HELL ON EARTH 2021 RESULTS
Jun 21, 2021 0:17:34 GMT -5
Project: Honor, gothmother, and 2 more like this
Post by Indy Darling on Jun 21, 2021 0:17:34 GMT -5
The age of man has ended in an apocalyptic collapse of fire and chaos. What little air remains is tainted by thick ash that floats to the charred earth, covering it like a blanket of black snow. Great structures crumble along the horizon, once great symbols of mankind’s progress now reduced to ruin as they collapse upon themselves. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of church bells rings out, like a life preserver for the few survivors to cling to, giving them hope in a time when there should be none.
One of those few survivors walks an abandoned street, his boots creating a solitary trail in the thick layer of soot. A long, black coat is wrapped around his body, its hood pulled deep over his eyes to protect him from the sight of what has befallen the once great city. His presence startles a scavenger bird, which takes flight with a shriek, leaving its carrion feast for another time. The rumble of toxic thunder forces the man to halt his advance, and he slowly raises his head to peer at the red sky above.
Visions of what has befallen the once lush and peaceful world begin to dance across the heavens, a violent reminder of those responsible for society’s collapse into Armageddon. Emerging from behind one of the many clouds of electric devastation is the image of Ulf Hednir, like a pagan God of old overlooking his great works. Moments later, the wraithlike forms of John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman join him, as if they were some twisted version of this world’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Even a figure who would normally appear comical such as Serrano Poblano takes on a sinister hue, as he cackles like a mad demon with red eyes blazing in their sockets.
The lone survivor forces his gaze away from the mad gods above to continue on his path, but as he passes a once proud building that now twists overhead like a tree that has been caught in a hurricane, more images of the world’s destructors appear to haunt him. Once a Shining Star, the masterful performer named MYOJIN now glares down on the passerby like some kind of demented malefactor. Across the same street, with his visage haunting the surface of a half-fallen brick wall is The Gaijin Killer, Arata Asakura. At that moment, the stranger on the street realizes that their vicious glares are meant for each other, leaving him to pass by unhindered. Yet leaving the images of those two warriors behind does not bring an end to the spectral visions, as Elena DeDraca and Pixie Sloane haunt the very next set of ruins. They eye each other with evil intent, willing to leave the world burning in their wake as they seek a precious golden reward.
The stranger’s march is halted by the ominous presence of a twisted iron gate, and he considers his path carefully before finally stepping through a gap between the barred fence. Beyond those gates, his eyes fall upon the remnants of what was once a zoological preserve, its cages now rusted and void of life. At first, he thinks nothing of it, but as he begins to pass through the maze of twisted metal, more images begin to emerge. From the fallen gorilla compound comes the roaring face of Scott Oasis, while the aviaries that once housed flamboyant birds of paradise is now overshadowed by images of TJ Thompson and Yung Sauce. Where wild bears once roamed are now visions of Brandon Hendrix and Valkyrie, both hungry to destroy anything in their paths. Even Emmanuelle, once The Platinum Standard, now has a demonic aura as she glares from the barren cage once reserved for a proud lion. Refusing to acknowledge himself as potential prey, the stranger pushes forward as Cadillac Jackson’s grinning visage peers between the bars of an abandoned monkey habitat, eyeing the lone survivor as if his carnivorous instincts are beginning to emerge. Finally the hooded figure reaches the opposite end of the collapsed zoo and passes by a broken animatronic resembling Pat the Postman. Then, just as the stranger makes his exit, the animatronic comes to life with a flash of red, electronic eyes…
PAT ANIMATRONIC: *skrrr* Hope *crackle* enjoyed your stay! *skrrr* Hope *crackle* enjoyed your stay!
The street that lies beyond the dilapidated zoo is lined with battered and rusted vehicles, many of which still contain the decaying remains of their passengers. The stranger takes notice of the horror that served as their final emotion as he continues on his way, silently wondering what could have frightened them to such a degree before their eventual demise. His wandering thoughts are interrupted by another scene unfolding further down the street. Sitting atop a throne made of the twisted metal from various automobiles is Lance Williams, his vile grin just as sinister as any image that has been presented thus far. Standing before him is Indy Darling, clutching the X-Factor Championship in his hand while the inhuman Bulldozer looks down upon him, as if he expects the prize to be laid at his feet. For a moment, the silent traveler considers seeing how things will unfold, but ultimately he presses forward on his journey.
The swirling ash and debris that hang in the thick air begin to swirl with more intensity, not only making it hard for the stranger to see what lies ahead, but burning his lungs with every step he takes. His road is no longer clear, having been eaten by a massive cyclone of smoke, electricity, and refuse. Yet as it draws near, it is not a putrid heat that stings the survivor’s flesh as it had been previously. Instead, it is the burning sensation of the most bitter cold, almost as if Hell itself has frozen over. Cue the image of Lil’ Petey within the swirling mass of destruction, an unlikely challenger, let alone an unexpected catalyst for the end of days. He is flanked on one side by Mark Hunter, once a despised man now struggling to keep the demons at bay. On Petey’s other side is the monstrous and tentacled visage of Ozymandias, who seems to have fully given in to his supernatural roots. As the Straight Shooter and The Butcher of Reine move forward with Petey trapped between them, the stranger finally realizes that his journey has come to an end. There is nowhere left to go. There is nowhere left to hide. Fate is now upon him. Hell on Earth has arrived...
The entrance stage lights up with an explosion of fire as the Honor-Tron displays the Hell on Earth logo and the fans roar with anticipation! Cameras zoom around the sold-out Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela as fire continues to erupt from the stage and ring posts, creating an ominous beginning to the Pay Per View event. As usual, the fans have shown up in full-force, bringing their homemade signs along for the ride.
“I’LL FIGHT LANCE!”
“SKÅL!”
“WE’RE HERE FOR PIXIE”
“PRAISE HIM”
“ARATA KILLED MY GAIJIN”
Finally, one of the cameras focuses on tonight’s commentary team, as they greet all the viewers at home from ringside!
TREY BOOKER: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Proving Ground’s latest exclusive Pay-Per-View Event! Welcome...to Hell on Earth!
J.T. PRICE: Damn! You always deliver that intro with such passion...such dramatic timing!
TREY BOOKER: That’s why they pay me the big bucks, partner! Speaking of big, are you ready for tonight’s colossal main event between Mark Hunter, Ozymandias, and Lil’ Petey?
J.T. PRICE: Almost as ready as I am to see the epic clashes between Elena DeDraca and Pixie, not to mention Arata Asakura versus MYOJIN!
TREY BOOKER: Don’t forget about Indy Darling’s fever dream coming to life as Emmanuelle defends The Warrior Rising Championship in the Seven Gates of Hell Match!
J.T. PRICE: Speaking of Indy, is he simply going to hand the X-Factor Title over to Lance Williams, or will he make him earn it?
TREY BOOKER: Plus, we have the debuts of Ulf Hednir, John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman!
J.T. PRICE: All of that along with the twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Project: Honor on Pay-Per-View! I can’t wait any longer, Trey! Let’s get this thing started!
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, the following match is our opening contest and it is scheduled for one fall!
The stage remains empty as the sound of a guitar playing can be heard over the sound system. Moments later, the opening lyrics to “Fire Water Burn” can be heard…
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
We don't need no water, let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker, burn
At that moment, the music picks up its tempo and the curtains fly apart to reveal “Spicy” Serrano Poblano. With his bleached blonde hair spiked up and his sleeveless flame theme shirt unbuttoned, Serrano headbangs toward the ring. After rolling under the bottom rope, he tosses his shirt aside and throws his hand up with his fingers giving the metal sign.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing first, residing in FlavorTown and weighing in at three hundred twenty pounds… “The Heater”...SERRANO POBLANO!!! And his opponent...
The opening introduction for “Raise Your Horns” by Amon Amarth plays over the PA system, and the crowd goes into a frenzy! The music can barely be heard over the sound of the fans. Ulf Hednir quickly shoves the curtains aside, dressed in his wolf headdress, and marches out onto the stage with his drinking horn held high over his head.
Ulf Hednir: SKÅL!
Crowd: SKÅL!
Ulf drinks from the drinking horn, and after, turns it upside down to show the crowd that there is nothing left. Ulf attaches the drinking horn to a strap hanging off his belt, and marches down the ramp to shake hands or high five many of the fans along the ramp; fans scramble to get as close as they can and he takes an extra moment to ensure he greets as many as he can. Ulf goes around to the right side of the ring, still greeting as many fans as he can until he reaches the timekeeper’s table, where he removes the headdress and the drinking horn, placing them on the table. He walks up to the apron and leaps up, grabbing the ropes, and leaning back to let loose a mighty howl.
Raise your horns, raise them up to the sky,
We will drink to glory tonight!
Raise your horns for brave fallen friends,
We will meet where the beer never ends!
The chorus plays over, and Ulf steps between the middle and top ropes before parading around the ring a bit, raising his arms from each side of the ring. He stands by and waits for the match to start.
HOLLY PEREZ: ...hailing from Odda, Norway and weighing in at two hundred forty three pounds...he is “The Berserker”...ULF HEDNIR!!!
DING! DING! DING!
The two men size each other up in the center of the ring when Serrano surprisingly holds out his hand as a sign of respect. Ulf considers the offer of a handshake for a moment, but just when it looks as if he’s going to accept, Serrano brings his hand across Hednir’s face with an insulting slap! Delighted by his own actions, Serrano holds his belly and laughs at his Ulf’s expense. The Berserker, on the other hand, does not seem to be amused in the slightest as he glares at his disrespectful opponent. Suddenly, Ulf lunges forward to hook both of Serrano’s arms and then slams his own head forward multiple times, rocking The Heater with a series of trapped headbutts!
The impact sends Serrano reeling backwards into the corner, but Ulf follows him in to deliver a combination of back elbows. He then tosses Serrano back out of the corner and to the mat, before looking to the crowd and giving them another shout of “SKÅL”! Hednir then returns his attention to Serrano, grabbing both of his ankles under his arms and lifting him off the mat with the Big Swing he calls The Flight of the Valkyries! He swings The Heater around and around as the crowd counts along before he finally releases Serrano somewhere around a dozen spins. Poblano gets back on his feet but he is clearly dizzy as he staggers around, leaving himself wide open for a short clothesline from Ulf Hednir!
TREY BOOKER: The modern day Viking has looked impressive so far, but the same can’t be said for Serrano Poblano!
J.T. PRICE: I bet he’s regretting that slap now...
With a strong advantage in the match, Ulf cannot help but play to the crowd as they encourage him. While still dazed, this gives Serrano the opportunity to dig into his tights for his hidden bag of chili powder. He dumps some into his hand and waits for Ulf to turn his attention back to him, but when The Heater attempts to toss it at The Berserker’s eyes, Ulf quickly smacks his hand and the burning substance flies into Serrano’s face instead! This allows Ulf to set Poblano up for his Bifröst Walk across the top rope, but before he can drop down with a chop, Serrano breaks out into an uncontrollable burst of sneezes! The violent shaking knocks Ulf off balance and he slips from the top rope, crotching himself in the process! With Hednir momentarily stunned as he straddles the top rope, Serrano wipes the tears from his eyes and manages to hit a desperate clothesline!
The blow brings Ulf to the mat where Serrano is free to stomp away at him while still trying to clear his vision. Despite the tears running down his cheeks, Serrano manages to follow up his stomps with a running senton, dropping all of his weight across Ulf’s torso. He then lifts The Berserker up to execute a trifecta of backbreakers which he calls No Problemo For Poblano. Looking to finish things before his opponent has a chance to recover, Serrano follows up with The Scoville Scale running sitdown splash, and he remains sitting on Ulf’s chest for the pin attempt!
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT!
TREY BOOKER: Serrano has managed to mount some offense here, but he’s going to have to do a lot more to keep this determined Norwegian down for the count!
J.T. PRICE: If he sits on him a few more times, that ought to do the trick!
Slightly frustrated that his move did not keep Ulf down for the three, Poblano scoops him up and slams him back down in the center of the ring with a hard bodyslam. He then points toward the turnbuckles before beginning his ascent, looking to hit another modified sit down splash with even more impact! Poblano leaps off the top and hits the frog motion to give himself extra momentum, but as he nears his target, Ulf pulls up both of his knees! Serrano lands on Ulf’s tucked appendages, straddling himself in the process! As Serrano hobbles away like a wounded duck, Ulf gets back on his feet and lets out a loud SKÅL! for the crowd! He then takes the measure of Serrano, charges forward, and…
TREY BOOKER: The Thor Punch connects! Ulf has just knocked Serrano’s lights out!
J.T. PRICE: Talk about a Crack in the Sky!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: And your winner of the match by pinfall… “The Berserker''...ULF HEDNIR!!!
TREY BOOKER: What an impressive display by one of Proving Ground’s newest stars! Serrano was simply outmatched by The Berserker and I see big things to come from Ulf Hednir!
J.T. PRICE: What a great way to start off the night!
It was kinda odd to be here once again. Even though the arena was a different one, the feeling was still the same. Like every other show she had decided to pull away from people. After a quick glance over at the catering area, she had moved towards the other direction. Away from the noise and people kissing up to one another. This wasn't her circus and they definitely weren’t her monkeys.
She had only made it to the end of the long hallway ready to vanish around the corner, as someone blocked her view. The man wasn't all too tall but she knew him. Her green eyes looked at him from head to toes, there was no friendliness in her eyes. Not even when he gave her that wide smile. Without a verbal greeting she wanted to keep going, but the guy didn’t move.
ELENA DEDRACA: Do you need anything, Christian?
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: It’s just nice seeing you. I hope you enjoyed your Fallout show off, after Disputed Territory. Indy better be taking good care of you here on the blue brand.
She looked at him for a long moment, with an expression hard to read.
ELENA DEDRACA: And here I thought you had forgotten I worked here.
Elena's voice was sweet, but the sarcasm was hard to miss. Meanwhile, Christian tried to ignore the claws behind every word Elena spoke.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: I never could, you’re the biggest dog in the yard. I’ve just been trying to let you enjoy your time with the Legacy Championship. Unfortunately that involved letting PG have you sometimes.
ELENA DEDRACA: You do realize tonight's match is a farce. I would deserve a rematch anyhow. But I guess my previous achievements don't matter much around here.
It was obvious he had an answer ready, but she wasn't done.
ELENA DEDRACA: But guess what else doesn't matter? What management wants. I gave each the benefit of the doubt. Told myself there is a plan behind this treatment, but there isn't. But that's fine by me. If they want it the hard way, they better watch out for their roster.
A little shaken by Elena’s outburst, Christian takes a deep breath to calm himself down.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Hey now, take a breath there Elena. I’m on your side. With dickhead throwing his little tantrum and stomping out of Project: Honor...I would be fine with just HANDING you the title back. But when I suggested it, Indy complained about Proving Ground’s representation and Rock Johnson bitched about you needing to earn the title back.
Another slap. Mentally of course. She observed him, taking a step closer. This Elena DeDraca had little to do with who was competing for him a little while back.
ELENA DEDRACA: And this should surprise me? It doesn’t. Everything I have done in and for Project Honor and they still treat me like I am not worth their spit. But that is fine, feeds the fire so to speak. Rock Johnson and I got something to speak about in the near future. I doubt he will like it very much. And Indy? He is a cute boy, but that is all he is. I am not sure you will like what is going to happen, but I am damn certain that there is zero you can do about it. So you got two options, Christian.
Christian crosses his arms over his chest.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: I’m listening.
ELENA DEDRACA: I am not the type to put pressure on people, no wait… that’s exactly who I am. So here we go, you can support me and allow me to go through with what I have on my mind. Which is just me being polite, because it will happen either way. Or, and I don’t suggest this option, you remain loyal to those two scumbags- going down with them. What you say, pretty?
For the first time she smiled. It was hard to tell if it was a friendly smile, or just the devil sealing another deal.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Like I told Jason on Fallout a couple weeks ago. Fallout is chaos…
ELENA DEDRACA: There is chaos and there is method to madness. I am only back for one reason. And that reason is war. I will paint Project Honor in my colours. All shades of red.
A devilish smirk crosses Christian’s lips.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Then paint away.
She would bow to him in a manner only she could. The grin was still intact when she took even another step, closer to him. Her minty breath hit him right in the face.
ELENA DEDRACA: I am delighted we speak the same language. Now if you excuse me, I have things to set in motion. Bones to break and dreams to destroy. We will stay in touch.
Elena stepped back.
ELENA DEDRACA: Word of advice, don’t eat the tortillas.
With that she turned around leaving him standing. Christian simply watched her walk away, his smirk still on his face.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time would you please welcome internationally renowned investigative reporter, Monsieur Larry KaChow!
Larry makes his way down the entrance and into the ring, seemingly determined to live up to his promise of interviewing himself, since no one bothered to book a special guest for him to interrogate on Pay Per View. His normal director’s chair is absent, but in its place is a regal throne with a crown hanging precariously on the armrest, much like the one used when Larry attempted to impress a prior guest. With an arrogant smile, he picks up his microphone from the throne and then takes a seat, crossing his legs as if he were a gentleman. He seems to be soaking up the boos from the crowd until the absent crown catches his eye, and with a smug expression he picks it up and places it upon his own head. Having proclaimed himself as royalty, Larry then gazes on the crowd with a disapproving stare.
LARRY KACHOW: Calm yourselves, peasants! For I, KaKing Larry the First, is here to interview the most enigmatic, charming, and interesting guest in the history of KaPow! Now show proper respect to the royal presence who has graced you with their...presence...and all rise for KaKing Larry!
The crowd responds with a chorus of boos directed at the little man on the throne, but he does his best to ignore the negative response.
LARRY KACHOW: First of all, your highness, what is it like being better than everyone else on the Project: Honor roster?
Larry scoots from the left of the throne to the right in order to properly answer his own question.
LARRY KACHOW: I’m so glad you asked, Larry. Only someone as handsome and brilliant as you would understand what it’s like to be better than everyone else. I’m just honored that you had the foresight to book me as your special guest this week.
He then scoots back to the left side of the throne…
LARRY KACHOW: Who else could I possibly have on a show of this magnitude? Only someone with...your…
For reasons that are not immediately apparent, the lights in the arena begin to shut off, one section after another, until the audience and Larry are left completely in the dark.
LARRY KACHOW: Seriously? Show some respect people…
No sooner does Larry make that comment, than the lights begin to return, only instead of their normal brightness, they come back with a sinister red hue. The KaKing looks around the ring to notice that there is now a man on each side of the ring apron, peering into the ring at him. All four of them are dressed in a red hoodie, black pants, and a green lit up purge mask. Larry the First turns to look up at the one standing directly in front of him, just in time to see the mask flicker to red.
REDD: Oh no, KaKing, don’t stop because of little ol’ me. Continue on with your charade, please.
Larry’s once arrogant expression has been replaced by one of uncertainty, as he looks around at the masked individuals surrounding him.
LARRY KACHOW: Uh...hey guys. I think you’ve got the wrong show. Isn’t Fallout supposed to be in Ecuador this week?
Redd steps into the ring through the middle rope, but goes no further. He leans back, resting his arms back on the ropes.
REDD: That was DAYS ago. I made my presence known. I just wanted to come to Proving Ground and watch the other side of the coin. From Icky Vicky, to that hot little Bottle-Blue Tara Fenix, to an old friend in KaKing Larry the Voyeur Tyrant.
Larry’s growing concern is obvious as he lets out a nervous chuckle.
LARRY KACHOW: Oh...that. Such a big misunderstanding. Maybe we should all head to the women’s locker room and find some common ground. Share in a little sneak peak, if you know what I’m saying? Or is that out of the question since Savannah Sunshine isn’t here tonight?
Redd pushes off of the ropes and takes a couple steps towards Larry.
REDD: While the Koward is long gone and I could not argue with your thought process...don’t you EVER put Savannah in the same category. And if I ever catch you creeping on the TRUE Queen, I will make your punishment far worse than that of the former Ascension Champion.
Redd pauses for a moment.
REDD: Although your offer to see beauty is inviting...I think you go about it in ALL the wrong ways, my friend.
KaKing Larry the First adjusts the crown on his head and lets out another nervous laugh.
LARRY KACHOW: Come on now, guys. Can you honestly say that a peek at Savannah’s privates wouldn’t turn you red all over? Ha...heh...uh…
Redd takes a step forward.
REDD: How...DARE...you…
Larry scoots back against his throne, desperately trying to excuse his own behavior.
LARRY KACHOW: Just a joke! Just a joke!
Alas, for KaKing Larry the First, it is already too late.
REDD: Savannah is no joke. She is the one true Queen of Fallout...of Proving Ground...of Project: Honor. And you? I’m tired of these people walking around here like their shit don’t stink...their noses in the air like some worthless, ego-filled Tyrant.
Redd takes another small step towards Larry.
REDD: You people need to realize there are consequences for your actions. Tyrants...Kowards...all have a price to pay.
Before Larry can protest or beg for mercy, the lights overhead are extinguished once again. This time they remain off for several moments, as the fans desperately try to get an idea of what’s happening in the ring with their cellular phones. The violent sounds of a struggle can be heard, but the exact nature of what’s happening in the ring is left to our imaginations. Then, moments after all has fallen silent, the arena lights return to normal. The masked men have all vanished without a trace, and the throne that KaKing Larry the First once sat upon has been reduced to scrap, with parts of it strung across the ring. In the midst of that destruction is Larry himself, lying unconscious on his back in the center of the ring, the crown that once sat upon his head now resting on top of his chest. It is the last image we see as the camera pulls back before we transition away from the ring.
With Hell on Earth still in its infancy, the crowd is roaring loudly and happily as the camera pans across it, before going back to Trey Booker and J.T. Price at ringside.
TREY BOOKER: Folks we just saw a great opening match between Serrano Poblano and Ulf Hednir, but it's just the start of the action we have in store for you tonight. Coming up next, three newcomers to Project: Honor are going to clash, and all three will be hungry to prove themselves in their debut match.
J.T. PRICE: Do you ever tire of making that pun?
TREY BOOKER: Not even a little. But besides these three newcomers, there is also another rookie in attendance tonight, and he's at ringside right now. Let's go to Crystal Ward.
The shot does indeed switch to Crystal Ward, and she's standing next to the ringside barricade. She has her usual dazzling smile on, and she takes a moment before speaking up.
CRYSTAL WARD: Thank you, Trey. That’s right, I'm here at ringside, but I'm not alone as I'm here with a new name right here in Project: Honor, and he's found himself a comfortable seat in the front row. I'll see if I can grab a word.
Crystal saunters forward a few steps, and the camera manages to pick up on the bearded face of Mark Kelly! Mark Kelly has a smile on his face, sitting comfortably in his seat and flicking his gaze around as if to take in the fans and the size of the arena he is in. Seeing Crystal get closer, his gaze switches to the camera, and at a signal from Crystal he climbs to his feet and moves closer to the barricade. There's a small cheer for him, but he's still mostly unknown in the business, and Kelly seems to just be grateful to be here as he approaches Crystal.
CRYSTAL WARD: Mark, sorry to disturb you. I know it’s your first night here in Project: Honor. You're probably just looking to find your feet, but I was hoping I could grab a word.
MARK KELLY: It's fine, Crystal. You have a job to do, and I can absolutely understand that. My main hope would be to keep this short, so these great fans right here in Caracas can see the matches they paid to see.
There's the obvious easy and cheap pop for that, and Kelly grins as he looks back at the crowd and then turns to Crystal.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, I hope I won't take up too much of your time. So, let's go with the obvious question. What brings you to Project: Honor?
MARK KELLY: Honestly, I just came here to compete, and hopefully put on some great matches. I haven't been out of Australia for long, and right now I'm still trying to find my groove and learn my craft. To put it simply, Miss Ward? I came here to wrestle and to fight the best in the business. And maybe, after some time, I'll get a chance against some of them.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, obviously the next match is the new arrival showcase match. Do you have a favourite to win?
MARK KELLY: Honestly all three look hungry and dangerous tonight. Tara Fenix has an edge to her that, frankly, scares me. Daniel Ackerman seems poised to take his chance, and well....who am I to ever doubt Big Match John. So I could see it going any way, but what I really hope for is they show how high the bar is set, so I can jump it when I have my first match.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing you try. Welcome to Project Honor and I hope you enjoy the show tonight. Back to you Trey and J.T.
Mark flashes a smile, now raising both hands in his usual finger-guns pose. Pointing at the camera and firing his shots before winking, and then turning to wave at the crowd who give him a final friendly cheer before the shot flicks back to Trey and JT, and we get ready for the New Arrival Showcase.
HOLLY PEREZ: Our next contest is a Triple Threat New Arrival Showcase and it is scheduled for one fall! Introducing first to the ring… Weighing in at Two hundred and sixty pounds… Standing at six feet, three inches… From Boston, Massachusetts… Big Match John… JOOOHHHNNN BLLLAAADDDEEE!!!
“Time Is Now” begins to play as he walks out on stage. He talks to the cameraman and bounces a little. He holds up his “Never Give Up” logo flag and tosses it to the fans. He salutes and runs straight down towards the ring. He bounces off the ropes side to side and he holds up his “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” shirt. He takes off his hat and tosses his shirt to the fans and hands his Chain to the ref to begin to fight.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing next the ring… Weighing in at One hundred and forty three pounds… Standing at five foot, six inches… From Hartford, Connecticut… The Phoenix Queen; The Goddess… TAAARRRAAA FEEENNNIIIXXX!!!
Every light in the arena shuts off… moments later, a single blue spotlight shines to the curtain as the opening melody for “The Eagle Flies Alone” by Arch Enemy plays over the PA system and the crowd is giving their mixed reactions… The longtime fans have cheered, and overpower the ones who do not know whether to cheer or not; some join in just out of peer pressure. Fog has filled the stage. The first verse comes and goes. The chorus comes in.
I, I go my own way!
I swim against the stream!
(Forever) I will fight the powers that be!
Tara emerges from behind the curtains; her head is covered by her hood. Tara stands at the top of the stage with a sneer on her face as her eyes scan the crowd as if to find her supporters. Some of the crowd has gotten louder in her favor, while others are still mixed. Tara flings the hood back, and takes a better look at the crowd. The legendary Tara strides down the ramp; the stride turns to a brisk walk about halfway down the ramp. The crowd along the front row is bowing down to her. As she reaches the bottom of the ramp, she goes around to the camera side of the ring, leaps onto the apron with one knee and straightens out her other leg while looking at the crowd and the camera.
I, I go my own way!
I swim against the stream!
(Forever) I will fight the pοwers that be!
The eagle flies alone!
Tara crawls between the middle and lower ropes, and crawls to the middle of the ring. After standing up, she walks to the nearest turnbuckle and goes to the second turnbuckle; she just stares out at the crowd, and shouts out inaudible words. After several seconds of basking, she does a one-eighty off of the second rope and landing. She hands her coat to the referee, then proceeds to wait for the match to start.
HOLLY PEREZ: Last but not least… Weighing in at One hundred and ninety eight pounds… Standing at six foot, one inches… From Sacramento, California, United States… “The Captain''...“The One Winged Angel”... DAAANNNIIIEEELLL ACCCKKKEEERRRMMMAAANNN!!!
As the beginning intro to “The Plan” by Travis Scott rings out through the arena’s P.A. System as the house lights simply bring it’s focus towards the entrance curtain, the crowd - though not visible - are on their feet and awaiting the arrival of The Captain, the voice of Travis Scott being heard as a figure steps through the curtain with their head held down.
“Last time I wrecked it, last time I whipped around
Last time I did the whippets (yeah), last time I live reverse (yeah, yeah, ooh)
Pour the brown, hit the reverend (yeah), last time I hit your crib (yeah)
Last time there was no tenants”
All of the house lights within the arena begin to flash, like a strobe light, as the beat dropped through the first verse. The figure continued to stand in the same position as he was beforehand, taking slow steps forward until he’s just at the edge of the stage from the ramp that leads to the ring below. A slight movement from the figure as he brings his head into a viewable position and shows his face. Daniel Ackerman had arrived.
“Not a vibe (Yeah) but a wave, with the sound by the way
Count it down, by the days (Ooh)
To myself, know they wicked, with the moves (Ooh, ooh)
I'm drinkin', off the juice, know I'm drinkin'
I be smooth, then I lose it, yeah, yeah now”
The One Winged Angel began to make his way down the ramp, slow nonchalant steps as he looked out to the crowd and the spotlight following his every move, and with these steps he take- he gives the opponent time to evaluate what they’re to expect. Daniel makes it to the ring side area and again, continuing his nonchalant walk, he circles around the ring until he’s made a full path around before hopping onto the apron where the hard-cam is facing.
“Close the opera
Hear the red and blue outside, I think our option's up
I recrossed it 'round the map, I had to line it up
I be swervin' on the waves, it's like a line of us (Yeah, yeah)”
Pointing up to the hard-cam and then back to himself as if telling it to zoom in on just himself, Ackerman gently steps into the ring and looks across the ring to his opponent, giving off the cocky smile we’re used to seeing resting on his face before heading into the corner and tapping the point of his right foot on the ring mat as Holly Perez gives him his introduction.
Upon hearing the name of The One Winged Angel, Daniel climbs to the second rope and with the spotlight shining down onto him, pulling his black leather jacket open to show his pectoral muscles with that same cocky smirk on his face, the hard-cam picks up him mouthing something off but with the fans cheering loudly and the music continuing to play over, his voice becomes inaudible. Ackerman drops down to the ring mat with a loud thud as he turns to face his opponent, bringing his hands behind his back and once again, he mouths something that’s inaudible, but this time it’s right into the face of the opponent just to rile him up.
DING! DING! DING!
John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman circle each other in the ring, each one looking to see who’d be the first to make a move. It’s John Blade who makes the first move, kicking Daniel Ackerman in the midsection. That’s when Tara Fenix leapfrogs over John and hits a Stomp on the back of Daniel sending him to the mat. John is still standing there shocked at what Tara had just done as she smiles at him before hitting him with a Hurricanrana. Tara then walks over to Daniel grabbing his leg and hitting an Elbow Drop not once, not twice, but three times.
By this point John is back on his feet and as soon as Tara gets to her feet he hits her with the Running Bulldog. John then sets Tara up for the Five Knuckles Shuffle, he does the you can’t see me taunt before running at the ropes and bouncing off them. As he does bounce off them he is interrupted by Daniel who stops John in his tracks with a Palm Strike to the throat and follows it up with a Snap Suplex going for the pin.
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY JOHN BLADE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Close pin attempt there by Daniel on John Blade!
J.T. PRICE: I’m surprised you can see this John you’re on about.
John shows off his strength as he kicks out and he manages to throw Daniel across the ring. This gives John enough time to get up to his feet as Tara gets to her feet too. John runs at Tara and Daniel, taking them down with a Double Clothesline before throwing his hands up and shouting “THUG LIFE” as the crowd cheers. Daniel and Tara get back to their feet, and as John turns around both Daniel and Tara kick John in the midsection before hitting him with a Double Suplex. The team work doesn’t last for long though as Tara grins at Daniel before trying to hit him with the Genocide Kick (Superkick), but as he ducks underneath it he grabs Tara’s other leg. As she puts her hands out to protect her fall, Daniel wraps his legs around her leg locking in an Ankle Lock.
Tara is reaching out for the ropes, they’re within touching distance but right now they feel so far away as she tries to work her way towards them. Daniel sees this and unhooks the leg to pull her to the center of the ring. Tara is smart though, as she realizes this and turns quickly onto her back. As Daniel goes to grab her, she kicks him in the face and is surprised as John Blade drops him with the Slingblade. Tara is up to her feet as she smiles at John who smiles back at her only for Tara to kick one of his legs out from underneath him. Now John is on one knee, Tara Fenix runs at the ropes and bounces off them, using the momentum to get everything she can behind the Shining Wizard as her knee connects with John’s face! Tara goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY JOHN BLADE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Another close pin on John from Tara this time.
J.T. PRICE: Seriously Trey!!! I can’t see this John!!!
Once again with the kickout, John manages to throw someone across the ring, this time Tara Fenix. Tara, Daniel, and John are back to their feet, and this time John and Tara grab Daniel and drop him with a Double DDT. Tara then hits John with a Hurricanrana only he manages to stay on his feet. The momentum sends John towards the ropes where he springboards off them connecting with the Springboard Stunner on Tara and going for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY TARA FENIX!!!
TREY BOOKER: John with a close pin attempt this time on Tara. I swear J.T. if you say it again I’m going to give you an Attitude Adjustment of my own.
J.T. PRICE: Is that basic Thuganomics though?
Daniel is up to his feet running at John Blade, dropping him with a Jumping Neckbreaker! Once on his feet, Daniel drops Tara with a Tornado Kick. Daniel isn’t done there as he lays Tara and John next to each other. Daniel starts by running, followed by jumping, and hits a Double Stomp to the midsection of John. Daniel then uses John like a trampoline as he connects with a Double Stomp to the midsection of Tara as well. Daniel isn’t done as he follows it up with getting John to his feet and hitting him with the Higher Power (Sheer Drop Brainbuster)! Daniel goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
PIN BROKEN UP BY TARA FENIX!!!
TREY BOOKER: My man John almost won there.
J.T. PRICE: Your man John is clearly invisible.
Tara helps Daniel back up to his feet, he pushes her away, she manages to bounce off the rope and ducks Daniel's Clothesline attempt. As Daniel turns around he is met with the Genocide Kick (Superkick) and Tara follows this up by noticing John getting to his feet and hitting him with the Genocide Kick as well! Tara then goes for a pin on Daniel!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY DANIEL ACKERMAN!!!
TREY BOOKER: Sweet Superkick there by Tara on John!
J.T. PRICE: Yeah on John the wrestling Ghost!
Straight to her feet, Tara goes over to John and now goes for a pin attempt on him.
ONE…
TWO…
NO… JOHN BLADE HAS MANAGED TO GET HIS FOOT ON THE ROPE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Tara with quick thinking there to go for the pin on John straight after.
J.T. PRICE: How does she make it look like she is pinning someone when she isn’t?
TREY BOOKER: Shut up J.T. You’re going the right way for a Five Knuckles Shuffle to the throat.
J.T. PRICE: Can’t see me!!! *Does the taunt too*
Daniel is up to his feet as are Tara and John. Tara is the first to react as she Springboards off the ropes taking Daniel and John down with a Double DDT. Getting Daniel up to his feet, Tara goes for the Burn to Ashes (Go To Sleep) only he has hold of the ropes. Tara decides to try to throw him out of the ring with a Fireman's Carry only for Daniel to land on the apron. Tara has had enough so she Springboards off the ropes and hits an Enzuigiri on Daniel, sending him crashing into the ringside barrier, right in front of where Mark Kelly is sitting! Back inside the ring, John is now on his feet and as Tara turns around he goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Tara reverses it and hits John with the Phoenix Wings (Double-Arm Tornado DDT) and goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!!!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner of this match through PINFALL… TAAARRRAAA FEEENNNIIIXXX!!!
TREY BOOKER: Tara Fenix comes out on top in this New Arrival Showcase, pinning John Blade’s shoulders to the mat for the three count!
J.T. PRICE: She took advantage of knocking Daniel out of the ring to pin the invisible man! I wonder if Mark Kelly expected to get as close to action as he did near the end of the match!
As Tara celebrates her victory, we see that Daniel Ackerman has recovered at ringside and is staring directly at The Australian Ace in the front row. The two men exchange some words that the camera is unable to pick up, and as a disappointed John Blade recovers in the ring and Tara makes her exit, it is clear that there will be more to come from all of Proving Ground’s new stars in the weeks ahead.
Ulf Hednir is walking backstage after his match, still hyped from the adrenaline of his successful debut in Project: Honor. A couple of the stagehands backstage are welcoming one of the new signings to the company, and he exchanges a few words with a couple of them as he walks by. Whilst still walking forward, another sound of footsteps running in his direction can be heard from off-camera; Ulf kneels down as his little girl runs in view of the camera with a stuffed animal wolf in one hand--
THEA: Pappa!
--and right into his arms, as he wraps his arms around her and lifts her up in a hug.
ULF HEDNIR: Hei baby! Hva did du do while jeg worked?
THEA: Tante-- Tante Robi said-- she said det, det she is protecting me from a monster! She-- she gave me Fenrir… said he would-- he would protect me.
She said with a smile. As the father and daughter embrace, another individual walks on-screen: Valkyrie. Aunt Robi to Thea, who was in her ring gear and ready to compete in a match of her own. Ulf set Thea back down.
VALKYRIE: You did good out there.
ULF HEDNIR: Takk.
VALKYRIE: Have you heard anything more about this monster threatening my little shieldmaiden?
With a deep breath, Ulf shook his head to Valkyrie.
ULF HEDNIR: Nei, der is nothing yet. Jeg think det he is just a lot of bark, but der is no actual bite.
VALKYRIE: Alright. Just don’t let anything happen to her. If anything does, I will--
ULF HEDNIR: Jeg cannot have du fight min battles.
VALKYRIE: … Ulf, you’re not going to have a choice if he touches her.
She said with a sincere smile. Thea seemed amused over the conversation, as if she thought that they were playing a game; it was better this way. That way they did not frighten her. Both of them feigned a smile as their eyes shifted toward Thea, who just stared up and had the usual cute smile.
VALKYRIE: But my match is coming up.
Valkyrie now knelt down.
VALKYRIE: Wish me luck?
She said with her eyes lingering on Thea, and Thea rushed forward giving her Aunt Robi a huge hug.
THEA: Good luck, Tante Robi!
Valkyrie hugged Thea close for several seconds before finally releasing, and standing back up. Ulf picked Thea back up into his arms as she clung to the stuffed wolf, and Valkyrie started walking past Ulf.
ULF HEDNIR: Lykke til!
VALKYRIE: Takk!
ULF HEDNIR: Come back with de belt.
Valkyrie continues walking down the hallway, and Ulf walks with Thea in the opposite direction, and the scene comes to a close.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following contest is set for ONE FALL!
"Honō no Megami (炎の女神)" by Adrian von Ziegler begins to play through the speakers as the house lights in the arena soon turn to a golden hue as Arata Asakura makes his way through the curtain in a slow manner. There's no pause to view out to the crowd, Arata just continues to make his slow walk to the ring until he's at ringside where he removes his golden-encrusted mask and heads into the ring.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing first, wrestling out of Osaka, Japan and weighing in tonight at two hundred and twenty pounds... he is The Gaijin Killer... ARATA AAASSAAAAAKUURRRAAA!!!
The lights dim down while the catchy, fast paced rock of RAINBOWS by A9 echoes as a spotlight suddenly appears on a figure on the ramp, with his back turned and begins kneeling. Once the beat finally kicks in, MYOJIN explodes with energy- wearing a masquerade-style mask over his eyes, and turns around with a confident smile on his face, raising his arms to soak in the positive reaction from everyone around.
With his blonde locks hanging over his face. He then whips his head back, flipping his hair out of his face before excitedly running down the ring before performing a cartwheel and a jump, landing on his feet near ringside!
HOLLY PEREZ: And his opponent, wrestling out of Namba, Osaka, Japan and weighing in tonight at one hundred and sixty-five pounds... he is THE CURRENT, REIGNING XTREME HARDCORE FEDERATION X*CROWN CHAMPION... HE IS THE SHINING STAR! MYOOOOOOJIIIIIIINNNNN!!!!
He climbs up to the apron, grabs a hold of the top rope, and slingshots himself into the ring. MYOJIN performs a somersault roll, landing on his side with a hand on his hip. The other, taking off his mask to reveal his piercing blue eye contacts. He tosses it aside nonchalantly before climbing up the top turnbuckle, tilting his head upward as if he’s looking toward the sky- while the lights mimic stars above. He backflips off, back onto his feet while taking off his flamboyant coat and moving to his corner. The lights go back to normal as he checks his wrist tape. His charismatic smile fading to a more focused expression as he paces back and forth, ready for action.
DING! DING!
The match begins with MYOJIN and Arata Asakura staring down one another, although this is their first time meeting in the ring with one another in Project: Honor, their time in Strong Style Wrestling tells a very different tale than what many would already know. The Black Sun leader charges in and goes for the Front Dropkick to push MYOJIN back into the corner but the newly crowned XHF X*Crown Champion isn’t going to allow Arata to get the early advantage, catching the legs of Arata and allowing him to fall to the mat before driving both feet into his chest with a Double Foot Stomp. Arata’s arm is held onto by MYOJIN as they climb over and then rolls down onto their back to lock in a Triangle Choke hold onto The One Real Shogun, but he floats over and bridges for a sneak pinfall attempt!
ONE!
TWO!
TH-
TREY BOOKER: MYOJIN is able to kick out and break out from the Triangle Choke hold!
J.T. PRICE: That was an amazing counter into the pin, but MYOJIN was smart enough to not allow Arata to take the easy way out of things.
Arata scrambles to his feet and then turns around to MYOJIN charging in- but a Throat Thrust takes the breath away from MYOJIN before knocking them down to their knees with a Spin Kick to the abdomen and then Arata comes off of the ropes with a Penalty Kick that takes down MYOJIN with ease! These two men are already beating the hell out of one another and we’re not even a full three minutes into this match. Arata stands in the corner and steps closer in with a Superkick right onto the jaw of a kneeling MYOJIN. The One Real Shogun grabs onto the wrists of The Shining Star and looks for Ayatsuri but MYOJIN grabs onto the leg of Arata as he lifts it up, he then rolls him up into a pin but they rolls Arata fully through and then delivers a sickening Punt Kick to the head of Asakura!
TREY BOOKER: WHAT A PUNT KICK! MYOJIN has this match to their advantage but man, they are putting each other through a vicious cycle of strikes here tonight!
J.T. PRICE: Think about it this way, Trey, MYOJIN has a championship match up for grabs right now and he's wanting that shot against- well- what might be the new champion in Lance Williams!
TREY BOOKER: You're not wrong there.
MYOJIN takes a few steps back before charging in from Arata’s blind spot and landing a stiff Bicycle Knee Strike to the temple of Arata as he falls down to the mat, seemingly knocked out from the knee strike but MYOJIN rolls him over onto his back and goes for the cover.
ONE!
TWO-
Arata is able to kick out, meaning he’s still in this, but that knee strike took a whole lot out of him by the looks of it. MYOJIN makes a move to the ropes and might be looking for another lethal blow from Arata’s blind spot and she charges in, attempting a little Black Magic, but Arata catches MYOJIN as she tried to come back against Arata with the kick, a single-armed Powerbomb lift before tossing him over the ropes! MYOJIN somehow hanged on and made sure to land onto the apron, and with Arata looking in the other direction, MYOJIN looks to springboard but Arata felt it coming as he twisted around and swung his leg up into the air to catch MYOJIN out of the sky, but this left Arata to fire off a Superkick to take MYOJIN off of the apron but The Shining Star caught the foot and pushed Arata away--he cartwheels however and goes for the Bicycle Kick to MYOJIN as she tries to springboard in but just as MYOJIN brought her feet down onto the apron again, Arata twisted his body around from the Bicycle Kick attempt and connected a hard Spinning Back Elbow to the jaw of MYOJIN which sends him down onto the floor below!
J.T. PRICE: Counter for counter, strike for strike, move for move. These two are just not giving up yet!
TREY BOOKER: Of course not, Arata wants to prove himself and the best way to do it? Well, it would be against MYOJIN!
Just as MYOJIN brings himself to her feet, Arata charges into the corner and leaps over the ropes--EVIL OF THE SKY! The Golden Triangle Moonsault to the outside may have been the move that'll set the mood for the rest of this match as Arata tosses MYOJIN into the ring and leaps onto the apron. Arata sees MYOJIN in the right spot for the Golden Dragon but he doesn't take that route, opting for himself charging into the corner on the outside and leaping over the ropes to the inside--AND ANOTHER EVIL OF THE SKY! SECOND ROPE MOONSAULT AS ARATA MAKES THE COVER!
ONE!
TWO!
T-
J.T. PRICE: Arata was SO CLOSE and yet, he was so far away from the victory!
TREY BOOKER: It wasn't the ideal situation but I'm sure even he knew that wasn't enough but seeing that he was very close with that three count, he knows he's got The Shining Star in a predicament.
J.T. PRICE: But it’s now the question of when will the finishing touches be done onto MYOJIN if Arata attempts it- and I guess we’ll be finding out now!
Arata, through all of the bickering on the outside with the commentators, is making his way to the top rope and is about to soar for the Golden Dragon. Arata stands up there for a couple of seconds before leaping off of the top--LOVE, FROM OSAKA! MYOJIN KIPPED UP AND SCOUTED ARATA, FINDING HIMSELF WITH A LAST DITCH EFFORT MOVE AND PERFECTED THE JUMPING CORKSCREW ROUNDHOUSE KICK! Arata is stunned from the out of nowhere strike, and so is the crowd right now, but MYOJIN makes her way back to her feet and watches Arata rise to his knees--KISS AND TELL! FOLLOWED UP WITH THE RAINBOW STAR PRESS! THE COVER-- BUT ARATA ROLLS OVER AND MAKES THE COVER THIS TIME! BUT MYOJIN WON’T ALLOW IT! SHE ROLLS OVER AND LOCKS IN AQUILLA! THE HEADSCISSORS KIMURA LOCK IS APPLIED AND THERE’S NO ESCAPE FOR ARATA RIGHT NOW! HE’S GOT TO TAP! BUT ARATA’S TRYING TO GET TO HIS FEET BUT MYOJIN WON’T LET HIM, SHE’S FIGHTING TO KEEP HIM DOWN BUT ARATA’S ABLE TO LIFT HIMSELF UP AND ROLL MYOJIN ON HIS BACK, THE SHOULDERS ARE DOWN!
ONE!
TWO!
THR--
MYOJIN COUNTERS WITH HER OWN VERSION OF A ROLL UP! THE SHOULDERS ARE DOWN!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: MYOJIN’S DONE IT!
J.T. PRICE: CONTROVERSIAL FASHION, NO LESS, BUT MYOJIN IS CROWNED THE WINNER! ARATA IS NOT ONE BIT PLEASED!
"Rainbows" by A9 plays in the background as MYOJIN rolls out of the ring- out of harm's way from Arata Asakura's frustration. The Gaijin Killer is pissed off over the result, trying to tell the referee that the tights were pulled in the process of the pinfall.
HOLLY PEREZ: Here is your winner... MYYYYOOOOJIIIIIINNNNN!!!!
The crowd cheer loudly but Arata sure isn't, he wants to go right after MYOJIN but with her half way up the ramp, it's no use to Arata.
The opening to a segment showed one of the newest signings to Proving Ground, a heavyset young woman called Victoria McKenzie, who hadn't been making many friends in the promotion thanks to her mouthing off on social media. She was currently just walking down the street, with a camera in front of her to get a shot of her face as Victoria just casually texted and posted selfies of herself to her many social media profiles. However, after a bit of time, she started to speak in her Geordie accent.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: I'm sure that I don't need to introduce myself, but in case you've been living under a rock or are one of the, like, 2 people who don't follow me on social media, @ MsMainstreamVM, by the way...my name is Victoria McKenzie, Ms. Mainstream, The woman who is making it cool to like pro wrestling again and, most importantly, The Biggest, Baddest and Most Beautiful Brit In The Building.
Victoria chuckled a bit as she actually looked around the night-clubs and the various buildings of wherever she was walking, the black and white gave it an almost cinematic vibe, the only colour coming from the neon lights and signs on the bars. The plus sized Brit was wearing a black t-shirt with 'Bad Bitch' on the front in white lettering and a pair of figure hugging, blue jeans with some white and black sneakers.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, you must be thinking that 'Oh, this girl's all talk, what does she know about getting her hands dirty?' and that is exactly the problem, people just assume that I'm some vapid airhead, just because I spend my time on social media, influencing and blessing the world with my presence; but it was pro wrestling that gave me the confidence to do that...without wrestling, I wouldn't be the woman that I am today. I know that I talk a lot, but I know that I can back it up; I shouldn't have to stay silent just so I don't annoy some muppets who've been here for longer than me!
The Geordie just scoffed a bit as she chuckled, she continued to walk as the camera panned to the scenes of camera's flashing and some of Victoria's tweets that she had posted; the young woman obviously wanted to get as many eyes on her as possible, however, these shots were spliced with clips of Vic hitting opponents with crossbodys, squashing them with seated sentons and nailing them with cannonball sentons.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: The thing is, I have a lot of respect for the people in Project: Honor, this company has some of the best and the brightest that the wrestling world has to offer and that's why I'm here, because I've been a former First Class Women's Champion back in Toronto, Canada; when that merged with IIW, I started to make my mark there. But I like to keep myself occupied, so I had to get myself in on the action of Proving Ground. I mean, it's not that I need the money, I mean, I make more money at 25 than most of you make in your pathetic lives...but it's really just a combination of me wanting to get my name out there and because I just like to enjoy beating people up...speaking of which.
Victoria flashed a smirk as the camera panned to a trio of men, they looked older and grizzled and the type that nobody should really mess with; but Victoria was going to use this as an opportunity to show what she could do, as she walked towards the trio; she looked to the camera and remarked with a little wink.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: People want me to prove myself? Well, here's a taster.
The 275lb bruiser intentionally slammed her shoulder into a scrawny, middle aged man, who ended up staggering into one of his friends, but, before the men could even say anything; Victoria had grabbed one of the men by the throat and hurled him into a wall with some serious force; forcing the man to slump down against the wall in pain. The camera picked up the excited gleam in Victoria's eyes as she ducked the punch of the second man and actually grabbed a hold of him, before throwing him over with a brutal looking exploder suplex; before standing herself up and getting grabbed by the third man, who tried to tackle Victoria, only for Victoria to grab him in a front face lock and deliver some brutal knee strikes and then throwing him over with a gutwrench suplex. With two of the three men on the pavement and the third man against the wall in a heap, Victoria gave a big smile and even vainly bowed to the camera, showing her immense arrogance; but she wasn't done as the Geordie sauntered over to the man against the wall and got on one knee, making him look at the camera as used her own phone to take a selfie with the pained man, before she spoke with a cheery tone.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Nothing personal, buddy, just got to use you lot as a punching bag or three, but, hey, at least you'll be famous when this goes viral.
With that, Victoria stood back up, got a head of steam and hit a running hip attack, using her ample bulk to her advantage as she crushed the third man's head between the concrete wall and her ass, as the camera cut away from the aftermath, Victoria casually picked up her phone, the camera panning around to see the bodies of the individuals that were all unconscious and not moving, all the while the shots of Victoria's selfies, including her smiling, making goofy faces started to fill the screen before the camera cut to the image of someone typing out a tweet; the text reading.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following contest is The Seven Gates of Hell Match and it is for The Warrior Rising Championship! Introducing first, from San Antonio, Texas and weighing in at two hundred thirty seven pounds… “Don Dada”...BRANDON HENDRIX!!!
Accompanied by Kanye West’s “Power”, Brandon makes his way toward the structure that has been erected at the back of the arena, giving it a long look before finally stepping through the entrance and into the first caged section.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, hailing from Hampton Falls, New Hampshire and weighing in at two hundred and seventy four pounds… “The Luxury Experience”...CADILLAC JACKSON!!!
The trend of Kanye West entrance themes continue as Caddy heads toward the ominous structure to the artist’s “All of the Lights”. Much like Brandon before him, Cadillac takes a few moments to look over the caged dome before ultimately entering and putting some distance between himself and Don Dada.
HOLLY PEREZ: And the next participant, fighting out of Dildo, Canada and weighing in at four hundred and sixty nine pounds...PAT THE POSTMAN!!!
Making his usual entrance, Pat seems less concerned with the task ahead of him than those who have entered before him. In fact, the only thing Pat seems to be concerned with is fitting his massive frame through the entrance and then maneuvering for elbow room within the close confines.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, entering together, please welcome the members of Big Drip Productions and representing The Hip House...TJ THOMPSON AND YUNG SAUCE!!!
In an interesting show of camaraderie, TJ and Sauce make their way toward the Gates of Hell as a unit as “Drip Like Me” accompanies them, perhaps a hint that the two young men plan on going as far as possible by working together. Once inside the first section of the domed cage, Sauce and TJ take notice of where their opponents are located and see that Cadillac Jackson has already planted himself right beside the gate leading to the next section.
HOLLY PEREZ: Our next competitor, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and weighing in at two hundred seventy pounds… “The Commander of Drip”...SCOTT OASIS!!!
The former champion does his best to look unconcerned as he makes his way toward the structure, giving Sauce and TJ a smile and a nod as he steps into the first section. The two members of Big Drip return his gesture, but their expressions betray their nervousness when it comes to the self-styled “Commander of Drip”.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, making her Proving Ground debut, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...VALKYRIE!!!
Having been recently traded from Fallout, Valkyrie makes her first entrance on a Proving Ground production as Atreyu’s “Warrior” plays over the sound system. She looks into the caged dome at the six other contenders, apparently taking measure of them before finally entering the structure.
HOLLY PEREZ: Finally, our last participant in The Gates of Hell Match, she hails from Pacific Palisades, California and she is the reigning Project: Honor Warrior Rising Champion… “The Platinum Standard”...EMMANUELLE!!!
The seven challengers watch Emmanuelle make her way toward the cage like a pack of hungry jungle cats. With the Warrior Rising Championship already hanging from the rafters over the center of the structure, the champion looks toward it and considers the lengths she’ll have to go to in order to have it back in her possession. She finally steps through the first gate, the door is shut and locked behind her, and Holly Perez makes her final announcement…
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen...all eight competitors have entered through the first gate and when the bell sounds, the Seven Gates of Hell Match will officially begin!
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: Five minutes are on the clock and this thing is underway!
J.T. PRICE: They’re going to have those five minutes to take out their aggressions, but once the second gate to the next level opens up, the last one through will be eliminated!
Looking to use their numbers advantage while it matters most, TJ and Sauce immediately target the biggest man in the match, battering Pat with hard strikes. Despite their recent tag team efforts, Cadillac Jackson chooses not to go to Pat’s aid, instead holding his position by the gate that leads to the next section of the cage. Scott Oasis shows his own strategy, which involves taking out his frustrations on the current champion and the woman who upset him for the Warrior Rising Championship. In these close confines, Emmanuelle is unable to put her speed to much use, which allows Oasis to fling her from one cage wall to the other. Meanwhile, the two newest faces on the Proving Ground brand look to establish their dominance, as Brandon Hendrix and Valkyrie exchange a series of blows!
While the double team tactics of Big Drip had Pat thrown for a loop at first, the mighty mailman finally has enough as he shoves both men to the unprotected floor. He then leaps into the air, bringing one of his massive feet down on either member with a painful double leaping stomp. Pat then catches sight of his occasional tag partner, and troubled by the fact that Cadillac did not come to his aid, it looks as if Jackson is next on Pat’s hitlist. The smooth-talking Caddy immediately begins pleading with Pat, suggesting that they can work together, but then Jackson reaches out to stick a thumb in the big man’s eye! Not missing a beat, Caddy then starts to rake Pat’s head against the surface of the cage, still careful not to venture far from the still-closed gate.
Brandon has managed to get the better of Valkyrie in their back and forth, dropping her with a big boot before following up with some ground and pound. Content that he’s stunned Valkyrie, he then makes his way toward Big Drip as they are getting on their feet, first ramming TJ Thompson into the steel and then lifting Yung Sauce up in a Gorilla Press! When he tries to slam Sauce back down however, he finds that The Saucy One is holding the top of the cage with both hands! Sauce then kicks Brandon backwards into the waiting arms of TJ, who grabs him by the waist and sends him to the floor with a German Suplex! Shortly after that exchange, we see Scott Oasis lift Emmy up into the powerbomb position, but she follows Sauce’s lead by grabbing the bars of the dome! Then, once Oasis is off balance, Emmanuelle flips herself backwards to take Scott down with a modified hurricanrana! She starts to unload a series of strikes at Oasis’ head, but after a few blows, Valkyrie grabs her from behind and pulls her to the floor in a chicken wing submission!
Big Drip continue to use double team tactics on Brandon Hendrix, leaving him to desperately cover himself on the floor, but their war has brought them dangerously close to where Pat the Postman has wedged Cadillac Jackson between the steel and his own bulbous body! Not wanting to lose his advantage over Caddy or his position near the gate, Pat continues to press his body against Jackson even when Yung Sauce and TJ Thompson pounce on his back! Scott Oasis sees the strategy being used by his Big Drip allies, and joins in on attacking Pat, driving hard punches against his ribs and lower back. With the timer counting down, Valkyrie leaves Emmanuelle and joins in on the fun as well, as Pat is now suffering from a four on one attack! It isn’t long before Brandon and Emmanuelle recover, and despite Pat’s less-than-stellar record, every other competitor in the cage is focused upon the eccentric giant! Poor Cadillac is squashed against the steel gate as all of this occurs and the crowd begins to count down to zero...
3...
2...
1...
HOLLY PEREZ: THE SECOND GATE IS NOW OPEN!
The lock on the gate leading the next level is deactivated, and with all of the weight pressing against it, it easily flies open! Cadillac Jackson is the first to make it through as he collapses on the floor and desperately tries to fill his lungs with oxygen. By all accounts, Pat the Postman should be the next man forced through the opening, but it would seem that the gates were not made with his massive body in mind! Even with six competitors pushing against him, Pat will not fit through the gate! Fearing further vengeance from Pat, Cadillac finally grabs hold of the steel gate and swings it shut, slamming the steel against Pat’s face to not only bust him open, but also knock him backwards! As Pat falls to the floor with blood pouring out of his head, the other six competitors scratch and claw to make it through the gate!
HOLLY PEREZ: Pat the Postman has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We have our first casualty! I think Pat was knocked unconscious by Cadillac slamming the gate against his head, and no one was willing to show mercy as they climbed over his prone body into the second section of the cage!
J.T. PRICE: Was he seriously stuck in the gate? Is Pat the Postman now the Winnie the Pooh of Project: Honor?
Sticking with his original strategy, Cadillac Jackson began searching for the next gate as soon as he slammed the last one against Pat’s face. Not only is he successful in his quest, but he’s also had the opportunity to grab one of the steel chairs that hang overhead in this section of cage. While Caddy guards the gate with chair in hand, Big Drip once again go back to double team tactics, this time focusing their attention on Valkyrie! As they hit her with a drop toe hold and jumping elbow drop combination, an unexpected savior comes to her rescue as Brandon Hendrix nearly spears Yung Sauce out of his sneakers! Meanwhile, Scott Oasis has returned his attention to Emmanuelle, determined to eliminate her from the competition on his way back to reclaiming the Warrior Rising Title! He punishes Emmy with a snap suplex and a release German, before finally ripping a chair from the ceiling with a sadistic smile. Oasis raises the chair overhead, but the desperate champion counters by kicking him between the legs! The blatant low blow is perfectly legal in this environment, and as Scott sinks to his knees, Emmy rips the chair out of his hands! A sick thud echoes throughout the arena as she brings the chair down over Scott’s unprotected head, leaving him in a crumpled mess on the floor!
With the former champion down, Emmanuelle heads toward Cadillac Jackson’s position in the cage and the two begin to duel with their steel chairs! After the weapons slam together several times, it is Caddy who wins out by smacking Emmy’s chair hard enough to send shockwaves of pain up her forearms. The champion is forced to take a step back, but as Cadillac prepares to follow up, she leaps back forward with a jumping knee strike that knocks Jackson’s chair back into his face! While the move is effective in disarming and dropping Cadillac Jackson, it looks as if Emmanuelle has damaged her knee in the process. Still standing, she reaches down to hold her knee, unaware that Brandon Hendrix has her in his sights! Before Emmy can protect herself, Don Dada hits her with a spear out of nowhere!
As Hendrix now guards the gate unhindered, Big Drip continue to focus their attack on Valkyrie, hitting her with a double hip toss into the steel cage! TJ and Sauce look to slam Valkyrie into the steel yet again, but this time she leaps onto the bars, throws herself backwards, and takes TJ off his feet with a modified springboard forearm! Hoping to stop Valkyrie before she gets rolling, Sauce charges forward, but she catches him in her arms, rams his spine into the steel, and then drives him to the floor with a spinebuster! Valkyrie cannot immediately capitalize, but the members of Big Drip are both willing to let her wander away, eventually setting her sights on Brandon Hendrix and the third gate.
Valkyrie charges at her target, but Brandon leapfrogs over her spear attempt at the last second. Believing that she’s ran herself into the steel gate, Hendrix turns around to see that Valkyrie was able to halt her momentum and scoop up Cadillac’s discarded chair! Her ruse works perfectly as she jabs the chair against Don Dada’s midsection and then slams it over his back, driving him to the floor alongside Emmanuelle and Jackson. What she doesn’t realize is that Scott Oasis has crept up behind her, and before she can react, he drives her down with a release German Suplex! Not content there, Oasis then bends down to scream in Valkyrie’s face and then grabs her in an Iron Claw! Scott successfully hits The Battle Cry and Drill Time on Valkyrie, leaving only him and his two buddies in Big Drip still standing. As TJ and Sauce approach him, Oasis shrugs his shoulders and levels Sauce with a hard lariat! He has one for TJ as well! After knocking both men down, he turns his attention to the gate and begins to violently shake it, unwilling to wait for the timer to reach zero.
Perhaps now understanding that it is indeed every person for themselves, TJ and Sauce decide to retaliate against The Vanilla Gorilla! Thompson scoops the unsuspecting Oasis onto his shoulders and begins to spin him around until Sauce finally leaps up to hit a jumping cutter! Oasis is down after Zoomin’ Through The Sky as the 5 minute countdown reaches its end!
3…
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE THIRD GATE IS NOW OPEN
Upon hearing Holly’s announcement, Sauce and TJ throw open the gate and rush through it, making them the first two competitors into the third section! Cadillac Jackson, still on the floor, is next to pass through the gate as he crawls over the threshold. Next is Valkyrie...and then Emmy...leaving only two men behind! Oasis pulls himself up and starts to shake off the effects of Big Drip’s double team move, but he’s suddenly driven back down by Brandon Hendrix’s Superman Punch! As The Vanilla Gorilla hits the floor, Don Dada leaps through the gate and slams it behind him!
HOLLY PEREZ: Scott Oasis has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: The chairs in the second section played a big part, but now it’s on to the tables!
J.T. PRICE: Two of the biggest men have been eliminated so far, and that championship gold is anyone’s to claim!
No sooner has Brandon slammed the gate shut than the person to make it through prior to him grabs his hair and slams his face forward against the steel! Don Dada comes back with a bloody head, but Emmanuelle only smiles before sending him to the floor with a snap DDT! Meanwhile, TJ and Sauce are taking advantage of being the first two men to enter as they set up a pair of tables near the next exit gate. As they fortify their position, Valkyrie attempts to bring the punishment to Cadillac Jackson with a running knee strike! At the last moment, Caddy side steps and sweeps her other leg, successfully knocking her to the floor on the back of her head! Looking to add further damage, he then lifts her into the powerbomb position, slams her back against the cage wall, and then completes the move by slamming her on the floor!
As Caddy continues to punish Valkyrie, Emmanuelle leaves Hendrix lying in his own blood to turn her attention toward TJ Thompson and Yung Sauce. With two tables erected and a third leaning against the cage, the Big Drip members are hopeful that the champion will think twice before charging them. Whatever respect exists between TJ and Emmy is quickly brushed aside, as The Platinum Standard rushes forward, leaps onto one of the tables, and then launches herself back off toward Yung Sauce! She catches him with an arm around his head, spins in midair, and drops The Saucy One to the floor with a modified version of her Malibu Shine! Taking offense at her treatment of his partner, TJ advances on Emmanuelle but is met by a Liver Punch! With TJ doubled over, Emmanuelle hooks him by the arms and lifts him into the air, pivoting to drop him through the very table that she had recently leapt off of! The modified Pasadena Bomb drives TJ back-first through the wood, removing the second of two obstacles between Emmanuelle and the fourth gate.
The champion gets back on her feet to survey the damage she caused, when suddenly Brandon Hendrix charges at her with revenge on his mind! His Acknowledge Spear catches Emmy unaware, and the force drives her backwards through the table leaning against the cage wall! With four of the competitors down, Cadillac Jackson pulls Valkyrie near the only table that remains standing, looking to drive her through it with his Cadillac Flapjack! He starts to lift her into the air, but Valkyrie is able to shift her momentum and land on her feet behind him! Before he can make an adjustment, Valkyrie grabs hold of Caddy and uses all of her strength to take him off his feet and drop him through the table with a back suplex!
3…
2…
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE FOURTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Valkyrie shakes off the damage she’s inflicted on herself and shoves the gate open, making her the first person to advance to the next stage of the battle. Yung Sauce has recovered as well, but instead of rushing through the gate, the loyal friend takes a few precious moments to smack some sense back into TJ Thompson. The two members of Big Drip eventually make it through the gate together, as the remaining three competitors start to stir. Emmanuelle, still on the floor, has Brandon Hendrix by the ankle, refusing to allow him free passage. While Brandon is momentarily distracted, a shaken Cadillac Jackson grabs him by the head and lifts him upwards, then drives him back down with The Test Drive! Don Dada’s bloody face is driven back to the floor, giving both Emmanuelle and Jackson the opportunity to advance!
HOLLY PEREZ: Brandon Hendrix has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We’re down to five as Don Dada is done for the night! He put up one hell of a fight, but his opposition was determined to end his championship hopes!
J.T. PRICE: Both members of Big Drip are still in this thing! Their teamwork strategy might be what crowns one of them as champion!
Five competitors remain in this latest ring of the cell, and while the tables and chairs are now a thing of the past, several pairs of metal shackles hang from the cage walls. As the last two to cross the threshold, Cadillac and Emmanuelle quickly resume the fight, while TJ holds Valkyrie so that Sauce can batter her with one of the nearby chained manacles. The sight of her own blood seems to fire Valkyrie up however, as she kicks Sauce away before throwing her head back against TJ’s nose! With Thompson stunned, Valkyrie then grabs the manacle that was being used against her, and slaps it around The Hipbeast’s wrist! With one member of Big Drip out of the picture, Valkyrie moves away from both of them in search of the next gate. At first, Sauce begins to panic, fearful that his teammate will be unable to move ahead with his arm fastened to the cage. Thompson however, shouts out his solution.
TJ THOMPSON: Saucy! Get a saw! Hack my arm off, man!
YUNG SAUCE: No way, man! That’s your private time hand! I can’t do that to you!
TJ THOMPSON: I’ll still have Gerald, bro! Just do what has to be done!
For a brief moment, Sauce seems to accept what TJ has suggested, refusing to consider what Gerald the Giraffe could possibly have to do with private time. Then, he suddenly comes up with his own plan!
YUNG SAUCE: Yo! Why don’t we just cut the chain instead?
This time it is TJ who considers the solution, and he finally nods his head in approval. Sauce turns away, but then stumbles upon another problem.
YUNG SAUCE: Where the fuck am I gonna get a saw?
It would seem that their master plan has been thwarted, until TJ suddenly holds up a single finger, having remembered something very important!
TJ THOMPSON: I almost forgot! I swiped a multi-purpose tool from my optometrist and put it in my boot!
Without further explanation, Sauce pulls off TJ’s boot, digs his hand inside, and produces the key to his partner’s salvation! As the members of Big Drip struggle to pry open the manacle on TJ’s wrist, Cadillac Jackson has gotten the upper hand on Emmanuelle, having dropped her with a neckbreaker and now torturing her in a camel clutch! Valkyrie spots the situation, and for a moment it looks as if she’s content to let the champion suffer, but then she suddenly rushes forward and plants a hard kick to Cadillac’s jaw, forcing him to break the hold and fall backwards! Instead of proving to be Emmy’s salvation however, Valkyrie immediately turns her attention to the champion and locks on The Bifrost!
With her knee already damaged from connecting with a steel chair earlier in the match, Emmy is in clear pain as she struggles to find some way to freedom. Instead of interjecting himself, Caddy crawls away from the two women and eventually gets back to his feet, just in time for the recently freed TJ Thompson to lift him onto his shoulders! Before Caddy can free himself, Sauce hits him with Lost in the Sauce and then TJ drops him to the floor with The Hip Train! The Collaborator has Cadillac seeing stars as the crowd begins to count down once again!
3…
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1...
HOLLY PEREZ: THE FIFTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Upon hearing the announcement, Valkyrie releases her leg lock on Emmanuelle and immediately makes her way to the nearby gate! TJ and Sauce beat her there by only a couple of seconds, and manage to cut off her escape! This time they are prepared for her ferocity, and in a combined effort they successfully get one of the manacles around her wrist! Emmy, in obvious pain, begins to crawl toward the gate, but Cadillac Jackson does the same! Valkyrie viciously stomps at both of them, but with no way to free herself, she’s unable to stop their advance for long! Cadillac crawls into the next section of the cage, and as Emmy tries to do the same, Valkyrie grabs her leg and holds on for everything she’s worth! Emmanuelle hangs onto the edge of the gate and tries to pull herself forward, until the combined strain from both the champion and Valkyrie snaps the manacle’s chain! Both competitors lurch forward, but it is the champion who propels herself through the opening first!
HOLLY PEREZ: Valkyrie has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We’re down to the final four, and despite her best efforts, Valkyrie is out of this one!
J.T. PRICE: Yeah, but look at that glare she’s giving the champion! It’s clear that Valkyrie’s pursuit of The Warrior Rising Championship has only just begun!
The members of Big Drip have already started going to work on Cadillac Jackson as the gate closes behind Emmanuelle, yet with the cage walls lined with mirrors, it almost looks as if multiple versions of Sauce and TJ are stomping on The Luxury Experience! Emmanuelle, in a desperate need of time to get the feeling back into her knee, hobbles away from the action in the hope that she’ll stumble across the next gate. She is not so fortunate however, as the panes of mirrored glass cover every inch of the cage wall, the gate hidden behind one of them. Her pursuit finally brings her back to where TJ and Sauce are beating down on Caddy, accidentally alerting them to her presence! Yung Sauce immediately goes for a kick, but Emmy catches his leg and spins him to the floor with a dragon screw! TJ then tries for a clothesline, but this time Emmy counters with an armdrag to put him down as well!
This brief action gives Cadillac the opportunity to get back on his feet, and instead of jumping the injured champion from behind, he joins in her efforts to put an end to Big Drip’s double team tactics! Still needing to locate the next gate, Emmanuelle expedited her search by whipping Yung Sauce into the closest mirror, shattering it with his body! Cadillac takes note and follows Emmy’s lead, doing the same to TJ Thompson! While both Sauce and TJ lay amongst shards of broken mirror, Caddy and the champion realize that the gate remains hidden! This time they both grab hold of Yung Sauce, and the young dripper is helpless as they launch him face first into another mirror! Now bleeding from multiple cuts, Sauce lays on the floor in pain, while Emmy and Caddy each grab one of TJ’s legs, fall backwards simultaneously, and catapult him into another mirror! Thompson crumples to a heap in a similar condition as his partner, but this time the gate stands revealed!
With both TJ and Sauce down and out and the gate clearly in sight, Cadillac and Emmanuelle turn their attention towards each other! The bigger of the two, Caddy chooses to use his superior strength against the champion, lifting her off her feet and driving her onto the broken shards of mirror with The Cadillac Flapjack! Knowing the tenacity of the champion first hand, Cadillac pulls her back up and lifts her into position for The Test Drive, but somehow Emmanuelle shifts her weight back towards the floor and counters with a DDT! Now all four competitors are bleeding from various cuts, but desperate to get her title back in her hands, Emmanuelle isn’t done yet. With Caddy trying to clear the blood from his eyes, she locks on her Punch Out Time STF Sleeper! Not only is Caddy helpless in her grasp, but as he stretches his arms out in search of salvation, all they find are fistfuls of broken glass!
3…
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE SIXTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
It is that announcement that finally convinces Emmanuelle to release her grip on Cadillac Jackson, and as his bloody face falls forward, she pulls herself up and shoves open the gate! While the champion has advanced, the fate of the remaining three men remains in question. It’s not clear if Cadillac Jackson knows where he is as he gets to his feet, and TJ uses that confusion to his own advantage by grabbing him with a double leg takedown and locking him in a Boston Crab! With Caddy helpless once again, Sauce joins his partner by hitting a series of knee strikes to Jackson’s temple, successfully completing their Deezer Smash Hit! Now in the fight for their lives, TJ and Sauce don’t let Cadillac go until they’re confident he’s unconscious, giving both men the chance needed to advance!
HOLLY PEREZ: Cadillac Jackson has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: This is starting to turn my stomach! Has every competitor bled in this match?
J.T. PRICE: I just can’t believe Caddy is gone! He was instrumental in several eliminations, and when he wakes up it will have all been for nothing!
Not waiting for Big Drip to use their numbers advantage against her, Emmanuelle fights off the pain and takes turns driving stiff kicks against the midsections of both TJ and Sauce. Then, as if they were not bloody enough, Emmanuelle notices the cage wall behind her and the sharp barbed wire that’s been woven through its links. She grabs hold of TJ and attempts to whip him toward the cage wall, but he reverses at the last second and it’s Emmy’s back that absorbs the pain from the sharp barbs! TJ then leaps forward to sandwich the champion’s body between his own at the cage, but she sidesteps at the last second and this time it’s TJ who feels the barbed wire! Clearly Yung Sauce wants none of that action, as he moves away in search of the next gate. It doesn’t take him long to find it as the diameters of each section have grown smaller, and beyond the gate he can see the ladder leading upwards to the Warrior Rising Championship.
Hoping that he can bend the rules, Sauce starts kicking at the gate for all he’s worth, but it refuses to budge. Unfortunately for him, he’s so focused on jarring the gate open, that he fails to notice Emmanuelle creeping up behind him. She grabs Sauce’s head with both hands and starts to force it forward towards the barbed wire, but he resists by pushing both hands against the cage wall. Just when it looks like Emmy is finally going to win out and drag Sauce’s face against the barbed wire, TJ rushes in for the save with an enzuigiri to the back of Emmanuelle’s head! With a moment to regroup, the two men realize that they have to pull out all the stops if they want to be the final two, and TJ starts to climb up the cage wall as Sauce lifts Emmy up for his Femboy Sauce Driver. Having climbed as high as he can, TJ pushes himself off the cage for his Hip with the Drip, but Emmy wiggles free and TJ crashes into Sauce instead!
With no time to spare, Emmanuelle pulls Sauce to his feet and pushes him against the barbed wire cage. Then, taking a cue from the manacles, she begins to pull the strands of barbed wire free in order to wrap them around Sauce’s arms and legs! Doing her best to tie Yung Sauce to the cage wall, Emmanuelle pulls and twists at the barbed wire as the crowd begins to count down!
3…
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1...
HOLLY PEREZ: THE SEVENTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Satisfied with her work, Emmanuelle limps away from Yung Sauce, who is now tied to the cell wall in a tangled mess of barbed wire. The champion pushes herself through the final gate as TJ Thompson comes to Sauce’s side, determined to somehow free him. He retrieves his multi-tool and starts to tug at the barbed wire with pliers in order to free his friend, but his efforts only result in excruciating pain for Yung Sauce. Finally, we see a rare sense of nobility from Big Drip’s youngest member as he begs TJ to leave him behind and reclaim his title for Big Drip Productions. Despite his sadness, TJ realizes the truth behind Sauce’s words, and drops his multi-tool before heading towards the gate...
HOLLY PEREZ: Yung Sauce has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: I can’t believe what we’ve seen! The teamwork from Yung Sauce and TJ Thompson have carried them through six levels of hell, but now The Hipbeast must fight alone!
J.T. PRICE: I’m not crying...you’re crying!
As soon as the gate slams behind TJ, Emmanuelle starts pulling herself up the ladder towards the championship prize. The pain in her knee prevents her from making it very far however, as TJ is able to catch up to her and grab her from behind. TJ then pushes himself off the ladder, driving Emmanuelle back against the cage wall, the barbed wire from the previous level still inflicting damage through the cell wall! With the champion writhing in pain, TJ begins to climb the ladder for himself! Fearful that she’ll be unable to climb up the rungs effectively, Emmy instead pulls herself up and shoves the ladder with all her strength!
As he begins to topple, TJ leaps from the ladder to the cage wall, gripping it with both hands! The ladder bounces off the side of the cage as TJ continues to climb upwards, careful not to wrap his hands around a strand of barbed wire. With no other choice, Emmanuelle starts to follow him, the strength of her arms doing most of the work as she ascends. With TJ in the lead, Emmy throws caution to the wind and climbs faster, clutching the barbed wire if need be while TJ continues to tread more carefully. Once he’s near the top of the domed cage, TJ reaches out for the suspended championship title, but his fingertips only brush against it before Emmanuelle is by his side.
They are forced to turn their attention to each other instead of the title, but it is Emmy who strikes first by slamming TJ’s head against the cage! He responds in kind, slamming the champion’s head against the cage as well, while both of them remain clinging to the cage wall. Finally, both Emmy and TJ grab each other by the head and push forward, bouncing each other’s heads off the cage wall! This forces both of them to lose their grip, and as they are launched off the side of the cage, they both reach out for the gold hanging a mere few feet from them! TJ and Emmanuelle crash on the fallen ladder below, but the championship belt is no longer hanging above their heads! One of them managed to grab it as they fell! Finally, raising the championship in their hand from the wreckage, we know who has survived The Seven Gates of Hell...
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of The Seven Gates of Hell and still Warrior Rising Champion… “The Platinum Standard”...EMMANUELLE!!!
TREY BOOKER: My god, she’s done it! Somehow, someway, Emmanuelle has retained The Warrior Rising Title in the most bizarre and obscene match the division has ever seen!
J.T. PRICE: It was right at TJ’s fingertips, but in the end Emmanuelle had that extra ounce of determination to see this thing through!
TREY BOOKER: This has been an absolute blood bath, but we’ve still got more to go!
Shortly after Tara’s successful debut in Project: Honor, she is seen wandering the hallway with her new found friend: Will Riley. Another newcomer to Project: Honor. The two seem to be in their own conversation, but they are suddenly sidetracked… After a tough contest, Tara inhales deeply and smells the haunting aroma of the catering.
TARA: The food smells amazing! It’s been a while since I had Venezuelan cuisine.
She said with her mouth already watering over the idea of having some food. She had to restore the energy she had exhausted.
WILL RILEY: It really does. Let’s go check it out.
Will suggests with a gesture toward the catering, and Tara follows suit, but as they draw ever closer she hesitates as she notices a man hovering over the catering and picking at the grapes. It was the Fallout General Manager, Christian DeMarco, and she kind of stops dead in her tracks. Will turns toward her and the look on his face simply reads that he is wondering why she suddenly stopped. He could tell that her contact was fixed, as she tilted her head slightly.
WILL RILEY: Are you okay?
TARA: Yeah. Yeah. He’s just kind of cute.
Will turns his head toward the catering to see the only man standing there besides the caterers as Christina DeMarco, and he gives a slight shrug of his shoulders.
WILL RILEY: Why don’t you introduce yourself?
TARA: I couldn’t do that!
Tara says, her cheeks blushing which gives Will Riley a chuckle.
WILL RILEY: You don’t strike me as the shy type.
Will walks back toward Tara and puts his arm around her shoulder, and gives her a gentle tug forward as they start forward again, all the while Will continues speaking.
WILL RILEY: That’s Christian DeMarco. He’s the GM of Fallout. I’m sure he may want to book you on occasion over there, if you’re down for all of that, so it would be good to introduce yourself.
They inch closer and closer, and when they are at a fair distance, Will nudges her forward and lets her go; Tara glances back at him as he’s giving her two thumbs up, then she looks forward again and she rubs her hands together… she was trying to resist caving in to the urge to retreat back to her own corner, all the times that she had been burned, but it was just saying hello, she thought.
TARA: Just say hello…
She whispered to herself. Each step drew her closer, and closer, and closer, until she was just a few steps away from the catering table. ENTER: Victoria McKenzie! Victoria hovers over the table with a look of utter delight at the way the catering looks, standing between Tara and Christian. Tara tries to peer around Victoria, and Christian DeMarco walks in the opposite direction away from Tara. Tara tried to look around Victoria, which seemed to get her attention, and Victoria turned toward her and gave a friendly smile.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Hi! I’m Victoria… You’re Tara! I was a big fan of yours growing up when I was like--
She hesitates for a moment to ensure her count is correct.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: --nine-years-old. I really do respect you; truth is, you’re one of my inspirations for getting into the business. I was taught to respect my elders. But… really, I think you should’ve retired a while ago. You seemed to have lost your edge. Anyways! Yeah, I’m Victoria. Do you mind if I--
Victoria set her plate down, and took her phone from her pocket and with just a few quick swipes, she had the camera ready to take a selfie.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: A picture?
Before Tara can react, Victoria is smiling as she snaps a picture. The picture shows Tara visibly annoyed but Victoria pays no mind to that.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: That one’s going straight to Twitter. Anyways!
Victoria extends her hand to Tara, who seemed to have the smile wiped from her face… She feigned a smile to Victoria, one more as a courtesy.
TARA: Hehe. Victoria, is it?
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Yeah!
TARA: Alright… well. DAMN IT, VICTORIA!
Tara stomped away, leaving visible confusion and shock on the face of Victoria McKenzie. She stomped her way past Will Riley who seemed utterly confused, too. Victoria turns her attention back to the catering and Will just shakes his head.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following match is scheduled for one fall and is for Number One Contendership of the Legacy Championship… introducing first… weighing in at ninety-eight pounds, from Los Angeles California...Project Honor’s Noble Champion… PIXIE SLOANE!!
“Fairies Wear Boots” by Black Sabbath hits and Pixie steps out of the back. She quickly runs down to the ring and slides in under the bottom rope.
HOLLY PEREZ: And her opponent… Weighing in at one hundred and thirty five pounds… The British Raven; Fist of Hydra; Gothmother of Wrestling… The Former Legacy Champion... ELENA DEDRACA!!!
♫
THE GLORY OF A NATION DIES
THE SYMBOL OF THIS WAR IS COMING
A WARNING MEANT TO SAVE OUR LIVES FROM
F.E.A.R.'S RELIGION
♫
There are some cheers when the curtain is flung back and a dour, yet supremely confident Elena DeDraca makes her way onto the stage.
As the fog begins to clear and the lights pulsate in tune to the music, Elena looks to her left, and then to her right as she absorbs the general atmosphere she is receiving. The pale queen nods and she appears to smile while she makes her way down the ramp.
Several hands reach out for Elena's acknowledgment as she heads toward the ring, however she coldly ignores each and every one of them. Once at ringside, she leaps up onto the apron and there are some boo’s as she throws up a hand and points at the crowd, before she elegantly steps between the top and middle rope. She simply throws back her head and laughs at the referee's suggestion of a weapon check. As her theme music slowly fades out, DeDraca throws up her taunt once more and then she confidently stares daggers toward Pixie Sloane, awaiting the match to start.
DING! DING! DING!
The smaller Pixie locked up with the former Legacy champion, but Elena immediately pushed her back into the corner. The ref called for a break, which Elena gave with her hands up before kicking Pixie in the stomach. That stunned her long enough for DeDraca to grab her head, and drag her face along the top rope. With two handfuls of hair, she dragged her in and sent her flying with a snap mare to the canvas.
TREY BOOKER: Elena taking control early.
J.T. PRICE: I guess she didn’t take kindly to Pixie’s assumptions earlier in the week about her character.
TREY BOOKER: They did seem a bit off.
As Pixie started to get up, Elena charged forward with a punt kick to her ribs to put her down on the mat again. The brunette mounted her back, and started spiking her face into the canvas before scrubbing it against the mat. Elena got to her feet, and bounced off the near side. As Sloane was getting to her feet, she caught a running forearm to the face before Elena scooped her over one shoulder into a snake-eyes in the corner. The smaller fighter stumbled out and into Elena’s grip before she delivered a flatliner and made the cover.
TREY BOOKER: Elena’s clearly leaving nothing to chance tonight, is she? There’s a cover!
ONE!!!
TW… PIXIE KICKS OUT!!!
Pixie kicked out as the two was coming down, and Elena made her pay for it with an elbow to her face.
J.T. PRICE: Elena has come out here tonight for DESTRUCTION! She hasn’t given Pixie any chance to breathe, and is punishing her with some of the hardest blows I’ve seen her pull off.
It looked like DeDraca was going for a DDT until Pixie drove her backwards into the nearest corner. It knocked the air out of Elena for a moment and Pixia quickly capitalized by using a judo throw to take her down to the mat and immediately apply an armbar submission. Elena couldn’t get up with the challenger leaning over her, and instead began trying to reach the ropes with her free hand.
TREY BOOKER: Great move by Pixie but it’ll take more than this to get a submission from Elena.
The bigger competitor had to squirm a fair bit, but she finally managed to reach the ropes with her foot. The ref called for the break, and Pixie held till a four count. She got warned by the referee, and paid her no mind as she dragged Elena back to her feet by her arm. An arm wringer kept Elena on the backfoot. A second one made it worse before she jerked DeDraca forward into a series of shoulder blocks and then scooped her up into a fireman’s carry slam. When she saw the former Legacy Champion beginning to push up to her feet, Pixie pressed her arm to the mat and started driving her knee into it repeatedly.
TREY BOOKER: She’s definitely setting the table for a submission, which is very different from Pixie Sloane to what we are used to.
J.T. PRICE: There are worse ideas than softening the meat, and then stretching Elena into submission or get her arm ripped clean off her shoulder!
She finally rolled away from her, and got back to her feet. Sloane flashed a smile to the crowd, but turned around into an eye rake with both hands from Elena. The brunette pasted her with a few left hands to the jaw before she whipped her into the far corner. Pixie barely stopped herself before she hit the corner chest first, but Elena was right behind her. She used the middle rope for a springboard into a spinning heel kick before going for the cover!
TREY BOOKER: Springboard heel kick by Elena, the DeDraca athleticism coming into play!
ONE!!!!
TWO… PIXIE KICKS OUT!!!
Elena pulled Pixie to her feet into a front facelock before administering several knees to her head and body. She followed that with a double underhook suplex followed by a standing fist drop into the Noble Champion's face.
TREY BOOKER: Elena is laser focused here. She’s hell bent on proving that Warstein’s win was the fluke the rest of the world knows it to be.
J.T. PRICE: Pixie’s paying the price rightly or wrongly for that.
Elena got back to her feet, and began stomping on Pixie’s arms, legs, and face. She followed that by bouncing off the near side to deliver a low knee strike. But Pixie rolled out of the way, and she hit the mat instead. As Elena rubbed her knee in a seat on the mat, Pixie was back to a vertical base and began firing kicks into her body rapid fire. She landed 7 in a row before leaving her feet for a double knee drop into her chest. As soon as Elena rolled over, Pixie followed after her and applied a Fujiwara armbar submission.
TREY BOOKER: Right back to the arm for the “British Raven” here. I’m more and more convinced she wants to make Elena quit tonight one way or another.
J.T. PRICE: These two have strayed from the norm tonight, it’s fascinating. Both have pushed rules and boundaries in ways they don’t normally, it’ll be interesting to see them explain themselves.
The ref moved around in front of Elena, seeing if she wanted to stop the match. Elena sternly told the ref to #### off, and began trying to reach the ropes again. But Sloane’s ring positioning made that very difficult. Pixie used her foot to push against the rope in front of her for added leverage, at least until the referee glanced up to see her leg bent at the knee. The referee went back to checking for a submission as Pixie put that foot back against the bottom rope again.
TREY BOOKER: That additional leverage is doing extra damage to Elena as we speak. It appears as though Pixie knows the magnitude of this result. Nothing wrong with that.
The ref checked again, this time catching Pixie using the ropes. The ref immediately began a five count before Pixie released the hold. Pixie got to her feet, and gave the ref, along with the crowd a mischievous smile, and the crowd lapped it up. She wasted too much time though. Elena was back to her feet. She scooped Pixie up over her shoulders with a belly to belly suplex plunging the challenger into the mat. She was still favoring her army though when she stepped on the challenger’s hair and pulled up on her arms to try to rip it from her scalp. The ref counted to four before she let go, and the brunette pulled her opponent’s head between her legs for a sickening ganso bomb. She quickly rolled her over for the cover with a hook of the outside leg.
TREY BOOKER: Straight from Japan, a low elevation powerbomb that almost counts as a piledriver! That’s DANGEROUS!
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
THRE… NOOOOOO!! SHOULDER UP!!!
Pixie got her shoulder up in time, and Elena rolled out to the floor, before she dragged Pixie to the apron with her. DeDraca pulled the apron over Pixie’s head, hopped up on the apron herself and then delivered a curb stomp to the back of her head.
TREY BOOKER: FUCKING HELL, FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN ON THE DAMN APRON!!! That was overly vicious!! Pixie’s head was stuck under the apron, and Elena tried to stomp her skull in!!
Elena rolled back in the ring after freeing Pixie’s head, she dragged the lifeless Pixie to the center and to make another cover.
ONE!!!!
TWO!!!
THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ELENA WI….NOOOO!!!! PIXIE SLOANE ACTUALLY GETS HER SHOULDER UP TO THE DISBELIEF OF EVERYONE!!!
J.T. PRICE: HOLY FUCKING SHIT BALLS!!! THAT’S THE GREATEST KICK OUT I’VE EVER FUCKING SEEN!!!
TREY BOOKER: HOLY SHIT!!! No way did she do that!! Whatever happens after that… Pixie Sloane has proven she belongs amongst this company's elite!
J.T. PRICE: Amen, that’s the most shocking kick out in Project Honor history… and listen to this damn crowd.
“HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT”!
Elena rained elbows against Pixie’s head almost in response to the kick out. The British Raven got back to her feet, bouncing off the far side for what looked like a running leg drop. Pixie rolled out of the way, and let Elena land on her ass instead.
J.T. PRICE: It’s not the fall that gets you, it’s the sudden stop at the end! Elena’s gonna have some bruising for a few days back there.
Pixie pulled herself together, and started back to her feet. Elena wasn’t far behind her before receiving forearms into the side of her head. Four in a row landed before Pixie pinned her arm behind her back and slammed her to the mat. Pixie grabbed her arm to go for a cross armbreaker. But Elena pulled her into a small package as the referee dove into position.
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
TH… NO!! KICK OUT AGAIN BY PIXIE!!!
Pixie kicked out with more time to spare this time, and had a severe look on her face as she got to her feet. As Pixie approached to grab her head, Elena swept her leg out from under her. Pixie hit the mat before DeDraca scooped her up into a spiked Revelation Cradle DDT!!! Pixie Sloane landed in a heap before Elena rolled into another cover.
TREY BOOKER: JESUS!
J.T. PRICE: OH MY GOD!!!!!!
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
THREE!!! ELENA DEDRACA WINS!!!!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner and new Legacy Championship number one contender... ELENA DEDRACA!!!
“THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME!”
TREY BOOKER: No man or woman will ever be able to question the toughness of Pixie Sloane even after defeat tonight.
J.T. PRICE: Elena with an amazing win but I have to agree Pixie proved tonight she belongs in the ring with the best in Project Honor. I’m sure the crowd’s chants are still based on that earlier kick out… I’ll never forget that moment.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time would you please welcome the General Manager of Proving Ground...INDY DARLING!
The GM makes his entrance with The Project: Honor X-Factor Championship tucked under his arm as the crowd gives him a mostly positive reaction. Indy waves to the crowd on his way to the ring, makes his way up the steps, and ducks between the ropes. He gives the crowd another wave to show his appreciation before Holly Perez hands him her microphone.
INDY DARLING: Before we take care of some business, allow me to thank you all for the wonderful reception we’ve received tonight! On behalf of everyone on Proving Ground, it has been an honor to join you here in Venezuela!
The crowd responds with a cheap pop that forces Indy to briefly pause.
INDY DARLING: As much as I love being out here in front of a packed house, it’s now time to take care of something that I’m not really looking forward to. With that in mind, please welcome “The Bulldozer”...Lance Williams.
"Bulldozer" by Machine Head graces the ears of those in attendance as it plays throughout the arena. The crowd reaction is clear to hear that they hate Lance Williams as they boo and shout abuse at him. The lights dim down, enough to just see the frame of a mountain of a man, the lights come back on after "The Essence Of Egotism", "The Bulldozer” Lance Williams lets out a ferocious primal roar. Lance stands there flexing his biceps, holding his guns up for the world to see. Once he has soaked in the boos and abuse, he starts to head down towards the ring with an arrogant smirk on his face. The crowd still maintains the booing and abuse, Lance Williams smirking smugly at those who boo him and give him abuse, he even stops to abuse the crowd back. Now at the ring, Lance jumps up onto the ring apron showing off his amazing athletic side, letting out another roar just as ferociously primal as the first as pyros shoots up from each turnbuckle. He then gets into the ring, the focus and determination clear to see as he stands there showing off his 315lb muscular physique, dressed in just a pair of black shorts that are just above his knee and black wrestling boots. A self satisfied smirk on his face as he is ready for whatever Indy Darling has planned for him. Once the crowd starts to quiet down, Indy raises the microphone back up to address Lance Williams personally.
INDY DARLING: As many of you know, I am in the unenviable position of deciding the fate of a championship I once held near and dear to my heart. When I vacated The X-Factor Championship due to injury and became Proving Ground’s General Manager, I organized a tournament to crown a new champion. Despite the lack of a final round match, the only member of the Project: Honor Roster to make it through the entire tournament is standing before me right now.
Again, the crowd begins to boo as Lance smirks upon hearing their venom and hate.
INDY DARLING: I personally wanted to find an appropriate opponent for Lance to face here tonight, but Rock Johnson insisted that a replacement would not be fair to Lance and that he should be awarded The X-Factor Championship by default.
The crowd boos are even louder than before, which seems to be music to Lance’s ears as he smiles widely.
INDY DARLING: However...Rock Johnson isn’t here tonight. I am.
This time the crowd pops, holding onto the hope that Indy has come up with a different solution.
INDY DARLING: The fact is Lance, I do appreciate how far you made it in the tournament and I won’t belittle that accomplishment. On the other hand, I’m not the kind of GM that just hands a title over without a fight, especially to an egotistical prick like you. So my official decision is to make my way backstage with the title in my possession until Rock Johnson comes to his senses and we can agree on a suitable outcome for everyone involved.
Indy drops the mic to the canvas and turns his back on Lance, intent on fulfilling his promise by leaving the ring. Judging by the expression of rage on Lance’s face, that’s not an outcome he’s willing to abide by. The Bulldozer leaps forward and grabs Indy, hoisting him onto his shoulders. He holds him in the Torture Rack position for a couple of seconds before then hurling him down to the mat!
TREY BOOKER: Torture Bomb! Torture Bomb on our General Manager by Lance Williams!
J.T. PRICE: Damn! Indy really should have thought this through!
As the GM writhes in pain, Lance picks up the microphone and begins to scream down at Indy.
LANCE WILLIAMS: You aren’t taking this from me! No one is taking this from me! Rock Johnson even says I’m The X-Factor Champion, and if I have to break your crippled ass in half to prove it, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!
Lance holds onto the mic and pulls Indy back up to his feet. The injured GM tries to throw a punch, but Lance brushes it off and slings Indy back onto his shoulders for a second Torture Bomb! This time Indy does not move after the impact, but still Lance is not finished. He pulls Indy up yet again, lifting him onto his shoulders a third time.
LANCE WILLIAMS: Are you watching, Marcus? This is what happens when you get in my way!
Before Lance can drive Indy down for a third time, Mark Hunter emerges from the entrance with a sledge hammer gripped in his right hand. He charges toward the ring, intent on knocking Lance’s head off, but the Bulldozer reminds him of one important fact…
LANCE WILLIAMS: Stop! Stop right there! This little punk on my shoulders promised you a match with me, but only if you didn’t lay your hands on me until after Hell on Earth! If you two break that deal, I’ll not only have his job, I’ll make sure you never get me in the ring!
Mark considers what Lance is telling him as he slowly walks around the ring, his eyes locked on his former friend who still has the unconscious GM on his shoulders. He finally reaches the time keeper’s area, and picks up a microphone of his own.
MARK HUNTER: You’re right, Lance. That was the deal. I can’t put my hands on you...but if you don’t put him down and get the fuck out of the ring...I can put this right against your thick skull.
Mark holds up the sledge hammer to emphasize his threat, forcing Lance to pause for a moment. Then, without warning, The Bulldozer drops Indy with his third torture bomb before rolling toward the opposite side of the ring as Mark, grabbing the discarded X-Factor Championship in the process. Mark immediately slides under the bottom rope and charges across the ring, but Lance has already moved to safety, backing his way up the ramp with the championship in his hands and a smirk upon his face. As Mark kneels down to check on the unconscious GM, Lance finally reaches the top of the entrance ramp, where he holds his new X-Factor Championship high above his head for all to see.
Walking through the backstage area, “The Essence Of Egotism”, “The Bulldozer” Lance Williams has the X-Factor Title over his shoulder. The smugness is clear to see as Lance walks backstage with the X-Factor Title he’d just claimed as his own. Before he can make it back to his locker room, he’s approached by Crystal Ward.
CRYSTAL WARD: I hope you’re proud of yourself.
LANCE WILLIAMS: I’m not sure I like your tone Crystal. Be thankful you look good or I’d have slapped your fake eyelashes off your face. Now let’s start with you answering a question I have. Did you enjoy seeing what I did to Indy out there?
Crystal is taken aback by the way Lance is acting but she tries her hardest to stay calm.
CRYSTAL WARD: I didn’t enjoy seeing it if I’m being honest, but congratulations to you on being X-Factor Champion...I guess.
Lance smirks as he taps on the X-Factor Championship.
LANCE WILLIAMS: Aww! You know where I am if you want a real man. A Champion, not just some injured loser trying to play General Manager. I got a party to be at. You know, a party for Champions. So here’s my number.
Lance smirks as he passes her his business card before walking off, leaving Crystal to roll her eyes and rip the business card up before throwing it in the bin.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s now time for our main event of the evening! The following contest is a Triple Threat Match scheduled for one fall, and it is for The Project: Honor Grand Championship!!!
The opening beat to "oops!!!" by Yung Gravy w/ Lil Wayne graces the ears of everyone in the audience. Peach and pink strobe lights start going off. Every woman in attendance suddenly feels the drip as the lyrics start and Lil Petey steps out onto the stage. Fur coat, multi-colored button up that's only halfway buttoned up, and black pants make up his attire. Petey's got a microphone in hand and starts to rap with the lyrics, even though the mic doesn't actually work.
♫Ayy, supercalifragilisticexpialiexpiali-dope shit
Supercalifragilic-, my ex be on some ho shit
Superman, I get dem bands but ain't gon' buy you roses
Super-duper get them cougars, took my wrist and froze it
Super-duper hoes
Y'all got Oompa Loompa hoes
I ain't never knew ya hoes
Prolly still ran through 'em, though♫
Lil Petey stops on the ramp and looks around at some of the women reaching out to him. He walks up to this couple as the song continues. Petey looks at the dude and points at the chick.
♫Oh, wait, wait, I do know your hoe?
You talkin' 'bout, you talkin' 'bout Tracy?
Nah, nah, nah, nah, you mean like, like, Tracy with the ass?
Tracy with the, with the Honda?
Shit, well♫
Petey winks at the woman and then starts jumping up and down while getting closer to the ring.
♫Oops, baby
Fuck up on your bitch, like oopsy daisy
Never knew that was your boo, baby
Hit her five times in the coupe, Mercedes, whoopsie dai-, yeah
Oops, baby
Gravy hit my bitch, yeah, whoopsie daisy
I just tried to hit, it's my duty, baby
Sippin' on the Goose, like Boosie, baby♫
By this time, Petey is in the ring, taking his fur coat off. He gently hands it to an official outside and vibes in the ring until the start of the match or until his opponent enters.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing the first challenger...representing The Hip House and weighing in at one hundred eighty pounds...he is “The Drip Sensation”...LIL’ PETEY!!!
As the slow, creeping sounds of Heilung start to play the lights around the entrance dim down to bare visibility. The drums of the song beat, as small glimpses of a rainstorm can be seen on screen. The stage itself begins to billow out a thick fog, a cold mist curling its way along the platform and down the ramp. Quickly, the stage itself is engulfed in the fog, as much of the ramp is also. A small light shines its weak glow from the entrance, shining against the figure of a man. His silhouette, huge in size against the soft light now moves as he does, down the ramp and through the curtain of mist. He emerges towards the end of the ramp, his form now fully visible… Ozymandias.
He pauses before the ring, staring into the squared-cage before slowly removing his jacket and placing it under the apron. He stands upright, cracks his neck in both directions then power-squats onto the apron, before entering through the ropes.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next...fighting out of Old Harbour, Alaska and weighing in at three hundred and fifty seven pounds… “The Butcher of Reine”...OZYMANDIAS!!!
“Feel Invincible” by Skillet suddenly sounds throughout the building and the crowd erupt into an undeniably positive response. After a few second’s pause Mark Hunter strolls out onto the ramp area, he smirks in a self-satisfied and confident manner at the reaction from the fans and begins his walk down to the ring. Mark acknowledges a few fans with fist bumps as he wanders down the ramp, he continues to receive the great crowd response as he ascends the ring steps. He enters between the middle and top rope and instantly wanders over to the far corner, Hunter climbs up and poses for the crowd whilst taking in the response from the fans. He soon steps down to the canvas and stretches his arms in the air before readying himself for action. At this stage the music slowly fades away.
HOLLY PEREZ: Hailing from San Jose, California and weighing in at two hundred and eleven pounds...he is your reigning and defending Grand Champion… “The Straight Shooter”...MARK HUNTER!!!
With all three men in the ring, Mark tries to put the events of the previous segment out of his mind while he hands his championship over to the official. The referee raises the title over his head for all to see, and then hands it off to a member of the ringside staff. With that, the opening bell sounds…
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: This thing has literally been building for months! What started as a championship contest between Mark Hunter and Ozymandias is now a Three Way Dance with the surprising addition of Lil’ Petey!
J.T. PRICE: He’s been caught in the middle of this war between the champion and challenger, and now it’s his chance to make the most of it! One thing’s for sure, Indy Darling is out of commission so whatever happens from here on out is going to be official!
The three competitors take a moment to look at each other, as if none of them are willing to make the first move and potentially leave themselves open to an attack from behind. Then, without any kind of warning or signal between them, Mark Hunter and Lil’ Petey both rush forward, hammering at Ozymandias from two different directions! Petey kicks at the Butcher’s legs while Mark lands some stinging chops across his chest, and for a moment it’s as if Ozymandias doesn’t know which way to turn. Finally the Butcher is able to grasp the situation, as he reaches out to grab Petey’s head before giving him a hard headbutt! He then turns his attention toward Mark, blocking one of the champion’s strikes before unleashing one of his own!
He shoves Mark to the mat with impressive strength, but the champion immediately gets back on his feet and rushes Ozy yet again! Not willing to give an inch to the massive challenger, Mark’s strikes are quick, ruthless, and they never land in the same spot twice! Petey gets back on his feet as well and tries to join in on the attack, but Ozymandias shoves him aside yet again, determined to keep his focus on the champion! Tired of the disrespect he’s been shown, Petey rushes forward again, this time leaping onto Ozymandias’ back and locking on a sleeper hold! While it’s too early in the match to be very effective, Petey’s grip does leave Ozy wide open for Mark to unload with a dropkick to the big man’s chest! The move staggers The Butcher backwards toward the corner, which unfortunately for Petey sandwiches him between the buckles and Ozy’s thick body. Ozymandias throws a couple of back elbows at Petey’s head for good measure and then charges out of the corner towards the champion! Mark is ready however, as he trips up Ozy and brings him down the canvas! Without missing a beat, Mark immediately applies his signature submission hold, The Last Act!
TREY BOOKER: Mark’s looking to end this one quick! He actually has Ozymandias in a world of trouble right now!
J.T. PRICE: There’s no way The Butcher of Reine is tapping this early!
It looks as if there’s nowhere for Ozymandias to go and Mark isn’t about to release his hold, but suddenly Petey rushes back into the mix, hitting the champion with a low dropkick to the side of his head! Mark is forced to release Ozy and defend himself against Petey, who isn’t about to watch his opportunity slip away, even if it means assisting The Butcher of Reine! Petey gives Mark everything he has, from elbows to headbutts, before finally dropping the champ with his MP3 out of nowhere! With the sudden burst of momentum, Petey dives on top of Mark for the cover!
ONE!
TWO - NO!
Ozymandias easily pulls Petey off of Mark by his leg, and coming face-to-face with his monstrous opponent, Petey continues to fight! This time it’s Ozy who absorbs the elbows and headbutts from Petey, but when he attempts to hit the MP3 on The Butcher, he’s shoved away with ease! Petey spins back to continue his attack, but Ozymandias greets him with a thunderous spinebuster! Despite having the air knocked out of his lungs and the tenderness in his ribs from Ozy’s attack two weeks ago, Petey pulls himself back to his feet out of sheer determination! Unfortunately for Petey, he is met by a jumping bicycle kick from Ozymandias, a move with such force that it sends The Drip Sensation tumbling over the top rope!
With Petey momentarily out of the picture, Ozymandias turns his attention back toward Mark Hunter, just in time to receive an Instant Karma superkick to the jaw! The blow staggers Ozymandias but somehow he stays on his feet! His opponent’s thick skull isn’t enough to deter Mark Hunter however, as he grabs Ozy and drops him with The Antidote! The Butcher of Reine is prone on the mat, as Mark climbs the nearest turnbuckles and takes a brief moment to take measure of his fallen foe! He then springs off the top and plummets toward Ozymandias, connecting with The Zero Gravity! The champion has Ozy in trouble again and he goes for the cover!
ONE!
TWO!
NO!
Petey reaches under the bottom rope to grab Mark’s foot and pull him off of Ozymandias at the last second, saving The Butcher of Reine from a potential loss a second time! Mark lands on the floor alongside Petey and gives him a hard punch to the face for his efforts. Frustrated by Petey’s interference in his attempts to end the match, Mark kicks him hard in the gut and then follows it up with The Extreme Dream on the ringside floor! The double arm DDT has knocked Petey for a loop, but before Mark can return to the ring, Ozymandias joins him on the floor! The Butcher wraps his arms around Mark’s midsection and lifts him into the air, swinging him around with The Arms of Azathoth! After holding Mark in the air for a few moments in his incredible grip, Ozy suddenly charges forward, driving both the champion and himself through the ringside barrier!
The crowd comes alive with chants of “Holy Shit” as Mark and Ozy lay on the floor amongst them, but after a few seconds, The Butcher of Reine begins to stir. Ozymandias pulls himself back up and turns toward the ringside area, just in time to eat a Drive By from Lil’ Petey! The knee to his head stuns Ozy, leaving him open to a dropkick...then another...and then another! Ozy continues to stagger but remains on his feet, so Lil’ Petey finally goes for broke by charging at the big man and leaping on him with a Thesz Press! This time Ozy is knocked off balance enough to fall backwards, straight through the announcer’s table!
TREY BOOKER: Holy..! What the fuck?!
J.T. PRICE: Oh God!
With J.T. trapped under Ozy’s body and Trey scrambling for safety, Petey follows up his impressive display with a series of hard right hands to the side of Ozy’s head! For a moment in time, it looks as if Petey is unstoppable, until the massive hand of Ozymandias wraps around his throat! Ozy pulls himself up from the table as Petey tries to break free, finally having no other choice but to kick Ozymandias in the crown jewels! Petey falls to the side as Ozy clutches himself in pain, leaving himself open to a sudden springboard crossbody from Mark Hunter as he leaps off the guardrail! Ozy goes down again, but this time it is Mark Hunter who hammers him with hard rights and lefts! Mark gets back to his feet and is met by Lil’ Petey, who attempts to give the champion a high five! Instead, Mark grabs hold of Petey and throws him under the bottom rope, immediately following him back into the ring!
TREY BOOKER: J.T.! Can you hear me? Are we still on?
J.T. PRICE: Ooooh...he crushed my spleen…
Back inside the ring, Petey charges at Mark with a clothesline attempt, but the champion ducks under it and ends up behind The Drip Sensation, in perfect position to hit a German Suplex! Petey gets back to his feet and tries for another clothesline, but it’s clear that he’s groggy as Mark easily ducks and counters again, this time with a Full Nelson suplex into a bridge!
ONE!
TWO!
THRE - NO!
Petey kicks out at the last second, but it’s clear to see that he doesn’t have a lot left in the tank. This time Mark hits him with a Reverse DDT before he starts to wrap up his legs in a sharpshooter! The hold is expertly applied by the champion and Petey is in the center of the ring with nowhere to go! It looks as if he could tap out at any moment, but Ozymandias returns in time to break the hold with a heavy clothesline on Hunter! Petey crawls toward the ropes as Ozy and Mark get back on their feet, but this time it is Ozymandias who’s up first! He drives a hard knee into Mark’s midsection to double him over, setting him up for The Call! He manages to lift Mark all the way up and the champion does everything he can to break free, but instead he is thrown forward, the back of his neck and his spine crashing against the corner turnbuckles!
As the champion slumps in the corner, Ozymandias then turns his attention towards Lil’ Petey, pulling him up to his feet and setting him up for The Call as well! Fortunately for Petey, he has more luck wiggling free than Mark did, and after landing on the mat behind Ozymandias, he leaps up to connect with The MP3! In his weakened state, The Butcher is unable to avoid the move this time, and he shakes the canvas upon landing! Going for broke, Petey then makes his way up to the top rope as quickly as he can, flying back off with The Freaky Bomb!
ONE!
TWO!
THRE - NO!!!
Ozymandias presses Petey off of his chest to break the pin with impressive strength and immediately begins to get back onto his feet! Petey is at a loss for what to try next as Ozymandias corners him and throws a series of stiff fists and forearms at Petey’s head! He then pulls him back out of the corner and sets him up in a military press, looking to hit his World Ender knee to the spine!
TREY BOOKER: No! Don’t do it! You could end his career!
Suddenly Mark Hunter uses what little strength he has left, knocking Ozy’s legs out from under him with a chop block! Petey falls to safety on top of Ozymandias, but instead of going for the immediate pin, he decides to try his luck with another Freaky Bomb off the top! This time Petey is not quick enough, as Mark joins him on the turnbuckles and begins to set him up for The Mercy Killer piledriver off the top! The champion has Petey lifted and in position, but as he starts to come off the buckles, Ozymandias grabs Mark from underneath and turns it into a tower of doom! Mark is driven to the mat by Ozy’s powerbomb with Petey falling on top of him, and it’s all he can do to roll out of the ring in order to avoid a pinning predicament! Petey is not so fortunate however, as Ozy pulls him back to his feet and sets him up for The Sinking Faith! The move connects! Petey is out of it, Mark is slowly returning to the ring, and Ozymandias goes for the cover!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Mark Hunter dives toward Ozymandias at the last second, but he’s not quick enough as the referee’s hand hits a third time with The Butcher of Reine covering The Drip Sensation!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner of the match...and NEW Project: Honor Grand Champion...OZYMANDIAS!!!
The Butcher of Reine rises from the canvas, having fulfilled his quest of claiming championship gold, but as the referee starts moving towards him with the title, Mark Hunter lunges forward to rip it out of the official’s hands! The Straight Shooter glares at Ozymandias, but after several tense seconds, he reaches forward with the title, putting aside their hatred to offer it to the new champion. Ozymandias takes the Grand Championship and Mark makes his way to the ropes, stopping at the ringside area to check on the condition of Lil’ Petey.
TREY BOOKER: Mark Hunter may have put on the most noble fight we’ve ever seen out of him, and I doubt that’s the last time we’ll see gold around his waist! Still, a new champion has been crowned here tonight, and his name is Ozymandias!
Hell on Earth is seemingly over with the conclusion of the main event, but as the theme song of “Mercy” by Aryon Jones plays, the Honor-Tron mysteriously comes to life. The swirling cyclone of fire and brimstone on the screen draws the attention of both Ozymandias and Mark Hunter, who look on in a state of confusion. Moments later, the man we saw traveling through the fiery wasteland in the opening video appears on the screen. The hood of his black coat still covers his head, as he walks away from the burning scene behind him toward the very screen itself.
That’s when a single spotlight shines down on the entrance, and the man in the black coat walks onto the stage. As the champion and former champion continue to watch, this new arrival slowly reaches up to grab his hood with both hands and pulls it back to reveal the familiar face underneath...
TREY BOOKER: Wait...that’s...oh my God! That’s Dickie Watson! He’s back! The Molotov has walked through Hell to return to Proving Ground!
As Trey continues to shout in amazement, the camera gets a close-up on Dickie’s face as he stares toward the new champion in the ring and his old rival at ringside...
One of those few survivors walks an abandoned street, his boots creating a solitary trail in the thick layer of soot. A long, black coat is wrapped around his body, its hood pulled deep over his eyes to protect him from the sight of what has befallen the once great city. His presence startles a scavenger bird, which takes flight with a shriek, leaving its carrion feast for another time. The rumble of toxic thunder forces the man to halt his advance, and he slowly raises his head to peer at the red sky above.
See my brothers fallin'
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy
Visions of what has befallen the once lush and peaceful world begin to dance across the heavens, a violent reminder of those responsible for society’s collapse into Armageddon. Emerging from behind one of the many clouds of electric devastation is the image of Ulf Hednir, like a pagan God of old overlooking his great works. Moments later, the wraithlike forms of John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman join him, as if they were some twisted version of this world’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Even a figure who would normally appear comical such as Serrano Poblano takes on a sinister hue, as he cackles like a mad demon with red eyes blazing in their sockets.
Got me on my knees
Too much smoke, can't breathe
Headstone, rest in peace
Death grip on my soul
Chains won't let me go
Crucify my hope and watch me bleed
Lord have mercy
Too much smoke, can't breathe
Headstone, rest in peace
Death grip on my soul
Chains won't let me go
Crucify my hope and watch me bleed
Lord have mercy
The lone survivor forces his gaze away from the mad gods above to continue on his path, but as he passes a once proud building that now twists overhead like a tree that has been caught in a hurricane, more images of the world’s destructors appear to haunt him. Once a Shining Star, the masterful performer named MYOJIN now glares down on the passerby like some kind of demented malefactor. Across the same street, with his visage haunting the surface of a half-fallen brick wall is The Gaijin Killer, Arata Asakura. At that moment, the stranger on the street realizes that their vicious glares are meant for each other, leaving him to pass by unhindered. Yet leaving the images of those two warriors behind does not bring an end to the spectral visions, as Elena DeDraca and Pixie Sloane haunt the very next set of ruins. They eye each other with evil intent, willing to leave the world burning in their wake as they seek a precious golden reward.
See my brothers fallin'
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy on me
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy on me
The stranger’s march is halted by the ominous presence of a twisted iron gate, and he considers his path carefully before finally stepping through a gap between the barred fence. Beyond those gates, his eyes fall upon the remnants of what was once a zoological preserve, its cages now rusted and void of life. At first, he thinks nothing of it, but as he begins to pass through the maze of twisted metal, more images begin to emerge. From the fallen gorilla compound comes the roaring face of Scott Oasis, while the aviaries that once housed flamboyant birds of paradise is now overshadowed by images of TJ Thompson and Yung Sauce. Where wild bears once roamed are now visions of Brandon Hendrix and Valkyrie, both hungry to destroy anything in their paths. Even Emmanuelle, once The Platinum Standard, now has a demonic aura as she glares from the barren cage once reserved for a proud lion. Refusing to acknowledge himself as potential prey, the stranger pushes forward as Cadillac Jackson’s grinning visage peers between the bars of an abandoned monkey habitat, eyeing the lone survivor as if his carnivorous instincts are beginning to emerge. Finally the hooded figure reaches the opposite end of the collapsed zoo and passes by a broken animatronic resembling Pat the Postman. Then, just as the stranger makes his exit, the animatronic comes to life with a flash of red, electronic eyes…
PAT ANIMATRONIC: *skrrr* Hope *crackle* enjoyed your stay! *skrrr* Hope *crackle* enjoyed your stay!
Blinded by our hate
Twisted by our faith
Shoot, don't hesitate
Lord have mercy
Too many lines crossed
How many lives lost?
The gun is cocked with a bullet in your name
Twisted by our faith
Shoot, don't hesitate
Lord have mercy
Too many lines crossed
How many lives lost?
The gun is cocked with a bullet in your name
The street that lies beyond the dilapidated zoo is lined with battered and rusted vehicles, many of which still contain the decaying remains of their passengers. The stranger takes notice of the horror that served as their final emotion as he continues on his way, silently wondering what could have frightened them to such a degree before their eventual demise. His wandering thoughts are interrupted by another scene unfolding further down the street. Sitting atop a throne made of the twisted metal from various automobiles is Lance Williams, his vile grin just as sinister as any image that has been presented thus far. Standing before him is Indy Darling, clutching the X-Factor Championship in his hand while the inhuman Bulldozer looks down upon him, as if he expects the prize to be laid at his feet. For a moment, the silent traveler considers seeing how things will unfold, but ultimately he presses forward on his journey.
See my brothers fallin'
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
Can't you see?
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy on me
I hear Heaven callin'
The devil won't let me be
Can't you see?
The flag is burnin'
But the world keeps turnin'
And when I die I'll die free
Lord have mercy on me
The swirling ash and debris that hang in the thick air begin to swirl with more intensity, not only making it hard for the stranger to see what lies ahead, but burning his lungs with every step he takes. His road is no longer clear, having been eaten by a massive cyclone of smoke, electricity, and refuse. Yet as it draws near, it is not a putrid heat that stings the survivor’s flesh as it had been previously. Instead, it is the burning sensation of the most bitter cold, almost as if Hell itself has frozen over. Cue the image of Lil’ Petey within the swirling mass of destruction, an unlikely challenger, let alone an unexpected catalyst for the end of days. He is flanked on one side by Mark Hunter, once a despised man now struggling to keep the demons at bay. On Petey’s other side is the monstrous and tentacled visage of Ozymandias, who seems to have fully given in to his supernatural roots. As the Straight Shooter and The Butcher of Reine move forward with Petey trapped between them, the stranger finally realizes that his journey has come to an end. There is nowhere left to go. There is nowhere left to hide. Fate is now upon him. Hell on Earth has arrived...
I see mothers cryin'
Babies dyin'
Lord, won't you have some mercy?
I, I see flags are burning
The, the world keeps turnin'
Devil won't let me be
Babies dyin'
Lord, won't you have some mercy?
I, I see flags are burning
The, the world keeps turnin'
Devil won't let me be
The entrance stage lights up with an explosion of fire as the Honor-Tron displays the Hell on Earth logo and the fans roar with anticipation! Cameras zoom around the sold-out Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela as fire continues to erupt from the stage and ring posts, creating an ominous beginning to the Pay Per View event. As usual, the fans have shown up in full-force, bringing their homemade signs along for the ride.
“I’LL FIGHT LANCE!”
“SKÅL!”
“WE’RE HERE FOR PIXIE”
“PRAISE HIM”
“ARATA KILLED MY GAIJIN”
Finally, one of the cameras focuses on tonight’s commentary team, as they greet all the viewers at home from ringside!
TREY BOOKER: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Proving Ground’s latest exclusive Pay-Per-View Event! Welcome...to Hell on Earth!
J.T. PRICE: Damn! You always deliver that intro with such passion...such dramatic timing!
TREY BOOKER: That’s why they pay me the big bucks, partner! Speaking of big, are you ready for tonight’s colossal main event between Mark Hunter, Ozymandias, and Lil’ Petey?
J.T. PRICE: Almost as ready as I am to see the epic clashes between Elena DeDraca and Pixie, not to mention Arata Asakura versus MYOJIN!
TREY BOOKER: Don’t forget about Indy Darling’s fever dream coming to life as Emmanuelle defends The Warrior Rising Championship in the Seven Gates of Hell Match!
J.T. PRICE: Speaking of Indy, is he simply going to hand the X-Factor Title over to Lance Williams, or will he make him earn it?
TREY BOOKER: Plus, we have the debuts of Ulf Hednir, John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman!
J.T. PRICE: All of that along with the twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Project: Honor on Pay-Per-View! I can’t wait any longer, Trey! Let’s get this thing started!
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, the following match is our opening contest and it is scheduled for one fall!
The stage remains empty as the sound of a guitar playing can be heard over the sound system. Moments later, the opening lyrics to “Fire Water Burn” can be heard…
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire
We don't need no water, let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker, burn
At that moment, the music picks up its tempo and the curtains fly apart to reveal “Spicy” Serrano Poblano. With his bleached blonde hair spiked up and his sleeveless flame theme shirt unbuttoned, Serrano headbangs toward the ring. After rolling under the bottom rope, he tosses his shirt aside and throws his hand up with his fingers giving the metal sign.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing first, residing in FlavorTown and weighing in at three hundred twenty pounds… “The Heater”...SERRANO POBLANO!!! And his opponent...
The opening introduction for “Raise Your Horns” by Amon Amarth plays over the PA system, and the crowd goes into a frenzy! The music can barely be heard over the sound of the fans. Ulf Hednir quickly shoves the curtains aside, dressed in his wolf headdress, and marches out onto the stage with his drinking horn held high over his head.
Ulf Hednir: SKÅL!
Crowd: SKÅL!
Ulf drinks from the drinking horn, and after, turns it upside down to show the crowd that there is nothing left. Ulf attaches the drinking horn to a strap hanging off his belt, and marches down the ramp to shake hands or high five many of the fans along the ramp; fans scramble to get as close as they can and he takes an extra moment to ensure he greets as many as he can. Ulf goes around to the right side of the ring, still greeting as many fans as he can until he reaches the timekeeper’s table, where he removes the headdress and the drinking horn, placing them on the table. He walks up to the apron and leaps up, grabbing the ropes, and leaning back to let loose a mighty howl.
Raise your horns, raise them up to the sky,
We will drink to glory tonight!
Raise your horns for brave fallen friends,
We will meet where the beer never ends!
The chorus plays over, and Ulf steps between the middle and top ropes before parading around the ring a bit, raising his arms from each side of the ring. He stands by and waits for the match to start.
HOLLY PEREZ: ...hailing from Odda, Norway and weighing in at two hundred forty three pounds...he is “The Berserker”...ULF HEDNIR!!!
DING! DING! DING!
The two men size each other up in the center of the ring when Serrano surprisingly holds out his hand as a sign of respect. Ulf considers the offer of a handshake for a moment, but just when it looks as if he’s going to accept, Serrano brings his hand across Hednir’s face with an insulting slap! Delighted by his own actions, Serrano holds his belly and laughs at his Ulf’s expense. The Berserker, on the other hand, does not seem to be amused in the slightest as he glares at his disrespectful opponent. Suddenly, Ulf lunges forward to hook both of Serrano’s arms and then slams his own head forward multiple times, rocking The Heater with a series of trapped headbutts!
The impact sends Serrano reeling backwards into the corner, but Ulf follows him in to deliver a combination of back elbows. He then tosses Serrano back out of the corner and to the mat, before looking to the crowd and giving them another shout of “SKÅL”! Hednir then returns his attention to Serrano, grabbing both of his ankles under his arms and lifting him off the mat with the Big Swing he calls The Flight of the Valkyries! He swings The Heater around and around as the crowd counts along before he finally releases Serrano somewhere around a dozen spins. Poblano gets back on his feet but he is clearly dizzy as he staggers around, leaving himself wide open for a short clothesline from Ulf Hednir!
TREY BOOKER: The modern day Viking has looked impressive so far, but the same can’t be said for Serrano Poblano!
J.T. PRICE: I bet he’s regretting that slap now...
With a strong advantage in the match, Ulf cannot help but play to the crowd as they encourage him. While still dazed, this gives Serrano the opportunity to dig into his tights for his hidden bag of chili powder. He dumps some into his hand and waits for Ulf to turn his attention back to him, but when The Heater attempts to toss it at The Berserker’s eyes, Ulf quickly smacks his hand and the burning substance flies into Serrano’s face instead! This allows Ulf to set Poblano up for his Bifröst Walk across the top rope, but before he can drop down with a chop, Serrano breaks out into an uncontrollable burst of sneezes! The violent shaking knocks Ulf off balance and he slips from the top rope, crotching himself in the process! With Hednir momentarily stunned as he straddles the top rope, Serrano wipes the tears from his eyes and manages to hit a desperate clothesline!
The blow brings Ulf to the mat where Serrano is free to stomp away at him while still trying to clear his vision. Despite the tears running down his cheeks, Serrano manages to follow up his stomps with a running senton, dropping all of his weight across Ulf’s torso. He then lifts The Berserker up to execute a trifecta of backbreakers which he calls No Problemo For Poblano. Looking to finish things before his opponent has a chance to recover, Serrano follows up with The Scoville Scale running sitdown splash, and he remains sitting on Ulf’s chest for the pin attempt!
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT!
TREY BOOKER: Serrano has managed to mount some offense here, but he’s going to have to do a lot more to keep this determined Norwegian down for the count!
J.T. PRICE: If he sits on him a few more times, that ought to do the trick!
Slightly frustrated that his move did not keep Ulf down for the three, Poblano scoops him up and slams him back down in the center of the ring with a hard bodyslam. He then points toward the turnbuckles before beginning his ascent, looking to hit another modified sit down splash with even more impact! Poblano leaps off the top and hits the frog motion to give himself extra momentum, but as he nears his target, Ulf pulls up both of his knees! Serrano lands on Ulf’s tucked appendages, straddling himself in the process! As Serrano hobbles away like a wounded duck, Ulf gets back on his feet and lets out a loud SKÅL! for the crowd! He then takes the measure of Serrano, charges forward, and…
TREY BOOKER: The Thor Punch connects! Ulf has just knocked Serrano’s lights out!
J.T. PRICE: Talk about a Crack in the Sky!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: And your winner of the match by pinfall… “The Berserker''...ULF HEDNIR!!!
TREY BOOKER: What an impressive display by one of Proving Ground’s newest stars! Serrano was simply outmatched by The Berserker and I see big things to come from Ulf Hednir!
J.T. PRICE: What a great way to start off the night!
It was kinda odd to be here once again. Even though the arena was a different one, the feeling was still the same. Like every other show she had decided to pull away from people. After a quick glance over at the catering area, she had moved towards the other direction. Away from the noise and people kissing up to one another. This wasn't her circus and they definitely weren’t her monkeys.
She had only made it to the end of the long hallway ready to vanish around the corner, as someone blocked her view. The man wasn't all too tall but she knew him. Her green eyes looked at him from head to toes, there was no friendliness in her eyes. Not even when he gave her that wide smile. Without a verbal greeting she wanted to keep going, but the guy didn’t move.
ELENA DEDRACA: Do you need anything, Christian?
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: It’s just nice seeing you. I hope you enjoyed your Fallout show off, after Disputed Territory. Indy better be taking good care of you here on the blue brand.
She looked at him for a long moment, with an expression hard to read.
ELENA DEDRACA: And here I thought you had forgotten I worked here.
Elena's voice was sweet, but the sarcasm was hard to miss. Meanwhile, Christian tried to ignore the claws behind every word Elena spoke.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: I never could, you’re the biggest dog in the yard. I’ve just been trying to let you enjoy your time with the Legacy Championship. Unfortunately that involved letting PG have you sometimes.
ELENA DEDRACA: You do realize tonight's match is a farce. I would deserve a rematch anyhow. But I guess my previous achievements don't matter much around here.
It was obvious he had an answer ready, but she wasn't done.
ELENA DEDRACA: But guess what else doesn't matter? What management wants. I gave each the benefit of the doubt. Told myself there is a plan behind this treatment, but there isn't. But that's fine by me. If they want it the hard way, they better watch out for their roster.
A little shaken by Elena’s outburst, Christian takes a deep breath to calm himself down.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Hey now, take a breath there Elena. I’m on your side. With dickhead throwing his little tantrum and stomping out of Project: Honor...I would be fine with just HANDING you the title back. But when I suggested it, Indy complained about Proving Ground’s representation and Rock Johnson bitched about you needing to earn the title back.
Another slap. Mentally of course. She observed him, taking a step closer. This Elena DeDraca had little to do with who was competing for him a little while back.
ELENA DEDRACA: And this should surprise me? It doesn’t. Everything I have done in and for Project Honor and they still treat me like I am not worth their spit. But that is fine, feeds the fire so to speak. Rock Johnson and I got something to speak about in the near future. I doubt he will like it very much. And Indy? He is a cute boy, but that is all he is. I am not sure you will like what is going to happen, but I am damn certain that there is zero you can do about it. So you got two options, Christian.
Christian crosses his arms over his chest.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: I’m listening.
ELENA DEDRACA: I am not the type to put pressure on people, no wait… that’s exactly who I am. So here we go, you can support me and allow me to go through with what I have on my mind. Which is just me being polite, because it will happen either way. Or, and I don’t suggest this option, you remain loyal to those two scumbags- going down with them. What you say, pretty?
For the first time she smiled. It was hard to tell if it was a friendly smile, or just the devil sealing another deal.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Like I told Jason on Fallout a couple weeks ago. Fallout is chaos…
ELENA DEDRACA: There is chaos and there is method to madness. I am only back for one reason. And that reason is war. I will paint Project Honor in my colours. All shades of red.
A devilish smirk crosses Christian’s lips.
CHRISTIAN DeMARCO: Then paint away.
She would bow to him in a manner only she could. The grin was still intact when she took even another step, closer to him. Her minty breath hit him right in the face.
ELENA DEDRACA: I am delighted we speak the same language. Now if you excuse me, I have things to set in motion. Bones to break and dreams to destroy. We will stay in touch.
Elena stepped back.
ELENA DEDRACA: Word of advice, don’t eat the tortillas.
With that she turned around leaving him standing. Christian simply watched her walk away, his smirk still on his face.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time would you please welcome internationally renowned investigative reporter, Monsieur Larry KaChow!
Larry makes his way down the entrance and into the ring, seemingly determined to live up to his promise of interviewing himself, since no one bothered to book a special guest for him to interrogate on Pay Per View. His normal director’s chair is absent, but in its place is a regal throne with a crown hanging precariously on the armrest, much like the one used when Larry attempted to impress a prior guest. With an arrogant smile, he picks up his microphone from the throne and then takes a seat, crossing his legs as if he were a gentleman. He seems to be soaking up the boos from the crowd until the absent crown catches his eye, and with a smug expression he picks it up and places it upon his own head. Having proclaimed himself as royalty, Larry then gazes on the crowd with a disapproving stare.
LARRY KACHOW: Calm yourselves, peasants! For I, KaKing Larry the First, is here to interview the most enigmatic, charming, and interesting guest in the history of KaPow! Now show proper respect to the royal presence who has graced you with their...presence...and all rise for KaKing Larry!
The crowd responds with a chorus of boos directed at the little man on the throne, but he does his best to ignore the negative response.
LARRY KACHOW: First of all, your highness, what is it like being better than everyone else on the Project: Honor roster?
Larry scoots from the left of the throne to the right in order to properly answer his own question.
LARRY KACHOW: I’m so glad you asked, Larry. Only someone as handsome and brilliant as you would understand what it’s like to be better than everyone else. I’m just honored that you had the foresight to book me as your special guest this week.
He then scoots back to the left side of the throne…
LARRY KACHOW: Who else could I possibly have on a show of this magnitude? Only someone with...your…
For reasons that are not immediately apparent, the lights in the arena begin to shut off, one section after another, until the audience and Larry are left completely in the dark.
LARRY KACHOW: Seriously? Show some respect people…
No sooner does Larry make that comment, than the lights begin to return, only instead of their normal brightness, they come back with a sinister red hue. The KaKing looks around the ring to notice that there is now a man on each side of the ring apron, peering into the ring at him. All four of them are dressed in a red hoodie, black pants, and a green lit up purge mask. Larry the First turns to look up at the one standing directly in front of him, just in time to see the mask flicker to red.
REDD: Oh no, KaKing, don’t stop because of little ol’ me. Continue on with your charade, please.
Larry’s once arrogant expression has been replaced by one of uncertainty, as he looks around at the masked individuals surrounding him.
LARRY KACHOW: Uh...hey guys. I think you’ve got the wrong show. Isn’t Fallout supposed to be in Ecuador this week?
Redd steps into the ring through the middle rope, but goes no further. He leans back, resting his arms back on the ropes.
REDD: That was DAYS ago. I made my presence known. I just wanted to come to Proving Ground and watch the other side of the coin. From Icky Vicky, to that hot little Bottle-Blue Tara Fenix, to an old friend in KaKing Larry the Voyeur Tyrant.
Larry’s growing concern is obvious as he lets out a nervous chuckle.
LARRY KACHOW: Oh...that. Such a big misunderstanding. Maybe we should all head to the women’s locker room and find some common ground. Share in a little sneak peak, if you know what I’m saying? Or is that out of the question since Savannah Sunshine isn’t here tonight?
Redd pushes off of the ropes and takes a couple steps towards Larry.
REDD: While the Koward is long gone and I could not argue with your thought process...don’t you EVER put Savannah in the same category. And if I ever catch you creeping on the TRUE Queen, I will make your punishment far worse than that of the former Ascension Champion.
Redd pauses for a moment.
REDD: Although your offer to see beauty is inviting...I think you go about it in ALL the wrong ways, my friend.
KaKing Larry the First adjusts the crown on his head and lets out another nervous laugh.
LARRY KACHOW: Come on now, guys. Can you honestly say that a peek at Savannah’s privates wouldn’t turn you red all over? Ha...heh...uh…
Redd takes a step forward.
REDD: How...DARE...you…
Larry scoots back against his throne, desperately trying to excuse his own behavior.
LARRY KACHOW: Just a joke! Just a joke!
Alas, for KaKing Larry the First, it is already too late.
REDD: Savannah is no joke. She is the one true Queen of Fallout...of Proving Ground...of Project: Honor. And you? I’m tired of these people walking around here like their shit don’t stink...their noses in the air like some worthless, ego-filled Tyrant.
Redd takes another small step towards Larry.
REDD: You people need to realize there are consequences for your actions. Tyrants...Kowards...all have a price to pay.
Before Larry can protest or beg for mercy, the lights overhead are extinguished once again. This time they remain off for several moments, as the fans desperately try to get an idea of what’s happening in the ring with their cellular phones. The violent sounds of a struggle can be heard, but the exact nature of what’s happening in the ring is left to our imaginations. Then, moments after all has fallen silent, the arena lights return to normal. The masked men have all vanished without a trace, and the throne that KaKing Larry the First once sat upon has been reduced to scrap, with parts of it strung across the ring. In the midst of that destruction is Larry himself, lying unconscious on his back in the center of the ring, the crown that once sat upon his head now resting on top of his chest. It is the last image we see as the camera pulls back before we transition away from the ring.
With Hell on Earth still in its infancy, the crowd is roaring loudly and happily as the camera pans across it, before going back to Trey Booker and J.T. Price at ringside.
TREY BOOKER: Folks we just saw a great opening match between Serrano Poblano and Ulf Hednir, but it's just the start of the action we have in store for you tonight. Coming up next, three newcomers to Project: Honor are going to clash, and all three will be hungry to prove themselves in their debut match.
J.T. PRICE: Do you ever tire of making that pun?
TREY BOOKER: Not even a little. But besides these three newcomers, there is also another rookie in attendance tonight, and he's at ringside right now. Let's go to Crystal Ward.
The shot does indeed switch to Crystal Ward, and she's standing next to the ringside barricade. She has her usual dazzling smile on, and she takes a moment before speaking up.
CRYSTAL WARD: Thank you, Trey. That’s right, I'm here at ringside, but I'm not alone as I'm here with a new name right here in Project: Honor, and he's found himself a comfortable seat in the front row. I'll see if I can grab a word.
Crystal saunters forward a few steps, and the camera manages to pick up on the bearded face of Mark Kelly! Mark Kelly has a smile on his face, sitting comfortably in his seat and flicking his gaze around as if to take in the fans and the size of the arena he is in. Seeing Crystal get closer, his gaze switches to the camera, and at a signal from Crystal he climbs to his feet and moves closer to the barricade. There's a small cheer for him, but he's still mostly unknown in the business, and Kelly seems to just be grateful to be here as he approaches Crystal.
CRYSTAL WARD: Mark, sorry to disturb you. I know it’s your first night here in Project: Honor. You're probably just looking to find your feet, but I was hoping I could grab a word.
MARK KELLY: It's fine, Crystal. You have a job to do, and I can absolutely understand that. My main hope would be to keep this short, so these great fans right here in Caracas can see the matches they paid to see.
There's the obvious easy and cheap pop for that, and Kelly grins as he looks back at the crowd and then turns to Crystal.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, I hope I won't take up too much of your time. So, let's go with the obvious question. What brings you to Project: Honor?
MARK KELLY: Honestly, I just came here to compete, and hopefully put on some great matches. I haven't been out of Australia for long, and right now I'm still trying to find my groove and learn my craft. To put it simply, Miss Ward? I came here to wrestle and to fight the best in the business. And maybe, after some time, I'll get a chance against some of them.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, obviously the next match is the new arrival showcase match. Do you have a favourite to win?
MARK KELLY: Honestly all three look hungry and dangerous tonight. Tara Fenix has an edge to her that, frankly, scares me. Daniel Ackerman seems poised to take his chance, and well....who am I to ever doubt Big Match John. So I could see it going any way, but what I really hope for is they show how high the bar is set, so I can jump it when I have my first match.
CRYSTAL WARD: Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing you try. Welcome to Project Honor and I hope you enjoy the show tonight. Back to you Trey and J.T.
Mark flashes a smile, now raising both hands in his usual finger-guns pose. Pointing at the camera and firing his shots before winking, and then turning to wave at the crowd who give him a final friendly cheer before the shot flicks back to Trey and JT, and we get ready for the New Arrival Showcase.
HOLLY PEREZ: Our next contest is a Triple Threat New Arrival Showcase and it is scheduled for one fall! Introducing first to the ring… Weighing in at Two hundred and sixty pounds… Standing at six feet, three inches… From Boston, Massachusetts… Big Match John… JOOOHHHNNN BLLLAAADDDEEE!!!
“Time Is Now” begins to play as he walks out on stage. He talks to the cameraman and bounces a little. He holds up his “Never Give Up” logo flag and tosses it to the fans. He salutes and runs straight down towards the ring. He bounces off the ropes side to side and he holds up his “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” shirt. He takes off his hat and tosses his shirt to the fans and hands his Chain to the ref to begin to fight.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing next the ring… Weighing in at One hundred and forty three pounds… Standing at five foot, six inches… From Hartford, Connecticut… The Phoenix Queen; The Goddess… TAAARRRAAA FEEENNNIIIXXX!!!
Every light in the arena shuts off… moments later, a single blue spotlight shines to the curtain as the opening melody for “The Eagle Flies Alone” by Arch Enemy plays over the PA system and the crowd is giving their mixed reactions… The longtime fans have cheered, and overpower the ones who do not know whether to cheer or not; some join in just out of peer pressure. Fog has filled the stage. The first verse comes and goes. The chorus comes in.
I, I go my own way!
I swim against the stream!
(Forever) I will fight the powers that be!
Tara emerges from behind the curtains; her head is covered by her hood. Tara stands at the top of the stage with a sneer on her face as her eyes scan the crowd as if to find her supporters. Some of the crowd has gotten louder in her favor, while others are still mixed. Tara flings the hood back, and takes a better look at the crowd. The legendary Tara strides down the ramp; the stride turns to a brisk walk about halfway down the ramp. The crowd along the front row is bowing down to her. As she reaches the bottom of the ramp, she goes around to the camera side of the ring, leaps onto the apron with one knee and straightens out her other leg while looking at the crowd and the camera.
I, I go my own way!
I swim against the stream!
(Forever) I will fight the pοwers that be!
The eagle flies alone!
Tara crawls between the middle and lower ropes, and crawls to the middle of the ring. After standing up, she walks to the nearest turnbuckle and goes to the second turnbuckle; she just stares out at the crowd, and shouts out inaudible words. After several seconds of basking, she does a one-eighty off of the second rope and landing. She hands her coat to the referee, then proceeds to wait for the match to start.
HOLLY PEREZ: Last but not least… Weighing in at One hundred and ninety eight pounds… Standing at six foot, one inches… From Sacramento, California, United States… “The Captain''...“The One Winged Angel”... DAAANNNIIIEEELLL ACCCKKKEEERRRMMMAAANNN!!!
As the beginning intro to “The Plan” by Travis Scott rings out through the arena’s P.A. System as the house lights simply bring it’s focus towards the entrance curtain, the crowd - though not visible - are on their feet and awaiting the arrival of The Captain, the voice of Travis Scott being heard as a figure steps through the curtain with their head held down.
“Last time I wrecked it, last time I whipped around
Last time I did the whippets (yeah), last time I live reverse (yeah, yeah, ooh)
Pour the brown, hit the reverend (yeah), last time I hit your crib (yeah)
Last time there was no tenants”
All of the house lights within the arena begin to flash, like a strobe light, as the beat dropped through the first verse. The figure continued to stand in the same position as he was beforehand, taking slow steps forward until he’s just at the edge of the stage from the ramp that leads to the ring below. A slight movement from the figure as he brings his head into a viewable position and shows his face. Daniel Ackerman had arrived.
“Not a vibe (Yeah) but a wave, with the sound by the way
Count it down, by the days (Ooh)
To myself, know they wicked, with the moves (Ooh, ooh)
I'm drinkin', off the juice, know I'm drinkin'
I be smooth, then I lose it, yeah, yeah now”
The One Winged Angel began to make his way down the ramp, slow nonchalant steps as he looked out to the crowd and the spotlight following his every move, and with these steps he take- he gives the opponent time to evaluate what they’re to expect. Daniel makes it to the ring side area and again, continuing his nonchalant walk, he circles around the ring until he’s made a full path around before hopping onto the apron where the hard-cam is facing.
“Close the opera
Hear the red and blue outside, I think our option's up
I recrossed it 'round the map, I had to line it up
I be swervin' on the waves, it's like a line of us (Yeah, yeah)”
Pointing up to the hard-cam and then back to himself as if telling it to zoom in on just himself, Ackerman gently steps into the ring and looks across the ring to his opponent, giving off the cocky smile we’re used to seeing resting on his face before heading into the corner and tapping the point of his right foot on the ring mat as Holly Perez gives him his introduction.
Upon hearing the name of The One Winged Angel, Daniel climbs to the second rope and with the spotlight shining down onto him, pulling his black leather jacket open to show his pectoral muscles with that same cocky smirk on his face, the hard-cam picks up him mouthing something off but with the fans cheering loudly and the music continuing to play over, his voice becomes inaudible. Ackerman drops down to the ring mat with a loud thud as he turns to face his opponent, bringing his hands behind his back and once again, he mouths something that’s inaudible, but this time it’s right into the face of the opponent just to rile him up.
DING! DING! DING!
John Blade, Tara Fenix, and Daniel Ackerman circle each other in the ring, each one looking to see who’d be the first to make a move. It’s John Blade who makes the first move, kicking Daniel Ackerman in the midsection. That’s when Tara Fenix leapfrogs over John and hits a Stomp on the back of Daniel sending him to the mat. John is still standing there shocked at what Tara had just done as she smiles at him before hitting him with a Hurricanrana. Tara then walks over to Daniel grabbing his leg and hitting an Elbow Drop not once, not twice, but three times.
By this point John is back on his feet and as soon as Tara gets to her feet he hits her with the Running Bulldog. John then sets Tara up for the Five Knuckles Shuffle, he does the you can’t see me taunt before running at the ropes and bouncing off them. As he does bounce off them he is interrupted by Daniel who stops John in his tracks with a Palm Strike to the throat and follows it up with a Snap Suplex going for the pin.
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY JOHN BLADE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Close pin attempt there by Daniel on John Blade!
J.T. PRICE: I’m surprised you can see this John you’re on about.
John shows off his strength as he kicks out and he manages to throw Daniel across the ring. This gives John enough time to get up to his feet as Tara gets to her feet too. John runs at Tara and Daniel, taking them down with a Double Clothesline before throwing his hands up and shouting “THUG LIFE” as the crowd cheers. Daniel and Tara get back to their feet, and as John turns around both Daniel and Tara kick John in the midsection before hitting him with a Double Suplex. The team work doesn’t last for long though as Tara grins at Daniel before trying to hit him with the Genocide Kick (Superkick), but as he ducks underneath it he grabs Tara’s other leg. As she puts her hands out to protect her fall, Daniel wraps his legs around her leg locking in an Ankle Lock.
Tara is reaching out for the ropes, they’re within touching distance but right now they feel so far away as she tries to work her way towards them. Daniel sees this and unhooks the leg to pull her to the center of the ring. Tara is smart though, as she realizes this and turns quickly onto her back. As Daniel goes to grab her, she kicks him in the face and is surprised as John Blade drops him with the Slingblade. Tara is up to her feet as she smiles at John who smiles back at her only for Tara to kick one of his legs out from underneath him. Now John is on one knee, Tara Fenix runs at the ropes and bounces off them, using the momentum to get everything she can behind the Shining Wizard as her knee connects with John’s face! Tara goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY JOHN BLADE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Another close pin on John from Tara this time.
J.T. PRICE: Seriously Trey!!! I can’t see this John!!!
Once again with the kickout, John manages to throw someone across the ring, this time Tara Fenix. Tara, Daniel, and John are back to their feet, and this time John and Tara grab Daniel and drop him with a Double DDT. Tara then hits John with a Hurricanrana only he manages to stay on his feet. The momentum sends John towards the ropes where he springboards off them connecting with the Springboard Stunner on Tara and going for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY TARA FENIX!!!
TREY BOOKER: John with a close pin attempt this time on Tara. I swear J.T. if you say it again I’m going to give you an Attitude Adjustment of my own.
J.T. PRICE: Is that basic Thuganomics though?
Daniel is up to his feet running at John Blade, dropping him with a Jumping Neckbreaker! Once on his feet, Daniel drops Tara with a Tornado Kick. Daniel isn’t done there as he lays Tara and John next to each other. Daniel starts by running, followed by jumping, and hits a Double Stomp to the midsection of John. Daniel then uses John like a trampoline as he connects with a Double Stomp to the midsection of Tara as well. Daniel isn’t done as he follows it up with getting John to his feet and hitting him with the Higher Power (Sheer Drop Brainbuster)! Daniel goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
PIN BROKEN UP BY TARA FENIX!!!
TREY BOOKER: My man John almost won there.
J.T. PRICE: Your man John is clearly invisible.
Tara helps Daniel back up to his feet, he pushes her away, she manages to bounce off the rope and ducks Daniel's Clothesline attempt. As Daniel turns around he is met with the Genocide Kick (Superkick) and Tara follows this up by noticing John getting to his feet and hitting him with the Genocide Kick as well! Tara then goes for a pin on Daniel!
ONE…
TWO…
KICKOUT BY DANIEL ACKERMAN!!!
TREY BOOKER: Sweet Superkick there by Tara on John!
J.T. PRICE: Yeah on John the wrestling Ghost!
Straight to her feet, Tara goes over to John and now goes for a pin attempt on him.
ONE…
TWO…
NO… JOHN BLADE HAS MANAGED TO GET HIS FOOT ON THE ROPE!!!
TREY BOOKER: Tara with quick thinking there to go for the pin on John straight after.
J.T. PRICE: How does she make it look like she is pinning someone when she isn’t?
TREY BOOKER: Shut up J.T. You’re going the right way for a Five Knuckles Shuffle to the throat.
J.T. PRICE: Can’t see me!!! *Does the taunt too*
Daniel is up to his feet as are Tara and John. Tara is the first to react as she Springboards off the ropes taking Daniel and John down with a Double DDT. Getting Daniel up to his feet, Tara goes for the Burn to Ashes (Go To Sleep) only he has hold of the ropes. Tara decides to try to throw him out of the ring with a Fireman's Carry only for Daniel to land on the apron. Tara has had enough so she Springboards off the ropes and hits an Enzuigiri on Daniel, sending him crashing into the ringside barrier, right in front of where Mark Kelly is sitting! Back inside the ring, John is now on his feet and as Tara turns around he goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but Tara reverses it and hits John with the Phoenix Wings (Double-Arm Tornado DDT) and goes for the pin!
ONE…
TWO…
THREE!!!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner of this match through PINFALL… TAAARRRAAA FEEENNNIIIXXX!!!
TREY BOOKER: Tara Fenix comes out on top in this New Arrival Showcase, pinning John Blade’s shoulders to the mat for the three count!
J.T. PRICE: She took advantage of knocking Daniel out of the ring to pin the invisible man! I wonder if Mark Kelly expected to get as close to action as he did near the end of the match!
As Tara celebrates her victory, we see that Daniel Ackerman has recovered at ringside and is staring directly at The Australian Ace in the front row. The two men exchange some words that the camera is unable to pick up, and as a disappointed John Blade recovers in the ring and Tara makes her exit, it is clear that there will be more to come from all of Proving Ground’s new stars in the weeks ahead.
Ulf Hednir is walking backstage after his match, still hyped from the adrenaline of his successful debut in Project: Honor. A couple of the stagehands backstage are welcoming one of the new signings to the company, and he exchanges a few words with a couple of them as he walks by. Whilst still walking forward, another sound of footsteps running in his direction can be heard from off-camera; Ulf kneels down as his little girl runs in view of the camera with a stuffed animal wolf in one hand--
THEA: Pappa!
--and right into his arms, as he wraps his arms around her and lifts her up in a hug.
ULF HEDNIR: Hei baby! Hva did du do while jeg worked?
THEA: Tante-- Tante Robi said-- she said det, det she is protecting me from a monster! She-- she gave me Fenrir… said he would-- he would protect me.
She said with a smile. As the father and daughter embrace, another individual walks on-screen: Valkyrie. Aunt Robi to Thea, who was in her ring gear and ready to compete in a match of her own. Ulf set Thea back down.
VALKYRIE: You did good out there.
ULF HEDNIR: Takk.
VALKYRIE: Have you heard anything more about this monster threatening my little shieldmaiden?
With a deep breath, Ulf shook his head to Valkyrie.
ULF HEDNIR: Nei, der is nothing yet. Jeg think det he is just a lot of bark, but der is no actual bite.
VALKYRIE: Alright. Just don’t let anything happen to her. If anything does, I will--
ULF HEDNIR: Jeg cannot have du fight min battles.
VALKYRIE: … Ulf, you’re not going to have a choice if he touches her.
She said with a sincere smile. Thea seemed amused over the conversation, as if she thought that they were playing a game; it was better this way. That way they did not frighten her. Both of them feigned a smile as their eyes shifted toward Thea, who just stared up and had the usual cute smile.
VALKYRIE: But my match is coming up.
Valkyrie now knelt down.
VALKYRIE: Wish me luck?
She said with her eyes lingering on Thea, and Thea rushed forward giving her Aunt Robi a huge hug.
THEA: Good luck, Tante Robi!
Valkyrie hugged Thea close for several seconds before finally releasing, and standing back up. Ulf picked Thea back up into his arms as she clung to the stuffed wolf, and Valkyrie started walking past Ulf.
ULF HEDNIR: Lykke til!
VALKYRIE: Takk!
ULF HEDNIR: Come back with de belt.
Valkyrie continues walking down the hallway, and Ulf walks with Thea in the opposite direction, and the scene comes to a close.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following contest is set for ONE FALL!
"Honō no Megami (炎の女神)" by Adrian von Ziegler begins to play through the speakers as the house lights in the arena soon turn to a golden hue as Arata Asakura makes his way through the curtain in a slow manner. There's no pause to view out to the crowd, Arata just continues to make his slow walk to the ring until he's at ringside where he removes his golden-encrusted mask and heads into the ring.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing first, wrestling out of Osaka, Japan and weighing in tonight at two hundred and twenty pounds... he is The Gaijin Killer... ARATA AAASSAAAAAKUURRRAAA!!!
"Are you ready?"
The lights dim down while the catchy, fast paced rock of RAINBOWS by A9 echoes as a spotlight suddenly appears on a figure on the ramp, with his back turned and begins kneeling. Once the beat finally kicks in, MYOJIN explodes with energy- wearing a masquerade-style mask over his eyes, and turns around with a confident smile on his face, raising his arms to soak in the positive reaction from everyone around.
With his blonde locks hanging over his face. He then whips his head back, flipping his hair out of his face before excitedly running down the ring before performing a cartwheel and a jump, landing on his feet near ringside!
HOLLY PEREZ: And his opponent, wrestling out of Namba, Osaka, Japan and weighing in tonight at one hundred and sixty-five pounds... he is THE CURRENT, REIGNING XTREME HARDCORE FEDERATION X*CROWN CHAMPION... HE IS THE SHINING STAR! MYOOOOOOJIIIIIIINNNNN!!!!
He climbs up to the apron, grabs a hold of the top rope, and slingshots himself into the ring. MYOJIN performs a somersault roll, landing on his side with a hand on his hip. The other, taking off his mask to reveal his piercing blue eye contacts. He tosses it aside nonchalantly before climbing up the top turnbuckle, tilting his head upward as if he’s looking toward the sky- while the lights mimic stars above. He backflips off, back onto his feet while taking off his flamboyant coat and moving to his corner. The lights go back to normal as he checks his wrist tape. His charismatic smile fading to a more focused expression as he paces back and forth, ready for action.
DING! DING!
The match begins with MYOJIN and Arata Asakura staring down one another, although this is their first time meeting in the ring with one another in Project: Honor, their time in Strong Style Wrestling tells a very different tale than what many would already know. The Black Sun leader charges in and goes for the Front Dropkick to push MYOJIN back into the corner but the newly crowned XHF X*Crown Champion isn’t going to allow Arata to get the early advantage, catching the legs of Arata and allowing him to fall to the mat before driving both feet into his chest with a Double Foot Stomp. Arata’s arm is held onto by MYOJIN as they climb over and then rolls down onto their back to lock in a Triangle Choke hold onto The One Real Shogun, but he floats over and bridges for a sneak pinfall attempt!
ONE!
TWO!
TH-
TREY BOOKER: MYOJIN is able to kick out and break out from the Triangle Choke hold!
J.T. PRICE: That was an amazing counter into the pin, but MYOJIN was smart enough to not allow Arata to take the easy way out of things.
Arata scrambles to his feet and then turns around to MYOJIN charging in- but a Throat Thrust takes the breath away from MYOJIN before knocking them down to their knees with a Spin Kick to the abdomen and then Arata comes off of the ropes with a Penalty Kick that takes down MYOJIN with ease! These two men are already beating the hell out of one another and we’re not even a full three minutes into this match. Arata stands in the corner and steps closer in with a Superkick right onto the jaw of a kneeling MYOJIN. The One Real Shogun grabs onto the wrists of The Shining Star and looks for Ayatsuri but MYOJIN grabs onto the leg of Arata as he lifts it up, he then rolls him up into a pin but they rolls Arata fully through and then delivers a sickening Punt Kick to the head of Asakura!
TREY BOOKER: WHAT A PUNT KICK! MYOJIN has this match to their advantage but man, they are putting each other through a vicious cycle of strikes here tonight!
J.T. PRICE: Think about it this way, Trey, MYOJIN has a championship match up for grabs right now and he's wanting that shot against- well- what might be the new champion in Lance Williams!
TREY BOOKER: You're not wrong there.
MYOJIN takes a few steps back before charging in from Arata’s blind spot and landing a stiff Bicycle Knee Strike to the temple of Arata as he falls down to the mat, seemingly knocked out from the knee strike but MYOJIN rolls him over onto his back and goes for the cover.
ONE!
TWO-
Arata is able to kick out, meaning he’s still in this, but that knee strike took a whole lot out of him by the looks of it. MYOJIN makes a move to the ropes and might be looking for another lethal blow from Arata’s blind spot and she charges in, attempting a little Black Magic, but Arata catches MYOJIN as she tried to come back against Arata with the kick, a single-armed Powerbomb lift before tossing him over the ropes! MYOJIN somehow hanged on and made sure to land onto the apron, and with Arata looking in the other direction, MYOJIN looks to springboard but Arata felt it coming as he twisted around and swung his leg up into the air to catch MYOJIN out of the sky, but this left Arata to fire off a Superkick to take MYOJIN off of the apron but The Shining Star caught the foot and pushed Arata away--he cartwheels however and goes for the Bicycle Kick to MYOJIN as she tries to springboard in but just as MYOJIN brought her feet down onto the apron again, Arata twisted his body around from the Bicycle Kick attempt and connected a hard Spinning Back Elbow to the jaw of MYOJIN which sends him down onto the floor below!
J.T. PRICE: Counter for counter, strike for strike, move for move. These two are just not giving up yet!
TREY BOOKER: Of course not, Arata wants to prove himself and the best way to do it? Well, it would be against MYOJIN!
Just as MYOJIN brings himself to her feet, Arata charges into the corner and leaps over the ropes--EVIL OF THE SKY! The Golden Triangle Moonsault to the outside may have been the move that'll set the mood for the rest of this match as Arata tosses MYOJIN into the ring and leaps onto the apron. Arata sees MYOJIN in the right spot for the Golden Dragon but he doesn't take that route, opting for himself charging into the corner on the outside and leaping over the ropes to the inside--AND ANOTHER EVIL OF THE SKY! SECOND ROPE MOONSAULT AS ARATA MAKES THE COVER!
ONE!
TWO!
T-
J.T. PRICE: Arata was SO CLOSE and yet, he was so far away from the victory!
TREY BOOKER: It wasn't the ideal situation but I'm sure even he knew that wasn't enough but seeing that he was very close with that three count, he knows he's got The Shining Star in a predicament.
J.T. PRICE: But it’s now the question of when will the finishing touches be done onto MYOJIN if Arata attempts it- and I guess we’ll be finding out now!
Arata, through all of the bickering on the outside with the commentators, is making his way to the top rope and is about to soar for the Golden Dragon. Arata stands up there for a couple of seconds before leaping off of the top--LOVE, FROM OSAKA! MYOJIN KIPPED UP AND SCOUTED ARATA, FINDING HIMSELF WITH A LAST DITCH EFFORT MOVE AND PERFECTED THE JUMPING CORKSCREW ROUNDHOUSE KICK! Arata is stunned from the out of nowhere strike, and so is the crowd right now, but MYOJIN makes her way back to her feet and watches Arata rise to his knees--KISS AND TELL! FOLLOWED UP WITH THE RAINBOW STAR PRESS! THE COVER-- BUT ARATA ROLLS OVER AND MAKES THE COVER THIS TIME! BUT MYOJIN WON’T ALLOW IT! SHE ROLLS OVER AND LOCKS IN AQUILLA! THE HEADSCISSORS KIMURA LOCK IS APPLIED AND THERE’S NO ESCAPE FOR ARATA RIGHT NOW! HE’S GOT TO TAP! BUT ARATA’S TRYING TO GET TO HIS FEET BUT MYOJIN WON’T LET HIM, SHE’S FIGHTING TO KEEP HIM DOWN BUT ARATA’S ABLE TO LIFT HIMSELF UP AND ROLL MYOJIN ON HIS BACK, THE SHOULDERS ARE DOWN!
ONE!
TWO!
THR--
MYOJIN COUNTERS WITH HER OWN VERSION OF A ROLL UP! THE SHOULDERS ARE DOWN!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: MYOJIN’S DONE IT!
J.T. PRICE: CONTROVERSIAL FASHION, NO LESS, BUT MYOJIN IS CROWNED THE WINNER! ARATA IS NOT ONE BIT PLEASED!
"Rainbows" by A9 plays in the background as MYOJIN rolls out of the ring- out of harm's way from Arata Asakura's frustration. The Gaijin Killer is pissed off over the result, trying to tell the referee that the tights were pulled in the process of the pinfall.
HOLLY PEREZ: Here is your winner... MYYYYOOOOJIIIIIINNNNN!!!!
The crowd cheer loudly but Arata sure isn't, he wants to go right after MYOJIN but with her half way up the ramp, it's no use to Arata.
The opening to a segment showed one of the newest signings to Proving Ground, a heavyset young woman called Victoria McKenzie, who hadn't been making many friends in the promotion thanks to her mouthing off on social media. She was currently just walking down the street, with a camera in front of her to get a shot of her face as Victoria just casually texted and posted selfies of herself to her many social media profiles. However, after a bit of time, she started to speak in her Geordie accent.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: I'm sure that I don't need to introduce myself, but in case you've been living under a rock or are one of the, like, 2 people who don't follow me on social media, @ MsMainstreamVM, by the way...my name is Victoria McKenzie, Ms. Mainstream, The woman who is making it cool to like pro wrestling again and, most importantly, The Biggest, Baddest and Most Beautiful Brit In The Building.
Victoria chuckled a bit as she actually looked around the night-clubs and the various buildings of wherever she was walking, the black and white gave it an almost cinematic vibe, the only colour coming from the neon lights and signs on the bars. The plus sized Brit was wearing a black t-shirt with 'Bad Bitch' on the front in white lettering and a pair of figure hugging, blue jeans with some white and black sneakers.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, you must be thinking that 'Oh, this girl's all talk, what does she know about getting her hands dirty?' and that is exactly the problem, people just assume that I'm some vapid airhead, just because I spend my time on social media, influencing and blessing the world with my presence; but it was pro wrestling that gave me the confidence to do that...without wrestling, I wouldn't be the woman that I am today. I know that I talk a lot, but I know that I can back it up; I shouldn't have to stay silent just so I don't annoy some muppets who've been here for longer than me!
The Geordie just scoffed a bit as she chuckled, she continued to walk as the camera panned to the scenes of camera's flashing and some of Victoria's tweets that she had posted; the young woman obviously wanted to get as many eyes on her as possible, however, these shots were spliced with clips of Vic hitting opponents with crossbodys, squashing them with seated sentons and nailing them with cannonball sentons.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: The thing is, I have a lot of respect for the people in Project: Honor, this company has some of the best and the brightest that the wrestling world has to offer and that's why I'm here, because I've been a former First Class Women's Champion back in Toronto, Canada; when that merged with IIW, I started to make my mark there. But I like to keep myself occupied, so I had to get myself in on the action of Proving Ground. I mean, it's not that I need the money, I mean, I make more money at 25 than most of you make in your pathetic lives...but it's really just a combination of me wanting to get my name out there and because I just like to enjoy beating people up...speaking of which.
Victoria flashed a smirk as the camera panned to a trio of men, they looked older and grizzled and the type that nobody should really mess with; but Victoria was going to use this as an opportunity to show what she could do, as she walked towards the trio; she looked to the camera and remarked with a little wink.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: People want me to prove myself? Well, here's a taster.
The 275lb bruiser intentionally slammed her shoulder into a scrawny, middle aged man, who ended up staggering into one of his friends, but, before the men could even say anything; Victoria had grabbed one of the men by the throat and hurled him into a wall with some serious force; forcing the man to slump down against the wall in pain. The camera picked up the excited gleam in Victoria's eyes as she ducked the punch of the second man and actually grabbed a hold of him, before throwing him over with a brutal looking exploder suplex; before standing herself up and getting grabbed by the third man, who tried to tackle Victoria, only for Victoria to grab him in a front face lock and deliver some brutal knee strikes and then throwing him over with a gutwrench suplex. With two of the three men on the pavement and the third man against the wall in a heap, Victoria gave a big smile and even vainly bowed to the camera, showing her immense arrogance; but she wasn't done as the Geordie sauntered over to the man against the wall and got on one knee, making him look at the camera as used her own phone to take a selfie with the pained man, before she spoke with a cheery tone.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Nothing personal, buddy, just got to use you lot as a punching bag or three, but, hey, at least you'll be famous when this goes viral.
With that, Victoria stood back up, got a head of steam and hit a running hip attack, using her ample bulk to her advantage as she crushed the third man's head between the concrete wall and her ass, as the camera cut away from the aftermath, Victoria casually picked up her phone, the camera panning around to see the bodies of the individuals that were all unconscious and not moving, all the while the shots of Victoria's selfies, including her smiling, making goofy faces started to fill the screen before the camera cut to the image of someone typing out a tweet; the text reading.
VICTORIA McKENZIE IS COMING TO PROVING GROUND.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following contest is The Seven Gates of Hell Match and it is for The Warrior Rising Championship! Introducing first, from San Antonio, Texas and weighing in at two hundred thirty seven pounds… “Don Dada”...BRANDON HENDRIX!!!
Accompanied by Kanye West’s “Power”, Brandon makes his way toward the structure that has been erected at the back of the arena, giving it a long look before finally stepping through the entrance and into the first caged section.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, hailing from Hampton Falls, New Hampshire and weighing in at two hundred and seventy four pounds… “The Luxury Experience”...CADILLAC JACKSON!!!
The trend of Kanye West entrance themes continue as Caddy heads toward the ominous structure to the artist’s “All of the Lights”. Much like Brandon before him, Cadillac takes a few moments to look over the caged dome before ultimately entering and putting some distance between himself and Don Dada.
HOLLY PEREZ: And the next participant, fighting out of Dildo, Canada and weighing in at four hundred and sixty nine pounds...PAT THE POSTMAN!!!
Making his usual entrance, Pat seems less concerned with the task ahead of him than those who have entered before him. In fact, the only thing Pat seems to be concerned with is fitting his massive frame through the entrance and then maneuvering for elbow room within the close confines.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, entering together, please welcome the members of Big Drip Productions and representing The Hip House...TJ THOMPSON AND YUNG SAUCE!!!
In an interesting show of camaraderie, TJ and Sauce make their way toward the Gates of Hell as a unit as “Drip Like Me” accompanies them, perhaps a hint that the two young men plan on going as far as possible by working together. Once inside the first section of the domed cage, Sauce and TJ take notice of where their opponents are located and see that Cadillac Jackson has already planted himself right beside the gate leading to the next section.
HOLLY PEREZ: Our next competitor, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and weighing in at two hundred seventy pounds… “The Commander of Drip”...SCOTT OASIS!!!
The former champion does his best to look unconcerned as he makes his way toward the structure, giving Sauce and TJ a smile and a nod as he steps into the first section. The two members of Big Drip return his gesture, but their expressions betray their nervousness when it comes to the self-styled “Commander of Drip”.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next, making her Proving Ground debut, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana...VALKYRIE!!!
Having been recently traded from Fallout, Valkyrie makes her first entrance on a Proving Ground production as Atreyu’s “Warrior” plays over the sound system. She looks into the caged dome at the six other contenders, apparently taking measure of them before finally entering the structure.
HOLLY PEREZ: Finally, our last participant in The Gates of Hell Match, she hails from Pacific Palisades, California and she is the reigning Project: Honor Warrior Rising Champion… “The Platinum Standard”...EMMANUELLE!!!
The seven challengers watch Emmanuelle make her way toward the cage like a pack of hungry jungle cats. With the Warrior Rising Championship already hanging from the rafters over the center of the structure, the champion looks toward it and considers the lengths she’ll have to go to in order to have it back in her possession. She finally steps through the first gate, the door is shut and locked behind her, and Holly Perez makes her final announcement…
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen...all eight competitors have entered through the first gate and when the bell sounds, the Seven Gates of Hell Match will officially begin!
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: Five minutes are on the clock and this thing is underway!
J.T. PRICE: They’re going to have those five minutes to take out their aggressions, but once the second gate to the next level opens up, the last one through will be eliminated!
Looking to use their numbers advantage while it matters most, TJ and Sauce immediately target the biggest man in the match, battering Pat with hard strikes. Despite their recent tag team efforts, Cadillac Jackson chooses not to go to Pat’s aid, instead holding his position by the gate that leads to the next section of the cage. Scott Oasis shows his own strategy, which involves taking out his frustrations on the current champion and the woman who upset him for the Warrior Rising Championship. In these close confines, Emmanuelle is unable to put her speed to much use, which allows Oasis to fling her from one cage wall to the other. Meanwhile, the two newest faces on the Proving Ground brand look to establish their dominance, as Brandon Hendrix and Valkyrie exchange a series of blows!
While the double team tactics of Big Drip had Pat thrown for a loop at first, the mighty mailman finally has enough as he shoves both men to the unprotected floor. He then leaps into the air, bringing one of his massive feet down on either member with a painful double leaping stomp. Pat then catches sight of his occasional tag partner, and troubled by the fact that Cadillac did not come to his aid, it looks as if Jackson is next on Pat’s hitlist. The smooth-talking Caddy immediately begins pleading with Pat, suggesting that they can work together, but then Jackson reaches out to stick a thumb in the big man’s eye! Not missing a beat, Caddy then starts to rake Pat’s head against the surface of the cage, still careful not to venture far from the still-closed gate.
Brandon has managed to get the better of Valkyrie in their back and forth, dropping her with a big boot before following up with some ground and pound. Content that he’s stunned Valkyrie, he then makes his way toward Big Drip as they are getting on their feet, first ramming TJ Thompson into the steel and then lifting Yung Sauce up in a Gorilla Press! When he tries to slam Sauce back down however, he finds that The Saucy One is holding the top of the cage with both hands! Sauce then kicks Brandon backwards into the waiting arms of TJ, who grabs him by the waist and sends him to the floor with a German Suplex! Shortly after that exchange, we see Scott Oasis lift Emmy up into the powerbomb position, but she follows Sauce’s lead by grabbing the bars of the dome! Then, once Oasis is off balance, Emmanuelle flips herself backwards to take Scott down with a modified hurricanrana! She starts to unload a series of strikes at Oasis’ head, but after a few blows, Valkyrie grabs her from behind and pulls her to the floor in a chicken wing submission!
Big Drip continue to use double team tactics on Brandon Hendrix, leaving him to desperately cover himself on the floor, but their war has brought them dangerously close to where Pat the Postman has wedged Cadillac Jackson between the steel and his own bulbous body! Not wanting to lose his advantage over Caddy or his position near the gate, Pat continues to press his body against Jackson even when Yung Sauce and TJ Thompson pounce on his back! Scott Oasis sees the strategy being used by his Big Drip allies, and joins in on attacking Pat, driving hard punches against his ribs and lower back. With the timer counting down, Valkyrie leaves Emmanuelle and joins in on the fun as well, as Pat is now suffering from a four on one attack! It isn’t long before Brandon and Emmanuelle recover, and despite Pat’s less-than-stellar record, every other competitor in the cage is focused upon the eccentric giant! Poor Cadillac is squashed against the steel gate as all of this occurs and the crowd begins to count down to zero...
3...
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE SECOND GATE IS NOW OPEN!
The lock on the gate leading the next level is deactivated, and with all of the weight pressing against it, it easily flies open! Cadillac Jackson is the first to make it through as he collapses on the floor and desperately tries to fill his lungs with oxygen. By all accounts, Pat the Postman should be the next man forced through the opening, but it would seem that the gates were not made with his massive body in mind! Even with six competitors pushing against him, Pat will not fit through the gate! Fearing further vengeance from Pat, Cadillac finally grabs hold of the steel gate and swings it shut, slamming the steel against Pat’s face to not only bust him open, but also knock him backwards! As Pat falls to the floor with blood pouring out of his head, the other six competitors scratch and claw to make it through the gate!
HOLLY PEREZ: Pat the Postman has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We have our first casualty! I think Pat was knocked unconscious by Cadillac slamming the gate against his head, and no one was willing to show mercy as they climbed over his prone body into the second section of the cage!
J.T. PRICE: Was he seriously stuck in the gate? Is Pat the Postman now the Winnie the Pooh of Project: Honor?
Sticking with his original strategy, Cadillac Jackson began searching for the next gate as soon as he slammed the last one against Pat’s face. Not only is he successful in his quest, but he’s also had the opportunity to grab one of the steel chairs that hang overhead in this section of cage. While Caddy guards the gate with chair in hand, Big Drip once again go back to double team tactics, this time focusing their attention on Valkyrie! As they hit her with a drop toe hold and jumping elbow drop combination, an unexpected savior comes to her rescue as Brandon Hendrix nearly spears Yung Sauce out of his sneakers! Meanwhile, Scott Oasis has returned his attention to Emmanuelle, determined to eliminate her from the competition on his way back to reclaiming the Warrior Rising Title! He punishes Emmy with a snap suplex and a release German, before finally ripping a chair from the ceiling with a sadistic smile. Oasis raises the chair overhead, but the desperate champion counters by kicking him between the legs! The blatant low blow is perfectly legal in this environment, and as Scott sinks to his knees, Emmy rips the chair out of his hands! A sick thud echoes throughout the arena as she brings the chair down over Scott’s unprotected head, leaving him in a crumpled mess on the floor!
With the former champion down, Emmanuelle heads toward Cadillac Jackson’s position in the cage and the two begin to duel with their steel chairs! After the weapons slam together several times, it is Caddy who wins out by smacking Emmy’s chair hard enough to send shockwaves of pain up her forearms. The champion is forced to take a step back, but as Cadillac prepares to follow up, she leaps back forward with a jumping knee strike that knocks Jackson’s chair back into his face! While the move is effective in disarming and dropping Cadillac Jackson, it looks as if Emmanuelle has damaged her knee in the process. Still standing, she reaches down to hold her knee, unaware that Brandon Hendrix has her in his sights! Before Emmy can protect herself, Don Dada hits her with a spear out of nowhere!
As Hendrix now guards the gate unhindered, Big Drip continue to focus their attack on Valkyrie, hitting her with a double hip toss into the steel cage! TJ and Sauce look to slam Valkyrie into the steel yet again, but this time she leaps onto the bars, throws herself backwards, and takes TJ off his feet with a modified springboard forearm! Hoping to stop Valkyrie before she gets rolling, Sauce charges forward, but she catches him in her arms, rams his spine into the steel, and then drives him to the floor with a spinebuster! Valkyrie cannot immediately capitalize, but the members of Big Drip are both willing to let her wander away, eventually setting her sights on Brandon Hendrix and the third gate.
Valkyrie charges at her target, but Brandon leapfrogs over her spear attempt at the last second. Believing that she’s ran herself into the steel gate, Hendrix turns around to see that Valkyrie was able to halt her momentum and scoop up Cadillac’s discarded chair! Her ruse works perfectly as she jabs the chair against Don Dada’s midsection and then slams it over his back, driving him to the floor alongside Emmanuelle and Jackson. What she doesn’t realize is that Scott Oasis has crept up behind her, and before she can react, he drives her down with a release German Suplex! Not content there, Oasis then bends down to scream in Valkyrie’s face and then grabs her in an Iron Claw! Scott successfully hits The Battle Cry and Drill Time on Valkyrie, leaving only him and his two buddies in Big Drip still standing. As TJ and Sauce approach him, Oasis shrugs his shoulders and levels Sauce with a hard lariat! He has one for TJ as well! After knocking both men down, he turns his attention to the gate and begins to violently shake it, unwilling to wait for the timer to reach zero.
Perhaps now understanding that it is indeed every person for themselves, TJ and Sauce decide to retaliate against The Vanilla Gorilla! Thompson scoops the unsuspecting Oasis onto his shoulders and begins to spin him around until Sauce finally leaps up to hit a jumping cutter! Oasis is down after Zoomin’ Through The Sky as the 5 minute countdown reaches its end!
3…
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE THIRD GATE IS NOW OPEN
Upon hearing Holly’s announcement, Sauce and TJ throw open the gate and rush through it, making them the first two competitors into the third section! Cadillac Jackson, still on the floor, is next to pass through the gate as he crawls over the threshold. Next is Valkyrie...and then Emmy...leaving only two men behind! Oasis pulls himself up and starts to shake off the effects of Big Drip’s double team move, but he’s suddenly driven back down by Brandon Hendrix’s Superman Punch! As The Vanilla Gorilla hits the floor, Don Dada leaps through the gate and slams it behind him!
HOLLY PEREZ: Scott Oasis has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: The chairs in the second section played a big part, but now it’s on to the tables!
J.T. PRICE: Two of the biggest men have been eliminated so far, and that championship gold is anyone’s to claim!
No sooner has Brandon slammed the gate shut than the person to make it through prior to him grabs his hair and slams his face forward against the steel! Don Dada comes back with a bloody head, but Emmanuelle only smiles before sending him to the floor with a snap DDT! Meanwhile, TJ and Sauce are taking advantage of being the first two men to enter as they set up a pair of tables near the next exit gate. As they fortify their position, Valkyrie attempts to bring the punishment to Cadillac Jackson with a running knee strike! At the last moment, Caddy side steps and sweeps her other leg, successfully knocking her to the floor on the back of her head! Looking to add further damage, he then lifts her into the powerbomb position, slams her back against the cage wall, and then completes the move by slamming her on the floor!
As Caddy continues to punish Valkyrie, Emmanuelle leaves Hendrix lying in his own blood to turn her attention toward TJ Thompson and Yung Sauce. With two tables erected and a third leaning against the cage, the Big Drip members are hopeful that the champion will think twice before charging them. Whatever respect exists between TJ and Emmy is quickly brushed aside, as The Platinum Standard rushes forward, leaps onto one of the tables, and then launches herself back off toward Yung Sauce! She catches him with an arm around his head, spins in midair, and drops The Saucy One to the floor with a modified version of her Malibu Shine! Taking offense at her treatment of his partner, TJ advances on Emmanuelle but is met by a Liver Punch! With TJ doubled over, Emmanuelle hooks him by the arms and lifts him into the air, pivoting to drop him through the very table that she had recently leapt off of! The modified Pasadena Bomb drives TJ back-first through the wood, removing the second of two obstacles between Emmanuelle and the fourth gate.
The champion gets back on her feet to survey the damage she caused, when suddenly Brandon Hendrix charges at her with revenge on his mind! His Acknowledge Spear catches Emmy unaware, and the force drives her backwards through the table leaning against the cage wall! With four of the competitors down, Cadillac Jackson pulls Valkyrie near the only table that remains standing, looking to drive her through it with his Cadillac Flapjack! He starts to lift her into the air, but Valkyrie is able to shift her momentum and land on her feet behind him! Before he can make an adjustment, Valkyrie grabs hold of Caddy and uses all of her strength to take him off his feet and drop him through the table with a back suplex!
3…
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE FOURTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Valkyrie shakes off the damage she’s inflicted on herself and shoves the gate open, making her the first person to advance to the next stage of the battle. Yung Sauce has recovered as well, but instead of rushing through the gate, the loyal friend takes a few precious moments to smack some sense back into TJ Thompson. The two members of Big Drip eventually make it through the gate together, as the remaining three competitors start to stir. Emmanuelle, still on the floor, has Brandon Hendrix by the ankle, refusing to allow him free passage. While Brandon is momentarily distracted, a shaken Cadillac Jackson grabs him by the head and lifts him upwards, then drives him back down with The Test Drive! Don Dada’s bloody face is driven back to the floor, giving both Emmanuelle and Jackson the opportunity to advance!
HOLLY PEREZ: Brandon Hendrix has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We’re down to five as Don Dada is done for the night! He put up one hell of a fight, but his opposition was determined to end his championship hopes!
J.T. PRICE: Both members of Big Drip are still in this thing! Their teamwork strategy might be what crowns one of them as champion!
Five competitors remain in this latest ring of the cell, and while the tables and chairs are now a thing of the past, several pairs of metal shackles hang from the cage walls. As the last two to cross the threshold, Cadillac and Emmanuelle quickly resume the fight, while TJ holds Valkyrie so that Sauce can batter her with one of the nearby chained manacles. The sight of her own blood seems to fire Valkyrie up however, as she kicks Sauce away before throwing her head back against TJ’s nose! With Thompson stunned, Valkyrie then grabs the manacle that was being used against her, and slaps it around The Hipbeast’s wrist! With one member of Big Drip out of the picture, Valkyrie moves away from both of them in search of the next gate. At first, Sauce begins to panic, fearful that his teammate will be unable to move ahead with his arm fastened to the cage. Thompson however, shouts out his solution.
TJ THOMPSON: Saucy! Get a saw! Hack my arm off, man!
YUNG SAUCE: No way, man! That’s your private time hand! I can’t do that to you!
TJ THOMPSON: I’ll still have Gerald, bro! Just do what has to be done!
For a brief moment, Sauce seems to accept what TJ has suggested, refusing to consider what Gerald the Giraffe could possibly have to do with private time. Then, he suddenly comes up with his own plan!
YUNG SAUCE: Yo! Why don’t we just cut the chain instead?
This time it is TJ who considers the solution, and he finally nods his head in approval. Sauce turns away, but then stumbles upon another problem.
YUNG SAUCE: Where the fuck am I gonna get a saw?
It would seem that their master plan has been thwarted, until TJ suddenly holds up a single finger, having remembered something very important!
TJ THOMPSON: I almost forgot! I swiped a multi-purpose tool from my optometrist and put it in my boot!
Without further explanation, Sauce pulls off TJ’s boot, digs his hand inside, and produces the key to his partner’s salvation! As the members of Big Drip struggle to pry open the manacle on TJ’s wrist, Cadillac Jackson has gotten the upper hand on Emmanuelle, having dropped her with a neckbreaker and now torturing her in a camel clutch! Valkyrie spots the situation, and for a moment it looks as if she’s content to let the champion suffer, but then she suddenly rushes forward and plants a hard kick to Cadillac’s jaw, forcing him to break the hold and fall backwards! Instead of proving to be Emmy’s salvation however, Valkyrie immediately turns her attention to the champion and locks on The Bifrost!
With her knee already damaged from connecting with a steel chair earlier in the match, Emmy is in clear pain as she struggles to find some way to freedom. Instead of interjecting himself, Caddy crawls away from the two women and eventually gets back to his feet, just in time for the recently freed TJ Thompson to lift him onto his shoulders! Before Caddy can free himself, Sauce hits him with Lost in the Sauce and then TJ drops him to the floor with The Hip Train! The Collaborator has Cadillac seeing stars as the crowd begins to count down once again!
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE FIFTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Upon hearing the announcement, Valkyrie releases her leg lock on Emmanuelle and immediately makes her way to the nearby gate! TJ and Sauce beat her there by only a couple of seconds, and manage to cut off her escape! This time they are prepared for her ferocity, and in a combined effort they successfully get one of the manacles around her wrist! Emmy, in obvious pain, begins to crawl toward the gate, but Cadillac Jackson does the same! Valkyrie viciously stomps at both of them, but with no way to free herself, she’s unable to stop their advance for long! Cadillac crawls into the next section of the cage, and as Emmy tries to do the same, Valkyrie grabs her leg and holds on for everything she’s worth! Emmanuelle hangs onto the edge of the gate and tries to pull herself forward, until the combined strain from both the champion and Valkyrie snaps the manacle’s chain! Both competitors lurch forward, but it is the champion who propels herself through the opening first!
HOLLY PEREZ: Valkyrie has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: We’re down to the final four, and despite her best efforts, Valkyrie is out of this one!
J.T. PRICE: Yeah, but look at that glare she’s giving the champion! It’s clear that Valkyrie’s pursuit of The Warrior Rising Championship has only just begun!
The members of Big Drip have already started going to work on Cadillac Jackson as the gate closes behind Emmanuelle, yet with the cage walls lined with mirrors, it almost looks as if multiple versions of Sauce and TJ are stomping on The Luxury Experience! Emmanuelle, in a desperate need of time to get the feeling back into her knee, hobbles away from the action in the hope that she’ll stumble across the next gate. She is not so fortunate however, as the panes of mirrored glass cover every inch of the cage wall, the gate hidden behind one of them. Her pursuit finally brings her back to where TJ and Sauce are beating down on Caddy, accidentally alerting them to her presence! Yung Sauce immediately goes for a kick, but Emmy catches his leg and spins him to the floor with a dragon screw! TJ then tries for a clothesline, but this time Emmy counters with an armdrag to put him down as well!
This brief action gives Cadillac the opportunity to get back on his feet, and instead of jumping the injured champion from behind, he joins in her efforts to put an end to Big Drip’s double team tactics! Still needing to locate the next gate, Emmanuelle expedited her search by whipping Yung Sauce into the closest mirror, shattering it with his body! Cadillac takes note and follows Emmy’s lead, doing the same to TJ Thompson! While both Sauce and TJ lay amongst shards of broken mirror, Caddy and the champion realize that the gate remains hidden! This time they both grab hold of Yung Sauce, and the young dripper is helpless as they launch him face first into another mirror! Now bleeding from multiple cuts, Sauce lays on the floor in pain, while Emmy and Caddy each grab one of TJ’s legs, fall backwards simultaneously, and catapult him into another mirror! Thompson crumples to a heap in a similar condition as his partner, but this time the gate stands revealed!
With both TJ and Sauce down and out and the gate clearly in sight, Cadillac and Emmanuelle turn their attention towards each other! The bigger of the two, Caddy chooses to use his superior strength against the champion, lifting her off her feet and driving her onto the broken shards of mirror with The Cadillac Flapjack! Knowing the tenacity of the champion first hand, Cadillac pulls her back up and lifts her into position for The Test Drive, but somehow Emmanuelle shifts her weight back towards the floor and counters with a DDT! Now all four competitors are bleeding from various cuts, but desperate to get her title back in her hands, Emmanuelle isn’t done yet. With Caddy trying to clear the blood from his eyes, she locks on her Punch Out Time STF Sleeper! Not only is Caddy helpless in her grasp, but as he stretches his arms out in search of salvation, all they find are fistfuls of broken glass!
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE SIXTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
It is that announcement that finally convinces Emmanuelle to release her grip on Cadillac Jackson, and as his bloody face falls forward, she pulls herself up and shoves open the gate! While the champion has advanced, the fate of the remaining three men remains in question. It’s not clear if Cadillac Jackson knows where he is as he gets to his feet, and TJ uses that confusion to his own advantage by grabbing him with a double leg takedown and locking him in a Boston Crab! With Caddy helpless once again, Sauce joins his partner by hitting a series of knee strikes to Jackson’s temple, successfully completing their Deezer Smash Hit! Now in the fight for their lives, TJ and Sauce don’t let Cadillac go until they’re confident he’s unconscious, giving both men the chance needed to advance!
HOLLY PEREZ: Cadillac Jackson has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: This is starting to turn my stomach! Has every competitor bled in this match?
J.T. PRICE: I just can’t believe Caddy is gone! He was instrumental in several eliminations, and when he wakes up it will have all been for nothing!
Not waiting for Big Drip to use their numbers advantage against her, Emmanuelle fights off the pain and takes turns driving stiff kicks against the midsections of both TJ and Sauce. Then, as if they were not bloody enough, Emmanuelle notices the cage wall behind her and the sharp barbed wire that’s been woven through its links. She grabs hold of TJ and attempts to whip him toward the cage wall, but he reverses at the last second and it’s Emmy’s back that absorbs the pain from the sharp barbs! TJ then leaps forward to sandwich the champion’s body between his own at the cage, but she sidesteps at the last second and this time it’s TJ who feels the barbed wire! Clearly Yung Sauce wants none of that action, as he moves away in search of the next gate. It doesn’t take him long to find it as the diameters of each section have grown smaller, and beyond the gate he can see the ladder leading upwards to the Warrior Rising Championship.
Hoping that he can bend the rules, Sauce starts kicking at the gate for all he’s worth, but it refuses to budge. Unfortunately for him, he’s so focused on jarring the gate open, that he fails to notice Emmanuelle creeping up behind him. She grabs Sauce’s head with both hands and starts to force it forward towards the barbed wire, but he resists by pushing both hands against the cage wall. Just when it looks like Emmy is finally going to win out and drag Sauce’s face against the barbed wire, TJ rushes in for the save with an enzuigiri to the back of Emmanuelle’s head! With a moment to regroup, the two men realize that they have to pull out all the stops if they want to be the final two, and TJ starts to climb up the cage wall as Sauce lifts Emmy up for his Femboy Sauce Driver. Having climbed as high as he can, TJ pushes himself off the cage for his Hip with the Drip, but Emmy wiggles free and TJ crashes into Sauce instead!
With no time to spare, Emmanuelle pulls Sauce to his feet and pushes him against the barbed wire cage. Then, taking a cue from the manacles, she begins to pull the strands of barbed wire free in order to wrap them around Sauce’s arms and legs! Doing her best to tie Yung Sauce to the cage wall, Emmanuelle pulls and twists at the barbed wire as the crowd begins to count down!
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HOLLY PEREZ: THE SEVENTH GATE IS NOW OPEN
Satisfied with her work, Emmanuelle limps away from Yung Sauce, who is now tied to the cell wall in a tangled mess of barbed wire. The champion pushes herself through the final gate as TJ Thompson comes to Sauce’s side, determined to somehow free him. He retrieves his multi-tool and starts to tug at the barbed wire with pliers in order to free his friend, but his efforts only result in excruciating pain for Yung Sauce. Finally, we see a rare sense of nobility from Big Drip’s youngest member as he begs TJ to leave him behind and reclaim his title for Big Drip Productions. Despite his sadness, TJ realizes the truth behind Sauce’s words, and drops his multi-tool before heading towards the gate...
HOLLY PEREZ: Yung Sauce has been eliminated!
TREY BOOKER: I can’t believe what we’ve seen! The teamwork from Yung Sauce and TJ Thompson have carried them through six levels of hell, but now The Hipbeast must fight alone!
J.T. PRICE: I’m not crying...you’re crying!
As soon as the gate slams behind TJ, Emmanuelle starts pulling herself up the ladder towards the championship prize. The pain in her knee prevents her from making it very far however, as TJ is able to catch up to her and grab her from behind. TJ then pushes himself off the ladder, driving Emmanuelle back against the cage wall, the barbed wire from the previous level still inflicting damage through the cell wall! With the champion writhing in pain, TJ begins to climb the ladder for himself! Fearful that she’ll be unable to climb up the rungs effectively, Emmy instead pulls herself up and shoves the ladder with all her strength!
As he begins to topple, TJ leaps from the ladder to the cage wall, gripping it with both hands! The ladder bounces off the side of the cage as TJ continues to climb upwards, careful not to wrap his hands around a strand of barbed wire. With no other choice, Emmanuelle starts to follow him, the strength of her arms doing most of the work as she ascends. With TJ in the lead, Emmy throws caution to the wind and climbs faster, clutching the barbed wire if need be while TJ continues to tread more carefully. Once he’s near the top of the domed cage, TJ reaches out for the suspended championship title, but his fingertips only brush against it before Emmanuelle is by his side.
They are forced to turn their attention to each other instead of the title, but it is Emmy who strikes first by slamming TJ’s head against the cage! He responds in kind, slamming the champion’s head against the cage as well, while both of them remain clinging to the cage wall. Finally, both Emmy and TJ grab each other by the head and push forward, bouncing each other’s heads off the cage wall! This forces both of them to lose their grip, and as they are launched off the side of the cage, they both reach out for the gold hanging a mere few feet from them! TJ and Emmanuelle crash on the fallen ladder below, but the championship belt is no longer hanging above their heads! One of them managed to grab it as they fell! Finally, raising the championship in their hand from the wreckage, we know who has survived The Seven Gates of Hell...
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of The Seven Gates of Hell and still Warrior Rising Champion… “The Platinum Standard”...EMMANUELLE!!!
TREY BOOKER: My god, she’s done it! Somehow, someway, Emmanuelle has retained The Warrior Rising Title in the most bizarre and obscene match the division has ever seen!
J.T. PRICE: It was right at TJ’s fingertips, but in the end Emmanuelle had that extra ounce of determination to see this thing through!
TREY BOOKER: This has been an absolute blood bath, but we’ve still got more to go!
Shortly after Tara’s successful debut in Project: Honor, she is seen wandering the hallway with her new found friend: Will Riley. Another newcomer to Project: Honor. The two seem to be in their own conversation, but they are suddenly sidetracked… After a tough contest, Tara inhales deeply and smells the haunting aroma of the catering.
TARA: The food smells amazing! It’s been a while since I had Venezuelan cuisine.
She said with her mouth already watering over the idea of having some food. She had to restore the energy she had exhausted.
WILL RILEY: It really does. Let’s go check it out.
Will suggests with a gesture toward the catering, and Tara follows suit, but as they draw ever closer she hesitates as she notices a man hovering over the catering and picking at the grapes. It was the Fallout General Manager, Christian DeMarco, and she kind of stops dead in her tracks. Will turns toward her and the look on his face simply reads that he is wondering why she suddenly stopped. He could tell that her contact was fixed, as she tilted her head slightly.
WILL RILEY: Are you okay?
TARA: Yeah. Yeah. He’s just kind of cute.
Will turns his head toward the catering to see the only man standing there besides the caterers as Christina DeMarco, and he gives a slight shrug of his shoulders.
WILL RILEY: Why don’t you introduce yourself?
TARA: I couldn’t do that!
Tara says, her cheeks blushing which gives Will Riley a chuckle.
WILL RILEY: You don’t strike me as the shy type.
Will walks back toward Tara and puts his arm around her shoulder, and gives her a gentle tug forward as they start forward again, all the while Will continues speaking.
WILL RILEY: That’s Christian DeMarco. He’s the GM of Fallout. I’m sure he may want to book you on occasion over there, if you’re down for all of that, so it would be good to introduce yourself.
They inch closer and closer, and when they are at a fair distance, Will nudges her forward and lets her go; Tara glances back at him as he’s giving her two thumbs up, then she looks forward again and she rubs her hands together… she was trying to resist caving in to the urge to retreat back to her own corner, all the times that she had been burned, but it was just saying hello, she thought.
TARA: Just say hello…
She whispered to herself. Each step drew her closer, and closer, and closer, until she was just a few steps away from the catering table. ENTER: Victoria McKenzie! Victoria hovers over the table with a look of utter delight at the way the catering looks, standing between Tara and Christian. Tara tries to peer around Victoria, and Christian DeMarco walks in the opposite direction away from Tara. Tara tried to look around Victoria, which seemed to get her attention, and Victoria turned toward her and gave a friendly smile.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Hi! I’m Victoria… You’re Tara! I was a big fan of yours growing up when I was like--
She hesitates for a moment to ensure her count is correct.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: --nine-years-old. I really do respect you; truth is, you’re one of my inspirations for getting into the business. I was taught to respect my elders. But… really, I think you should’ve retired a while ago. You seemed to have lost your edge. Anyways! Yeah, I’m Victoria. Do you mind if I--
Victoria set her plate down, and took her phone from her pocket and with just a few quick swipes, she had the camera ready to take a selfie.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: A picture?
Before Tara can react, Victoria is smiling as she snaps a picture. The picture shows Tara visibly annoyed but Victoria pays no mind to that.
VICTORIA McKENZIE: That one’s going straight to Twitter. Anyways!
Victoria extends her hand to Tara, who seemed to have the smile wiped from her face… She feigned a smile to Victoria, one more as a courtesy.
TARA: Hehe. Victoria, is it?
VICTORIA McKENZIE: Yeah!
TARA: Alright… well. DAMN IT, VICTORIA!
Tara stomped away, leaving visible confusion and shock on the face of Victoria McKenzie. She stomped her way past Will Riley who seemed utterly confused, too. Victoria turns her attention back to the catering and Will just shakes his head.
HOLLY PEREZ: The following match is scheduled for one fall and is for Number One Contendership of the Legacy Championship… introducing first… weighing in at ninety-eight pounds, from Los Angeles California...Project Honor’s Noble Champion… PIXIE SLOANE!!
“Fairies Wear Boots” by Black Sabbath hits and Pixie steps out of the back. She quickly runs down to the ring and slides in under the bottom rope.
HOLLY PEREZ: And her opponent… Weighing in at one hundred and thirty five pounds… The British Raven; Fist of Hydra; Gothmother of Wrestling… The Former Legacy Champion... ELENA DEDRACA!!!
♫
THE GLORY OF A NATION DIES
THE SYMBOL OF THIS WAR IS COMING
A WARNING MEANT TO SAVE OUR LIVES FROM
F.E.A.R.'S RELIGION
♫
There are some cheers when the curtain is flung back and a dour, yet supremely confident Elena DeDraca makes her way onto the stage.
As the fog begins to clear and the lights pulsate in tune to the music, Elena looks to her left, and then to her right as she absorbs the general atmosphere she is receiving. The pale queen nods and she appears to smile while she makes her way down the ramp.
Several hands reach out for Elena's acknowledgment as she heads toward the ring, however she coldly ignores each and every one of them. Once at ringside, she leaps up onto the apron and there are some boo’s as she throws up a hand and points at the crowd, before she elegantly steps between the top and middle rope. She simply throws back her head and laughs at the referee's suggestion of a weapon check. As her theme music slowly fades out, DeDraca throws up her taunt once more and then she confidently stares daggers toward Pixie Sloane, awaiting the match to start.
DING! DING! DING!
The smaller Pixie locked up with the former Legacy champion, but Elena immediately pushed her back into the corner. The ref called for a break, which Elena gave with her hands up before kicking Pixie in the stomach. That stunned her long enough for DeDraca to grab her head, and drag her face along the top rope. With two handfuls of hair, she dragged her in and sent her flying with a snap mare to the canvas.
TREY BOOKER: Elena taking control early.
J.T. PRICE: I guess she didn’t take kindly to Pixie’s assumptions earlier in the week about her character.
TREY BOOKER: They did seem a bit off.
As Pixie started to get up, Elena charged forward with a punt kick to her ribs to put her down on the mat again. The brunette mounted her back, and started spiking her face into the canvas before scrubbing it against the mat. Elena got to her feet, and bounced off the near side. As Sloane was getting to her feet, she caught a running forearm to the face before Elena scooped her over one shoulder into a snake-eyes in the corner. The smaller fighter stumbled out and into Elena’s grip before she delivered a flatliner and made the cover.
TREY BOOKER: Elena’s clearly leaving nothing to chance tonight, is she? There’s a cover!
ONE!!!
TW… PIXIE KICKS OUT!!!
Pixie kicked out as the two was coming down, and Elena made her pay for it with an elbow to her face.
J.T. PRICE: Elena has come out here tonight for DESTRUCTION! She hasn’t given Pixie any chance to breathe, and is punishing her with some of the hardest blows I’ve seen her pull off.
It looked like DeDraca was going for a DDT until Pixie drove her backwards into the nearest corner. It knocked the air out of Elena for a moment and Pixia quickly capitalized by using a judo throw to take her down to the mat and immediately apply an armbar submission. Elena couldn’t get up with the challenger leaning over her, and instead began trying to reach the ropes with her free hand.
TREY BOOKER: Great move by Pixie but it’ll take more than this to get a submission from Elena.
The bigger competitor had to squirm a fair bit, but she finally managed to reach the ropes with her foot. The ref called for the break, and Pixie held till a four count. She got warned by the referee, and paid her no mind as she dragged Elena back to her feet by her arm. An arm wringer kept Elena on the backfoot. A second one made it worse before she jerked DeDraca forward into a series of shoulder blocks and then scooped her up into a fireman’s carry slam. When she saw the former Legacy Champion beginning to push up to her feet, Pixie pressed her arm to the mat and started driving her knee into it repeatedly.
TREY BOOKER: She’s definitely setting the table for a submission, which is very different from Pixie Sloane to what we are used to.
J.T. PRICE: There are worse ideas than softening the meat, and then stretching Elena into submission or get her arm ripped clean off her shoulder!
She finally rolled away from her, and got back to her feet. Sloane flashed a smile to the crowd, but turned around into an eye rake with both hands from Elena. The brunette pasted her with a few left hands to the jaw before she whipped her into the far corner. Pixie barely stopped herself before she hit the corner chest first, but Elena was right behind her. She used the middle rope for a springboard into a spinning heel kick before going for the cover!
TREY BOOKER: Springboard heel kick by Elena, the DeDraca athleticism coming into play!
ONE!!!!
TWO… PIXIE KICKS OUT!!!
Elena pulled Pixie to her feet into a front facelock before administering several knees to her head and body. She followed that with a double underhook suplex followed by a standing fist drop into the Noble Champion's face.
TREY BOOKER: Elena is laser focused here. She’s hell bent on proving that Warstein’s win was the fluke the rest of the world knows it to be.
J.T. PRICE: Pixie’s paying the price rightly or wrongly for that.
Elena got back to her feet, and began stomping on Pixie’s arms, legs, and face. She followed that by bouncing off the near side to deliver a low knee strike. But Pixie rolled out of the way, and she hit the mat instead. As Elena rubbed her knee in a seat on the mat, Pixie was back to a vertical base and began firing kicks into her body rapid fire. She landed 7 in a row before leaving her feet for a double knee drop into her chest. As soon as Elena rolled over, Pixie followed after her and applied a Fujiwara armbar submission.
TREY BOOKER: Right back to the arm for the “British Raven” here. I’m more and more convinced she wants to make Elena quit tonight one way or another.
J.T. PRICE: These two have strayed from the norm tonight, it’s fascinating. Both have pushed rules and boundaries in ways they don’t normally, it’ll be interesting to see them explain themselves.
The ref moved around in front of Elena, seeing if she wanted to stop the match. Elena sternly told the ref to #### off, and began trying to reach the ropes again. But Sloane’s ring positioning made that very difficult. Pixie used her foot to push against the rope in front of her for added leverage, at least until the referee glanced up to see her leg bent at the knee. The referee went back to checking for a submission as Pixie put that foot back against the bottom rope again.
TREY BOOKER: That additional leverage is doing extra damage to Elena as we speak. It appears as though Pixie knows the magnitude of this result. Nothing wrong with that.
The ref checked again, this time catching Pixie using the ropes. The ref immediately began a five count before Pixie released the hold. Pixie got to her feet, and gave the ref, along with the crowd a mischievous smile, and the crowd lapped it up. She wasted too much time though. Elena was back to her feet. She scooped Pixie up over her shoulders with a belly to belly suplex plunging the challenger into the mat. She was still favoring her army though when she stepped on the challenger’s hair and pulled up on her arms to try to rip it from her scalp. The ref counted to four before she let go, and the brunette pulled her opponent’s head between her legs for a sickening ganso bomb. She quickly rolled her over for the cover with a hook of the outside leg.
TREY BOOKER: Straight from Japan, a low elevation powerbomb that almost counts as a piledriver! That’s DANGEROUS!
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
THRE… NOOOOOO!! SHOULDER UP!!!
Pixie got her shoulder up in time, and Elena rolled out to the floor, before she dragged Pixie to the apron with her. DeDraca pulled the apron over Pixie’s head, hopped up on the apron herself and then delivered a curb stomp to the back of her head.
TREY BOOKER: FUCKING HELL, FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN ON THE DAMN APRON!!! That was overly vicious!! Pixie’s head was stuck under the apron, and Elena tried to stomp her skull in!!
Elena rolled back in the ring after freeing Pixie’s head, she dragged the lifeless Pixie to the center and to make another cover.
ONE!!!!
TWO!!!
THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ELENA WI….NOOOO!!!! PIXIE SLOANE ACTUALLY GETS HER SHOULDER UP TO THE DISBELIEF OF EVERYONE!!!
J.T. PRICE: HOLY FUCKING SHIT BALLS!!! THAT’S THE GREATEST KICK OUT I’VE EVER FUCKING SEEN!!!
TREY BOOKER: HOLY SHIT!!! No way did she do that!! Whatever happens after that… Pixie Sloane has proven she belongs amongst this company's elite!
J.T. PRICE: Amen, that’s the most shocking kick out in Project Honor history… and listen to this damn crowd.
“HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT”!
Elena rained elbows against Pixie’s head almost in response to the kick out. The British Raven got back to her feet, bouncing off the far side for what looked like a running leg drop. Pixie rolled out of the way, and let Elena land on her ass instead.
J.T. PRICE: It’s not the fall that gets you, it’s the sudden stop at the end! Elena’s gonna have some bruising for a few days back there.
Pixie pulled herself together, and started back to her feet. Elena wasn’t far behind her before receiving forearms into the side of her head. Four in a row landed before Pixie pinned her arm behind her back and slammed her to the mat. Pixie grabbed her arm to go for a cross armbreaker. But Elena pulled her into a small package as the referee dove into position.
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
TH… NO!! KICK OUT AGAIN BY PIXIE!!!
Pixie kicked out with more time to spare this time, and had a severe look on her face as she got to her feet. As Pixie approached to grab her head, Elena swept her leg out from under her. Pixie hit the mat before DeDraca scooped her up into a spiked Revelation Cradle DDT!!! Pixie Sloane landed in a heap before Elena rolled into another cover.
TREY BOOKER: JESUS!
J.T. PRICE: OH MY GOD!!!!!!
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
THREE!!! ELENA DEDRACA WINS!!!!
DING! DING! DING!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner and new Legacy Championship number one contender... ELENA DEDRACA!!!
“THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME! THAT WAS AWESOME!”
TREY BOOKER: No man or woman will ever be able to question the toughness of Pixie Sloane even after defeat tonight.
J.T. PRICE: Elena with an amazing win but I have to agree Pixie proved tonight she belongs in the ring with the best in Project Honor. I’m sure the crowd’s chants are still based on that earlier kick out… I’ll never forget that moment.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time would you please welcome the General Manager of Proving Ground...INDY DARLING!
The GM makes his entrance with The Project: Honor X-Factor Championship tucked under his arm as the crowd gives him a mostly positive reaction. Indy waves to the crowd on his way to the ring, makes his way up the steps, and ducks between the ropes. He gives the crowd another wave to show his appreciation before Holly Perez hands him her microphone.
INDY DARLING: Before we take care of some business, allow me to thank you all for the wonderful reception we’ve received tonight! On behalf of everyone on Proving Ground, it has been an honor to join you here in Venezuela!
The crowd responds with a cheap pop that forces Indy to briefly pause.
INDY DARLING: As much as I love being out here in front of a packed house, it’s now time to take care of something that I’m not really looking forward to. With that in mind, please welcome “The Bulldozer”...Lance Williams.
"Bulldozer" by Machine Head graces the ears of those in attendance as it plays throughout the arena. The crowd reaction is clear to hear that they hate Lance Williams as they boo and shout abuse at him. The lights dim down, enough to just see the frame of a mountain of a man, the lights come back on after "The Essence Of Egotism", "The Bulldozer” Lance Williams lets out a ferocious primal roar. Lance stands there flexing his biceps, holding his guns up for the world to see. Once he has soaked in the boos and abuse, he starts to head down towards the ring with an arrogant smirk on his face. The crowd still maintains the booing and abuse, Lance Williams smirking smugly at those who boo him and give him abuse, he even stops to abuse the crowd back. Now at the ring, Lance jumps up onto the ring apron showing off his amazing athletic side, letting out another roar just as ferociously primal as the first as pyros shoots up from each turnbuckle. He then gets into the ring, the focus and determination clear to see as he stands there showing off his 315lb muscular physique, dressed in just a pair of black shorts that are just above his knee and black wrestling boots. A self satisfied smirk on his face as he is ready for whatever Indy Darling has planned for him. Once the crowd starts to quiet down, Indy raises the microphone back up to address Lance Williams personally.
INDY DARLING: As many of you know, I am in the unenviable position of deciding the fate of a championship I once held near and dear to my heart. When I vacated The X-Factor Championship due to injury and became Proving Ground’s General Manager, I organized a tournament to crown a new champion. Despite the lack of a final round match, the only member of the Project: Honor Roster to make it through the entire tournament is standing before me right now.
Again, the crowd begins to boo as Lance smirks upon hearing their venom and hate.
INDY DARLING: I personally wanted to find an appropriate opponent for Lance to face here tonight, but Rock Johnson insisted that a replacement would not be fair to Lance and that he should be awarded The X-Factor Championship by default.
The crowd boos are even louder than before, which seems to be music to Lance’s ears as he smiles widely.
INDY DARLING: However...Rock Johnson isn’t here tonight. I am.
This time the crowd pops, holding onto the hope that Indy has come up with a different solution.
INDY DARLING: The fact is Lance, I do appreciate how far you made it in the tournament and I won’t belittle that accomplishment. On the other hand, I’m not the kind of GM that just hands a title over without a fight, especially to an egotistical prick like you. So my official decision is to make my way backstage with the title in my possession until Rock Johnson comes to his senses and we can agree on a suitable outcome for everyone involved.
Indy drops the mic to the canvas and turns his back on Lance, intent on fulfilling his promise by leaving the ring. Judging by the expression of rage on Lance’s face, that’s not an outcome he’s willing to abide by. The Bulldozer leaps forward and grabs Indy, hoisting him onto his shoulders. He holds him in the Torture Rack position for a couple of seconds before then hurling him down to the mat!
TREY BOOKER: Torture Bomb! Torture Bomb on our General Manager by Lance Williams!
J.T. PRICE: Damn! Indy really should have thought this through!
As the GM writhes in pain, Lance picks up the microphone and begins to scream down at Indy.
LANCE WILLIAMS: You aren’t taking this from me! No one is taking this from me! Rock Johnson even says I’m The X-Factor Champion, and if I have to break your crippled ass in half to prove it, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!
Lance holds onto the mic and pulls Indy back up to his feet. The injured GM tries to throw a punch, but Lance brushes it off and slings Indy back onto his shoulders for a second Torture Bomb! This time Indy does not move after the impact, but still Lance is not finished. He pulls Indy up yet again, lifting him onto his shoulders a third time.
LANCE WILLIAMS: Are you watching, Marcus? This is what happens when you get in my way!
Before Lance can drive Indy down for a third time, Mark Hunter emerges from the entrance with a sledge hammer gripped in his right hand. He charges toward the ring, intent on knocking Lance’s head off, but the Bulldozer reminds him of one important fact…
LANCE WILLIAMS: Stop! Stop right there! This little punk on my shoulders promised you a match with me, but only if you didn’t lay your hands on me until after Hell on Earth! If you two break that deal, I’ll not only have his job, I’ll make sure you never get me in the ring!
Mark considers what Lance is telling him as he slowly walks around the ring, his eyes locked on his former friend who still has the unconscious GM on his shoulders. He finally reaches the time keeper’s area, and picks up a microphone of his own.
MARK HUNTER: You’re right, Lance. That was the deal. I can’t put my hands on you...but if you don’t put him down and get the fuck out of the ring...I can put this right against your thick skull.
Mark holds up the sledge hammer to emphasize his threat, forcing Lance to pause for a moment. Then, without warning, The Bulldozer drops Indy with his third torture bomb before rolling toward the opposite side of the ring as Mark, grabbing the discarded X-Factor Championship in the process. Mark immediately slides under the bottom rope and charges across the ring, but Lance has already moved to safety, backing his way up the ramp with the championship in his hands and a smirk upon his face. As Mark kneels down to check on the unconscious GM, Lance finally reaches the top of the entrance ramp, where he holds his new X-Factor Championship high above his head for all to see.
Walking through the backstage area, “The Essence Of Egotism”, “The Bulldozer” Lance Williams has the X-Factor Title over his shoulder. The smugness is clear to see as Lance walks backstage with the X-Factor Title he’d just claimed as his own. Before he can make it back to his locker room, he’s approached by Crystal Ward.
CRYSTAL WARD: I hope you’re proud of yourself.
LANCE WILLIAMS: I’m not sure I like your tone Crystal. Be thankful you look good or I’d have slapped your fake eyelashes off your face. Now let’s start with you answering a question I have. Did you enjoy seeing what I did to Indy out there?
Crystal is taken aback by the way Lance is acting but she tries her hardest to stay calm.
CRYSTAL WARD: I didn’t enjoy seeing it if I’m being honest, but congratulations to you on being X-Factor Champion...I guess.
Lance smirks as he taps on the X-Factor Championship.
LANCE WILLIAMS: Aww! You know where I am if you want a real man. A Champion, not just some injured loser trying to play General Manager. I got a party to be at. You know, a party for Champions. So here’s my number.
Lance smirks as he passes her his business card before walking off, leaving Crystal to roll her eyes and rip the business card up before throwing it in the bin.
HOLLY PEREZ: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s now time for our main event of the evening! The following contest is a Triple Threat Match scheduled for one fall, and it is for The Project: Honor Grand Championship!!!
The opening beat to "oops!!!" by Yung Gravy w/ Lil Wayne graces the ears of everyone in the audience. Peach and pink strobe lights start going off. Every woman in attendance suddenly feels the drip as the lyrics start and Lil Petey steps out onto the stage. Fur coat, multi-colored button up that's only halfway buttoned up, and black pants make up his attire. Petey's got a microphone in hand and starts to rap with the lyrics, even though the mic doesn't actually work.
♫Ayy, supercalifragilisticexpialiexpiali-dope shit
Supercalifragilic-, my ex be on some ho shit
Superman, I get dem bands but ain't gon' buy you roses
Super-duper get them cougars, took my wrist and froze it
Super-duper hoes
Y'all got Oompa Loompa hoes
I ain't never knew ya hoes
Prolly still ran through 'em, though♫
Lil Petey stops on the ramp and looks around at some of the women reaching out to him. He walks up to this couple as the song continues. Petey looks at the dude and points at the chick.
♫Oh, wait, wait, I do know your hoe?
You talkin' 'bout, you talkin' 'bout Tracy?
Nah, nah, nah, nah, you mean like, like, Tracy with the ass?
Tracy with the, with the Honda?
Shit, well♫
Petey winks at the woman and then starts jumping up and down while getting closer to the ring.
♫Oops, baby
Fuck up on your bitch, like oopsy daisy
Never knew that was your boo, baby
Hit her five times in the coupe, Mercedes, whoopsie dai-, yeah
Oops, baby
Gravy hit my bitch, yeah, whoopsie daisy
I just tried to hit, it's my duty, baby
Sippin' on the Goose, like Boosie, baby♫
By this time, Petey is in the ring, taking his fur coat off. He gently hands it to an official outside and vibes in the ring until the start of the match or until his opponent enters.
HOLLY PEREZ: Introducing the first challenger...representing The Hip House and weighing in at one hundred eighty pounds...he is “The Drip Sensation”...LIL’ PETEY!!!
As the slow, creeping sounds of Heilung start to play the lights around the entrance dim down to bare visibility. The drums of the song beat, as small glimpses of a rainstorm can be seen on screen. The stage itself begins to billow out a thick fog, a cold mist curling its way along the platform and down the ramp. Quickly, the stage itself is engulfed in the fog, as much of the ramp is also. A small light shines its weak glow from the entrance, shining against the figure of a man. His silhouette, huge in size against the soft light now moves as he does, down the ramp and through the curtain of mist. He emerges towards the end of the ramp, his form now fully visible… Ozymandias.
He pauses before the ring, staring into the squared-cage before slowly removing his jacket and placing it under the apron. He stands upright, cracks his neck in both directions then power-squats onto the apron, before entering through the ropes.
HOLLY PEREZ: Next...fighting out of Old Harbour, Alaska and weighing in at three hundred and fifty seven pounds… “The Butcher of Reine”...OZYMANDIAS!!!
“Feel Invincible” by Skillet suddenly sounds throughout the building and the crowd erupt into an undeniably positive response. After a few second’s pause Mark Hunter strolls out onto the ramp area, he smirks in a self-satisfied and confident manner at the reaction from the fans and begins his walk down to the ring. Mark acknowledges a few fans with fist bumps as he wanders down the ramp, he continues to receive the great crowd response as he ascends the ring steps. He enters between the middle and top rope and instantly wanders over to the far corner, Hunter climbs up and poses for the crowd whilst taking in the response from the fans. He soon steps down to the canvas and stretches his arms in the air before readying himself for action. At this stage the music slowly fades away.
HOLLY PEREZ: Hailing from San Jose, California and weighing in at two hundred and eleven pounds...he is your reigning and defending Grand Champion… “The Straight Shooter”...MARK HUNTER!!!
With all three men in the ring, Mark tries to put the events of the previous segment out of his mind while he hands his championship over to the official. The referee raises the title over his head for all to see, and then hands it off to a member of the ringside staff. With that, the opening bell sounds…
DING! DING! DING!
TREY BOOKER: This thing has literally been building for months! What started as a championship contest between Mark Hunter and Ozymandias is now a Three Way Dance with the surprising addition of Lil’ Petey!
J.T. PRICE: He’s been caught in the middle of this war between the champion and challenger, and now it’s his chance to make the most of it! One thing’s for sure, Indy Darling is out of commission so whatever happens from here on out is going to be official!
The three competitors take a moment to look at each other, as if none of them are willing to make the first move and potentially leave themselves open to an attack from behind. Then, without any kind of warning or signal between them, Mark Hunter and Lil’ Petey both rush forward, hammering at Ozymandias from two different directions! Petey kicks at the Butcher’s legs while Mark lands some stinging chops across his chest, and for a moment it’s as if Ozymandias doesn’t know which way to turn. Finally the Butcher is able to grasp the situation, as he reaches out to grab Petey’s head before giving him a hard headbutt! He then turns his attention toward Mark, blocking one of the champion’s strikes before unleashing one of his own!
He shoves Mark to the mat with impressive strength, but the champion immediately gets back on his feet and rushes Ozy yet again! Not willing to give an inch to the massive challenger, Mark’s strikes are quick, ruthless, and they never land in the same spot twice! Petey gets back on his feet as well and tries to join in on the attack, but Ozymandias shoves him aside yet again, determined to keep his focus on the champion! Tired of the disrespect he’s been shown, Petey rushes forward again, this time leaping onto Ozymandias’ back and locking on a sleeper hold! While it’s too early in the match to be very effective, Petey’s grip does leave Ozy wide open for Mark to unload with a dropkick to the big man’s chest! The move staggers The Butcher backwards toward the corner, which unfortunately for Petey sandwiches him between the buckles and Ozy’s thick body. Ozymandias throws a couple of back elbows at Petey’s head for good measure and then charges out of the corner towards the champion! Mark is ready however, as he trips up Ozy and brings him down the canvas! Without missing a beat, Mark immediately applies his signature submission hold, The Last Act!
TREY BOOKER: Mark’s looking to end this one quick! He actually has Ozymandias in a world of trouble right now!
J.T. PRICE: There’s no way The Butcher of Reine is tapping this early!
It looks as if there’s nowhere for Ozymandias to go and Mark isn’t about to release his hold, but suddenly Petey rushes back into the mix, hitting the champion with a low dropkick to the side of his head! Mark is forced to release Ozy and defend himself against Petey, who isn’t about to watch his opportunity slip away, even if it means assisting The Butcher of Reine! Petey gives Mark everything he has, from elbows to headbutts, before finally dropping the champ with his MP3 out of nowhere! With the sudden burst of momentum, Petey dives on top of Mark for the cover!
ONE!
TWO - NO!
Ozymandias easily pulls Petey off of Mark by his leg, and coming face-to-face with his monstrous opponent, Petey continues to fight! This time it’s Ozy who absorbs the elbows and headbutts from Petey, but when he attempts to hit the MP3 on The Butcher, he’s shoved away with ease! Petey spins back to continue his attack, but Ozymandias greets him with a thunderous spinebuster! Despite having the air knocked out of his lungs and the tenderness in his ribs from Ozy’s attack two weeks ago, Petey pulls himself back to his feet out of sheer determination! Unfortunately for Petey, he is met by a jumping bicycle kick from Ozymandias, a move with such force that it sends The Drip Sensation tumbling over the top rope!
With Petey momentarily out of the picture, Ozymandias turns his attention back toward Mark Hunter, just in time to receive an Instant Karma superkick to the jaw! The blow staggers Ozymandias but somehow he stays on his feet! His opponent’s thick skull isn’t enough to deter Mark Hunter however, as he grabs Ozy and drops him with The Antidote! The Butcher of Reine is prone on the mat, as Mark climbs the nearest turnbuckles and takes a brief moment to take measure of his fallen foe! He then springs off the top and plummets toward Ozymandias, connecting with The Zero Gravity! The champion has Ozy in trouble again and he goes for the cover!
ONE!
TWO!
NO!
Petey reaches under the bottom rope to grab Mark’s foot and pull him off of Ozymandias at the last second, saving The Butcher of Reine from a potential loss a second time! Mark lands on the floor alongside Petey and gives him a hard punch to the face for his efforts. Frustrated by Petey’s interference in his attempts to end the match, Mark kicks him hard in the gut and then follows it up with The Extreme Dream on the ringside floor! The double arm DDT has knocked Petey for a loop, but before Mark can return to the ring, Ozymandias joins him on the floor! The Butcher wraps his arms around Mark’s midsection and lifts him into the air, swinging him around with The Arms of Azathoth! After holding Mark in the air for a few moments in his incredible grip, Ozy suddenly charges forward, driving both the champion and himself through the ringside barrier!
The crowd comes alive with chants of “Holy Shit” as Mark and Ozy lay on the floor amongst them, but after a few seconds, The Butcher of Reine begins to stir. Ozymandias pulls himself back up and turns toward the ringside area, just in time to eat a Drive By from Lil’ Petey! The knee to his head stuns Ozy, leaving him open to a dropkick...then another...and then another! Ozy continues to stagger but remains on his feet, so Lil’ Petey finally goes for broke by charging at the big man and leaping on him with a Thesz Press! This time Ozy is knocked off balance enough to fall backwards, straight through the announcer’s table!
TREY BOOKER: Holy..! What the fuck?!
J.T. PRICE: Oh God!
With J.T. trapped under Ozy’s body and Trey scrambling for safety, Petey follows up his impressive display with a series of hard right hands to the side of Ozy’s head! For a moment in time, it looks as if Petey is unstoppable, until the massive hand of Ozymandias wraps around his throat! Ozy pulls himself up from the table as Petey tries to break free, finally having no other choice but to kick Ozymandias in the crown jewels! Petey falls to the side as Ozy clutches himself in pain, leaving himself open to a sudden springboard crossbody from Mark Hunter as he leaps off the guardrail! Ozy goes down again, but this time it is Mark Hunter who hammers him with hard rights and lefts! Mark gets back to his feet and is met by Lil’ Petey, who attempts to give the champion a high five! Instead, Mark grabs hold of Petey and throws him under the bottom rope, immediately following him back into the ring!
TREY BOOKER: J.T.! Can you hear me? Are we still on?
J.T. PRICE: Ooooh...he crushed my spleen…
Back inside the ring, Petey charges at Mark with a clothesline attempt, but the champion ducks under it and ends up behind The Drip Sensation, in perfect position to hit a German Suplex! Petey gets back to his feet and tries for another clothesline, but it’s clear that he’s groggy as Mark easily ducks and counters again, this time with a Full Nelson suplex into a bridge!
ONE!
TWO!
THRE - NO!
Petey kicks out at the last second, but it’s clear to see that he doesn’t have a lot left in the tank. This time Mark hits him with a Reverse DDT before he starts to wrap up his legs in a sharpshooter! The hold is expertly applied by the champion and Petey is in the center of the ring with nowhere to go! It looks as if he could tap out at any moment, but Ozymandias returns in time to break the hold with a heavy clothesline on Hunter! Petey crawls toward the ropes as Ozy and Mark get back on their feet, but this time it is Ozymandias who’s up first! He drives a hard knee into Mark’s midsection to double him over, setting him up for The Call! He manages to lift Mark all the way up and the champion does everything he can to break free, but instead he is thrown forward, the back of his neck and his spine crashing against the corner turnbuckles!
As the champion slumps in the corner, Ozymandias then turns his attention towards Lil’ Petey, pulling him up to his feet and setting him up for The Call as well! Fortunately for Petey, he has more luck wiggling free than Mark did, and after landing on the mat behind Ozymandias, he leaps up to connect with The MP3! In his weakened state, The Butcher is unable to avoid the move this time, and he shakes the canvas upon landing! Going for broke, Petey then makes his way up to the top rope as quickly as he can, flying back off with The Freaky Bomb!
ONE!
TWO!
THRE - NO!!!
Ozymandias presses Petey off of his chest to break the pin with impressive strength and immediately begins to get back onto his feet! Petey is at a loss for what to try next as Ozymandias corners him and throws a series of stiff fists and forearms at Petey’s head! He then pulls him back out of the corner and sets him up in a military press, looking to hit his World Ender knee to the spine!
TREY BOOKER: No! Don’t do it! You could end his career!
Suddenly Mark Hunter uses what little strength he has left, knocking Ozy’s legs out from under him with a chop block! Petey falls to safety on top of Ozymandias, but instead of going for the immediate pin, he decides to try his luck with another Freaky Bomb off the top! This time Petey is not quick enough, as Mark joins him on the turnbuckles and begins to set him up for The Mercy Killer piledriver off the top! The champion has Petey lifted and in position, but as he starts to come off the buckles, Ozymandias grabs Mark from underneath and turns it into a tower of doom! Mark is driven to the mat by Ozy’s powerbomb with Petey falling on top of him, and it’s all he can do to roll out of the ring in order to avoid a pinning predicament! Petey is not so fortunate however, as Ozy pulls him back to his feet and sets him up for The Sinking Faith! The move connects! Petey is out of it, Mark is slowly returning to the ring, and Ozymandias goes for the cover!
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Mark Hunter dives toward Ozymandias at the last second, but he’s not quick enough as the referee’s hand hits a third time with The Butcher of Reine covering The Drip Sensation!
HOLLY PEREZ: The winner of the match...and NEW Project: Honor Grand Champion...OZYMANDIAS!!!
The Butcher of Reine rises from the canvas, having fulfilled his quest of claiming championship gold, but as the referee starts moving towards him with the title, Mark Hunter lunges forward to rip it out of the official’s hands! The Straight Shooter glares at Ozymandias, but after several tense seconds, he reaches forward with the title, putting aside their hatred to offer it to the new champion. Ozymandias takes the Grand Championship and Mark makes his way to the ropes, stopping at the ringside area to check on the condition of Lil’ Petey.
TREY BOOKER: Mark Hunter may have put on the most noble fight we’ve ever seen out of him, and I doubt that’s the last time we’ll see gold around his waist! Still, a new champion has been crowned here tonight, and his name is Ozymandias!
Hell on Earth is seemingly over with the conclusion of the main event, but as the theme song of “Mercy” by Aryon Jones plays, the Honor-Tron mysteriously comes to life. The swirling cyclone of fire and brimstone on the screen draws the attention of both Ozymandias and Mark Hunter, who look on in a state of confusion. Moments later, the man we saw traveling through the fiery wasteland in the opening video appears on the screen. The hood of his black coat still covers his head, as he walks away from the burning scene behind him toward the very screen itself.
That’s when a single spotlight shines down on the entrance, and the man in the black coat walks onto the stage. As the champion and former champion continue to watch, this new arrival slowly reaches up to grab his hood with both hands and pulls it back to reveal the familiar face underneath...
TREY BOOKER: Wait...that’s...oh my God! That’s Dickie Watson! He’s back! The Molotov has walked through Hell to return to Proving Ground!
As Trey continues to shout in amazement, the camera gets a close-up on Dickie’s face as he stares toward the new champion in the ring and his old rival at ringside...
