your seats. Concourse. Seats. Seats. Concourse. I swear you locals get a little time to shine and show up in front of a camera and you think you can just go anywhere. God. Some professionalism.

Sparrow looks right around once more, even going as far as looking at the camera before he side eyes the security guard.

Mighty Sparrow: Hol’ there a second bren, I’m signed. A whole new talent to FGA and then some.

Security: Yeah alright buddy nice try, look just go back--

Mighty Sparrow: WAIT NAH MAN! Listen, you haven’t seen me? Never heard of me before, because I’m Might--

Security: Look buddy, I don’t care what sort of backyard indy you were a part of for three years, and how many followers you have on Twitter. I need you to walk yourself back to concourse and go find your seat. Look, you got lost. I get it--

Sparrow at this point puts a hand up. The security guard looks a little befuddled by this and why wouldn’t he be? He was in the middle of trying to kindly get this guy, whoever he is back to where he’s supposed to go.

Security: Yes what is it?

Mighty Sparrow: Okay boss. Listen. I am here.

Security: You are here.

Mighty Sparrow: Because I am a signed talent...

Security: Because you are a signed talent...

Mighty Sparrow: For Frontier Grappling Arts.

Security: For Frontier Grappling Arts.

Mighty Sparrow: Right say it with me. I am here backstage, backstage ya see wha’ I sayin’? I’m here backstage because I am a signed talent for FGA.

Security: Okay well where are you on the card?

This quite obviously catches the newly signed wrestler off-guard as the security guard lifts the clipboard under his arm and flips a few pages. The West Indian Whirlwind blinks in rapid succession.

Mighty Sparrow: Well...

Security: Are you in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Match? Because you don’t look like Ace and Reed is so much more ripped.

Mighty Sparrow: Hol’ up, are you tryna say that--

Security just pushes on.

Security: FGA 15, no. Are you are client of Theo--No. Pride? I don’t even think you have any. Posture young man. Stand up straight, you’re slouching. Suck in that gut. You should be ashamed.

For a hot second Sparrow almost sucks in a breath and stands straighter until he stops himself, verbally mouthing ‘the hell do I look like’.

Security: No way you’re in the Gold Rush and I highly doubt you’re just gonna waltz into a United States Championship with Sadie San--

Mighty Sparrow: Yes.

Security: ...Yes to which one?

Mighty Sparrow: Both. Neither. Look I dunno, what you want me t’say? I came here, I have gear, I wanted to see catering, I wrestle here now. Why is this a problem?

Security: Oh no reason, I just always wanted to screw with one of the new guys.

Mighty Sparrow: Good because I...What?

The Trinidadian wrestler just stares agape as the security guard shrugs it off and smiles.

Security: You people are always in such a big hurry, you never wanna stop and talk or something. Evan Envi once stepped on my foot on the way to the ring. Jenny Cien still doesn’t even know my name, and don’t get me started on the HSDS. Goddamn madhouse here okay? I’m a person too. Has Pendragon ever notice though? Huh? Stokes? Nina Stokes? No. Did Ace Voltage try and charge me an autograph for my sick nephew once? Did I once take a photo of Tyler Storm in his skivvies and sell it on eBay? Maybe. I’m just rambling at this point. Why won’t any of these people return my calls? I was a fan before some guy who exists who happens to be a big roadblock!

The security guard begins sobbing uncontrollably in his hands. Sparrow, looking like he wants to comfort said security but also merge into the walls and completely disappear from sight, slowly tries to...Eek his way around the security guard. The bald headed and much larger bear of a man immediately throws his arms around the wrestler. Sparrow is thus stuck there, comforting the security guard who is now crying about how Carnelia Stephenson or whatever that bad stunt double’s name is won’t call him back.

Sparrow silently mouths to the camera ‘help me’. The cameraman decided to back away slowly, leaving the wrestler to play therapist to an emotionally high strung security guard.

[FGA Office]

Ashlyn De Luca vs. Theodore Harris' client

The lights in the venue blink to darkness, prompting a loud but indecisive reaction from the audience, many of which have grown used to being plunged into darkness-- but the mixed reaction becomes dominated by boos as the words “I come to life…” echo throughout the arena over the soundsystem, followed by the familiar deep drums, with the text CHAOS appearing in blood red on the Tron. Kavinsky’s “Suburbia” plays on the PA and the house lights slowly return with a red hue. Ashlyn De Luca steps out of the darkness and onto the top of the ramp, smirking at the reaction of the audience. She turns her back briefly, flashing the back of her black-and-pink “CHAOS IS DEAD” jacket before making her way down toward the bottom of the ramp. Ashlyn pauses, looking out at the limited audience around her before sprinting to the ring, sliding in beneath the bottom rope and rising to a knee in the center.

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, please welcome ASHLYN DEEE LUUUCA!

Ashlyn walks toward the ropes, calmly climbing to the second, scanning the audience before blowing a sarcastic kiss toward the mainly-jeering crowd. She peels her jacket off, tossing it onto the face of the nearest cameraman before marching over to the ring announcer, holding her hand out to demand the microphone.

Stephy Auger: Before you even start, Cruise, I want to make it clear that poor Ashlyn has been targeted and harassed by somebody that is SUPPOSED to be a dignified, professional performer! And to make it worse, this person has dragged countless other individuals into these mind games-- including your Uber driver!

Kris Cruise: Yeah, I… I didn’t appreciate that… still, guy shoulda just drove awa--

Stephy Auger: And now this Theo Van Nitwit jerk has somehow gotten his client a match! Ashlyn De Luca was competing for the International Heavyweight Title before the world went to hell and now she’s facing whatever goon Theo wants her to face?!

Kris Cruise: Theodore Harris is his name, and I’m willing to bet it’s not just some random “goon” that De Luca’s facing tonight.

De Luca’s music fades, allowing the boos of the limited audience to resonate more clearly to those watching at home. Ashlyn raises the mic, pointing toward the ramp, narrowing her eyes.

Ashlyn De Luca: Let’s cut the shit.

She shakes her head, scoffing slightly.

Ashlyn De Luca: I know what’s coming out from behind that curtain. And everyone in the back can play dumb. Theo can stay out of sight all night, even though his creepy ass is watching anyone and everyone in this company at all times-- I still know what’s coming. And you know what?

Ashlyn laughs bitterly, walking toward the ropes.

Ashlyn De Luca: This-- this is a story I’ve already written. This chapter is LONG PAST finished and the fact that I’m out here, allowing myself to get dragged down this road-- guuhhh-- I should be ashamed of myself. I should be beating myself up for even letting myself be in this position, you know? But on the way out here… I had an epiphany. Aha.

Ashlyn leans against the ropes, staring down the ramp.

Ashlyn De Luca: On the way out here, I realized that-- some things you just don’t forget. Like an old family recipe, or riding a bike, some things you just don’t unlearn. So tonight, before I enter the Gold Rush Rumble and start my World Title Story with a clean slate, I’m gonna do something that I promise I will never forget how to do… and that’s kick your ass.

The words earn a mixed reaction from the crowd, who’s now more eager than ever to confirm their suspicions about who’s walking through the curtains.

Kris Cruise: Bold words, Stephy. Ashlyn might regret that one.

Stephy Auger: Again with the doubt! Ash seems really confident right now-- why don’t you?!

Kris Cruise: Ashlyn De Luca was not so eager about this confrontation until she had an “epiphany” on her way out here. I’m not saying her sudden confidence is a facade, but…

Theodore Harris: Bold words Ashlyn… but are you truly ready for what is coming your way?

Casually strolling out from the entryway, Theodore Harris is again dressed to impress in another finely tailored suit. He regards Ashlyn curiously as he comes to a stop at the top of the entry ramp. He glances around the arena, seemingly taking in the venue for several moments, before fixing his gaze on Ashlyn.

Theodore Harris: You believed that this story was somehow complete. That you had penned the final words in an epic saga crafted by two individuals. But that was never really your role to play here. Then you went on to start authoring your own journey here… and what a modern day tragedy it became. You ruined your own work before you began. Blinded by ego, ambition… jealousy. Looking around at all the things you wanted but could not have. Then wanting someone else to blame for all your shortcomings.

He pauses for a few moments fixing Ashlyn with a knowing look.

Theodore Harris: So typical of you Ashlyn.

He just shakes his head.

Theodore Harris: You already had great success here, but it wasn’t enough for you. Then you decided to take out all your frustrations on the man who helped you achieve that greatness. And for what?

Ashlyn De Luca: Does this get you off? Like-- you sound like you’re really enjoying all this.

De Luca looks at Harris with an expression that lingers between frustration and outright disgust. Shaking her head, she steps back to the center of the ring.

Ashlyn De Luca: One… one missed shot. One missed opportunity and suddenly that’s enough for you to write me off? That’s enough for you-- for him-- to turn your nose up. That’s why-- THAT is why terrible things happened to him. That-- that--

Ashlyn lowers her mic, taking a deep breath, looking down toward the canvas for a moment before tightening her jaw.

Ashlyn De Luca: I’m not a co-writer, Theo. I thought I made that clear, but I guess-- I guess I have to prove it again. I guess one of us has to. And no matter what you stand up there and tell me, I know he can’t.

Theodore regards Ashlyn for several moments, seemingly considering his words. He slowly raises his mic back up.

Theodore Harris: One missed shot… You might be right on that point. Of course, the important shot that you missed isn’t the one you’re thinking about. You beating Cordelia Stevenson would not have prevented this moment from coming to pass.

Ashlyn can’t help the twitch in her neck at the reminder.

Ashlyn De Luca: That referee was corrupt.

Harris continues, the only acknowledgment he gives De Luca’s claim coming in the form of the brief pause in which he allows her to speak.

Theodore Harris: The shot that would have counted was the one you missed last year. You turned away from the hand that had been extended to you. He was ready to forgive your acts against him… because he couldn’t bring himself to do what needed to be done that night. Then you took your shot.

His whole expression and stance stiffens at that.

Theodore Harris: That was your mistake Ashlyn. That’s what brings us together here. It’s not that you took a shot at him at all. It’s that you didn’t finish the job!

His voice had raised to the point he was almost shouting those last words. He pauses, lowering the mic and backing up a step. He reaches up and rubs one hand over his mouth for a few more moments, seemingly composing himself once again. Ashlyn, for her part, has raised the microphone in the ring… but she paces, unsure of what to say-- saying nothing.

Theodore Harris: He told you if you ever came after him like that, that you had better be sure he was never coming back from it. Because when he came back he would get even. Now…

The tron comes to life behind Theodore to a deep pop from the crowd on hand. The wooden clock from earlier is shown on the screen, continuing it’s methodical march. Currently, it sat at around close to fifteen seconds from the zero sitting in place of the usual twelve. De Luca’s jaw tightens. She looks toward either side of her, inhaling deeply.

Ashlyn De Luca: Wait--

Theodore Harris: … that time has finally come... and as for you Ashlyn…

Tick…

Theodore Harris: … your...

The outermost lights in the arena shut off and the most distant parts of it disappear into the dark.

Tick…

Theodore Harris: … time...

The next set of lights then go dark and the upper levels in the arena and the furthest parts of the lowest level fade from view.

Tick…

Theodore Harris: … is...

The lights around the ring go out, leaving only the ring itself lit and surrounded by darkness.

Tick…

Theodore Harris: … up.

The lights over the ring turn off, leaving just the image of the clock on the screen as the only source of light.

Tick.

The clock reaches zero and the tron shuts off as well.

Silence reigns and every moment seems to stretch in length.

Kavinsky’s “Deadcruiser” begins to play.

The audience in attendance roars in response!

Kris Cruise: When’s the last time we heard this?!

Stephy Auger: Why?! What the hell does he think he’s doing here?!

A single spotlight comes on, shining down on the top of the ramp illuminating an individual standing there, their feet set wide apart, arms extended out to either side, back facing the ring and wearing a familiar jacket on with the words “Chaos Stryke” written across the back of it.

Kris Cruise: It has been over a year since we last saw Logan Alexander in an FGA ring or even attending an FGA event.

Stephy Auger: And you know why that was? It’s because Ashlyn De Luca proved that she was simply better than him. That she was the greater half of the Chaotics. She beat him down and tossed him away and after all that he’s done to her and after she gets her hands on him, he’s going to wish that he had stayed there.

Finally, he lowers his arms and turns towards the ring…

...revealing not Logan Alexander, but a less-than-impressive, skinny, spray-tanned mock-up of the former Tag Team Champion! Upon a closer look, the shirtless man donning the tights is a familiar, nervous-looking twenty-something.

Kris Cruise: Why…

Stephy Auger: What? Who is that?

Kris Cruise: It-- that’s Marvin. My Uber guy. He’s going into business for himself.

Stephy Auger: The same guy? Holy crap, Kris, how long is this ride?

Theodore Harris steps over to Marvin, clasping one of his hands firmly and pulling him in close for a few moments to say something that the mic Theodore is carrying doesn’t pick up.

Ashlyn De Luca: Hey! Hey! What the hell is this?

The lights are still turned out on De Luca and we can only vaguely make out her gesturing as she moves toward the ropes inside the ring.

Ashlyn De Luca: You’re seriously out here to waste my time with the Uber guy? THIS was your big reveal? What is he, like-- like some lowkey wrestling prodigy? Hey-- hey, Uber Guy, I should’ve choked you out in the middle of this ring last week. I KNEW you were a stooge! Whatever. I’ll fight him. I’ll fight him, I’ll fight Kris Cruise, I’ll fight you, Theo, I’ll fight Joe, I don’t care who it is. I’ll run the Goon Gauntlet right now. It’ll be a great warmup for the Gold Rush Rumble. But obviously you don’t have anybody on the FGA roster that’s got your back.

Theodore begins walking down the ramp and Marvin, still nervous but at least trying to not look like it, follows a step behind. Theodore lifts his mic again.

Theodore Harris: Well that’s good. It’s good that you’re ready for this. Marvelous Marvin has been waiting for his chance to get back at you for last week.

Ashlyn bellows at the name “Marvelous Marvin.” Theodore smirks back at her then glances at Marvin.

Theodore Harris: It’s all good, Marvelous. You can take off the jacket and get in there.

The marvelous one’s eyes go wide and the colour drains from his face. He looks towards Ashlyn and then back to Theodore.

Ashlyn De Luca: Aha… no, please.

De Luca steps forward, sitting on the bottom rope, pushing up against the top, beckoning Marvin inside.

Stephy Auger: What are we about to witness…?

Theodore watches Marvin for a few more moments, then begins laughing.

Kris Cruise: What--?

Stephy Auger: Don’t look at me. You’re the one paying for this ride.

Theodore Harris: Sorry about that Marvin. I had to overplay that one just to see your response.

Theodore turns his gaze back towards Ashlyn, lifting his left arm and pointing towards her.

Theodore Harris: While I do enjoy bait-and-switch, I think that misdirection is much better for these situations.

The arena lights come up revealing an irate Ashlyn De Luca fuming in the ring.

And a second person standing in the ring behind her.

Kris Cruise: Oh…

Dressed in black wrestling boots with silver laces and a matching pair of wrestling tights and compression shirt that are black with silver trim as well as a plain black mask covering his nose and mouth, his back facing the hard cameras, his left arm raised and extended with a finger gun pointed towards the back of Ashlyn’s head, and his head turned to look down the length of his arm at her... is Logan Alexander.

Stephy Auger: Oh God, Ash!

The loud, steady pop from the audience is enough to make Ashlyn De Luca visibly cringe. She stands upright, but she doesn’t fully turn. She angles her head just slightly…

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

Ashlyn De Luca’s fists clench and unclench indecisively at her sides, her right hand threatening to drop the mic each time. Her head is turned far enough that she can clearly tell someone is standing behind her via her peripherals… but she doesn’t fully make that turn.

Ashlyn De Luca: ...you shouldn’t have come back.

Logan doesn’t move or react. He just keeps his eyes focused and his finger pointed at her.

Theodore Harris: But you knew he was going to.

Theodore makes his way down the last few steps of the ramp to the ringside area, starting to walk around towards the far side of the ring. ‘Marvelous Marvin’ meanwhile makes a hasty retreat back up the ramp and to the backstage area.

Theodore Harris: This moment was always going to happen, it was just a matter of exactly when and where. Well… it’s here and now! So if you think you have it in you Ashlyn, why don’t you turn around and kick his ass!

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

As soon as Ashlyn turns, the former champions, partners and friends lock eyes. Logan’s arm moves slightly so that his finger points right between Ashlyn’s eyes. He then mimes the finger gun firing, bringing his hand back close to his face, before clenching his fingers to leave just his thumb extended, then drawing that thumb across his neck.

Kris Cruise: Is this--? I think this is official! The referee is calling for it!

The limited audience erupts, deceptive in their loudness as the ref emphatically signals for the bell. De Luca stares at Logan, face beet-red as she stands there, seething for the first two seconds. Finally, Ashlyn sprints forward, lashing out with a Bicycle Kick!

Logan side-steps De Luca, sending her into the ropes! As De Luca rebounds, Logan swings for a vicious Lariat, but De Luca ducks! She hits the ropes again and rebounds, leaving her feet for a flying forearm-- only to be stalled with a CRACK! in midair as Logan plants his feet and smashes his own forearm into De Luca’s skull. De Luca hits the mat with a thud!

Stephy Auger: He shouldn’t even be here… he shouldn’t even be here!

Kris Cruise: It was just one swing. Just one strike and De Luca goes down!

Logan stares down at his former partner with an indistinguishable-- but quite clearly cold-- expression. De Luca begins to stand upright, but Logan doesn’t give her the opportunity to stand on her own volition. He guides her upright, hands around her jaw before forcing her into the ropes. Logan rears back for a hard knife-edged chop-- and he fires the shot off! But ADL drops to the mat and rolls out of the ring.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

De Luca shakes her head, running her hand down her face-- and she freezes as she locks eyes with Theodore Harris on the ramp. De Luca shoots a venomous look up toward him before turning around… right into a Baseball Slide that catches her in the sternum! With an “uuhff!” De Luca is driven to the ground! Logan slides out of the ring, snatching Ashlyn up by the arm, whipping her first into the apron, and then spine-first into the barricade! Ashlyn howls in pain, shaking as she staggers forward. Logan strides forward and grunts, throwing all of his power into a Lariat that flips De Luca head-over-heels in mid-air! She crashes to the floor, hissing in agony!

Kris Cruise: There is no wasted motion with Logan Alexander! He’s moving better than he ever has!

Logan guides Ashlyn upright, rolling her into the ring before the referee can begin his count! Ashlyn reaches a knee in the center of the ring, but Logan dives on top of her as soon as he enters the ring, driving her to the canvas with a deep side headlock! Logan spins out of the hold and moves to De Luca’s legs, reaching for her left ankle, but Ashlyn turns onto her back, firing a boot into Logan’s shoulder! Logan grunts, recoiling in pain as Ashlyn rolls to her feet with surprising speed. She strides forward, blasting the rising Logan Alexander with a Bicycle Knee Strike!

Stephy Auger: HA! Just that quick!

Jarred, Logan staggers to his feet and De Luca charges forward, delivering a Bicycle Kick! The shot sends Logan through the top and middle rope, landing unsteadily on the apron.

Kris Cruise: Ashlyn’s got Logan reeling…

De Luca rises to her feet again, her expression turning frantic. She rushes to the rope, leaping to the center, before rebounding with a Triangle Hurricanrana over the ropes in an attempt to send Alexander flying from the apron to the floor-- but Logan shifts Ashlyn’s weight, countering with a Spinout Sitout Powerbomb on the apron! Both former Chaotics bounce off, slamming to the floor below!

Stephy Auger: GOD, WHY?!

Kris Cruise: What a counter! What a Sitout Powerbomb by Logan Alexander right on the hardest part of the ring!

The sequence is met with hollers and applause from the audience. Ashlyn writhes in agony, arms wrapped around her ribcage while Logan pushes himself to his feet, adjusting his mask before his focus returns to De Luca. Again, Logan forces Ashlyn upright, hoisting her by her trunks and her arm, sliding her into the ring beneath the bottom rope once more

Kris Cruise: Again, Logan Alexander takes this fight back to the inside before the official has to get involved. Logan’s making his intentions really clear here.

Stephy Auger: Yeah? I’m glad it’s clear for you, because I’m still trying to figure out what planet this guy is on right now. What’s with the facemask, Cruise? Explain it to me like I’m an idiot.

Kris Cruise: Well, I think the mask is self-explanatory--

Stephy Auger: HE’S WRESTLING A MATCH!

Kris Cruise: And hasn’t even gotten winded! Wear a mask, folks.

Logan approaches ADL on his knees, looking for the first cover of the match-- but Ashlyn rolls onto her stomach, away from Logan. She clenches her jaw, turning to glare at Alexander. Logan looks back… and Ashlyn lunges forward, slapping Logan across the face! Logan’s head recoils from the shot, but he’s otherwise unflinching. De Luca crawls toward the ropes, grunting in pain, favoring her back as she pulls herself upright. Calmly, Logan reaches his feet in the center of the ring. De Luca cries out in pain as she pulls herself up to her feet. She turns around and strides toward Logan again. She rears back, slapping him a second time!

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Logan touches the spot on his mask where the second shot connected, narrowing his eyes at De Luca, but still unmoving. Ashlyn shakes her head, muttering something that Logan hears but the cameras cannot pickup. She swings for a closed fist at Logan, but he captures her arm! Logan spins Ashlyn around and hooks her in a rear waist-lock-- before launching her through the air with a German Suplex! Ashlyn lands accordion-style on her neck before flopping to the mat!

Stephy Auger: AHHH!

Kris Cruise: Logan Alexander just chucked his former partner across the ring like a handbag! Any chance we had of Logan exercising any restraint here--

Logan hoists De Luca up, only to slam her to the mat with a bridging deadlift German Suplex!

Kris Cruise: --is gone.

The ref drops to make a count, but Logan maintains his grip and rolls to his feet, pulling ADL along for another German Suplex!

“THREE!”

Ashlyn cries out, reaching for the ropes as Logan pulls her upright again-- but she’s thrown back for another German Suplex!

“FOUR!”

De Luca’s actions are visibly slowed now. She fires a weak elbow back, connecting with Logan’s neck, but not nearly hard enough to shake him. Logan pops his hips and drives De Luca down with another German Suplex!

“FIVE!”

De Luca bounces onto her stomach from the impact as Logan releases his grip. Quickly, Alexander rolls over De Luca, hooking her leg and arm as he does so and rises to his feet before smashing her to the mat with an Inverted Death Valley Driver! De Luca bounces onto her back! She tries to sit up… but flops back to the mat as the audience applauds the series. Logan Alexander sits next to De Luca, staring at her for a moment. It isn’t until Ashlyn begins rolling toward the ropes that Logan moves.

Stephy Auger: Five German Suplexes and a Burning Hammer, but this psycho isn’t even going for a cover!

Kris Cruise: He knows his partner well. He knows how stubborn she is and how resilient she is in spite of all of her negative qualities. Logan knows he has to do more to break down his former tag team partner.

Stephy Auger: OR he’s a psycho and just wants to hurt poor Ash!

Logan looks out toward the audience for the first time as chants of “WELCOME BACK!” begin to circulate. His reaction-- if any-- is indistinguishable. His gaze returns to ADL as she pulls herself up to her knees, leaning against the middle rope for support, shrieking in a mixture of frustration in pain. Ashlyn turns, shooting a look of rage back toward Logan through clenched teeth.

Kris Cruise: Jeez-- if looks could kill, the ref would have to call this one.

With a cry, Ashlyn rushes toward Logan, sprinting at him at full speed--

CRACK!

Logan blasts De Luca with a Super Kick! Ashlyn’s head snaps back and saliva sails through the air. Ashlyn staggers back, bouncing off of the ropes… but unsteadily charges at Logan again, running right into an Ace Cutter that spikes her into the canvas! Ashlyn contorts dangerously before flopping to the mat!

Kris Cruise: STRYKE FORCE!

Logan pushes De Luca over, hooking both legs for the cover!

ONE
.
.
.
.
TWO
.
.
.
.
THRE-!

Ashlyn throws her shoulder off the canvas to an eruption of mixed emotions from the live audience! The camera pans to many of the shocked faces and mannerisms from the crowd-- but in the ring, Logan Alexander seems hardly surprised, giving the slight shake of his head toward De Luca, or toward himself, as he rises to his feet. He takes several steps back, backing himself into the corner and grabbing the ropes on either side of himself, laser-focused on ADL as she groggily pushes herself up to a knee. Logan sprints forward for an Enzuigiri, and connects--

--with the top turnbuckle as Ashlyn pulls herself out to the apron through the middle-and-bottom ropes at the last moment! Logan darts back to his feet, but Ashlyn grabs a hold of his head as she scales the ropes and swings herself into the ring, driving Logan to the mat with a Tornado DDT! Ashlyn pounds a fist into the mat and pulls herself to her feet, matching pace with Alexander-- and drives him down with a Spike DDT before he can fully reach a vertical base! Wasting no time, De Luca scrambles into the cover, hooking the far leg!

ONE
.
.
.
.
TWO
.
.
.
.
Kickout!

Kris Cruise: Logan and Ashlyn each making their first pinfall attempts of this matchup, but to no-- oh-- Ashlyn may be thinking high risk!

De Luca has rolled out to the apron and is already scaling the turnbuckles as Cruise speaks. She perches herself on the top, clutching at her own ribs-- and her eyes widen as Logan Alexander kips up to his feet!

Stephy Auger: Wh…how?!

Logan stares daggers into Ashlyn. She tries to backtrack and step back down to the second turnbuckle, but Logan rushes to the corner and steps first up to the middle rope and then swiftly up to the top as he grabs De Luca… and launches her through the air with a Superplex from the top!

Kris Cruise: In one fluid motion--

...and De Luca shifts her weight in midair, landing torso-first across Logan’s head and neck as he brings her down for the Superplex! Ash rolls away and the referee immediately rushes to Logan, dropping to a knee as the audience groans with an “OOOOOHHH…”

Kris Cruise: Oh my God. I think Ashlyn tried to shift her weight and land into a pinning predicament there, but she didn’t get that full rotation and she just crashed with her full weight right down on the head and neck of Logan Alexander.

Stephy Auger: One, it’s not ballet. And B, this is what Logan gets! This is exactly what he gets!

The official questions Logan, who stubbornly shoves him away as he reaches his hands and knees. Logan tries to stagger upright, but loses his balance-- and staggers right into the arms of the awaiting Ashlyn De Luca who leaps upright before smashing Logan face-first to the canvas with the Leaping Sitout Facebuster… the Flyleaf!

Kris Cruise: Flyleaf!

Stephy Auger: Welcome back, and goodbye Logan Alexander, ahahaha!

Ashlyn pushes Logan onto his back, cradling his head with one arm, pulling at the far leg with the other and grapevining the near leg in a deep cover!

ONE
.
.
.
.
TWO
.
.
.
.
THRRRE-!

“AAAAAAAAGGGGHH!”

Ashlyn De Luca shrieks at the top of her lungs in fury as Alexander rolls his shoulder off the mat! The audience erupts into applause, rallying behind Logan as De Luca looks frantically at the ref-- before mounting Logan, hammering away with right hands!

Kris Cruise: Logan kicked out of the Flyleaf and Ashlyn is beside herself!

Ashlyn lashes out with a sharp cry every time she lands a closed fist! The referee begins a five count, but before he reaches two, Ashlyn transitions into forearms and elbows! Logan covers up for the most part, but every third or fourth strike catches him high on the cheek! Finally, De Luca breathes heavily, pushing herself off of Alexander. Logan adjusts his mask, sitting upright--

Kris Cruise: Look out!

--and De Luca hits the ropes, rebounding with a Shining Wizard to the side of the head! Logan rolls across the mat, and immediate De Luca scrambles out of the ring, eyes fixated on the steel steps. She runs her hands down her face, almost as if trying to stifle the grin that crosses it. De Luca shoots one more look back toward the stunned Logan Alexander before she marches to the steps and pushes the top half off of the base!

Stephy Auger: I see where this is going!

Kris Cruise: Ashlyn De Luca is risking disqualification here, but needless to say, I don’t think she minds. The official has been pretty lenient with some of these count-outs but Ash is crossing a line here.

Alexander reaches a knee near the ropes, but De Luca grabs him by the ankles and pulls him to the outside-- but first trapping Logan in the ring skirt! Ashlyn fires away with a series of forearms and elbows to the base of Logan’s head and neck! Logan grunts, the blows forcing him against the apron. De Luca follows up with a high roundhouse, catching Alexander in the temple. Alexander slumps down, disappearing behind the ring skirt. De Luca turns, grinning toward the nearest camera, shaking her head.

Ashlyn De Luca: Same old story, huh?

Ashlyn pulls the base of the steel steps closer to the announce table and flips her hair out of her eyes, taking a deep breath before she walks toward the apron.

Kris Cruise: Ashlyn’s trying to put Logan right back on the shelf!

De Luca marches to the area where she left Logan and lifts up the ring skirt…

...but Logan’s disappeared!

Stephy Auger: Uh-oh!

Ashlyn throws the ring skirt down and stands upright, looking into the ring with a panic, but there’s no sign of Alexander there! She turns toward the steel steps-- right in time to see Logan sprint forward and use the base of the steps as a launching pad to catch air and smash into De Luca with a Spear! De Luca is flipped onto her stomach from the impact of the move and Logan springs to his feet, gazing out into the audience for the second time as they come alive in their version of a roar!

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

“LOGAN!”

Ashlyn De Luca crawls away shakily. Logan calmly follows her as she rounds the corner, coughing and heaving. De Luca stops, clutching her ribs with one arm, using the other to pull herself up with the ring apron, and then the bottom rope. As Logan approaches, Ashlyn glares at him. She rears back and fires off a knife-edged chop! SMACK! Logan’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t flinch. He advances and De Luca staggers back. She fires off another chop! SMACK! Alexander tenses. He pauses. Then advances.

Stephy Auger: I’m gonna throw in the towel!

Kris Cruise: You stay seated.

Stephy Auger: For Logan! He’s basically taking shotgun rounds to the chest out here!

De Luca mutters something, rounding another corner, putting the ring post between herself and Alexander. As Logan rounds the corner, Ashlyn slides into the ring, staggering to her feet. Logan climbs onto the apron, staring back at De Luca, who shakes in pain, but beckons Alexander into the ring. Logan gazes back at her, unmoving for several seconds as the audience sustains the fever pitch. The referee looks between both competitors warily.

Stephy Auger: Cruise, I can’t take it!

Logan darts into the ring and charges De Luca! Ashlyn tries to fire off a series of strikes, but Logan takes her to the mat with a double-leg takedown! Ashlyn sits upright and captures Logan in a front facelock, grunting in pain. She tries to transition into a Front Guillotine, but Logan gets his feet planted and rises upright, lifting Ashlyn along with him! Logan shifts De Luca onto his shoulders in the Fireman’s Carry position! De Luca squirms violently… and reaches out, grabbing the referee’s shirt!

Kris Cruise: Hey! Hey!

The referee tries to rip himself free, and finally does, wrenching himself away from Ashlyn, but falling to his knee, angled away from the competitors as De Luca slips out of Logan’s grip! Logan turns around and Ashlyn aims for a swift, low kick between the legs--

Kris Cruise: Damnit!

--and Logan captures her foot!

Stephy Auger: Damnit!

Ashlyn’s face goes blank as she realizes her predicament. Logan’s eyes burn into De Luca’s in a very transparent glare. Ashlyn goes for a right hand, but Logan ducks and sweeps De Luca’s free leg! He brings both legs up, stepping through, looking to turn Ashlyn over into a Sharpshooter! De Luca flails on the mat, methodically shifting her weight every time Logan attempts to turn her over! Logan does manage to bring his left leg over Ashlyn’s legs and turn her onto her stomach, but Ashlyn uses the momentum to continue rolling through, back onto her spine! Logan masks possible frustration, immediately shifting his grip, looking for the Cloverleaf!

Kris Cruise: Ashlyn is fighting this with everything she’s got!

Alexander loses a hold of one of Ashlyn’s legs and she kicks up, hitting him in his stomach. A second kick catches Logan in the ribcage. Ashlyn goes for a third upkick, but Logan captures her leg again and tucks both feet beneath his arms. Alexander leans back and catapults De Luca toward the turnbuckles!

Kris Cruise: Face-first!

Ashlyn De Luca: No, look! Look at those cat-like reflexes!

De Luca latches onto the top turnbuckle and steps up onto it, turning to ropewalk while the unaware Logan Alexander rises to his feet! Logan has barely turned before De Luca springs from the ropes, driving him to the mat with a Somersault Blockbuster! De Luca cries out in agony, holding her own ribs as she lands, but Logan is already stirring! De Luca reaches her feet a second before Alexander and drives a knee into his midsection before hoisting him up for a Brainbuster to an impressed gasp from the audience! Logan is driven into the canvas! Ashlyn shrieks again, climbing to her feet.

Kris Cruise: Jesus. Screaming like a banshee.

Stephy Auger: It’s a warrior cry, Cruise! What a comeback tale! Get on your feet!

Kris Cruise: I’m n--

Stephy Auger: On your feet!

Ashlyn De Luca steps out to the apron, heaving, holding her ribs as she ascends the turnbuckles. A wicked grin crosses her face as she stares at the motionless Logan Alexander in the center of the ring. Shakily, De Luca perches herself on the top turnbuckle. She shouts “I told you to stay gone!” De Luca stands upright, shooting a glare up the ramp toward Theodore Harris before she leaps from the top rope, sailing through the air for a Frog Splash!

“YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

The audience roars as Logan springs upright to capture De Luca and drive her to the mat with the Cutter! De Luca is spiked on the crown of her head before folding awkwardly to the mat.

Stephy Auger: SSSS…

Stephy Auger throws her headset to the ground.

Kris Cruise: STRYKE FORCE!

Logan looks at the contorted figure of his tag team partner for just a second before pushing her onto her back and leaning into a cover, hooking the near leg! The audience counts along with the ref!

“ONE!”

“TWO!”

“THR…?! “

Kris Cruise: Wait… what?

Alexander releases his hold on De Luca and breaks the cover just before three. He slowly stands and looks down at the sprawled out form of his former student. For a few moments, he just watches her. Then his eyes narrow. He steps around to Ashlyn’s feet, picks them up, steps through, hooks her legs and turns her over to lock in his signature submission hold!

Kris Cruise: He isn’t content with a pinfall victory. He wants Ashlyn De Luca to tap out!

Logan steps into the Sharpshooter and sits down in it, eyes intense with rage as the referee asks De Luca if she’ll submit! De Luca is motionless, arms buried beneath her own body, a pool of slobber on the mat beneath her mouth. The referee asks if she can continue-- and De Luca mumbles something incoherent, eyes fluttering, but never quite opening. The referee looks between Ashlyn and Logan in concern.

Kris Cruise: The referee really needs to call this thing. Ashlyn De Luca is in no way able to defend herself.

The referee tries to shake one of Ashlyn’s arm’s free, but it’s still buried underneath her body-- now more-so as Logan sits lower in the hold. The referee asks if Ashlyn submits, and Ashlyn again, mumbles incoherently. The referee rises to his feet and turns, calling for the bell!

Kris Cruise: I think Ashlyn just submitted! She-- Jesus, look at her eyes. She’s completely out.

The bell sounds!

J.A. Aldridge: The winner of this match, as a result of a submission, Logan Alexander!

This earns a deep roar of approval from the audience and “Deadcruiser” hits the PA system. The referee then moves over to Logan, telling him that the match is over and to release the hold. Logan just keeps his gaze locked on Ashlyn, ignoring the referee. The ref moves into his field of vision, repeats his message and then waves Logan off as well. It draws no response from Logan, so the referee physically tries to get him to release the hold. In response to that, Logan tucks himself in more tightly and shifts his body position, torquing the hold at a different angle. Abruptly, his music is cut.

Kris Cruise: Wait… Logan isn’t releasing his hold on Ashlyn… In fact, he looks like he’s applying *more* pressure on her back.

Stephy Auger: Someone has got to get in there and stop this right now! Ashlyn could be hurt!

The referee quickly stands and signals towards the back, then gets right back to trying to pry Logan loose. The bell rings again but it draws no attention from the two men in the ring. It only takes ten seconds, that feels like an eternity, for two more referees and a couple of trainers to slide into the ring. They are quick to move in around Logan and work to pull him loose and free Ashlyn. It takes another twenty seconds to pry loose his hold and the referees and one trainer fall into a pile with him beside Ashlyn.

Stephy Auger: Finally!

One trainer is quick to move in to start checking on Ashlyn while the second trainer extracts himself from the pile. The three refs are then able to back Logan away into one of the corners of the ring easily as he offers no resistance to them. The refs back off from Logan, and he just remains leaning back against the turnbuckles. His gaze continues to remain on Ashlyn. Theodore Harris moves around the ring swiftly, climbing onto the ring apron in that same corner and can be seen conversing with the referees, one of whom appears to motion for Logan and Theodore to head to the back

Stephy Auger: Get them the hell out of here! Are you seeing this, Cruise? Did I say “psychopath” or did I not? This man is a menace! He’s a disgrace! It’s disgusting!

One of the referees turns away from Logan and approaches the trainers, likely looking for a quick update on De Luca. The trainers support her weight as they have slightly lifted her off the mat. Logan finally turns his gaze away from Ashlyn and looks sidelong towards Theodore. Theodore looks back, then nods. In a sudden burst of motion, Logan blasts one referee with a stiff palm thrust, sending him tumbling backwards, and then uncorks a super kick at the next closest ref, knocking him flat.

Kris Cruise: Aw, man…

Stephy Auger: YOU SEE?! I TOL-- HELP! SECURITY! OH MY GOD, HELP! CALL 911! SOMEBODY TACKLE THIS MAN!

Kris Cruise: This is incredibly disappointing.

The third referee turns towards Logan, who springs forward, grabbing the referee by the head and drops him with a cutter!

Stephy Auger: OH GOD! WHO’S PAYING THESE FINES?!

Kris Cruise: Logan Alexander has snapped. He’s crossed a line here and--

Stephy Auger: ARE YOU STILL PAYING FOR THIS UBER TRIP?! IT’S GONE SOUTH, CRUISE!

Kris Cruise: It really has. Logan Alexander is a man possessed and we really need to get some assistance out here.

Logan pops right back up off the mat. The two trainers freeze, glancing towards Logan while still holding the mostly limp form of Ashlyn De Luca about half an arm’s length off the mat between them. Logan dashes past them, hits the ropes and comes back towards them, jumps up and places one foot against the back of Ashlyn’s head and neck, driving her back to the mat with a curbstomp!

Kris Cruise: This is absolutely unnecessary. I mean, I get it. Logan Alexander lost a year of his life because of Ashlyn De Luca but he cannot sink to her level. Ashlyn has a family. She has a child watching this right now. A child that Logan has met, that looks up to Logan…

The two trainers quickly scramble away as Logan glances towards them. He looks down at Ashlyn, then drops to the mat and rolls out of the ring. He walks right past Theodore, who doesn’t utter a word to him. Logan walks over to the timekeeper, pushes him aside and grabs one of the folding chairs behind him. He closes it up and heads back to the ring, sliding the chair inside. Cruise shouts out to Logan as he passes by.

Kris Cruise: Logan, stop! Think this through!

As Logan climbs back into the ring, a pair of FGA security guards rush down the ramp and slide into the ring as well, one after the other. Logan and the first guard get to their feet at the same time and charge one another. Logan quickly sidesteps the first guard and spears down the second one as he gets to his feet! Logan rolls over and kips up to his feet just before the first guard can reach him and is able grab, lift and swing the guard around, hitting him with a spinebuster!

Stephy Auger: What are you guys doing?! TRANQ HIS ASS!

Kris Cruise: ...he-- he’s not a bear…

Getting back up, Logan retrieves his chair as another trio of guards reach the ring and he flattens them with several quick, precise chair shots, leaving bodies strewn around the ring. He turns his head and once again stares back at Ashlyn. He then looks at the chair he’s holding.

Stephy Auger: Logan Alexander just murdered this town’s independent wrestling scene.

He walks towards her and drops the chair on the mat. He then reaches down and grabs her by the hair, pulling her back up to her feet before setting her up in a standing head scissors with the chair on the mat behind her. Logan pauses long enough to glance around at the people assembled in the crowd.

He then jumps forward, grabbing hold of Ashlyn as he goes, to perform a flipping piledriver onto the chair!

Kris Cruise: Enough is enough!

Stephy Auger: It’s been enough! Who is okay with this?! Who told this jerk he was allowed to come back?!

Logan sits up and rolls over towards Ashlyn. Dropping onto all fours, he moves his head close to her, bringing the front of his mask close to one of her ears. He remains like that for several moments before sliding backwards, out of the ring and into the custody of a third batch of FGA security, who promptly escort him from the ringside area and towards the back. Theodore Harris follows along as trainers and EMT’s move in to clean up the carnage left behind.

Kris Cruise: From this point forward? We’re using Lyft.

[FGA Office]

We go backstage where Ashley Marie Chase is taping up her fists as if she is getting ready for a no holds barred street fight.

AMC: Tonight I finally get my one on one match against that intolerable jackass Mark Bisley. For months I have been waiting for this one on one chance! I have watched him interfere in my matches because he was scared of the beating that I would give him if I had the title instead of him.

AMC finishes taping up her wrists and hands and starts shadowboxing.

AMC: I have endured the beatdowns by Marky as he tried in vain to keep me out of the title picture. I have seen him steal my win and MY title as he pinned Ashley Sands because he knew he could not pin me!

AMC now starts shadow kick boxing as it appears she is bringing everything she has to this match.

AMC:I have watched and chuckled as he tries to stir the pot between me and Ashley Sands. He goes on and on about how we hate each other and how he just brought the truth to the forefront. Maybe he is right and maybe he is not but tonight that doesn’t matter because you have to face me, not Ashley Sands and not Antoinette Sands! You face ASHLEY MARIE CHASE aka THE CROWN JEWEL OF FGA!!!

AMC stops loosening up and looks toward the camera.

AMC: Any issues me and Ashley Sands may have will be dealt with tomorrow but tonight, it is all about you and me Markie and the FGA 15 championship! You talked a lot when you were trying to throw me off my game and when you were trying to make yourself believe you were better than any member of AAA! Well these days you have been quiet and I wonder is that because you realize that i can’t be stopped by the likes of you? Or is it out of fear? Have you finally realized Markie that you are in for an ass whooping that you have had coming to you for months now?

AMC smiles and starts chuckling to herself.

AMC: Tonight I get to fulfill two goals. First, I whoop your ass and take that FGA 15 Championship and make it mean something again. Then, I go out and win the Gold Rush Rumble, securing myself a shot at the big belt. Tonight, the Era of AMC begins and you Markie get to be the first hurdle that I will overcome!

AMC smiles as the camera fades to black.

[FGA Office]

Taking a casual stroll in the corridors backstage at the Melrose Ballroom, making sure that the 15 Championship belt is prominently slung across his shoulder so that anyone who passes him – as long as they socially distance, of course – can see it, Mark Bisley looks calm and confident ahead of this evening as he graces the camera with his presence

Mark Bisley: Strength. Let me tell you about strength. For some people when you say the word “strength” all they can think of is somebody with a bodybuilder’s physique which they gained from completely natural and above the board means…

Bisley winks at the camera at that one, as he knows that we know that’s clearly not the case

Mark Bisley: …lauded by people who clearly don’t have any deep insecurities in their lives as being what a wrestler should look like, because if somebody doesn’t have a “godlike” physique that obviously means they’re not a wrestler, which means people such as myself are not fit to be a wrestler. The thing is, this isn’t strength. Physical strength? Absolutely, but the thing is that unless you’re planning on finishing off your opponent by tearing a phone book in half in front of them and hoping that it scares them into forfeiting the match that is not true strength, not least because it will leave you deathly afraid of somebody passing you a beaker backstage and asking you to fill it. This is why having muscles upon muscles is not true strength, it’s something to hide behind as you convince yourself that being able to bench press a 4x4 is going to help you.

With no small hint of condescension in his eyes, Bisley shakes his head

Mark Bisley: Allow me to tell you what strength is: strength is the ability to impose your will on a match, to make an opponent fall in line with what you expect them to do in a match, so that you know where they will be before they realise where they are. And that kind of strength doesn’t come with giving radioactive urine samples, oh no, it comes from technique, precision, and from planning. For example, this evening I intend to make Ashley the…

A momentary pause leads to Bisley breaking off from his spiel and looking towards the camera man

Mark Bisley: Don’t suppose you’ve been keeping track of where exactly the various Ashleys are ranked at this point?

Silence

Mark Bisley: Oh well, I guess I better upgrade them to their full name so I don’t end up confusing myself. This evening I intend to make Ashley Marie Chase act out the match that I have stored…

A tap to the side of the head

Mark Bisley: …not because I can toss her around like some ragdoll, but because I am not only intending to wrestle the match that I intend to wrestle, I am going to make her a willing partner in this match until it’s time to switch off the lights on her challenge so I can hit the showers and get myself ready for this evening’s other activities.

Clapping his hands together, Bisley looks directly down the lens of the camera

Mark Bisley: I’m sure a few of you sitting at home right now are shaking your heads, saying “Nuh-uh” and no doubt tweeting something about me as deeply unsavoury as that second bag of Cheetos you opened just now, because you’re convinced that it’s Ashley Marie Chase’s time to shine and get the big win you think she so richly deserves, and I’m sure you honestly believe all of this to be true so I cannot blame you for being upset…but be honest with yourselves for a moment, please be honest with yourselves, and realise that maybe what I’m doing here is letting you down gently by helping you taper your expectations just a tad. There is a reason why I am the Frontier Grappling Arts 15 Champion, and it isn’t because I collected enough tokens from cereal packets, it’s simply because I was placed in the ring with somebody who thought they were a deserving champion and I demonstrated that they weren’t.

The expression Bisley gives to camera is one of the most insincere apology imaginable

Mark Bisley: And that’s the point, which goes to both my opponent for this evening and whoever is cheering her on out there, as 15 Champion it is expected of me to demonstrate why I hold this title and nobody else does, and that involves me outclassing opponents in the period between the opening bell and having my hand raised, and the most efficient way to make that happen is to make them wrestle the match I have mapped out for them not by bludgeoning them like some blunt, meatheaded instrument but my manoeuvring them into a sequence of events that takes them from being bright eyed and bushy tailed to repeatedly slapping their hand on the mat. Of course she’ll disagree, and she has plenty of ideas of her own, which is why the onus is on me to close down one avenue after another. If she’s using speed, work over a leg so she loses half a yard of pace; if she’s looking to strike her way out of trouble, work over the arm so there’s less behind those strikes; if she wants to take to the air, take her to the ground – these are obvious to me, and I’m sure they’re obvious to you too, but they’re the first three pages of a book I have that’s…

Bisley holds up his hand with his fingers at least an inch apart, indicating just how thick his mental playbook is

Mark Bisley: …all of which will prevent Ashley Marie Chase being able to work an Ashley Marie Chase match, meaning the only option available to her is to be a willing participant in a Mark Bisley match, at which point she’ll realise she has no hope of winning because I work a Mark Bisley match better than anybody else alive, and that’s why I am and will continue to be 15 Champion.

Bisley folds his arms and nods to camera to say, yeah, he’s done

Then he isn’t

Mark Bisley: Oh, right, the other thing tonight…

Bisley mocks slapping his own forehead

Mark Bisley: No doubt the smarter of you out there will be saying “Nuh-uh” once more, saying that there’s no way that I can make an entire Gold Rush Rumble wrestle the match I want them to as there’s far too many moving parts in the ring, far too many random variables, and so on, and so on, and to that I have to say…that you’re right, so a round of applause for you.

The condescending look on Bisley’s face as he golf claps indicates he’s being anything but complimentary

Mark Bisley: The question you have to ask yourselves is “Do you think I am not aware of that?”, to which the answer is…are you that dense? Of course I know that I can’t wrestle a battle royale my way, it’s a battle royale dummy! Seriously, do you plan on asking your microwave if it can perform Beethoven’s 6th? I know full well that I can’t take my time breaking down one opponent after another in this thing, just as I know there’s little need to do so as you don’t eliminate people by submission – but that’s why I wanted to talk about strength this evening, because strength also refer to having the sheer willpower to drive yourself through a match such as a battle royale, where you barely know what’s in front of you and have barely a few seconds to work out what’s behind you, so you have to constantly adapt to the situation, something which is enough to break somebody who doesn’t have the strength to do so, but somebody who does? They take every opponent, every scenario, every variable, all of it is taken in their stride as they whittle down the field and get themselves into a position where they could win the thing.

Once again Bisley looks straight down the camera lens

Mark Bisley: You know, it’s almost as if this is a show called Only The Strong Survive, and I’m telling you why I’m far more likely to survive than so many names you could throw at me right now – and why I’ll survive as 15 Champion no matter what happens later on.

[FGA Office]

15 CHAMPIONSHIP
Mark Bisley vs. Ashley Marie Chase

"I Bring the Darkness (End of Days)" by Jim Johnston featuring Tommy Vext begins to play as the aisle way fills up with smoke. AMC rises up from the smoke in full face paint and is trying not to cough from all the smoke.

”Who do you think you are?
You’ve now gone much to far!”

AMC steps through the smoke and looks around at the crowd she then slowly walks toward the ring basically strutting with a smirk as she fist bumps some of the fans

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest, scheduled for one fall with a 15 minute time limit, is for the FGA 15 Championship! Introducing first, the challenger! Hailing from Beverly Hills, California! She is ASHLEY MARIE CHASE!

”I bring the darkness!
I am the thunder!
I come from HELL
And I’ll pull you under!”

AMC walk up the steps, taking a moment to wipe her feet on the apron before getting into the ring. AMC then drops to her knees in the middle of the ring and stretches out her arms and looks out toward the crowd.

Kris Cruise: Ashley Marie Chase finally gets her one on one with Mark Bisley for the 15 Championship here tonight. The personal issues between these two started at the top of the year during the Wildcard Lottery as Mark Bisley stirred the pot between Ashley Marie Chase and Ashley Sands.

Stephy Auger: They don’t call him the smartest guy in the room for nothing! He accurately identified and then furthered the rift between the two Ashleys. Bisley went into a Triple Threat Match with those two over the 15 Championship back at Grapple Kingdom Three. It should have been easy for the two Ashleys to work their numbers advantage and eliminate Bisley. Instead, he attacked all three members of AAA in the build up to the match before leaving Vancouver as the new 15 Champion! Thanks to Bisley, AAA is in ruins, the friendship between Chase and Sands is beyond repair and now AMC will have no one in her corner tonight.

Kris Cruise: Well, Bisley would know all about ruining friendships as he stabbed his former tag team partner and friend Shintaro Majima in the back before driving him out of FGA.

Stephy Auger: “ShiMa” was a lackey. He was a hanger-on. He was a guy that outlived his usefulness and started to hold Bisley back. So he did what any smart man would do and that’s cut his ties.

The arena lights dim to almost pitch blackness, save for a couple of blue lights that pulse in sync with the intro to "Storms End" that is rising in pitch and intensity until the main hook burst forth and, at that very second, the ramp is bathed in blue light as Mark Bisley strides onto the ramp before he turns his head towards the title resting upon his shoulder and raises the belt high above his head while wearing one hell of a self-satisfied smirk upon his face

Keeping his title raised as he makes his way down the ramp, Bisley walks at his own pace as he confidently walks to the ring at his own pace right up until he reaches the ringside area, and once he reaches the ringside area he lowers his arm and breaks into a short dash to give him the momentum to hop onto the ring apron where he crouches for a moment and taps the side of his head a couple of times to the song's beat before he climbs onto the nearest turnbuckles

J.A. Aldridge: Her opponent, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota! Weighing in at 201 pounds! He is the reigning… defending… FGA 15 Champion, MARK BISLEY!

As he stands on the turnbuckles with the title held firmly in his hands, Bisley fixes his eyes on his opponent as he looks down on them and the smirk leaves his face entirely as his eyes move from his opponent to the title and then back to his opponent once more, at which point he climbs down from the turnbuckles and without taking his eyes off his opponent, as he takes a few steps forward so he's stood in the centre of the ring where he drops to a knee and carefully places his title on the mat where he runs his hand over its faceplate while looking his opponent dead in the eye to remind them of one fact: this is my title.

Kris Cruise: You mentioned that Chase would be at a disadvantage because she wouldn't have anyone in her corner. Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t exactly see anyone having Bisley’s back out there, either.

Stephy Auger: That’s what you think. You notice anything missing from this picture?

Kris Cruise: I can’t say that I do.

Stephy Auger: Of course you don’t, Cruise. You never pay attention to the details. Bisley’s towel. His trademark towel is missing from around his neck!

Kris Cruise: Okay, and? What’s that supposed to mean?

Stephy Auger: Well, a little birdie told me that Bisley paid a certain someone a visit earlier tonight. When the time is right, that person will come to the ring, with towel in hand, and do what they’re supposed to do.

Kris Cruise: What the heck is that supposed to even mean?

Stephy Auger: Just sit back and watch it all unfold.

The bell sounds as Chase charges over and knocks Bisley off his feet with a dropkick!

Stephy Auger: Hey! He wasn’t ready!

Kris Cruise: Chase wasted no time going right after Bisley! This is personal for AMC!

The cheers continue when Bisley is returned to the mat with another dropkick! AMC takes a hold of Bisley, runs towards the corner and slams him face-first into the top turnbuckle! Chase continues to pour on the offense as she turns Bisley around before lighting up his chest with knife edge chops! The crowd is solidly behind Chase as she unloads on Bisley with a furry of right hands! Bisley tries to cover up, but some of the punches still connect. AMC then sends Bisley slumping down in the corner with repeated stomps to he chest before applying a foot choke! The ref is quick to give her until the count of five to break the choke.

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

AMC breaks the foot choke… only to reapply it!

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

AMC breaks the choke before marching over towards the center of the ring and letting out a yell at the top of her lungs.

Kris Cruise: Ashley Marie Chase is fired up!

Stephy Auger: She’s letting her emotions get the better of her, which will just lead to her making a costly mistake. She’s playing right into Bisley’s hands.

Chase marches back in the corner to attack when Bisley stops her with a boot to the midsection. AMC is then tossed into the corner before Bisley fires off a stinging knife edge chop. A second knife edge chops connects before Bisley delivers the Minnesota Buzzsaw (repeated shoot kicks to a cornered opponent's chest)! Bisley takes Chase, delivers an irish whip, follows her across the ring into the corner and gets turned around with a boot to the face. AMC quickly hops through the ropes, scales to the top, leaps off and drives Bisley down with a diving bulldog! She makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley gets the shoulder up.

Bisley reverses an irish whip, sending Chase into the ropes. When she returns, she sees Bisley setting up for a back body drop. So she stops, places Bisley in a standing headscissors and hooks his arms to set up the Name Dropper (Pedigree)! Before she can hit the move, Bisley breaks free of the underhooks and counters with a back body drop. Bisley grabs AMC, runs and tosses her out to the apron. As AMC gets up, Bisley rushes into the corner and throws out the Ace Kick (triangle enzuigiri)! He whiffs when AMC ducks the kick. Bisley scrambles back to his feet, only to get caught with a shoulder thrust through the ropes before AMC brings him down with a sunset flip.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley kicks out.

Bisley doubles Chase over with a knee to the midsection. He then turns to head towards the far ropes. Unbeknownst to him, AMC is right behind him. As Bisley turns to hit his back against the ropes, Chase is right there to bash him with a forearm strike! She goes for a running bulldog when Bisley shoves her off into the ropes. When Chase returns, Bisley catches her off the rebound with an overhead belly to belly suplex! The boos continue as he heads over and makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Chase kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Bisley and Chase will be pulling double duty as they’ll also be in the Rumble later. Two things are working in their favor. One, this match is early on in the show and two, this match is going 15 minutes at the most.

Bisley sits up Chase before placing her in a cravate. AMC starts to groan as Bisley cinches down on the hold. The ref is there to ask her if she wants to give up. When Chase refuses, Bisley keeps the cravat applied as he pulls her up off the mat. From there, Bisley hits her with the Iko Uwais (cravat with repeated knees to the head) before bringing her down with Greetings from the Twin Cities (hangman's neckbreaker over the knee)! He makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Chase kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Bisley only gets a count of two.

Stephy Auger: But he remains in control. He weathered the stormed early on and now has a firm grip on this match.

Bisley takes Chase and hoists her up for a canadian backbreaker rack. Before he can bring Chase down, she starts to kick her legs before slipping down from behind. Bisley turns around and gets caught with a back kick to the gut before Chase hits the ropes. When she comes back, she hurdles over a high-speed running dropkick to the knee. Bisley scrambles back to his feet and tries to catch Chase with a superkick to the leg. But AMC catches his foot, swings his leg away from him and brings him down with a Scorpion Death Drop! The cheers continue as she makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Nice reversal there by Chase, but she only gets a count of two.

Stephy Auger: I wonder if it bothers Chase that Ashley Sands is somewhere in the back rooting for Bisley.

Kris Cruise: Oh would you stop it! The pot has been stirred enough between those two.

Chase takes Bisley, moves him in the corner and gives him a taste of his own medicine with repeated shoot kicks to the chest. She sets up for an irish whip when Bisley reverses, sending her into the far corner. As Bisley rushes in, Chase goes to counter with another boot to the face. This time, Bisley catches her foot. The champion proceeds to drag Chase out of the corner until she knocks him down with an enzuigiri! Bilsey tries to pick himself back up as AMC hits the ropes, comes back and brings him back down with a swinging neckbreaker. She makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley kicks out.

Chase picks up Bisley before pulling him into another inverted facelock. She sets up for another Scorpion Death Drop when Bisley spins in place before throwing her down with a bridging norther lights suplex.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
AMC gets the shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Another nearfall for the champion. The action has been fast-paced in this one.

Stephy Auger: It has to be. You only have 15 minutes to work with out there. Besides, the quicker one of them can win this match, the more time they have to rest for the Rumble.

Bisley takes AMC and sends her back into the ropes with an irish whip. The champ goes to catch her off the rebound with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker when Chase counters with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Chase then turns and hits the far ropes. When she returns, Bisley drops to the prone position to duck a diving forearm strike, sending Chase crashing to the mat and rolling out to the apron. While AMC tries to pick herself up, Bisley rushes into the corner, leaps off the turnbuckle and plants her with a slingshot DDT on the apron!

Stephy Auger: Did you heard that thud!

Kris Cruise: How could I not?

Bisley pulls Chase off the floor and pushes her back inside. He then rolls back in, drags Chase away from the ropes and makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Chase gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: I thought that DDT would have knocked Chase out cold. But she still had the wherewithal to get her shoulder up.

Bisley takes Chase, lifts her up across his shoulder and brings her down with Blind Destiny (Canadian backbreaker rack dropped into double knee gutbuster)! Chase rolls over onto all fours before Bisley runs towards the side of the ring, flips off the ropes and flattens her with Corazón de Zorro (lionsault to a face-down opponent's back)! Bisley turns AMC over onto her back before stepping out to the apron. The boos continue as he scales to the top rope, leaps off and comes crashing down on Chase with the Sapienza (frog splash to the opponent's legs)! He then takes control of Chase’s leg before turning her over into the Canadian Maple Leaf!

Kris Cruise: Bisley’s got AMC locked in the L'Étoile du Nord!

J.A. Aldridge: Ten minutes gone by, five remaining!

Stephy Auger: Time is running out for Chase!

Chase continues to groan while she’s trapped with nowhere to go. The official asks her if she wants to give up. When she refuses, Bisley pulls back on the hold. Bisley keeps the hold applied as the fans divert their attention towards the entrance. Stepping out from the back is Ashley Sands… with a white towel in hand.

Kris Cruise: Ashley Sands is here! Wait, what is that in her hand?

Stephy Auger: What does it look like?

Kris Cruise: It looks like a white tow-, wait just a damn minute!

Stephy Auger: HA HA HA!

Bisley looks over and smiles. He motions Sands down to the ring with a headnod.

Kris Cruise: What the hell is going on here?

Stephy Auger: What did I tell you, Cruise? I told you that Mark Bisley paid a certain someone a visit earlier today. All of that trash that AMC talked to Ashley Sands about being the Lesser Ashley or Ashley #2, all of the times she put Sands down, it’s about to come back and bite her in the you-know-what!

Sands makes her way to ringside as she continues to lock down at the white towel. The referee continues to switch his attention back and forth between Sands and Chase.

Kris Cruise: I can’t believe what I’m seeing here.

Stephy Auger: Well you better believe it! Mark Bisley always has a plan! He’s the smartest guy in the room! Remember what he said earlier about strength? Well this is mental strength we’re seeing right here! He has played these two like a puppet on strings for months! Months! He got the 15 Championship! He broke AAA! He helped them destroy their friendship! Now, this is pouring salt in the wound! I love it!

Sands slowly makes her way up the steps with the towel in hand. Bisley is telling her to throw in the towel for Chase. Sands looks down at he towel before looking over at Chase. The referee positions himself to signal for the bell the moment Sands throws in the towel. Sands turns her attention to Bisley… and drops the towel before flipping him off!

Stephy Auger: What?

Kris Cruise: Hell yeah!

Stephy Auger: Ashley Sands, what the hell are you doing!? GAH!

Sands drops to the floor before chucking the towel over her shoulder. A irate Bisley lets go of the hold and heads over towards the ropes. He holds his arms out, as if to ask WTF is Sands doing. Bisley continues to keep his arms held out until AMC rushes up from behind and brings him down with a crucifix!

Stephy Auger: Mark! Noooooo!


ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley kicks out.

Once both grapplers scramble back to their feet, AMC quickly brings Bisley down with a small package.

ONE
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Bisley kicks out.

Chase doubles Bisley over with a boot to the midsection. She sets up for another Name Dropper when Bisley counters with another back body drop. Instead of falling to the floor, AMC lands on the apron. When Bisley turns around, Chase knocks him off his feet with a springboard diving forearm! Chase gets to her feet, rushes back towards the ropes, leaps off and knocks Bisley back down with a springboard roundhouse kick! Bisley is left seeing stars on the mat while AMC sets up shot on the top turnbuckle. Sands is seen repeatedly slapping the apron while Chase waves up Bisley. The 15 Champion starts to stir on the mat as the crowd before getting back to his feet. When he turns around, AMC stands up, leaps off for It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Chase (high crossbody)... and gets countered with a dropkick in mid air!

Kris Cruise: Chase just got the wind knocked out of her!

Stephy Auger: Good! This match would be over if that idiot Ashley Sands played her role!

The boos continue as Bisley pulls Chase back to her feet and delivers rapid fire elbow smashes to the face. After a rolling solebutt doubles her over, Bisley spins her away from him and hits two rolling German Suplexes! He pulls Chase back up to her feet. Before Bisley can hook her arms to hit the release Dragon Suplex, AMC counters with a back elbow to the face. Four more elbows connect before she leans forward, lifting Bisley up onto her back. She then reaches back before bringing Bisley down with the Gucci Drop (backpack stunner)! The cheers continue as AMC hits the far ropes, comes back, leaps up and drives him face-first onto the mat with the Full Facial (Curb Stomp)! Chase then pulls Bisley back up into a standing headscissors before finally bringing him down with the Name Dropper! She makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
THREE!

The crowd cheers as “End of Days” hits the speakers.

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout… aaaaaaand NEEEEWWWWWW FGA 15 Champion, ASHLEY MARIE CHASE!

The cheers continue as Chase gets her arm raised in victory. The referee goes to hand Chase the 15 Championship when Sands pulls it away from him. AMC’s theme is immediately cut off as she looks over at Sands with confusion.

Stephy Auger: Do it, Sands. Do it! Nail her right in the face with that championship belt! That giant forehead is a big enough target.

Kris Cruise: Stop it, Stephy!

The crowd buzzes with anticipation as Sands makes her way over to Chase. Sands looks down at the championship before slowly looking back over at AMC. Sands takes the championship… and places it across Chase’s shoulder.

Kris Cruise: Aw.

Stephy Auger: I think I’m gonna be sick!

Sands and Chase are met with cheers as Sands takes Chase’s arm and raises it. Chase returns the favor by raising Sands’ arm. The two Ashleys embrace with a hug before leaving the ring.

[FGA Office]

Our scene opens up inside the Saturnian Connection dressing room, revealing the blank expression of Nando Fresno: Alien Hunter. His arms are folded and his lips are pulled into what looks to be an attempt at a smile, but his facial muscles don’t fully commit.

Nando Fresno: Is it supposed to look like a can of La Croix?

Our camera pans out, revealing Sadie San Francisco, holding a t-shirt in front of Nando Fresno and Jillian Clay of the Saturnian Connection. The shirt is a blend of orange, white, and pink. The front of it displays a beach in what, at first glance appears to be a sunset-- but upon closer inspection, we see that the giant glowing mass hovering above the beach is Saturn.

Sadie San Francisco: It’s our logo. And-- I dunno, Nando. What does a can of La Croix look like to you? Does it look pretty?

Jillian Clay: Yes.

Nando Fresno: It, uh…

Either avoiding the question or just registering the earlier part of Sadie’s statement, Nando furrows his brow, raising a hand.

Nando Fresno: What do you mean “our logo”?

Sadie San Francisco: I mean our logo. SatCon and Sadie San Francisco.

Jillian Clay: Satconcisco?!

Sadie gives Jill a wink.

Sadie San Francisco: Close.

She turns the shirt around-- revealing the words “CAMP SADIE.” Jillian’s eyes grow wide in delight and she applauds. Nando’s mouth hangs open slightly. He eyes the shirt. Then looks at Sadie.

Nando Fresno: What the f--

Sadie San Francisco: I just needed to put something on the back to test out the font. This is only a demo. Calm down. We’ll put San Francisco on the final batch.

Nando continues to stare at the champion in a lovechild of bewilderment and frustration.

Nando Fresno: You mean Satconcisco.

Sadie San Francisco: Tha-- yes, that’s literally what I just said.

Nando Fresno: No, that’s not--

Sadie San Francisco: What do you wear again? A small?

The alien hunter narrows his eyes at the assumption before responding in a tone slightly quieter than before.

Nando Fresno: Medium…

Sadie steps out of frame, just briefly, leaving the Saturnian Connection on the screen. Nando gives Jillian a distressed look, raising his brows, but Jill simply shrugs, opening her mouth to say something-- but finding herself interrupted as the United States Champion returns to screen, bearing two more of the t-shirts. She tosses one to Nando, then one to Jill. Clay wastes no time reaching toward the waistline of her own top, pulling it upright-- and Sadie San Francisco casually steps in front of the camera, giving the camera operator a judgmental look as Clay switches into the “LaCroix”-colored t-shirt in the background.

Jillian Clay: I love it!

Nando has discarded his own wifebeater, tossing it aside to pull his sleeveless version of the shirt on and over his head. He looks toward Clay as she turns around… and frowns as the camera pans in on the name “CAMP SADIE” emblazoned across the back.

Nando Fresno: Sadie.

Sadie San Francisco: Yeah?

Nando Fresno: You said it was a demo. All these shirts say “Camp Sadie.”

Sadie San Francisco: Oh… well, yeah. I had to get the demo. I couldn’t get just one. They make you order the design in bulk. So once we get rid of these, they’ll ship out the San Francisco shirts.

Nando inhales sharply.

Nando Fresno: Satconcisco.

Sadie San Francisco: Yup. You gonna keep repeating every other word I say, or…?

Jillian Clay: I love these. I keep saying we should be wearing more pink.

Clay’s eyes widen in excitement. She turns to Sadie, beaming.

Jillian Clay: So we’re gonna work together in the Rumble tonight?

Sadie meets Clay’s gaze, her own warm smile slowly crossing her face.

Sadie San Francisco: That’s the plan.

Jillian Clay: Ahhmygosh. You know how exciting that is? What if-- what if it came down to the three of us?

Nando blinks, turning his attention from Jill to Sadie.

Nando Fresno: Yeah. Sadie, what if that happened?

Sadie meets Nando’s eyes with a distant smile. She tilts her head slightly, responding in a light tone.

Sadie San Francisco: I need you guys to have my back on something tonight.

Nando Fresno: What--

Jillian Clay: Anything.

A side-eye from the alien hunter to the Saturnian.

Sadie San Francisco: I need you… to be with me, and fully with me if Nina Stokes gets into that ring with us. If one of you or both of you is in that ring along with me and Nina’s music hits, I need your full attention. She isn’t just in this to earn a World Title match. Understand that she has this fascination with me. She wants to hurt me. She wants to ruin my World Title opportunity.

Nando looks at Sadie thoughtfully. He ponders. But Sadie speaks up before Nando can utter another word.

Sadie San Francisco: She already knows you guys are with me anyway. She’s gonna target you if she can’t get to me. It’s better for all of us if we just plan to take her out. The moment we see her-- gone.

Jillian Clay: Gone.

Nando sits down in a folding chair placed against the wall of the dressing room, gaze set on his partner again before traveling once more to the U.S. Champion.

Nando Fresno: Yeah. We all have each other’s backs, bell to bell, right?

Without hesitation, Jill speaks up.

Jillian Clay: Right!

Sadie looks at Nando, frowning at his lack of warmth.

Sadie San Francisco: Right. Like you had to ask.

Nando nods, though it’s difficult to tell from his expression whether he’s reassured by the United States Champion’s words.

Sadie San Francisco: Anyway. I have an Open Challenge to prepare for. Positive vibes?

Jillian extends her hands to Sadie, allowing the two to link hands in some sort of pre-match ritual that Nando had never bothered to learn, judging by his disinterested expression that the camera lingers on. Sadie and Jill exchange a quick hug before Sadie holds her fist out to Nando, who responds with a fist bump.

Nando Fresno: Kill it.

Sadie steps out of frame for a moment, but when she returns frame-center, she wears the FGA United States Title over her shoulder. She lingers there for a moment, as if on purpose-- as if she’s only stopped to allow the belt to rest there in front of the lens for those four, five seconds. With only a small smile to Nando and Jill, Sadie steps out of frame again, this time out of the dressing room entirely judging by the click of the door. Nando looks down at his own shirt and then across the room at Jill’s, frowning slightly as we fade to black.

[FGA Office]

The sound of an exhale enters both audio channels as we see a pair of white boots with Carolina blue trim. The camera is low to the ground, slowly rising to capture the intricate details of the wrestler’s gear. At the midsection, the camera catches sharp light glinting off of the Frontier Grappling Arts World championship, tightly wrapped around the waist.

Still, the camera rises, until the unimpressed face of one Fujiko Mine stares back.

She pushes out a rough breath before flexing the muscles in her jaw.

The camera pulls back taking in more of the champion in her bodysuit.

Fujiko Mine: Over 400 days.

She leans forward, looking over her chest and at the FGA World championship.

Fujiko Mine: Over 400 days of me as your World champion. Even more if we count the time the company was on hiatus. And it still feels like day one to me.

She toys with a smile on the edges of her lips.

Fujiko Mine: Through Marlon, Sara, Izzy, and James...I have endured with one goal set in mind. To others, it may feel like too long. It may feel like it’s time for a change. It may feel like it’s inevitable that I lose tonight. That fate will finally conspire against me.

The light dance ends as her lips straighten out.

Fujiko Mine: It’s all talk. And it’s gone on for too long.

Fujiko folds her arms under her chest.

Fujiko Mine: Let’s be clear. This is the top championship in Frontier Grappling Arts. The very title that I was told I would never even get close to. The top title that wrestlers like Molly Reid and Tony Carmine were apparently destined to hold. Where are they now?

She unfolds her arms, spreading them out in wonder.

Fujiko Mine: That’s how I feel about Seth Iser. The man who decided that talking about his diet in the middle of a contract signing was a worthy endeavor.

She lowers her head, chuckling lowly to herself.

Fujiko Mine: I know I’m known for eating just...absurd amounts of food, but even I think that’s foolish. But I know why he did it. I know why it happened. Seth Iser cannot stop talking for longer than a few minutes. He is, I almost guarantee you, mumbling through his game plan in some dark corner of the Melrose Ballroom to absolute no one in particular. And that leads me to why, after I made a comparison to him that he could have tried to refute...he chose instead to go the James Edwards route and talk about his diet and exercise. It’s because talking is the one thing that Seth can rely on. Even more than his wrestling ability, it’s his propensity to stand or sit in front of a camera and just...say words. The content and quality of them, if you really listen to him...don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. He can and will talk your ears off. If we were comparing the sheer amount of words that could be released by an individual, he would be a shoo-in to win tonight.

She raises her top lip in a snarl.

Fujiko Mine: Fortunately for me, that’s not the case. Tonight, Seth Iser can stand in front of a camera and say WHATEVER he wants. He can tell you he is leaving tonight with my baby.

She gently caresses the title around her waist.

Fujiko Mine: But he is going to have to put in the work to break my grip. He is going to have to use his wrestling ability to shatter my dreams, and he is going to have to shut up and fight in order to get someone else to say the words “AND NEW.”

She reaches behind her and unstraps the FGA World championship from her waist and turns her gaze towards it.

Fujiko Mine: I’m done telling people what I’m going to do as the FGA World champion. I’ve said it and said it so many different times and ways that I fear I am almost as boring and long winded as my opponent tonight. So just know that if you don’t know why I am walking out there tonight, fully intending to turn Seth Iser’s challenge into defense number 5 of this championship? You haven’t been paying attention.

She lets her eyes linger on the championship for as long as she can until she looks up into the camera lens.

Fujiko Mine: Seth Iser thought he knew why I am called the Apex Goddess. He thought he knew why I have been the back to back Wrestler of the Year. He thought he knew why I’ve been the longest reigning FGA champion by far...but he doesn’t. Tonight...he’ll learn. And it will be an incredibly enlightening lesson for him. That is the will of the goddess...and my will be done, Seth.

She takes a step towards the camera, her voice coming through in a dangerous whisper.

Fujiko Mine: My will be done.

She raises up the FGA world championship, staring daggers through the lens of the camera before walking out of frame, the title still up in the air.

[FGA Office]

OPEN CHALLENGE
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
(c) Sadie San Francisco vs. ?

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest, scheduled for one fall, is for the FGA United States Championship!

The lights in the arena fade to a rose-gold color as the familiar sound of smooth jazz echoes throughout the building. “Young Nation” hits the PA system and a roar surges throughout audience. Sadie San Francisco steps out to the top of the ramp, offering a quick wink to the camera nearest before continuing past. Sadie pauses at the bottom of the ramp, performing a full turn as she gazes at the masses surrounding her.

J.A. Aldridge: Introducing first, hailing from The West Side! She is the reigning… defending… FGA United States Champion! She is “The Pope” SADIE SAN FRANCISCO!

Nodding a bit to herself, Sadie strides around to the side of the ring facing the hard camera. She climbs onto the apron, narrowing her eyes at the camera is it pans closer to her, capturing only a cold gaze from Sadie as she spends a few seconds staring into the lens-- before slinking through the ropes, sliding seamlessly back into the ring. Sadie makes her way toward the turnbuckles, slowly ascending to the second rope, shooting a broad smile out toward the raucous audience before raising a single “V” above her head with her left hand. Sadie casually drops down from the turnbuckles and turns, leaning against the turnbuckles as she awaits competition.

Kris Cruise: We’ve seen Jaelyn Ramsey come back to FGA to get a crack at her former rival. We then saw Sadie San Francisco fend off a challenger from another outsider on the go home edition of Vertigo. Will Sadie’s next challenger come from inside FGA, or will she be seeing another outside challenger?

The sound of a guitar strumming subtly begins to echo in the arena, leaving those in attendance wondering what is going on. The angelic voice of one Lzzy Hale of the band Halestorm is heard next, her voice serenely starting the opening verse of “I Am The Fire.”

Kris Cruise: Wait just a minute!

Am I brave enough?
Am I strong enough?
To follow the desire
That burns from within
To push away my fear
To stand where I'm afraid
I am through with this
'Cause I am more than this
I promise to myself
Alone and no one else
My flame is rising higher.

As the song picks up the tempo, her voice becomes more intense, kicking into the chorus.

I am the fire
I am burning brighter
Roaring like a storm

Midway through the chorus, the curtains part and out walks the pride of Calgary herself..

Kris Cruise: It’s Sydney Christensen!

Stephy Auger: The reigning Reina del HELL Champion!

J.A. Aldridge: Her opponent, hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Canada! She is the reigning Campeonato Reina del HELL! She is “The Calgary Flame” SYDNEY CHRISTENSEN!

She steps out to the middle of the stage and juts her arms out on either side of her, tossing her head back as the fans show their appreciation. She picks her head up and slowly brings her arms in front of her, her index fingers pointing down to the ring. Dropping her arms to her side, she begins her march towards the ring, nodding at a few fans along the way. Once she reaches the ring, she hops up onto the apron and steps through the bottom and middle ropes. Almost immediately, Sydney walks over to the ropes and raises her arms above her head, encouraging the fans as they cheer on the proud Canadian. Sydney then walks over to one corner of the ring and rests her back against the turnbuckle, awaiting her opponent as her music fades out on one poignant line of the chorus.

And I am the one I've been waiting for
Screaming like a siren
Alive and burning brighter
I am the fire!

Kris Cruise: We last saw Sydney competing in an FGA ring nearly three years ago when she unsuccessfully challenge Chris Madison for the Pride Championship. The Calgary Flame has come back to answer Sadie San Francisco’s Open Challenge for the United States Championship.

Both grapplers motion for a lockup when Sadie opts out in a favor of a kick to the midsection. The champion starts to knock Christensen back with forearm strikes to the face. San Francisco sets up for an irish whip when Christensen reverses, sending Sadie into the ropes. When Sadie returns, Christensen throws her down with an arm drag takedown. A second arm drag returns Sadie to the mat. After finding herself on the receiving end of am arm wrench, Sadie rolls forward, leans back and kips up before being thrown across the ring with a hair toss.

Stephy Auger: There you go, Syd! She just threw Selfish San Francisco across the ring like a ragdoll.

Christensen heads over, pulls up Sadie and slams her face-first into the top turnbuckle. She then turns Sadie around before lighting up her chest with knife edge chops. The Pope then quickly grabs Christensen, moves her into the corner and returns the favor with chops of her own. She then takes Christensen and sends her across the ring with an irish whip. Sadie runs across the ring, hits a running high knee in the corner and follows up with a monkey flip. No! Christensen is able to rotate in the air and land on her feet! Sadie gets back to her feet and rushes over to attack, only to get knocked down with a hip attack! The Calgary Flame takes Sadie, moves her back into the corner and delivers another series of stinging chops that echo throughout the arena. She then delivers an irish whip, follows Sadie across the ring and hops on top of her before throwing her out of the corner with a successful monkey flip! Christensen crawls over and makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Sadie kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Sydney’s gotten the better of Sadie thus far.

Stephy Auger: Yeah, and you can tell that it’s getting under Sadie’s skin. Watch out, Sydney. She’s gonna get desperate and spit that mist in your face any minute.

Christensen takes the champion and sends her off for the ride. When Sadie returns, she sees Christensen setting up for a back body drop. So she knocks Christensen upright with a kick to the face before bringing her down with a Downward Spiral. Sadie then quickly spins over and takes control of Christensen with a grounded front facelock before delivering sharp elbows to the back. Christensen is then pulled up to all fours before Sadie delivers a somersault arm wringer. Christensen is quick to favor her arm as she rolls towards the side of the ring. The champion stays right on her as she rushes over before delivering multiple stomps to the body. Sadie then grabs a hold of the top rope with both hands before delivering stomp after stomp across the arm. After the official motions for Sadie to get off the challenger, The Pope takes a few steps back. She then quickly slides to the outside, reaches back into the ring, pulls Christensen’s arm out of the ring before throwing it down hard against the edge of the apron! Sadie throws Christensen’s arm down hard across the edge of the apron again before dragging her over towards the corner. The Pope looks around at the crowd before taking Christensen’s arm and swinging it hard against the ring post!

Kris Cruise: Sadie’s trying to take out Sydney’s arm! She’s doing everything she can retain her US Championship!

Stephy Auger: See, now you’re finally getting it!

Christensen rolls over towards the center of the ring. She gets up to a knee while holding her left arm. Sadie slowly stomps up the steps as she watching Christensen like a hawk. The Pope slowly slips back into the ring before rushing over and knocking Christensen down with a running bicycle knee to the face! She makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Christensen gets her right shoulder up.

Sadie presses her back down before making the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Christensen gets her right shoulder up.

Sadie takes Christensen’s right wrist and pins it down to the mat as she makes the cover.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Christensen grunts as she lifts her left shoulder up.

Sadie takes Christensen, delivers an irish whip and follows up with an inverted foot stomp. Christensen’s head snaps back as she stumbles backwards against the ropes. The challenger tries to shake out the cobwebs. But Sadie gives her little time to recover as she swarms in and nails her with rapid forearm strikes! The flurry of forearms continue as Christensen slumps down to a seated position against the ropes. San Francisco then takes off into the far ropes, comes back and traps Christensen in tiger feint crucifix armbar!

Kris Cruise: Sadie’s got Sydney trapped in Alcatraz!

Stephy Auger: The ref needs to get in there and pull Sadie off of her. It’s an illegal move!

Christensen howls out in pain while Sadie pulls back on the arm! The official is quick to give the champion until the count of five to break the hold.

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! F-

Sadie breaks the hold. The ref warns Sadie for pushing it by not breaking the hold earlier. The Pope responds by putting her hands up defensively. She then turns her attention back to the challenger. Sadie grabs a hold of Christensen and tries for a vertical suplex to the outside! But Christensen blocks it. Sadie tries to muscle her up with a second suplex attempt. Again, it gets blocked. San Francisco punches Christensen through the ropes before trying for yet another vertical suplex. Again, it gets blocked! She then lets go of Christensen and throws out a punch. Christensen blocks and counters with a punch of her own. She nails Sadie with another punch… and another… and anoth-NO! Sadie ducks and counters with a shoulder thrust through the ropes. Sadie reaches in, pulls Christensen’s arms through the ropes and drops off the apron with an armbreaker across the middle rope!

Kris Cruise: Sadie brought Sydney down again with another attack of the arm! The fans at home might not think much of those ring ropes. But those are steel cables underneath all that rubber wrapping.

While Christensen is down, Sadie climbs back up to the apron before heading over towards the ring post. San Francisco proceeds to climb to the top turnbuckle. The champ leaps off for a diving knee drop… and MISSES when Christensen rolls out of the way!

Kris Cruise: Sadie missed!

Christensen lifts up Sadie’s leg and delivers an elbow drop across it with the right arm. She delivers two more elbow dorps across the leg before dragging Sadie into the corner. As soon as Christensen rolls to the outside, Sadie tries to roll away from the corner. But Christensen is quick to reach back in and drags Sadie back into position. She then takes Sadie’s left left before swinging it hard against the ring post!

“BOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Stephy Auger: Do it again, Syd! Do it! She tried to injure your arm! Turnabout is fair play, I say!


Christensen pulls the leg back before swinging it hard against the ring post again!



Stephy Auger: Attagirl!

Kris Cruise: What is wrong with you?

Stephy Auger: Don’t act like Sadie doesn’t deserve this! Nina Stokes is probably somewhere in the back wishing that it was her doing this to Sadie!

Christensen crosses Sadie’s legs before applying a figure four leg lock around the ring post! The crowd boos Sydney as the official rolls to the outside and gives her until the count of five to break the hold.

Ref: ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FI-

Christensen reluctantly breaks the hold. The referee admonishes Christensen for pushing her luck with the late break. She responds by waving him off. The Calgary Flame rolls back into the ring and pulls Sadie back to to her feet. She then hoists Sadie up before bringing her down with a shinbreaker. Sadie crumbles to the mat before clutching her knee. Christensen gets down and holds Sadie’s leg down on the mat before delivering a handstand into a knee drop across the leg. Christensen delivers a second handstand into a knee drop before standing back up. She goes to apply a figure four when Sadie reaches up and pulls her down into a small package.

ONE!
.
.
TWO!
.
.
Christensen kicks out.

Kris Cruise: Sadie nearly caught her!

Stephy Auger: She nearly stole the match, that’s what you meant to say.

With both grapplers back to their feet, Sadie starts to fight back with forearm strikes until Christensen stops her with a stomp to the left knee. Christensen goes to follow up with an enzuigiri! She misses! Sadie ducks the kick, quickly drops down and takes control of Christensen by wrapping her up in a Cross Legged STF!

Stephy Auger: Noooo!

Kris Cruise: Our Lady of Sorrows!

Sadie pulls back as she tries to get Christensen to tap. He ref gets down and asks Christensen if she wants to give up. She refuses by shaking her head ‘no.’ The Pope starts to pull back more on the hold, which causes Christensen to groan. The Calgary Flame reaches out, but she’s nowhere near the ropes. The referee continues to check in and ask her if she wants to give up. He gives her the opportunity to submit. Once again, Christensen refuses to tap out.

Sadie repeatedly pulls back on the neck of Christensen. She fights like hell to get The Calgary Flame to tap. But Christensen refuses to give up. She then reaches forward with her free arm before slowly dragging herself and Sadie across the mat. Christensen reaches forward before slowly dragging her and Sadie across the mat again. The crowd murmurs as Christensen continues to claw her way across the mat. Christensen gets closer and closer to the ropes until Sadie breaks the hold, drags Christensen away from the ropes and nails her with a punt kick right to the ribs. Christensen rolls over on all fours before Sadie limps over and nails her with another punt kick to the ribs. The Pope reaches down and slowly pulls her up by the hair. She then takes a couple of steps back before pushing forward. San Francisco throws out a Northern Lariat and whiffs when Christensen ducks. As soon as Sadie turns around, Christensen throws her down with authority with a powerslam! She hooks the leg.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Sadie gets her shoulder up.

Christensen takes Sadie and whips her into the corner. She rushes in to attack, only to get knocked back with a boot to the face. Christensen shakes off the blow before rushing back in. The Calgary Flame gets knocked back with another boot to the face. While Christensen is dazed, Sadie rushes out of the corner before nearly getting her head knocked off with a discus lariat! The boos continue as Christensen drops down for the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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TH-NO!

Sadie gets her shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: Close call there for the champion.

Stephy Auger: Next time, Christensen will make sure that she doesn’t get back up.

Christensen takes Sadie and whips her into the ropes. She goes to catch Sadie ff the rebound with another discus clothesline when Sadie ducks, watches her from the side and throws her down with a Saito Suplex! The cheers continue as she makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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Christensen gets the shoulder up.

San Francisco pulls Christensen back to her feet. She nails Christensen with another flurry of forearm before hitting her with a spinning back elbow to the face! Christensen gets caught with another spinning back elbow before Sadie pulls her close to the corner. The champion then hooks Christensen before throwing her into the turnbuckles with an Exploder Suplex! Sadie pulls her over and makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd sighs when Christensen gets her foot on the bottom rope.

Kris Cruise: Sydney just avoided the three count by getting her foot on the ropes. SHe was lucky to have been positioned where she was in the ring.

Stephy Auger: That wasn’t luck, Cruise. It’s called ring awareness. This match is far from done. Selfish San Francisco is gonna have to do a lot more than that to put Christensen away!

Sadie slowly pulls Christensen off the mat until Christensen swats her hands away and sends her flipping down to the mat with an enzuigiri! She then pulls Sadie back up before heading back into the corner. Christensen sets up for a Tornado DDT when Sadie breaks free and counters with a gamengiri! While Christensen is dazed, Sadie climbs the turnbuckles before bringing her down with a Super Frankensteiner! She makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THRE-NO!

The crowd sighs when Christensen gets the shoulder up.

Kris Cruise: How was that not three?

Stephy Auger: Simple, the ref doesn’t know how to count.

Sadie pulls up Christensen before hitting her with yet another barrage of forearm strikes. The Pope throws out a spinning backfist, only for Christensen to duck and counter with a roundhouse kick! She then sends Sadie off into the ropes. The Pope comes off the rebound and throws herself at Christensen with a crossbody. But Christensen catches her in mid-air before throwing her down with the Calgary Stampede (bridging fallaway slam)!

ONE!
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TWO!
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TH-NO!

The crowd cheers when Sadie gets her shoulder up.

Christensen pulls Sadie up off the mat before a knee to the midsection doubles San Francisco over. The Calgary Flame then takes the US Champion, lifts her up and throws her down with the Accelerant (pumphandle half nelson driver)!

ONE!
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TWO!
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THR-NO!

The crowd cheers when Sadie kicks out.

Christensen pulls Sadie back to her feet, scoops her up for The Remedy (Michinoku Driver) and gets reversed into a modified small package!

ONE!
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TWO!
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Christensen kicks out.

After both grapplers scramble back to their feet, Christensen whiffs on a discus clothesline when Sadie ducks. When Christensen turns around, she sees Sadie touching her throat and immediately ducks the incoming Poison Mist. But it was all a ploy! Sadie doesn't spit the mist and, instead, quickly grabs a hold of Christensen before planting her with a Hammerlock DDT! She then pulls Christensen off the mat by the back of the tights before hooking both arms from behind, turning around and driving her face-first onto the mat with Vanity (Unprettier)! She makes the cover.

ONE!
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TWO!
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THREE!

The crowd cheers as “Young Nation” hits the speakers.

J.A. Aldridge: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this bout… aaaaaaand STIIILLLLLLL the FGA United States Champion, SADIE SAN FRANCISCO!

The cheers continue as San Francisco gets her arm raised in victory. There’s a smattering of boos when Sadie motions for the ref to place the title around her waist. The ref does as she requests. Once the title has been fasted around her waist, The Pope stands over Christensen and raises her arms in the air.

Kris Cruise: Sadie San Francisco gets the victory over Sydney Christensen! That’s three challengers that The Pope has turned away. Not one, not two, but three. All three have been mystery opponents. Not just that, but all three have been from grapplers outside of FGA. You have to give Sadie some credit.

Stephy Auger: I don’t have to give her anything.

Kris Cruise: Very well. I will say that Sadie did seem desperate at various points in this match. I didn’t agree with all of her tactics, just like I don’t agree with her making the official put the belt around her waist. Even the staunchest Sadie supporter has to admit that the champion is exhibiting a shift in attitude as of late.

Stephy Auger: You think? She’s avoiding Nina Stokes like the plague. The threat of Nina Stokes scares Sadie. It terrifies her! That’s why she wanted Evan Envi to take her out on the last Vertigo! It’s why she talked The Saturnian Connection into protecting her in the Rumble tonight. It’s also why she’s getting more and more desperate in these championship matches. She’s willingly to do everything in her power to retain that title.

[FGA Office]

The floor is coated with a thin layer of shattered glass, a layer which continues to be added to as a half-drunk bottle of Abruzzo flies past before exploding on contact with the ground and a thick, dark puddle spreads across the spot where it made impact like the scars of a particularly deep wound has been torn open

In the middle of the carnage sits Erin Mariani, her face a study of patient impatience as she waits for Sara Mason to get her destructive urges out of her system while also wishing that she had got them out of her system ten minutes ago, or at the very least before she launched the bottle of Abruzzo across the room as her impulsive action caused some good alcohol to go to waste for no good reason

Taking a moment to inhale on her vaping pen, before exhaling a thick cloud of cinnamon-scented vapour into the room, Mariani begins to tap a blood red fingernail against her own thigh as she begins to grow more than a little aggrieved as being at the centre of a particularly destructive tornado that is her tag partner

Erin Mariani: Have you quite finished?

A low snort of recognition is all Mason gives, soon followed by her grabbing a tumbler off the table at Mariani’s feet and hurling it at the wall where it fragments into yet more tiny pieces that join the layer of broken glass that covers the floor, at which point the door to Silk & Cyanide’s locker room cracks open as a member of arena security peeks in to ask what the hell is going on – only for Mason to burst forward and slam the sole of her foot into the door at the exact same level as the security guard’s face, slamming it shut.

Having slammed the door into the guard’s face, Mason stands there for a moment as she catches her breath, panting like a wild animal that is guarding its recent kill from scavengers, at which point she starts to twist her foot into some of the broken glass to break it down to jagged little shards

Erin Mariani: Now have you finished?

Whipping around on the spot, Mason looks at her partner through sweat-drenched strands of hair that have dropped around her face and, even though her eyes are shrouded in shadow, you can still see the cogs are whirring as she contemplates the question

Rather than answer, instead Mason paces over the layer of broken glass on the floor, a high-pitched crunching sound following every step, until she reaches the table in front of Mariani and snatches a glass of what is presumably the Abruzzo currently leaving a sanguine stain on the floor and knocks it back as if it were water before slamming the glass back onto the table, unintentionally causing the base to crack and the glass to topple over due to its lack of support.

Sara Mason: For now…

Sweeping a patch of broken glass away from her with her foot, Mason crashes onto the opposite end of the chaise longue where Mariani eyes her suspiciously, either because she’s expecting a second wave of destruction to begin any second or she’s wondering if she should slide her glass of wine out of her partner’s reach

Erin Mariani: Now that you have got that out of your system…

There’s a very noticeable pause in what Mariani is saying, indicating that she’s more than a little bit irritated with Mason trashing their locker room

Erin Mariani: …perhaps we should discuss the matter in hand, namely how we are facing two teams who have chosen which hills they have decided to die on, which gives us a very simple choice: which hill we are willing to kill on.

Pausing once again, Mariani looks at her partner whose attention is still not 100% focused

Erin Mariani: On the one hand we have those despicable wretches who had the sheer nerve to steal from us, to take what does not belong to them, who are deserving of a particularly harsh lesson of the realities of life. hey are the easy target, the deserving target, and the exact sort of waste that we should make an example of.

Once more Mariani pauses, with a hint of a smile on her face, but she’s more intent on paying attention to her partner who is suddenly looking a lot more interested in what she is saying

Erin Mariani: However, there is more than one prize available to us. On the other hill, we have some filth who are so desperate to be torn down, as they have both a disgusting need to tell themselves of their greatness while ignoring the other people who they are pretending to have a conversation with, they have also developed a particularly odious little habit of looking past this evening as they feel it is an obstacle to their place in the record books, in doing so they have made not the titles the prize – instead the prize is defeating them, as doing so will tear everything away from them and leave them with nothing.

Now Mason seems interested in what her partner is saying

Erin Mariani: And let us not forget there’s a little bout of organised chaos later this evening, organised chaos that would allow us to end the evening not only by defeating everyone available to us to claim or reclaim what is rightfully ours, but we have the chance to defeat them utterly by taking every single thing they are hoping for away from them.

There is no longer a hint of a smile on Mariani’s face, but a full-blown evil grin

Erin Mariani: So…

Once again Mariani pauses, relishing the moment

Erin Mariani: …what are you thinking?

At first Mason is silent, other than her clicking her tongue as she processes everything available, which causes her to let her tongue roll over the top of her teeth as she processes

A moment later, her eyes emerge from the shadow and she shakes the loose strands of hair out of her face before pulling them back into an ersatz ponytail as a particularly sinister chuckle emerges from her throat

Sara Mason: I’m thinking…

Mason releases her hair, allowing it to cascade down her back

Sara Mason: I’m thinking that we absolutely need to make those cowardly little thieves suffer for what they have done, because if we make them learn from their mistakes they will know what they have done and why we had to do what we did. However…

Now it’s Mason’s turn to pause, less to build anticipation and more because she’s drumming the tips of her fingers together in particularly ominous glee

Sara Mason: …just because we will leave them a pair of broken, twisted shells of what they once were doesn’t mean that it’s them who will ultimately lose. Instead, that oh-so superior pairing need to learn that their talk means nothing if they don’t have the hardware to back it up, and if that’s what we take from them that will let them understand that it was a matter of inevitability that they would lose, and the worst thing is their hope of salvation will be laying in a broken, moaning heap close enough for them to have a glimmer of hope, but far enough away that it will never, ever arrive.

Mason can’t suppress a chuckle at the expense of their soon-to-be victims

Sara Mason: Better yet, can you imagine the begrudging respect that those who worship at the altar of that superior pairing will have to give us when we prove that their gods were little more than false prophets?

Now it is Mariani’s turn to let out a dark chuckle

Erin Mariani: Yes.

The dark chuckle rapidly erupts into a cold, uncaring laugh that echoes throughout the room

Erin Mariani: Yes I can.