"Tonight's Main Event" “I’d like to thank you all for coming up here. I expect you all to behave like professionals,” Damien Lee sat behind his desk with his hands folded in front of him. SVJ, Natalia, Sylo, and Aria all stood on opposite sides of the room as Sylo and SVJ glared daggers at one another. “I want a big match for tonight and I think some things need to be ironed out. First off, Sylo have you decided the Glory stipulation,” Lee asked but Sylo just stared at SVJ. “Um, Sylo?” Sylo didn’t look at Lee. “I’ll let the world know soon enough,” Sylo responded still staring at SVJ. “Okay then, the second thing is tonight we will be having an intergender tag match. Sylo, yourself and Aria Murphy will be taking on “Superstar” Vince Jacobs and Natalia,” Lee barely got the last part out before both Natalia and SVJ started shouting. “She’s not a competitor! You can’t do this! What are you? A moron?!” Vince shouted. “I’m not doing this!” Natalia yelled. Sylo and Aria both just grinned as Sylo cracked his neck. “You will do this and it will happen tonight,” Lee responded. "It’s not up for discussion. Now, go get ready for your match. I have other business to take care of. Which, by the way, the two of you might want to find a monitor to watch ... I think you're both going to find it interesting.” Damien Lee walked out the Skybox door, allowing everyone else to wonder just what business he was talking about. All four left behind him but Sylo stopped short blocking the door, looking back at Natalia and Sylo. “I’m going to fucking kill you, you won’t make it to Glory,” Sylo smirked as he and Aria made their exit. Tonight it’d be SVJ and Natalia vs. Sylo and Aria thanks to Damien Lee. "The Grand Prix Solution" iNtense's opening sequence came to an end. "When They Come For Me" by Linkin Park was still blaring through the Arena of Champions while Damien Lee stood in the center of the ring, a microphone in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last iNtense before we hit Glory!" Huge pop from the fans in attendance. "And as we head into the second special event of the new jOlt era, and the stakes have ramped up, I have something very important I need to address. The Grand Prix series that is supposed to crown a new #1 contender to the jOlt Championship." The fans cheered at the simple fact that they would be able to witness firsthand Damien Lee's plans for a new #1 Contender. "Obviously, my grand, no pun intended, scheme didn't go off as smoothly as I would have liked. I'm still fighting an uphill battle here dealing with the guys that are too comfortable with the Jim Johnson way of running things, which is basically to allow the inmates to run the asylum everywhere except for where it pertains to Jim Johnson and his goal of a subserviant champion at all times." In the Arena of Champions there was absolutely no love for Jim Johnson. "That's not how I run my ship. I don't want a bunch of wrestlers that obey my every whim and take out anyone who doesn't. I want competition. I want five star matches. I want to entertain each and every one of you, so that you know you got your hard earned money's worth when you come to a jOlt show!" Damien Lee attempted to continue but the roar of the crowd drowned out his next few words. He paused, allowed the fans to have their reaction, and then made his big announcement. "So tonight, in that competitor's spirit, I have come up with a final solution to the Grand Prix. Right here tonigh, in this ring, we will be having, not one but, two 30-Minute Iron Man Matches! The first of which will begin right now! Wippit Guud will be taking on Ninja K first before Phoenix faces off against Kenjiro Ito! Whoever picks up the most points in the form of pinfalls, submissions, or countouts by the end of the night will be named the new #1 Contender to the jOlt Championship! So let's not waist any time and --" The crackling sound of static sent shockwaves through the Arena of Champions silencing everyone, including Damien Lee. jOltVision lit up to reveal a dark hallway backstage and the body of Wippit Guud lying prone on the concrete. Two hooded men stepped into the scene wielding baseball bats and began dissecting the Wipster, landing shot after shot to various body parts. Neither man showing his face or giving any hint of who he may be underneath his hood, save for the sound of their laughter. In the ring, Damien Lee was overwhelmed with concern for his employee. "STOP THAT! GET SOMEONE BACK THERE! WHERE IS RUNE?! WHERE IS RUNE WINTERS?! SOMEBODY FIND HIM AND GET HIM BACK THERE NOW!" Static washed over the screen once more and the scene was very much the same, although the players were different. Rune Winters was crawling on his hands and knees, blood pouring from his mouth, and desperately trying to reach his shovel. But no sooner did he get within fingers reach of it did Chris Titan's boot come down atop of it, pinning it to the floor. Titan address Damien Lee directly. "Well, well, well ... it looks like your rabid pitbull is about to be put to sleep, Lee." "TITAN! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! YOU LEAVE RUNE AND WIPPIT GUUD ALONE AND YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF THE BUILDING!" "Wippit?" Chris Titan cocked his head slightly and smiled. "Why would we attack Wippit Guud? Oh no, Lee, that's not us. That's just someone who tipped us off on where to find Rune Winters back here. You know, kinda like how Register tipped this mean bastard on where to find me so many weeks ago? I assure you, Lee, the Backbone has nothing to do with Wippit Guud's attack. I can tell you, though, that the promised to put him on the shelf for a very long time. So you might want to try and find him before he winds up a cripple." In a flash, Damien Lee had rolled out of the ring and was running up the ramp to the backstage area. But what would happen to the Iron Man match between Wippit Guud and Ninja K that was supposed to happen next? "Plan B" There was not a moment that went by each day where Keith Kane did not think about Jason Rau. He had become a bigger problem than previously imagined. Keith was decent showman and an even better businessman in his own regard. Keith was not concerned about having to continue lying to Ray or even stealing more of his money. He just did not want Ray finding out sooner than expected. Today was no different as Keith nervously sat cross-legged on the locker room bench, awaiting his client to enter the room. Within moments, Ray opened the door and tossed his gym bag on the floor beside Keith’s feet. Keith could only look up, not saying a word. He swallowed the lump in his throat and did his best to muster up a half-ass smile. “How ya doing chief?” he asked with a hint of bravado. Ray unzipped his bag and pulled out his singlet. He turned his attention back to Keith, his hair covering the majority of his masked face. “I’m fine. What’s on the agenda for tonight?” Ray inquired. Keith stood up and dusted off his tweed blazer, but not before wiping his sweaty palms across his pleated slacks. “As always, you’re booked in a match.” Ray peered over at Keith behind squinted eyes, expecting a complete answer. “Obviously Keith. Against whom?” Keith chuckled apprehensively before responding, “Err… Grendel. Big bastard, ah… ya remember. But have no fear cause good ol’ Keith is here.” Ray, as always, was not amused. He seemed to tolerate Keith less and less each week. He understood he was bound by a contract, so he was careful in what he said. “Catchy. Let’s get this done then.” Keith kicked the lockers with his façonnable size seven loafer. Ray glanced over his shoulder at Keith, not sure whether to toss him out of the room or ask him what his problem was. Keith did not give him a chance to speak. “How long are we gonna do this slick? Back and forth, each week, you and I. What the fuck is the matter with ya? No No… don’t get all pissy with me chief. I can’t take this shit anymore! Ya have no idea how important that match against Jason Rau was. Sure, I get it… he got counted out. Bullshit! Ya ain’t the fuckin Equalizer any longer chief. I’m gonna confiscate that name, because ya ain’t yourself anymore.” Keith could not tell if his words were bothering Ray, but he did step back when Ray got in his face. “This ain’t fuckin Walmart! This isn’t come to work, do ya job half-assed, then collect your paycheck and go home. YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN EVERYTHING I’VE BUILT BECAUSE YOU’RE A PUSSY! ” Keith saw Ray raise his arm up and instinctively covered up his face with both hands. The strike never came. He peered out from behind his hands and noticed Ray was only brushing the hair out of his eyes. Before this got out of hand, it was time for Plan B. Keith dug into his pockets and pulled out a folded picture. “Ya don’t talk to your daughter right chief? Yeah, didn’t think so. I’m the one that has been sending her all the green you’ve been making each week and I’m happy to say she’s doing just fine in med school or whatever she’s in. Bills are paid, baby! Funny thing… your contract is the equivalent of the toilet tissue I wipe my dimpled ass with! Oh yeah… don’t look at me like that bub. I’m as serious as a heart attack. I watch your back though, so I sent her off some of my own personal cash to make sure she’s eating, spending, and surviving out in nowheresville. That being said, I’m about ready to give up on ya, bud. Oh yeah, I spoke with Jim Johnson on the phone last week and he’s willing to allow me to pick up another client in your stead. I can’t manage ya like this. Only thing is, per your contractual obligation, if I drop ya as my client, ya get terminated on the spot. Always read the fine print.” Ray stroked his chin a bit, soaking up all the information. Keith continued uninterrupted, “So I’m giving ya one last chance Equalizer. The fans love ya because I made that possible. I’m capable of doing a hell of a lot more too! I want ya to take a look at something and I will judge by your reaction, just how serious ya are about doing business with me.” Keith unfolded the picture he had been holding and handed it over to Ray. He took it and pressed it firmly to hold in place. He did not know why he was looking at the picture, but it was a naked photo of a young woman taking from behind. It was tasteful, but also looked personal. He noticed the girl’s exposed buttocks first, then the side view of her breasts. Keith watched on, licking his lips from side to side, the same way a pervert does when watching his favorite porno. Keith had already seen that picture several times and he remembered the details all too vividly. Ray’s eyes moved up to the woman’s face as his face muscles relaxed into a look of shock and anger. He glanced over at Keith who slowly nodded his head, a look of disgust pasted on his face. Keith walked over to Ray and slapped him hard across his shoulder. It got his attention pretty fast as he whipped around to Keith, ready to strike with the speed of a jaguar. “Before ya go pointing fingers in the wrong direction, ya need to know where I got that there picture. Jason Rau’s locker.” Ray’s eye’s opened wide as he clenched his teeth tightly. “Are ya really going to let that sick son of a bitch off the hook this time? This dingo dickhead had a naked picture of your daughter! That’s your family!! I questioned a few people, more specifically her boyfriend, whom the picture was intended for and found out it was stolen from her dresser on campus… in her underwear drawer. Jason Rau just made this as personal as can be. If ‘The Equalizer’ is on vacation in the Land of Oz, then ya show me what a protective father does to a scumbag that steals a nude photo of his daughter. I want ya to obliterate this guy when ya see him. I want ya to destroy him. I want ya to make it so he spends the rest of his life in a hospital, drinking food from a straw. What’s your response… Mr. Chavez?” That was the first time Keith had actually called him by his name, but the time seemed appropriate. Plan B would either work and start the fire in Ray or start the same fire under Keith’s ass. Tick tock. Tick tock. Ray whisked around and struck the locker as hard as he could. It left a huge dent in it and damn near took it off the hinges. Ray crumpled the photo in his fist and stormed out of the room. Keith let out a loud sigh and leaned his tense body against the wall. Plan B was a success. Anger needed to be the driving factor to get Ray back to being like he once was. Then he would make Keith rich and he would be able to go far away and never return. All it took was a couple Ben Franklin’s and the ex-boyfriend had handed over the photo(s) at the drop of a dime. The power of money. Keith had just crossed the point of no return. This was scary territory, messing around with a man’s family and all. Yet in all that tension all Keith could think of was… fuck it. "300... but This Ain't SPARTA!" iNtense 42 had just taken to the air, when cameras picked up Jonathan Conspiracy entering “the Arena of Champions”. It appeared that Conspiracy and Sweet Aroma were running a little late, but this is a wrestling program so isn’t that expected from time to time. Each walked with a purpose as they clutched their gym bags when a familiar voice was heard off camera. “Jonathan, Jonathan! Wait up, wait up!” It was the ever so sexy Dawn Cassidy as was revealed by the cameras. Her and Jonathan Conspiracy had a history with each other way back in the day, however those days were long gone. Cassidy had ascended to the top of her craft, as she shed her bimbo image, and we all know about Jonathan marrying Veronica. “Dawn Cassidy, long time no see.” stated Conspiracy who hugged Cassidy in a professional manner. “Yes Jonathan, Mr. Conspiracy, One Letter Better; I’m glad we are finally able to catch up… but I’m actually here because I have a question or two I was hoping you could answer for me.” responded Dawn. “Ask away Dawn, I have nothing to hide.” From his tone Jonathan Conspiracy did not seem to be in the best of moods. It probably has to do with the fact that he was unsuccessful in matches for the Relentless Championship, jOlt Championship, jOlt Championship Number One Contendership, Tag Team Championship, and Flyweight Championship in recent weeks. Undaunted, Dawn proceeded with the interview. “In recent weeks you have been unsuccessful in championship and contender matches and A LOT of the other grapplers are starting to take offense to your repeated shots at winning gold here in jOlt. Do you care to respond?” “Oh I’ll respond Dawn, because I know exactly who you’re talking about. First there was the Heirs of Wrestling, who I admit are a pretty good tag team, running off at the mouth and me and my wife don’t back down from no one, so yeah they put the belts on the line and put one over on us to come away with the victory, but something tells me that blue pill might be a little too much for them in the long run. Now Derecho wants to stick his nose in my business, for reasons unknown to me, that’s okay I got something for you, but before I can get to you there’s someone I need to take care. There is someone else that doesn’t think ‘One Letter Better’ is in fact… ONE… LETTER… BETTER!” “And who is this person JCON?” asked Cassidy. Conspiracy removed his aviators and turned towards the camera. He knew exactly who he was referring to. “Las… Vegas… Davis…” started Conspiracy but he was interrupted by Dawn. “Don’t you mean Reno Davis; and why do you have to go through him to get to Derecho???” asked Cassidy. “You see Dawn, Las Vegas… or Reno, has been bragging a little bit; and a good portion of that bragging centers around ‘One Letter Better’, well Davis you have my attention. You made mentions of Sylo not wrestling the caliber of opponent that he should be… ON THE VERY iNtense that he gave me my shot at the jOlt Championship. You made mention of defeating The Nashvillian for the Relentless Championship and made sure to mention that I was defeated by that overgrown Hamburglar/Grimace hybrid not once… (Conspiracy raised his index finger)… but twice!” (and then his middle finger). Conspiracy then closed his fist and pounded it into his other palm before continuing. “Now Reno, I have to admit; I like the rules you came up with. I like them so much I just might keep them in place, after I beat you tonight. But then again I’ve had designs on my own rules being implemented… that is if I choose not to cash it in…” “To face Sylo?” “Oh believe me Dawn, I’ve thought about it; but I’m thinking a return to the Underground will be in order once I beat Reno tonight. 5 Minutes Reno… I can do that. No Countouts… that’s cool… No Holds Barred Davis… sounds good to me. 300 seconds of me getting your… attention! Derecho, shine up my Underground Championship for me, because your 300 seconds away from a new number one contender.” Conspiracy and Aroma proceeded out of camera view presumably to their locker room, as the camera panned back to a close up of Dawn Cassidy. “Back to you Michael and Nathan!” Ray Chavez vs. Grendel The whisper was heard… Equalizer… “YeahhhhhH!” “Pain, Pleasure, What’s it all about!?” “Gain, Measure, See it in your smile” “You got what’s coming to you” “We’ll break through, escape tonight” “I’ll take you higher than the Gods!” “You have to sacrifice!” ‘The Equalizer’ Ray Chavez’s theme blasted throughout the Arena of Champions! Thousands of fans immediately stood up with admiration and began cheering for one of their favorite entertainment icon and wrestling superstar. The entire arena was littered with custom made signs, such as ‘Future Hall of Famer’ and ‘One in a Million’. The sold out arena was suddenly showered with a faint Aqua blue light, followed up by alternating strobe lights, creating the full effect the fans paid to see! Out walked the ring veteran, Ray Chavez accompanied by his manager, and former LoC color commentator, Keith Kane. The majority of fans in attendance went crazy with cheers while a few others began jumping up and down in hopes they would be seen by the former actor-turned-wrestling-again. Ray stood at the top of the entrance ramp for a moment to look out at the thousands of fans in attendance. He could not get his mind off Jason Rau and what he had done. Keith stood beside him and motioned for the fans to really bring it, as he always did. This pumped them up even more as their volume increased. ‘The Equalizer’ raised his arm high in the air before walking down to the ring. He took a moment to slap a few hands before noticing a few children were even wearing smaller version of his trademark mask. Ring announcer Brad Arnold spoke up, “The following bout is scheduled for one fall. Coming to the ring first, weighing in at 245 pounds, hailing from Los Angeles, California. He is ‘The Equalizer’ Rayyyy Chavvvvvvezzz!!” The fans cheered like crazy as Ray entered the ring via the steel steps as Keith walked to his ringside position. Ray climbed the nearest turnbuckle and raised his fist in front of him as fans took the opportunity to photograph him. He slowly nodded his head, quite happy with how things were turning out in jOlt. He hopped down and took a few steps until he was dead center in the ring. “Ray Chavez looks much better than he did last week during that brawl that took place at the opening of Warriors. For those that don’t remember,” Buhrman paused as the flashback footage cued up showing Ray dropkicking Jason Rau off his Harley, followed by both men being stretchered away in two ambulances. Powers chimed in quickly, “I sure hope he’s at 100% because he’s got one hell of a monster to face tonight!” “Eye” by The Smashing Pumpkins cued up as the crowd gave Grendel a mixed reaction, more so on the jeering side though. Grendel had gained a few fans when he decided to help Reno Davis win the Relentless championship a few weeks back. He was not a man of many words though, so they did not know what to expect. Grendel walked out. His massive size frightened a few small children in the front row as they buried their heads in their mother’s bosom. “And his opponent, weighing in at 337 pounds, hailing from Parts Unknown. He is Grennnnndel!!!” Grendel’s silvery hair covered his face, which was also masked like his opponent’s. Both men even shared similar scars on their bodies. The only visible difference was their hair color and different sizes. Keith clapped his hands together at ringside, never once taking his eyes off Ray. “This one is going to be a hell of a match folks!” Powers shouted eagerly. “I know Ray has been cleared to wrestle since a few weeks ago, but I’m wondering why we haven’t heard anything about Jason Rau. There are no reports on him. It’s as if he disappeared into thin air. Strange.” Buhrman quipped. The bell rang as both men stood face to face in the center of the ring. In their last meeting, Grendel powerbombed Chavez over the top ropes, knocking him out completely. Ray had not forgotten about that match, but much had changed since then. Grendel flexed his muscles before sticking his mammoth chest out. Ray, not in the mood, pushed Grendel back a step. Grendel responded with a hard shove of his own, sending Ray back first into the ropes. He sprung off the ropes and dropkicked Grendel’s knee out from under him, sending the big man face first to the mat. Ray bounced off the ropes for a second time as Grendel began to get up. Ray stopped briefly on the return to clutch a handful of a hair and drive Grendel’s face into his knee. Grendel reeled back a bit then lunged in Ray’s direction. Ray ducked and delivered several stiff punches to the face, mixed in with back handed shots as well. The flurry of punches each stunned the monster a bit, who then managed to catch Ray with a boot to the face, sending Chavez down hard to the mat. Grendel picked up Ray and dropped him with a thunderous Side Slam. Ray clutched his back as the referee moved out of Grendel’s way. Grendel grabbed Ray’s wrist from behind, locking his own arm around his throat, clutching his leg and sending him overhead with a Cut-Throat Saito Suplex!! Ray sprang up to his feet quickly, clutching the back of his neck. He did not quite know where he was, but managed to fall back into the turnbuckle. Grendel charged Ray in the corner and connected with a heavy clothesline. He then hoisted Chavez onto his shoulders, which looked similar to the setup for Ray’s own patented D\/D. Grendel walked around the ring a bit before he launched Ray high above him, and catching him with a knee to the midsection on the way down. Ray held his stomach, the pain of the move setting in once he managed to catch his breath. Grendel was on the offensive as he brought Ray to his feet. He went for a clubbing forearm, but Ray blocked it!! He fired off a barrage of knife-edged chops, each one turning Grendel’s scarred chest a different shade of red. The fans were cheering loudly now, as the match picked up. Ray ran to the ropes and clotheslined Grendel. He was still up. Ray, again to the ropes, another clothesline. Still up!! A third one, No!! Grendel stuck out his long arm and caught Ray in an Iron Claw!! The massive hand was wrapped around Ray’s head perfectly. The pain was excruciating for ‘The Equalizer’ who struggled to break free, but to no avail. Ray tried to move Grendel’s arm, but he responded by bringing Chavez’s body closer to his own, with the pressure intensifying. Ray’s legs finally buckled under the pressure as the ref slid into position to make the call. Ray fought back as best he could, but he was fading. The referee held his arm up… ONE!! The referee held the arm up for a second time… TWO!! If the arm dropped for a third time, the match would be over… NO!!! The fans roared loudly as a ‘Let’s Go Chavez’ chant broke out of nowhere!! Ray shook his arm wildly as the adrenaline kicked in. He made it up to a standing positing and kicked Grendel twice, causing him to break the submission hold. Ray turned around to spring to the ropes, but Grendel stopped him by locking in a Bearhug from behind!! He had Ray’s arms tucked under his own, there was nothing Ray could do… or so people thought. Ray drove the back of his head into the bridge of Grendel’s nose! The hold was broken!! Ray grabbed his arm, twisted it around, and pulled Grendel into a knee to his midsection. Grendel doubled over as Ray bounced off the ropes… POPULAR DEMAND!!! Ray caught him with his trademark Jumping Implant DDT!! Ray looked around the arena as the fans were standing up cheering. He signaled it was time to go up. He perched himself up on the top turnbuckle as Grendel was slow to get up. He then launched himself a few feet and connected with THE DROP TOP!! The Guillotine Leg Drop hit its mark as Grendel’s head slammed into the mat. Ray rolled him over and cradled his leg for the pin. 1… 2… NOT QUITE!!! Grendel pushed Ray off him to break the pin. Ray needed to keep this monster down. He climbed onto the top rope again and jumped off for a double axe handle. Grendel, with some quick thinking, delivered a thrust to Ray’s throat. He then buried Ray’s head between his legs and hoisted him high into the air for a powerbomb. “This looks like déjà vu Nathan!” Buhrman shouted from the announce table. Grendel held Ray firmly as he walked over effortlessly to the ropes nearest the announce tables. He lifted Ray up, a bit too much as Ray managed to jump behind Grendel. Ray then launched himself into the air and hit Grendel with an Enziguri to the face!! The impact sent Grendel up over the ropes and back first into the front of the announce table. In the process, Grendel’s foot caught the referee in the face, knocking him down to the mat. Ray watched as Grendel sluggishly stood up. Ray noticed the fans were cheering loudly, even though no action was happening at that moment. In a veteran move, he spun around in the nick of time to see Jason Rau swinging a steel chair in his direction. He managed to catch the chair and wrench it from Jason’s hands, whipping him to where Ray was just standing a second ago. It took Ray a few seconds to realize Jason Rau was in the ring with him and he was holding a steel chair. This was not going to be pretty. Ray shouted at Jason as he swung the chair with all his might. Jason jumped out of harm’s way as the chair connected with the top of Grendel’s head, who already had one foot in the ring. There was a loud “oooo” from the crowd. Ray turned around, noticing Jason was trying to leave the ring as quickly as he had come, and he cracked the chair over Jason’s back. The momentum sent the Australian Ringer flying out of the ring, landing a few feet away from Keith on the outside. The referee was shaking off the cobwebs, but managed to notice Ray now holding a steal chair. Ray heard the grunting of Grendel from behind and saw him standing there pretty ticked off. Ray shrugged his shoulders and hit Grendel over the head with the steel chair. Why risk it? Ray thought, opting to lay the behemoth out rather than lose Jason in the process. Ding Ding Ding! The referee called for the bell, awarding the match to Grendel via disqualification. Ray saw Jason stand up from across the ring. He launched the chair directly at him. It hit him in the shoulder as Jason let out a loud shriek, caught off guard by the blow. Jason would rather live to fight another day, so he quickly jumped over the barricade into the crowd. Ray was not thinking straight at this moment. Flashes of his daughter’s nude body flashed before him. He could not even hear Keith shouting. Ray felt the fire and it felt damn good. He ran over to the turnbuckle, climbed up it as fast as he could without falling, and leaped into the crowd, tackling Jason and a few fans in the process. Security could be seen rushing over to that area. Ray stood up, only steps away from Jason Rau. He was about to do something that would result in jail time, when he saw a blonde-haired little girl crying at his feet. He had apparently crushed her when he leapt from the ring. He looked back at Jason who was now running in the opposite direction. Judgment call. Shit... Ray then groaned before bending down and lifting the girl in his arms. He then handed her over the barricade to the medical staff’s awaiting arms. He turned back to where Jason had ran, but he was nowhere in sight. This entire ordeal was not going to end well for Jason Rau, thanks to Keith’s deception. “Welcome back Chavez. Welcome back.” Winner: Grendel via Disqualification "Reno the Relentless III" “Jonathan Conspiracy… I’m not saying you’re a gold digger…” We went live to tape with Reno Davis standing in front of the iNtense backdrop. On his shoulder was the Relentless Championship, and on his mind was the Backbone… but also, his Relentless Championship Challenge from JCON. Naturally. Though starting things off as he did, he paused to rethink what he had JUST said. “Wait… I’m not going to go in that direction, no. Why should I, the whitest guy I know, try to play Kanye?” Reno looked around with a smirk, and then noted the t-shirt he wore, “Especially when I enjoy Joy Division and the like, oh soooo much more.” Reno had made a point though, so collecting himself, he once addressed the camera in front of him and his opponent. “No, I already went after Greg Scott Vincent for not earning his title shots, and though there’s a dearth of material to prove otherwise, and a groaning crowd to back me up…” Reno Davis couldn’t help but smile as they cheered in adulation for the Unwanted Angel, “Let’s say you earned every single one of your recent Championship matches through past glories.” The Unwanted Angel shrugged, offering up something more. “Which isn’t a huge stretch, actually. You were One Letter Better, not the ICON… the JCON! You were huge! And I’m obviously speaking in the past tense for a very good reason.” The guise of kidding around dropped from the Relentless Champion and not bull-shitting, he addressed JCON, “Honestly, what happened?” “JCON was a name that was up there with the titans of the industry, you were World title level while I was trying to deal with the Erik Rave’s of the world… fighting to become the International Champion, and suddenly you’re slapping around a down on his luck Rush for a dead title and a second shot at the fat man.” Reno paused for a moment and shook his head. Though it hit him that was the sticking point wasn’t it? “Speaking of the fat man…” Reno pointed towards the camera, “The Nashvillain kinda crystallized something in you, didn’t he? Style over substance? Thank you for the string of AH-MAZING nicknames earlier. I’m just as confused about the Las Vegas one as Dawn was, but that’s okay because here’s the thing. Even though you showed up late tonight I knew you’d be here, I knew you’d here what I was saying about you before, the disappointment in my voice. The JCON who only comes to work to fight… if he’s got a Championship match in his contract. I understand not wanting to work hard for a chance if you don’t have to, but it eventually turns into complacency! And honestly?” Here was the kicker from the Relentless Champion, the crowd behind him, and the fire in his eyes. “It’s best that you’re going on this tour of Championship losses. You may not have earned a shot at the Relentless Championship, but at least this title I hold is an open door to ANYONE who wants to face me. It’s the opposite of the walled in city that The Nashvillain tried to make for himself, that YOU tried to fight against. That fight, commendable as it was… it didn’t earn you everything you’ve had since. And after you lose tonight to me, that won’t earn you a second go around at every title in jOlt.” Reno breathed in, and there was a there was still that fire in his eyes, and a nostalgic twang in his heart as this was one of the guys from the “good ol’ days” that he was talking to, “So if this is just another stop on the tour, let me take the time to further your lesson in humility. JCON isn’t one letter better then icon, it’s one letter removed then what you could have become if you put in the time… if you ever tried to be something bigger then yourself. If you ever did anything of substance, buddy.” Reno leaned forward, holding the reflective silver on his shoulder, “Style will only get you so far, and then you’re out of it.” “Out of style, out of step. I’m not saying you’re a gold digger,” The Unwanted Angel’s arms crossed against his chest, “I’m saying you’re broke Conspiracy. Bankrupt of the kind of soul that keeps people in this business. Lacking of that… Relentless mindset.” There was a melancholy in Reno Davis’s words, but it wasn’t because of pity. No, it was resentment for a man that had been given so much… had so much potential… and so little to show for it. The Backbone was fighting against men like this, and Reno now understood why. The Unwanted Angel looked away from the camera for a moment and shook his head. “I’d say something clever like, you’re five minutes are up, to close this out but I don’t even think you’ll make it that far. I doubt you have it in you, anymore.” "Stipulations Enclosed" Gregg Scott Vincent sat in his dressing room, drinking an ice cold beer, and smoking the tobacco less cigarette. There was nothing on his agenda tonight, because he had nothing scheduled on the card, so instead, he watched video footage of last weeks match with Reno Davis on the television hanging on the wall in front of him. He was kicked back, in an old rusty chair, with a table holding up his legs as they were crossed for comfort. “I can’t catch a break these days, all this hard work I’m putting in just isn’t cutting it.” he raised the can of beer and poured some into his mouth, folding his arms afterwards, “Guess I’m gonna have to work harder…” he sighed and slouched further back into the chair, as he hit the rewind button on the remote another time. He watched, as the GSV Choke was implanted around Reno’s neck, but sighed as he listened to the bell signal the end of the match. It somewhat disgusted him, due to the fact that it killed his chances of becoming a jOlt Champion twice now. “Fuck it…” he turned off the television off, via the remote, “Glory is just around the corner and that means, Mike Extreme.” Gregg turned back the beverage and finished it off, crumbling the can with sheer force, and tossing it into a nearby trash can a few feet away. He could feel the top of his eyelids being forced close, as weariness began to get the better of him. It had been a long month and his body was tainted with cuts and bruises, while his mind weighed heavy with shit that needed to be done, but at this point and time, it seemed everything would have to be put on hold. Until… “Hey Gregg!” The Good Guy of jOlt, Kayden Paulton barged through the door, interrupting the Warrior’s siesta. Gregg looked over at KP, sighing at the young man. But Kayden wasn’t bothered by GSV’s annoyance on display, because he was here to help distribute some motivation to the fatigued, Gregg Scott Vincent. “How are you man!?!” he asked, plunging down into the chair next to Vincent. Gregg took a deep breath, trying to avoid from showing any form of annoyance, while he leaned forward to grab another Miller Light from his cooler. “Tired. Trying to rest up, before I get back to work in the morning. Glory is just around the corner and I HAVE to be ready for Mike Extreme. I can’t afford to lose another match, it’s my time to peak, and I WILL make sure that happens. I want a Championship on my resume and I want it now…ya know?” Gregg popped the top on the can and sipped some residue off the peak of the can, “If I lose one more fucking match due time running out again, I’m gonna shoot myself.” He took a big gulp. “I hate LOSING!?!” he said, looking over at Kayden. KP chuckled briefly. “Things are gonna turn around. Be patient, keep working hard, and you’ll see…its only a matter of months before you get a piece of the gold. You’re an awesome entertainer and you deserve it, especially after ALL the hard work you’ve been putting into the gym. Everyone can already see a major improvement, since your debut, so don’t let it get to you…” KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! “What the hell, now!?! Vincent exclaimed, as the three knocks signaled someone at the door. Gregg sighed, as he was almost out of his seat, but Kayden gestured Gregg to sit back down. KP walked over to the door and open it, rolling his eyes at the sight of Misty Gold, with a white envelope in her hand, and a dick eating smirk on her face. She also looked forward to Glory, where should deemed the Extreme One the victor over their nemesis, Gregg Scott Vincent. KP snatched the envelope, as Misty stated it was a letter from Extreme. Curious, Gregg darted out of his chair and took the letter from Kayden. “How’s the big bitch enjoying his vacation?” Gregg asked with a muffled laugh. “How are you enjoying getting your ass kicked everyone week!?!” Misty laughed right back at GSV, mocking him, “We’ve enjoyed watching them!” SLAM! Vincent slammed the door shut, before he ripped open the letter. Enclosed were some unofficial stipulation to their match at Glory. A smirk formed on GSV’s face, once his eyes processed the information written in black ink. “Cage Fight…” “No time limit…” “Knockouts ONLY!” He read off the terms, offered by the Extreme One, and chuckled under his breath. “Fucking A…” Gregg looked over at Kayden, with his arms folded, “You ready to get to work?” “Let’s do it.” Both men evacuated the room and made way, towards the Arena of Champions garage exit. Reno Davis vs. Jonathan Conspiracy Jonathan Conspiracy – a man many feels is living off his past Glory, was set to receive another title shot. JCON knew that he had to win this time, to shut the mouths of the naysayers and it would also afford him more championship opportunities, should he decide to relinquish the title in hopes of receiving another shot at the jOlt Championship, or allow for him to enter the Underground, which was an option he already made public. He was unsuccessful the first two times he went after the Relentless Championship, and you know what they say… ”The third times the charm! “No Church in the Wild” by The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) queued up inside ‘the Arena of Champions’, and Conspiracy made his way out to the ring. Much like the other nights that he stepped in the ring, this was an opportunity that he needed to take full advantage of. Conspiracy made himself comfortable in one corner of the ring, as he along with the crowd for his opponent to arrive on the scene. Reno Davis – the current Relentless Champion and inventor of the “Unrelenting Rules” was bringing Glory back to the Relentless Championship. In recent weeks he has turned back challenger after challenger and tonight would be no different, but he also understood that A LOT! could changed in 5 minutes. “I Don’t Care” by Antidote brought forth the Unrelenting One, Reno Davis. His version of the Relentless Rules – The Unrelenting Rules – has brought him more attention to the title, as challengers seemed to be lining up to face him, week after week, but Davis didn’t seem to mind as he raised the title to the delight of the jOlt faithful before handing it off to Jack Mehough who showed it to JCON before he handed it off at ringside and signaled for the bell to start the match. DING! DING! DING! 05:00.00 Conspiracy and Davis immediately locked up and Conspiracy decided to take advantage of his rare weight advantage by shoving out of it, which sent Reno Davis to the canvas. Davis applauded the effort before getting back to his feet and he dusted himself off and motioned for Conspiracy to lock up with him again. A second lock up led to a go-behind by Davis, and Conspiracy looked to reverse it and after several tries he was successful and took Reno over with a bridged german suplex. ONE… TWO… KICKOUT BY DAVIS 04:30.27 Both grapplers sprung back to their feet as Conspiracy charged the champion. Reno used his momentum against him and took him down with an Arm Drag Takeover. Conspiracy got back to his feet and backed himself into a corner only to turn and get clotheslined in the corner by ‘The Unwanted Angel’. Davis then attempted to lock Conspiracy into one of his various submission maneuvers. THE FINAL ANTHEM! as the clocked showed 03:58:16 Not one to give up easily, Conspiracy managed to wiggle free of Davis cinching it in and shoved Davis off which sent Reno tumbling to the outside. Conspiracy then ran the ropes and flew between the top and middle ropes and connected with a flying forearm as the Relentless Champion regained his footing. With both men down and out on the outside, there was nothing referee Mehough could do. Both men started to move about to get the cobwebs out of their respective systems while the clock continued to countdown. 03:14.48 Conspiracy got to his feet first and peeked at the clock, knowing he didn’t want this match to end the way Reno’s last defense against GSV did. A time limit draw would not help JCON. He rolled Davis back into the ring and scaled the ropes. CONSPIRACY THEORY! He covered Davis in the hopes that this Relentless Championship victory would garner him his golden ticket to an even bigger championship, perhaps as soon as Warriors 8 as he hinted at cashing in the title to face Derecho for the Underground Championship. ONE… TWO… THRE… KICKOUT BY DAVIS! Jonathan argued with the referee but it was futile and precious time was ticking off the clock. Conspiracy rolled from the ring and grabbed a steel chair. Jack Mehough warned Conspiracy that he would be disqualified if the foreign object was used. After realizing this Conspiracy slammed the mat down to the canvas and grabbed Davis by the hair as the ref tended to the chair and dropped it over the top rope down to the arena floor. He turned his attention back to the match and spotted Davis with Conspiracy in a pinning predicament. ONE… TWO… THRE… KICKOUT BY CONSPIRACY! Davis had rolled up Conspiracy, but fortunately for Jonathan his introduction of the chair to the match did more good then harm as it distracted the ref long enough for him to kick out of the surprise pin. He glanced back at the jOltVision screen to see the time remaining in the match, as Davis crawled over to the ropes to get back to his feet. 02:00.00 Two minutes, 120 seconds… more than half the match was over, and Conspiracy had given Reno Davis his best maneuver too early. Jonathan had to dig deeper into his arsenal if he was going to defeat the champion. Jonathan had to be… UNRELENTING! He set his destination on the champion… THE FLIP KICK! Davis completed the flip and approached a staggered Conspiracy who stumbled into the corner. He locked in a front face lock and turned to position himself seated on the top turnbuckle. TORNADO DD… THE ATTENTION GETTER! Conspiracy managed to get himself free of Davis as he leaped off the ropes and somehow sent Davis crashing to the mat face first and locked in his Crossface submission. Davis managed to survive The GSV Choke on Warriors 7 but would he be able to withstand the additional damage Conspiracy would bring to his body in such a short time span? Mehough asked Davis if he wanted to submit. “NOOOO! AHHHHHHHHHHH! Conspiracy wrenched the hold in tighter. “IT’S MY TITLE VEGAS! IT’S MY TITLE! MY GOLD RENO! MY GOLD!” The desperation was heard loud and clear, but there would be no response from Reno Davis. Jack Mehough noticed that Davis was out cold. He raised Davis’ free arm. It fell ONCE! 00:58.23 remained. He raised his arm a second and again it fell. That was TWICE! Conspiracy could taste the Relentless Championship. Keeping Reno Davis’ “Unrelenting Rules” in place crossed his mind, or his “Attention Grabbing Rules” would be put in place… what about that Underground Championship match against Derecho… or could he quite possibly insert himself into the jOlt Championship match at Glory? Well if Reno Davis’ arm falls for a third and final time, it wouldn’t be long before we found out. Jack Mehough raised his arm… AND IT FELL… BUT NOT ALL THE WAY TO THE CANVAS! Reno Davis was alive and well as he managed to gain some leverage and get Conspiracy in a pinning predicament… again! ONE… TWO… THRE… Conspiracy released the hold and in effect broke the pinfall. 00:40.15 remained in the match. About 260 seconds gone from the 300 that Conspiracy spoke of earlier. He swung at Davis and connected, Davis returned the favor. Lefts and rights were flying… then Conspiracy hit the mat. Davis had connected with a Leg Wheel. He then locked in a Single Leg Boston Crab but Conspiracy rolled back over to his back and kicked Davis off. He scrambled to his feet and attempted to clothesline the champion. DUCKED! 00:15.00 was left and counting down. THE STRAIGHTJACKET! Reno Davis applied a Queen Angelito Stretch and looked to have it locked. There seemed to be no other alternative but for Conspiracy to tap, but for Jonathan that wasn’t an option. If he couldn’t defeat Reno Davis; all hopes for a title shot would leave him just as the breath escaped his body. 00:10.0 00:09.0 00:08.0 00:07.0 00:06.0 00:05.0 00:04.0 Conspiracy’s hand was up, Davis wrenched in with all he had. 00:03.0 00:02.0 TAP! TAP! TAP! 00:01.0 00:00.0 Jack Mehough had already called for the bell as the buzzer sounded, at which point Davis released Conspiracy from his clutches and brought himself to a vertical base. Conspiracy inched himself over to the ropes and with the assistance of the bottom rope slid out of the ring. Mehough retrieved the Relentless Championship title belt as Brad Arnold announced the official ruling. “The winner of the match, via submission… AND STILL RELENTLESS CHAMPION… RENO DAVIS!! Once again “The Unwanted Angel” had proven himself to be “unrelenting” and another successful title defense was in the books, but Davis knew that his journey was far from over. The likes of GSV could challenge him again and then if he was successful Jonathan Conspiracy could still be “gold digging” and make a fourth attempt at becoming Relentless Champion. Maybe it was time for Reno Davis to cash in his “chip” before going bust like The Nashvillian… …or did Reno Davis have “The Backbone” and the rest of jOlt Wrestling right where he wanted them? Winner: Reno Davis via Submission "You're On" The Clan Avispa, a historic and well-respected family of luchadors, had all been signed to jOlt contracts coming in from the Legacy of Champions. Avispa Ultima, the Clan's golden child, was even Flyweight Champion. But since jOlt returned they had rarely been seen on telvision beyond a brief update here or there on some Flyweight tournament. There was a reason for that, The Clan had been gathering up the best Flyweights from around the globe in order to unveil this tournament concept. What they had neglected to see, however, was that jOlt itself was home to some of the most impressive Flyweights in the history of the business. One of which was tapping Avispa Ultima on his shoulder right now. "Sup, bro, how come you were able to get here in time to face JCON but not me?" Avispa Ultima glanced over his shoulder and found Adam Lazarus attached to the tapping finger. He turned, coming face-to-face with the man that he would face on Warriors 08 for his Flyweight Championship. "Adam," the champion began, "it is not in my nature to deny someone a chance to battle me for my championship. However, you and I will meet in only a few days time as was decided by Damien Lee. Jonathan Conspiracy challenged me prior to our scheduled match and, being a fighting champion, I obliged him the opportunity to face me for my Flyweight Championship ... and defeated him soundly. Whether it was me or it was Jonathan Conspiracy that faces you on Warriors, what does that matter to you?" Laz's expression completely changed. "You know what, man? You're right. It doesn't matter to me who I face on Warriors. Because no matter who I face I'm going to win and I'm going to become the new Flyweight Champion." "Is that so, Adam?" "That is so so, um ... Ultima." Laz took the same finger he had tapped Avispa Ultima's shoulder with and jammed it into his chest. In an instant Laz was swarmed by yellow-masked luchadors of varying sizes. He calculated his chances of making it out of this mess without breaking any more ribs and, honestly, he felt pretty good about it. That's just how Laz operates. "Easy, bros. This is between me and your ... brother? Uncle? Cousin? Whatever this dude is! It's between the two of us, so you guys can all just back off and things won't get ugly around here." Avispa Ultima nodded at his family and they receded. Laz took a glance at Hija de un Gran Avispa's posterior as she walked away from him. The glare he received from Avispa Ultima told him loud and clear that the Flyweight Champion was not amused. "Does she speak English, bro?" "Of course she speaks English. We're in America." "Excellent. Hey, um, what's her name?" Avispa Ultima huffed. "Hija de un Gran Avispa." "Right," said Laz, "Excuse me, El la del Grandpa Visa?" "Hija de un Gran Avipsa." "Hija un Grande Arriba?" "Hija de un--." "Whatever, man! Listen, sweetheart, I bet you're gorgeous under that mask. And I can learn your name, if you would like to have a drink or two with me after the show tonight." "I would lov-." "SHE WOULD NOT!" La Avispa Grande had spoken, the patriarch of the Clan Avispa. And, as such, Hija de un Gran Avispa silenced herself and obeyed her grandfather. "Sir, I'm really not a bad guy." Laz pleaded. "I mean, I'm totally gonna take this guy's belt from him ... but I don't feel like that should get in the way of us becoming friends. You know? Like, isn't competition you guys's thing?" Avispa Ultima fielded the question. "It is most definitely our thing, Adam. And come Warriors you will see how competitive I can truly be. I will defeat you in our match and then I will defeat the best Flyweights in the world, culminating with myself being named the Grand Champion." "What the hell, man? Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? I'm the Innovator of Offense, bro. If you think you can beat me, well ... I just need to figure out a new way to come at you. And I will. I'll show you things in that ring you've never encountered before." "I highly doubt that." "Oh, really? Then let's spice it up a bit, huh? How about you defend your Flyweight Championship against me with Underground Rules in place? Anything goes, man, how does that sound?" Avispa Ultima wasn't even remotely concerned with the stipulation. He calmly, quietly responded to Laz by saying two words. "You're on." Warriors 08, Adam Lazarus faces Avispa Ultima for his Flyweight Championship in an Underground Rules match! Do not miss it! Team Viagra vs. Total Conquest Inside the ring, Team VIAGRA had taken over for the moment. Tony Davis wears a “Gambino” basketball jersey and his ring tights. Mary-Lynn Mayweather politely stands in the background wearing her red skirt suit and carrying a clipboard. Center of the ring, High Flyer holds a microphone. He’s wearing his Jolt “VIAGRA” t-shirt, which is himself and Tony in a clear Viagra prescription bottle. He seemed to have been talking for quite some time. “—And then I tweeted back that the Heirs of Wrestling were going to lose their inheritance. It was GREAT!” Cue “South Texas Deathride” by Union Underground. Out from the backstage area stormed Sepiroth Du Luc and Persephone, tired of waiting for the Lunatic to finish his meandering twitter speak. The two quickly made their way ringside as Sepiroth stepped through the ropes. The giant 6’8” inch Du Luc stood tall over the cagey Flyer, who wouldn’t budge an inch. Flyer raised the microphone to his lips and simply stated. “Don’t interrupt me.” Harmen smiles. “EVER AG-“ Du Luc caught Flyer with a right hand. The time keeper rang the bell and we were off! Du Luc shoves Flyer into the ropes and shoots him off. Flyer ducks a clothesline on the rebound and then springs off the middle rope, turning and twisting with a lou thesz press! Flyer laid in with a few rights before Du Luc TOSSED the smaller Lunatic off. Du Luc recovered and Flyer clipped his knees, sending him to the mat for a one count. Flyer charged, and Du Luc returned the favor, getting a one himself. But Du Luc hooked Flyer as he laid prone on the mat. BIG Fallaway slam makes Flyer roll to the outside, where he’s tended to by the tiny attorney, Mary-Lynn. “He’s big.” Mary said. “Thanks for the tip.” Flyer sneered, before sliding back in. He tags in Davis, who climbs in. Davis wrings his hands. Collar and elbow. Davis caught Sephiroth in a side headlock. Du Luc into the ropes, tossed Davis off. Davis and Du Luc collided with a shoulder block. Nothing. Rinse, Repeat, nothing. The third time, Du Luc side stepped and grabbed Davis by his throat, chokeslamming him into the mat. Tag in to Persephone, who corkscrew splashed into the ring for a two count. Persephone grabbed Davis and hit a running side kick for another two. Persephone tossed Davis into the corner and tagged in Du Luc. Du Luc with a few LARGE overhead chops that resonate throughout the arena. Davis clutched his beat red chest. Sit out Spinebuster takes Davis out of the corner for two. Quick tag to Pers’, who leapt off the top with a flying crescent kick to Davis’ jaw. Total Conquest were totally conquesting Team VIAGRA right now. Persephone waited for Davis to get up and charged. Headsciss-NO! Davis planted her face first into the mat with a tombstone piledriver. Davis crawled over, and TAGGED IN FLYER. Head of steam. Right hand took down Persephone. Another sent Du Luc off the apron. Persephone with a wild roundhouse but High Flyer countered with a leg sweep, taking Persephone off her feet. Front flip leg drop to Persephone’s jaw knocked the martial artist out. The referee yelled at Du Luc to stay on the apron. Flyer whipped Persephone into the corner, tagged in Davis. Davis entered, and began to pull Persephone up to the top rope. Meanwhile, Flyer CHARGED Total Conquest’s corner and RAMMED his Locomotive into Du Luc’s jaw. Sephiroth fell off the apron and smashed into the time keeper’s table back first. Davis hooked Persephone, and hit a BRILLIANT Twisting urangi suplex, just as High Flyer FLEW from the top with his patented Five and a Half Star Frogsplash. Davis dived on top for the pin, as Du Luc slowly recovered on the outside. Without caution, Flyer charged to the corner and front flipped over, catching Du Luc with a high risk maneuver as the official counted three! “I Hope You Die” by the Bloodhound Gang rang out over the pa system as Tony Davis raised his hand in victory. Mary-Lynn Mayweather was busy on the outside picking up the pieces of the train wreck High Flyer had caused, lifting her mentor to his feet. Winner: Team VIAGRA via Pinfall "This Is What You Wanted" Laughter, celebration, and more then a bit of chaos was happening backstage in the Arena of Champions. Not just anywhere in the Arena, however, in the ‘private’ locker room that had been taken over by the Backbone. “This is only the beginning my brothers and sisters, as originals we ARE taking what is ours… and every victory is insurance on that opening shot.” Chris Titan roared, standing on top of a bench and pounding his chest. “We’re turning heads, jost as fast as we’re bashing ‘em in.” Bane Loneheart chuckled. “All this press we’re getting? It’s no surprise. I hope you’re all proud of it, but it’s only the beginning. I won’t quit saying THAT, until each of our faces is plastered on every pillar of this building and we hold more power then The Don’s old Mafia ever did.” Chris Titan pounded his chest once again, feeling nostalgic of his time with Mike Extreme, as part of The Don’s Mafia… a faction that had literally taken control of jOlt a decade ago. knock, knock “I swear ta gad, if this is anod’er noise complaint…” Loneheart grumbled, shifting his Backbone t-shirt as he reached to open the door. SLAM! CRACK! The door had been kicked wide open the moment Loneheart had opened it an inch, which grinded the celebratory mood to a halt. Bane stepped back for a moment to avoid the door but then rushed forward to bash over the head whoever would be so brash as to kick open the Backbone’s door. Except Bane Loneheart got cracked over the head for his trouble with the Relentless Championship. Stepping over the body of the Irish Bomber, Reno Davis was a bit worse for wear after his successful defense against JCON earlier tonight, but he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Chris Titan wasn’t quite sure though, “What, are you fucking crazy? You have a death wish? We already kicked your head in!” “That’s why I’m here, Chris! I’m tired of your bullshit! All your bullshit!” Reno gripped the Relentless Championship tight, as the rest of the Backbone advanced on him, “You think you’re proving anything by becoming a bunch of thugs? Is that what Titan here is teaching you?” Reno’s eyes where now on Persephone and SDL. “Whatever he’s promised you… he’ll NEVER be able to fulfill! Even ten years back all he was, was a thug! A hired hand of The Don’s! He battled you for the Tag Championships but he never amounted to anything as a singles wrestler… and now? Now?! He’s a bully who doesn’t want to be left behind…” The Unwanted Angel was beside himself with anger, he was tired of the attacks and the threats from the Backbone, but the Backbone had stopped advancing on him. “Except you know something, Titan? You’ve never had the TALENT to actually compete, so the best you can hope for is gang tactics and douchebags that don’t have anything better to do… so they follow you.” Why had they stopped advancing? GRENDEL was now standing behind Reno Davis. The Unwanted Angels really were back together again. “I don’t need followers, Titan. I’ve got myself, and I’m relentless enough with just me it seems,” Reno smiled, as he lightly tossed the Relentless Championship in one hand, “Though friends don’t hurt, either.” Reno grinned back at Grendel, and gave the beast a thankful nod. Titan could only sneer. “Friends die away quickly though, if all you keep by your side are pets.” Chris Titan spat at the Relentless Champion through scared lips, “Least this animal is a hell of a lot bigger then that damn monkey you used to have.” Reno scowled, that asshole just HAD to bring ZaC into this. Lunging forward the Unwanted Angel clipped Titan upside the head before Grendel was able to grab a hold of him and pull him from the room and the Backbone. “You want to fight the inevitable?!” Titan seethed, as blood ran from his forehead, “Then why don’t we have ourselves a FIGHT at Glory then, Davis! You and me! If you can hold on to your Relentless belt till then, ALL THE BETTER! If not, I’m STILL going to make an example out of you boy!” Davis only laughed in response before roaring back at Titan, “MY PLEASURE!” These days the Unwanted Angel was not short of confidence, and now it seemed he had a date with Chris Titan at Glory. Something that made both parties very happy. Kenjiro Ito vs. Phoenix I'm putting your patience to the test I'm putting your body on the line, for less And didn't you know there was a choice? It's never yours but someone else's voice It was time for the SECOND of the two 30-minute Iron Man matches tonight, as “Machu Picchu” hit the PA system of the Arena of Champions, bringing out Phoenix to healthy applause. Now with Ninja K up by eight points, ten to Phoenix’s two, Phoenix would have to fight for his life and keep Kenjiro Ito from an unheard of six falls while he himself got FIVE falls… and he would be the #1 contender to the jOlt Championship after just two months in the company. Damien Lee had decreed it, and so it had come to pass. The Glory Grand Prix Finale, that had been planned for the Supershow itself, was now a part of iNtense 42! The Iron-Man matches between the two pairings that had yet to fight one another directly had produced an instant classic between Ninja K and Wippit Guud, that may have been the final match of Guud’s illustrious career in the process… and this match-up between two bitter rivals. It was inevitable, the four men had shown such disregard for one another, that the structure that Lee had built to show the men once known as the Divide & Conquer Four off, had been blown up to decide a winner ONCE AND FOR ALL. TONIGHT! The Embodiment of jOlt’s Rebirth now stood in the ring. Was he ready for this epic battle against the Last Triple Crown Champion of Jolt? The very man he had allowed to compete in jOlt, by losing to him once already on Warriors 3. Or did Phoenix have a plan, just as he had a plan against the likes of One Eye at Divide & Conquer? Well, yes. Yes he did. I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY, I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF, I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN RACE JUSTICE IT WAS THAT MOVED MY GREAT CREATOR; DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE CREATED ME, AND HIGHEST WISDOM JOINED WITH PRIMAL LOVE. BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS WERE MADE, AND I SHALL LAST ETERNALLY. I AM KENJIRO ITO. And from the epic poet of his day, Dante, the scene shifted quickly to modern-day epic poets Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West, with their popular hit “Run This Town.” Holding his jaw, a vengeful Kenjiro Ito burst through the curtain and stormed down the aisle. Not waiting for the Badwill Ambassador to enter the ring, Phoenix tumbled to the ropes, somersaulted over the top cable and took down Ito with a space flying tiger ‘rana. As the crowd exploded, a row of 10.0 signs were raised along the front row. With Ito startled, Phoenix ushered him under the bottom rope before he himself, hopped up onto the apron. Ding, ding! After waiting on his opponent to rise, the Man on Fire sprung onto the top cable with a 180 spin, before leaping off and hooking the Bringer of the Ice Age’s head, taking him around 360 degrees before spiking him on his head with a 720 DDT. “ONE! TWO TH-NO!” With Ito’s eyes beginning to glaze over, the Man on Fire began to sense that he could put the Last Triple Crown Champion away early and OFTEN and have the Grand Prix glory in his grasp. Swinging through the ropes onto the apron, Phoenix again sprung onto the top rope before leaping off and driving both feet into Ito’s ribs with a double-stomp. Bouncing off Kenjiro, Phoenix kept his forward momentum going and sprung off the middle rope to land an ASAI KNEEDROP into his chest! “ONE! TWO THREE!” PHOENIX [1] to KENJIRO ITO [0] Holy shit, and the crowd goes wild, in the first TWO minutes of this 30 minute Iron Man match, Phoenix had already gained the first pinfall! Four more to go, in 28 minutes… why did it feel like, with 4 points to Ninja K’s 10, the Phoenix actually had a shot! Grabbing around a dazed and winded neck Ito’s neck, the Embodiment of jOlt’s Rebirth pulled him up and delivered a crunching muay thai knee to the face. Then another. Then another. Releasing his clinch after the third knee, Phoenix watched Ito stagger back into the corner before rushing in after him. Building up speed in just a few strides, Phoenix launched into a cartwheel kick… only for the Last Triple Crown Champion of Jolt to burst forward and nearly decapitate Phoenix in mid-air with the axe bomber lariat. As jOlt’s Masked Avenger landed in a limp heap, Ito dropped down and hooked a leg. “ONE! TWO TH-NO!” A foot dropping across the bottom rope saved the Phoenix, but he was unable to fend off the Badwill Ambassador as he harshly whipped the Masked Avenger into the ropes, before whisking ‘Nix up, around, and then brutally down across his knee with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Phoenix bounced off Ito’s knee, grabbing his spine, only for Kenjiro to bring the sole of his boot down into his opponent’s lower lumbar with a fierce stomp. A trio of elbow drops followed, before a falling headbutt landed. Having softened Phoenix up, Ito yanked him up by the wrist and in one motion whipped him as hard as he could into the corner. As Phoenix’s spine impacted off the buckled, the man currently in third-place in the Glory Grand Prix standings staggered out, where Ito, still with zero points, launched Phoenix high over his shoulder with a back bodydrop and watched him burn out with a crash landing. “ONE! TWO THREE!” PHOENIX [1] to KENJIRO ITO [1] The crowd has aghast, how had Phoenix fallen so soon after gaining his first step towards Ninja K. It certainly wasn’t the end of the world, but with twenty-five minutes to go, folks had to wonder… could Ito possibly rise from ZERO points and gain MORE then ten?! Gaaah, it was a horrifying thought, but at this pace anything was possible. Kenjiro pulled ‘Nix up with a gutwrench, straining his fellow Grand Prix competitor back further in a tight, mid-air grip, before powerbombing him into the turnbuckles. With a grimacing Phoenix limply hanging up by the ropes, Ito backed up and pulled off his left elbow pad, winding the limb up. Charging at the corner, Ito went to snap the Phoenix neck back over the buckle with a lariat, only for the Man on Fire to land a desperation dropkick to his knee that sent the Last Triple Crown Champion of Jolt’s face smashing off the middle buckle. The jOlt crowd roared on Phoenix for his attack on the despised Kenjiro Ito, and it was the FACT that he was smashing up one of the most hated men in jOlt bar… possibly SVJ or the Heirs of Wrestling, that made the Arena of Champions forget some of Phoenix’s more questionable moments of the past. Hopping back to his feet, Phoenix watched Ito stagger up to his feet and away from the corner before stumbling BACK towards the ropes, before collapsing against them for support. Confidence oozed from Phoenix as he strode towards Ito and with every muscle trained and honed, the Man on Fire launched a lightning-fast Snap Kick at Kenjiro’s head, rocking it and nearly causing his eyes to roll back into his head. Another weakened Ito’s legs, causing the ropes to sag as more and more of Kenjiro’s weight was supported by them. Then, as his arms were draped over the top cable, his head slumped forward. Seeing a prime chance to hit one of his new favorites, Phoenix bent his knees, then launched himself up into a backflip. As he arced backwards, Phoenix flung both his feet up in series, connecting with a pair of JOLTING Moonsault Kicks to the jaw, each bouncing Ito’s head backwards. Phoenix landed back on his feet, gracefully, while a stunned the Last Triple Crown Champion of Jolt just stumbled back towards the centre of the ring. Before Ito had a chance to collapse, Phoenix pounced, locking in a front facelock, making sure that he didn't give the Badwill Ambassador even a second to recover. A probing kick pounded the outside of Ito’s knee, before a stiffer blow to the thigh finally dropped Phoenix’s bitter rival to his knees. Then, in something very un-Phoenix-like (to all knows that know him), Phoenix flipped over Ito’s head, landing in a bridge while keeping the facelock applied. The fans, not accustomed to seeing such a move from Phoenix, popped like mad as he landed on his feet, causing Kenjiro Ito’s back and neck to bend at SICKENING angles. "PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor!” The crowd continued to pop in support of the Phoenix as he maintained his high bridge, locking his hands to keep a pained and struggling Bringer of the Ice Age locked in. Sliding over on one knee, Darius Underwood checked that the hold wasn't a choke, then began to ask Kenjiro Ito if he wanted to tap. Not even dignifying such a question with an answer Ito just tried to tear Phoenix’s fingers apart, even though each attempt only increased the torque on his stretched neck muscles. Finally, Ito managed to loosen a finger, pulling it back until Phoenix had to break and roll away. Grabbing the back of his neck, which was already beginning to tighten in an uncomfortable muscle configuration, Ito rolled to the safety of the ropes, knowing that he could take a second to compose himself there without the treat of a pin. Knowing that anyone who gave the Last Triple Crown Champion of Jolt a chance to recover was giving him a golden chance to leave them unconscious (from experience), the Phoenix was desperate to keep up him momentum, and rushed the ropes. With as much force as she could muster, Phoenix flung himself down into a Pump Dropkick, slamming both soles into Ito’s ribs and expelling him from the ring. Watching Ito stagger towards the basic steel guard rail for support, the fans knew the kind of routes Phoenix usually took to reach an opponent in such a position. It was usually dangerous, high, spectacular, and very, very effective. Look to the VERY START of this match up for such an example. Backing away to the corner opposite to which Ito was on the outside of, Phoenix seemed to be lining him up. Then, with high jumper's strides, he started his run-up, reaching the ropes at speed. "PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor!” Leaping side-on to the ropes, the Phoenix arched his back over the top rope in a Fosby Flop technique, flinging himself down at Ito with a Moonsault. As Kenjiro Ito’s vision cleared, a flash of white and gold shot towards him, and before he could fully react, Phoenix CRASHED into him with what he was calling the Burn Out. OUT being the operative word. But although Ito couldn't fully get his defenses up, he managed to somewhat deflect Phoenix, leaning back so that the Man on Fire’s body skipped off his rather than drilling it down. To the shock of the crowd, Phoenix flew over Ito and over the rail, crash-landing in the 3rd row and ploughing through the rows of chairs behind. Before the chant of "HOLY SHIT!" had erupted from the crowd, Darius Underwood was hurdling the rail, pushing fans out of the way to get to the downed, and maybe injured Glory Grand Prix finalist. Then, to his amazement, a barely-rattled Phoenix pulled himself up, dusting his clothes off and readjusted his mask. After shaking any cobwebs loose, Phoenix gave an okay signal to the referee, before gesturing to the fans beside him, pointing upwards. While all eyes were on the crowd to the far corner of ringside, Kenjiro Ito as pulling himself up at ringside, wiping blood from his eyes where Phoenix’s foot had busted open an eyebrow as it flew past at high-speed. Swiping a bottle of water from an aggrieved fan, Ito opened it hurriedly and poured its contents over his face, cascading pink liquid falling to the mats below. With his vision clear, Ito turned back to the fans, and finally saw what the fans' explosion was for. Being crowd-surfed back to ringside was his opponent, who acted quickly to wrap his legs around Ito’s neck when he reached the rail. Getting the push-off he needed from the front row fans, Phoenix twisted down to the mat, SNAPPING Kenjiro Ito over with the Crowd-Surf 'Rana. "HO-LY SHIT! HO-LY-SHIT! HO-LY-SHIT!" Ladies and motherfuckin’ Gentlemen, THIS was jOlt! As stunned as he was pained by the strain to his neck, Ito staggered right back up, before collapsing against the ring-post for support. Hopping back up, Phoenix took a few steps to one side, lining up Ito, before pouncing. In just a few strides Phoenikx built up speed, before flinging himself up and in to another Spinning Enziguri Kick, WHACKING the sweet spot of his right foot against the back of Ito’s head, and CRUSHING his skull between sneaker and steel. The crowd may have winced, but it wasn't long before the Arena of Champions cheered once more. "PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor! PHOE-NIX! rik-tor!” With blood once again gushing from his forehead, Ito dropped to his knees, looking like he was about to either pass-out, or vomit. "Back in the ring," Darius Underwood’s authoritative voice commanded, lecturing down to the Phoenix as he grabbed his right foot, itself jolted hard by the sick kick. Checking the time left in the Iron Man Match, Phoenix noted… ten minutes. It was time. Pulling himself up using the guard rail, Phoenix pulled a stunned Ito up and rolled him under the bottom rope with a heave. Flat on his back, Ito’s open cut again flowed into his peroxide blonde hair, a rare sight in Jolt Wrestling and especially the current iteration of jOlt, but one which failed to phase either the referee or his Glory Grand Prix opponent and bitter rival. Sliding in after Ito, Phoenix again hooked both legs. "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" PHOENIX [2] to KENJIRO ITO [1] Sighing in relief, Phoenix rolled away from Kenjiro Ito, knowing that he'd have to continue with a relentless tirade of stiff moves if he was going to defeat not only Ito but also Ninja K and his 10 points, which was still a two point lead. Though Phoenix was now tied in the overall standings with Wippit Guud, that meant nothing towards the goal of facing Sylo for the jOlt Championship. Rolling to the ropes, Ito tried to pull himself up, pushing away the referee who wanted to check on the cut. Ito was NOT happy about the cut. As soon as Ito dropped back against the buckles, Phoenix pounced, grabbing him in another front facelock. With confident leaps, Phoenix ascended the ropes, locking in the seatbelt grip he needed for his next trick. Pushing himself off, Phoenix spun around Ito and went for the move which could finish off Ito’s hurt neck, but ‘Nix’s stubborn opponent wasn't about to cooperate. Catching the Phoenix across his shoulders, Ito reacted in the blink of an eye, flinging himself back and RAMMING the small of Phoenix’s back into the turnbuckle. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Embodiment of jOlt’s Rebirth winced as he felt the metal buckle jab into his spine, but he somehow managed to keep his grip locked in. Again, Ito launched them both backwards, drawing a scream from Phoenix and finally breaking his hands apart. Taking a few stumbling steps forward, Ito then lifted Phoenix over his head before collapsing down onto one knee, DRILLING Phoenix’s spine down into the joint. Grabbing his neck with one hand, and ignoring the blood that was once again flowing down his face, Ito flattened out the arching Phoenix, the Gold and White Warrior, and hooked his far leg. "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" PHOENIX [2] to KENJIRO ITO [2] Roars erupted from within the Arena of Champions, as Ito earned his second set of points in the Glory Grand Prix. As Jolt’s Last Triple Crown Champion regained some balance, he slowly sat up on his knees and roared towards the crowd. “I’m DONE showing off to you MUTANTS! I’m going to break your hearts just like I broke your SAVIOR’S BACK!” Then Ito, without doing anything else, went for another pin. This time not even hooking the far leg of the Masked Avenger. "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" KENJIRO ITO [3] to PHOENIX [2] With that auspicious moment, Ito now pounced to his feet and rubbed the blood out of his eyes before yelling at the time keeper ringside to get him a microphone. There were still eight minutes left in this Iron Man match however, and even though Ito was now tied with Phoenix and Wippit Guud in second place with SIX POINTS a piece, Powers and Buhrman couldn’t help but question his decision to get verbose in the middle of ANY match, but especially this one. After procuring the microphone however, Ito only clicked it on and placed it down beside the downed body of Phoenix so the fans within the Arena of Champions could hear his tortured groans and the pounding of the ref’s hand as the Bringer of the Ice Age pressed down on Phoenix’s chest with both hands. "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" KENJIRO ITO [4] to PHOENIX [2] This wasn’t just torture for Phoenix, it was torture for every single fan in attendance for the forty-second edition of iNtense. Why didn’t Phoenix fight to kick out of Ito’s pinning attempts? Had he been hurt THAT badly? Why hadn’t Underwood done anything to stop the match? The referee was in fact talking with Phoenix at that moment, but as Phoenix waved off the ref and tried rolling to his side, Ito kicked him in the stomach to send the Masked Avenger back to his back. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kenjiro Ito now had the microphone. “You depend too damn much on your heroes.” The Badwill Ambassador spit. “They aren’t infallible, or irreplaceable, they’re irresponsible.” Ito now venomously gestured to the back of the building. “They’re sad pathetic shells of the past, originals and Legacy brats all the same! Do you know why I make such a big deal out of my Triple Crown Championship? Because it actually MEANT something, it was linked to EVERY MOMENT in Jolt’s past! It was the APEX of everything this organization had accomplished. So when I got the offer to be free in Jolt once again, I took brought MY Triple Crown Championship with me to show you all what a REAL Championship looked like. Instead of that useful piece of tin attached to that blue-haired shitbird! Speaking of the bird… give me a second here, I have to tie things up with your favorite outdated Japanese stereo-type.” So while flipping the bird to the almost riotous crowd now, Ito put his foot on Phoenix’s chest and demanded that the referee do his JOB and count. "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" KENJIRO ITO [5] to PHOENIX [2] Just like that, Ito’s 10 points matched that of the former leader in the Glory Grand Prix, Ninja K. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" “Since there’s less then five minutes left,” Ito removed his foot from the now oddly quiet Phoenix, and then after a moment placed it back on Phoenix’s chest, “You might as well save us both the time and keep counting.” Good god, the Glory Grand Prix wasn’t going to be won like THIS, was it?! Michael Buhrman, was beside himself at ringside. What WAS this? "ONE! TWO! THREE!!!" KENJIRO ITO [6] to PHOENIX [2] "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO!" Kenjiro Ito was now sole-owner of the lead in the Glory Grand Prix and every second that ticked away in this match only cemented that fact further. So wait, why wasn’t he smiling as he silently held the mic? Why was PHOENIX LAUGHING? The referee asked with Ito was going to continue, or if he was just planning on running down the clock. Once Ito silently just stared at him, blood now caked on his face and in his hair, Underwood turned to the eerily joyous Embodiment of jOlt’s Rebirth and offered him a hand so that he could get medical care for his back. Problem once, Phoenix’s back was just fine. And Ito? Ito wasn’t still anymore. A vicious lariat took the referee off his feet, and Kenjiro Ito was quick to follow it up with his very own version of the Anaconda Vice, ITO’S COLD EMBRACE! As the referee screamed in pain, due to the vicious NEW #1 contender to Sylo’s jOlt Championship, Jolt’s Last Triple Crown Champion… a nightmare for every jOlt fan was realized. Phoenix deftly stood his feet and then bent over to pick up the microphone that Ito had left on the sweat and blood speckled canvas. The Embodiment of jOlt’s Rebirth chuckled to himself as he brought the mic to his mask. “You damned fools…” What was this? This, ladies and gentlemen, was what some might call a long con. Winner: Kenjiro Ito via 6 Pinfalls to 2; Kenjiro Ito wins Glory Grand Prix "HEAT or The Always Existing Duality of a Man Behind a Mask" The fans were beside themselves, some couldn’t believe what they were seeing and others were simply viciously angry at a man they believed to be there hero… now standing there laughing at them, revealed as an unremorseful son of a bitch. “You damn fools, you throw your garbage at me just as easily as you would cheer me, when I’m the one who will tear down everyone of your false idols in this sham of an industry,” Phoenix was immediately venomous towards them but in taking a moment to collect his true self, he calmly… eerily continued. “When all is said and done, you will be free because of me…” Phoenix nodded his head over to Ito, who finally let go of the referee and then proceeded to kick him from the ring, “… and mine.” With those very specifically chosen words, chills ran down the spines of those in attendance. “And the best part of it, I don’t have to talk like a god forsaken super-hero anymore,” the chuckle returned to Phoenix’s voice, to jeering from the crowd. “Your biggest fault up to this point was believing in your anti-heroes far too much.” Phoenix sneered from beneath his mask, “You all cheer Sylo and Ninja K, hell some of you even cheer Derecho! And none of these superstars are even anti-heroes, they're vicious MONSTERS... but the moment they show a sliver of humanity? You praise them.” “You give them more humanity then they will ever deserve by projecting yourself onto them. Simply because you have no one better to love, and I will assure that you never will, either.” Phoenix giggled softly under his mask, “It made it all too easy to do what I did to One Eye and walk away nearly unexpected. Hell I hazard to say you wanted it... and isn't THAT disgusting? hahahaha” The eerire laughter form under Phoenix’s mask echoed through the Arena of Champions, as Kenjiro Ito… the Glory Grand Prix winner smiled beside his… friend? “One Eye was an honest and good man until the end, and most of you ended up booing that man as he was carted out of this organization, blind and broken. I took the truest and purest man in jOlt and I didn’t JUST break him, I broke your TRUST in him! Ahahahahaha!” Phoenix’s demented laughter for a moment broke for a moment, before he laughed even louder, riding it into a moment of pure madness. “HAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHA HAHAHA!” “During it all I even gained Damien Lee’s trust to the point where I was able to hold the door open for one Mr. Kenjiro Ito to walk through. It’s truly been an honor to work with you, Icey. From your debut match, to Divide & Conquer… all the way up to tonight. I knew we didn’t have to go all out.” Phoenix turned to Kenjiro Ito, who with a face full of his own dried blood was decidedly sour faced about this fact. “Hell,” Phoenix waved him off, “I knew you hated the idea… but didn’t it pay off? Didn’t the look on the faces of THESE PEOPLE make it all worth while?! Your blood made my crowd-surfing possible! I could hardly believe it myself, how much you fools have been eating out of my hand since my arrival so… you worked with me perfectly.” The crowd was once again riotous, as balled up 10.0 signs were thrown towards Phoenix and Kenjiro Ito in the ring. “If Kenjiro Ito is a virus that eats away at the soul of this current jOlt, you can thank me for releasing him upon you all.” Phoenix noted with a bow, at the same time ducking out of the way of more garbage. Pointing in the direction of the bag of pop corn that sailed into the ring, Phoenix chirped, “No, thank you. Thank you for blindly loving me, allowing me to orchestrate this grand plan. Thank you for supporting me as Ito and I brutally attacked Wippit Guud tonight, breaking another of your heroes for good.” “Now Sylo will no doubt be distracted by Vince Jacobs, but that’s understandable…” Phoenix once again returned to a cool grin underneath his mask, “Vince has always known exactly what he’s doing. So if you don’t say anything, Justin, I understand that you have bigger fish to fry.” Oh shit, he didn’t just call Sylo by his real name, did he? “Then again, so do I.” The laughter was gone in Phoenix’s voice, it had shifted to something coolly serious, “Once you’ve fallen to Ito, and his earned shot at your Championship, heck even BEFORE it ever happens… I’ll be working with Mr. Lee to make jOlt a better place then it is becoming.” Those last words were venom spit towards the entirety of the jOlt organization. “I understand things have changed since you last controlled Jolt, why all these familiar faces in the crowd for instance call this graveyard of a building home.” Phoenix, it seems, wasn’t a fan of the building, “I know you must constantly be under pressure from your board of directors. Do not fear I’m sure they aren’t all bad… and soon? Soon you will be free.” Phoenix left his arms out-stretched and let the garbage and vitriol from the crowd christen him as one of the most hated men in the entirety of jOlt. If THIS was the Embodiment of jOlt's Rebirth, then jOlt was in for a wild ride. “You will be free, because of me!” "Hindsight" "My God, they worked me from the beginning. I should have seen this coming." Damien Lee's door flew open and in walked the Ronin. "My pride has been stolen from me." "Believe me, I know exactly what you mean." "I demand retribution." Damien Lee nodded. "And that's exactly what you're going to get. They worked my system, and you know what? I'm going to let Kenjiro Ito face Sylo. Let's see if he can handle the Superbeast." "No," Ninja K sternly said, "I demand my own retribution." "What do you want?" "The treasures matter little to me now. What I want is Phoenix. What I want is Kenjiro Ito. Put them in the ring with me at Glory and I will show you what revenge truly is." Lee pondered Ninja K's request. A handicap match against two men that just pulled the wool over the eyes of everyone in jOlt? Could he win that? He didn't know but looking into Ninja K's silver irises he understood that it wouldn't matter who walked away from that match victorious. What Ninja K was asking for was a chance to inflict pain, and to inflict it in the exact way Damien Lee has been demanding ... inside the ring, legally. "You've got it. You will face Phoenix and Kenjiro Ito in an Underground Rules Handicap Match. Do your worst, Kenshiro, because I am certain those two will do the same." "You have my word, Mr. Lee, they will pay for their crimes." Ninja K exited the office just as quickly as he had entered. Damien Lee sat back in his chair, bringing his index fingers up to a point in front of his lips. "I hope you're right ... I hope you're right." "See You Soon" "Well, you look like shit." Persephone spun around, grimacing in pain and snarling in anger at the same time. She found Aria Murphy standing there waiting for her. The Starlet Championship was slung over Aria's shoulder and she was not intimidated by the Backbone member in the least. "What, did you have a bad date night with Chris Titan?" "You're hilarious, Aria. We were attacked by Reno Davis." "Really? That cute little red-headed punk rocker beat you up?" "Don't make me kill you," Persephone groaned. Aria was of the lighter mood tonight, a role reversal from just a few days prior when Persephone threatened to let a secret that could ruin Sylo out of the bag if Aria didn't give her what she wanted. And here was Aria just days later, doing just that. "You got your match on the next Warriors. I hope you're planning to bring your A game and maybe you should avoid letting someone else kick your ass until then." "I'm so not in the mood for this bullshit right now. I'm going to end your career at Warriors. Break your legs, see if Sylo will still keep you when you're a gimp bitch." "RAHHHH!" Cat Fight! The two Starlets were all over each other. Rolling around on the cement floor and trading hair pulls, punches, and head slams. The entire time both were just screaming out random obscenities at each other. It was only a matter of seconds before jOlt security, Simon Boulder, and Damien Lee himself all arrived on the scene to break things up. "Cut it out, you two!" Damien Lee shouted. "Aria! You get to the ring, you have a match right now!" Simon Boulder helped escort Aria Murphy towards the Gorilla Position. Meanwhile the other security guards grabbed hold of Persephone. "Get the hell off me! HEY! Watch your goddamn hands, pervert!" "That's enough!" Lee's fuse was getting ever shorter since the Backbone formed. He was running on little sleep and was just fed up with all the bullying and complaining. "Persephone! Get back to your locker room, pack your crap, tell your buddies to do the same, and get the hell out of the building! You're all done for the night! Security! Make sure this gets done immediately!" Kicking and screaming, Persephone was being dragged down the hallway towards the locker rooms. "Listen, pal, I'm not going to tell you again! You watch where you're putting your filthy little hands or you're going to pull back a stump!" "Unbelievable," Damien Lee said aloud to no one in particular. "I hope Rune was right because I don't know how much more of this crap I can take." Sylo & Aria Murphy vs. Superstar Vince Jacobs & Natalia Tonight, the fans in attendance, got a sneak peak of the rematch of the ages at Glory, but one thing was different. Their respective partners, Natalia and Aria Murphy were placed side by side with the men they trusted and tonight, a mixed tag match was the result. As with most mixed tag matches, the men will wrestle the men and the women will wrestle the women. Everyone here tonight knew of all the explosive elements at hand which made for an intriguing main event. The lights in the arena went out. Those famous words illuminated the big screen for the world to see. Pro-Wrestling’s Phenomenon – The Icon – The Living Legend – The Ratings Grabber – The Reason There Is A Show And then finally.. “Superstar” Vince Jacobs “Villain” by Theory of a Deadman The lights in the arena pulsated with the opening guitars and then when the main riff kicked in, the lights flashed in true superstar fashion. Vince Jacobs stepped out from the backstage area with Natalia by his side. Natalia hung onto SVJ’s arm as the two of them walked down to the ring. The crowd showed their displeasure for SVJ and Natalia as the booed the duo all the way into the ring. SVJ entered the ring and posed for the crowd and Natalia continued to hang onto him as if she looked to him for protection. The music died down. Lights...out. Johnny Cash would follow. “And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder. One of the four beasts sang come and see and I saw. And behold! A white horse. And his name that sat on him... Was death. And hell...followed with him. ” “Miracle (Pale horse remix)” - Nonpoint. A blinding white explosion, a symbol of mass destruction that had become synonymous with The Perfect Predator, The SuperBeast, Sylo, rocked the entire Arena of Champions to its base. Through the blast and smoke stepped the 7’1”, 335 lb, and FIRST jOlt Champion since its resurrection as well as the LAST Legacy Champion. The man that had been dubbed jOlt’s reckoning wore the Legacy Championship around his waist and held the jOlt title over his shoulder with just as much respect as he scanned the arena. Sylo moved to the right of the stage, shouting something almost inaudible, that only increased the volume. He repeated this motion to the other side and the Arena of Champions was beginning to burst at the seams. Finally, The Harbinger of Destruction, moved to the dead center of the stage where, instead of doing his normal crouching pose, he summoned out jOlt Starlet Champion, Aria Murphy, from the backstage area who received just as big of a pop as Sylo did! Sylo and Aria walked to the ring in tandem and then stepped inside. It was decided that Sylo and SVJ would start so the two women headed to their respective corners. SVJ and Sylo kept a constant stare on each other to make sure nothing would transpire. Once the women were behind the ropes and on the apron, the referee called for the bell. DING DING DING Sylo grinned as did Jacobs as the two of them stared at each other from across the ring. They circled each other as the anticipation level rose within the arena. Then, the moment we all waited for happened and they charged in toward each other, but not for a tie up like most wrestling matches, they went straight at it with closed fists! SVJ fired the first shot and decked Sylo across the face, Sylo answered back with a big right hand of his own. SVJ then returned fire with a right and then Sylo answered. They traded punches back and forth until Sylo gained the upper hand when got the crowd behind him! Sylo rocked the head of SVJ back until he got him backed up into the ropes. Sylo then grabbed SVJ by the arm and shot him across the ring. Jacobs fired off the opposite end and flew through the air with a flying forearm that took Sylo down! Sylo popped back up to his feet as SVJ leapt up with a drop kick that staggered Sylo back into the corner! SVJ then headed to the corner and ascended the turnbuckle pads where he began to pound away on the head of Sylo as the crowd counted along! “One!” “Two!” “Three!” “Four!” “Five!” “Six!” “Seven!” Before the crowd could get to eight.. Sylo grabbed SVJ into a powerbomb position and ran forward, but SVJ used the momentum and flipped Sylo into the opposite corner with a hurricanrana! Sylo’s face bounced off of the second turnbuckle pad, but he ate the blow like the jOlt Champion that he is. When he stood and turned around, SVJ was there and he lunged in! SUPERSTAR KICK! NO! Sylo grabbed SVJ by the leg and then by the throat! He lifted him high into the air and slammed him down with a variation of a choke slam!!! Sylo went for the cover and hooked the leg! One…. Two… Vince Jacobs popped the shoulder up, much to the dismay of the crowd. Sylo grabbed SVJ by the hair and pulled him back up to the vertical base. Sylo cocked his hand back while still holding a full fist of hair and laid in a big punch that staggered SVJ backwards quite a bit. SVJ turned around and saw Sylo barreling toward him with a vicious clothesline, but SVJ ducked just in the nick of time. SVJ reached back and hooked Sylo’s head for a hangman’s noose neckbreaker, but Sylo turned around too quick and grabbed SVJ in a waist lock! Sylo then popped the hips and tossed SVJ over with a German Suplex right into the turnbuckle pads!!! “OOOOOOOOOH!!!”, screamed the crowd! SVJ fell to a seated position as Sylo walked over and applied the foot to the throat in the corner! ASPHYXIATION! The referee stepped in and told Sylo to back it off, but Sylo applied more pressure! 1…. 2… 3… 4… Right before the count of five, Sylo released the foot off of SVJ’s throat which left Jacobs in the corner clutching at his throat and trying to suck in some air. Sylo went right back to the corner as he looked out to the crowd as if to ask “What should I do to him next?” Meanwhile on the apron, Natalya had a look of worry on her face and Sylo took notice. Sylo looked at Natalia and yelled out to her. “YOUR BOYFRIEND WON’T BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOU SOON” As soon as Sylo said that, SVJ pulled on the front of Sylo’s tights and sent him face first into the middle turnbuckle for the second time this match! Sylo held his face as he stood up and turned around. SVJ then pulled Sylo’s head down into a rising knee that struck him in the forehead. SVJ fired another knee and another knee which rocked the head of the jOlt Champion. SVJ then walked Sylo over to the ropes and fired him off. Sylo came off the opposite end and ate a drop kick to the face courtesy of SVJ! Sylo hit the canvas hard and the people began to boo. SVJ looked up and around the arena and soaked up the adulation from the crowd. SVJ then pressed his foot against Sylo’s throat and began to choke him out with Sylo’s own trademark move, the Asphyxiation! 1…. 2… 3… 4… SVJ backed off and then replaced the foot right on top of Sylo’s throat!! The referee warned SVJ and began to count again. 1… 2… 3… 4… SVJ finally backed off as the referee said he would throw this match out. SVJ then grabbed Sylo by the head and pulled him back up. SVJ fired a forearm to the face to the face of Sylo that rocked his head back. SVJ fired another and another which continued to stagger him back. With Sylo dazed, SVJ grasps Sylo in his arms and drops him with an Inverted Atomic Drop. SVJ then took off toward the ropes, but ran right into a vicious clothesline by Sylo that exploded from out of nowhere! SVJ was nearly turned inside out as Sylo went in and made the cover with the leg hooked! One… Two… Jacobs popped the shoulder up. Sylo stood and shook his head as all the blows to it were still there in effect. Sylo bent over to pick SVJ up when SVJ used the classic thumb to the eye to turn the tide of the match! The people erupted in boos as Sylo held his eye and face in pain. SVJ staggered up to his feet and hit a kick to the back of the legs of Sylo which brought him down to a knee. SVJ took off toward the ropes and leapt into Sylo… STAR GAZER!!! The people booed as SVJ landed the Shining Wizard! He then went for his first official cover of the match! One…. Two…. Sylo kicked out with authority. SVJ then brought Sylo up to a seated position and then nailed a drop kick to the back of Sylo’s head! SVJ propped Sylo back into that seated position and nailed another drop kick to the back of Sylo’s head. Once again, he brought Sylo up, but this time got a running start. SVJ lunged in with a running missile drop kick that connected with a sickening smack that the entire arena heard! SVJ then quickly went for the cover again! One…. Two…. Sylo kicked out, but with not as much force this time. All the blows to the head must have been adding up at this point! SVJ brought Sylo back to his feet and then looked to the crowd for approval, but the only one clapping for SVJ at this point was Natalia. Sylo summoned some strength and shoved SVJ backwards toward his corner. Sylo then readied himself to deliver The Slaughter but… SVJ stumbled and fell into the turnbuckle pads and as he did, Natalia, who looked out to the crowd in an attempt to rally the fans behind SVJ, accidentally slapped SVJ on the back! The referee called it a blind tag and because of that, Sylo had to leave the ring! Natalia, who had no real wrestling training, was just accidentally tagged into the match! Sylo charged in anyway and nailed a big time shoulder block to SVJ in the corner, but the referee stepped in after the hit and told Sylo he ahd to leave the ring. Sylo was livid due to the fact that he had to leave the ring, but at the same time, Aria Murphy was delighted that she got a chance to step into this match! SVJ was slumped in the corner, but Aria came in anyway. Natalia was reluctant to step in, but Aria walked over, grabbed the top rope and brought Natalya into the ring the hard way! While she did that, Sylo had the referee’s attention, saying it was bullshit that she got tagged in. It was an accidental tag and he should be wrestling SVJ still right now. The referee and Sylo continued to argue as Aria grabbed Natalia and spiked her with a DDT on the canvas. The jOlt Starlet Champion then signaled for it and ran to the ropes. She leapt up and hit the Asai Moonsault on Natalia! LAST EMBRACE! The referee still had his back turned as he finally got Sylo out of the ring. Sylo saw the match up was pretty much won anyway and headed back to his corner. The referee continued to have his back to the action as he made sure Sylo made his way back to his legal corner. SVJ noticed that both Sylo’s back and the referee’s back were turned. Aria got out of the pin to call the referee’s attention, but before she could mutter a single word… SUPERSTAR KICK TO ARIA MURPHY!!!! SVJ JUST KICKED A WOMAN IN THE FACE! SVJ then placed Natalia on top of Aria and rolled out of the ring. The referee saw Sylo to his corner and turned around and saw the pin. Sylo saw it too and wondered what the hell just happened. Regardless.. the referee made the count! One… Two… Three!! Natalia just got the pinfall and handed the victory to SVJ! SVJ rolled back into the ring, but Sylo had already hit the ring instead! THE SLAUGHTER!! Sylo ran in tackled SVJ as hard as he could! Sylo didn’t see it, but it didn’t take much to put two and two together. Sylo was on top of SVJ and he began to rain down hammer fist style pounds on top of SVJ’s face! Sylo had completely lost it! “I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU” , screamed Sylo as he continued to rain down the hammer fists. The referee tried to pull Sylo off of SVJ, but Sylo inadvertently slammed his fist into the face of the referee and knocked him down! Sylo didn’t care as he continued to pound away on the face of SVJ. As soon as the referee went down, at least a dozen officials and security guards rushed out from the back and hit the ring. They all piled onto Sylo and restrained him. They brought Sylo off of SVJ and back up to his feet. When Sylo was pulled off of SVJ, SVJ’s face resembled that of a crimson mask! Sylo had really busted up Jacobs with that attack. Sylo was heard screaming “OKAY! OKAY! I’M DONE! GET ME A MICROPHONE” One of the guards retrieved a microphone from ringside. With a wall of humanity between Sylo and SVJ, Sylo brought the microphone to his lips. “YOU WANT ME MOTHER FUCKER?! YOU WANT TO SNEAK ATTACK ME? FINE! YOU JUST WENT TOO GOD DAMN FAR SO YOU'VE GOT ME MOTHER FUCKER! AT GLORY IT'LL BE JUST ME AND YOU, NO ESCAPE, BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO BE MEETING EACH OTHER INSIDE THE PITT!” Sylo literally threw the mic down so hard is shattered into pieces as the crowd erupted at the sound of that!! Sylo just named a stipulation for their match… It’s now Sylo vs Superstar Vince Jacobs for the jOlt Championship inside of The Pit! Sylo then grabbed Aria Murphy as trainers were trying to check her. He snarled and roared, keeping the trainers back, as Sylo placed Aria snuggled in his arms and carried her out of the ring and to the backstage area. All that was left in the ring was a knocked out Natalia, a bloodied and beaten SVJ who had just realized the full extent of his actions and a whole mess of security. That was the final scene as iNtense went off the air. Winner: Superstar Vince Jacbos & Natalia via Pinfall CLICK TO ROLL CREDITS