Message #20254

[Adam Grant]

Maggie: The following contest is scheduled for one fall to a finish and is for the FFW No Surrender Championship!!!

Zack: Coming up next is the last of our championship matches tonight, the No Surrender title on the line. I’m joined by a woman who would love to call it her own as much as the two we are about to see, Chaotic Temptation’s O.E. Ayano!

OE: I’m here scoutin’ my dude. I’mma get there watch but for the time being I gotta just keep my eyes peeled.

There was silence; the lights began to fade away slowly. A soft instrumental echoes out across the audience. It starts slowly, a beautiful sound that contrasts the heaviness of the world. Like feathers, it glides among the waiting audience. The lighting fixtures produce a gentle spotlight upon the stage, offset by the occasional flash here and there. As 'Just Close Your Eyes' by Waterproof Blonde continues to play, a woman’s words begin to come through. Her voice is tender, not raising upon a whisper.

Deceived by my eyes and all I was told I should see
Opinions not mine, the person they taught me to be
One night in the dark, a vision of someone I knew
And in the darkness I saw, a voice say, I'm you.

On the stage, a feminine figure appears. Her head lowered to everything. People cannot make out who it is. As she stands there, the flashes briefly illuminate her figure. It only gives small clues on who stands at the gate. She stands in the spotlight, her shadow cast large and proudly among the stage.

Inside me a light was turned on…

The instrumental picks up again. An electric guitar now joins the progressively exciting instrumentals of before. The singer’s voice suddenly intensifies.

Then I was alive!

In the light, it is revealed that it was Savannah Taylor. She stands at the gate, a robe of obsidian and ivory hues. The hood of it shadows her eyes, but the intensity of the final EXODUS World Champion remains clear as day. She starts off down the ramp, with a serious aura radiating from her body.

Maggie: Ladies and gentlemen, making her way down to the ring....weighing in at one hundred twenty pounds.....from Las Vegas, Nevada.....Savannah Taylor !!!

If you close your eyes your life,
A naked truth revealed
Dreams you never lived,
And scars never healed

Savannah makes her way up the ring steps. She looks out towards the audience for a moment before entering the ring. From there, she heads for a turnbuckle. She stands there, taking in everything. She then lifts her up on top of it. She peers out in nothing, then takes off the hood with a flashy flourish. Her blonde locks fly up in the air. They descend, shaping her face as they famously do.

In the darkness, light will take you to the other side
You'll find me waiting there you'll see, if you just close your eyes

While she stands in her corner, she closes her eyes and takes a heavy breath. When her bright eyes open, Taylor is completely composed. There is nothing more than the heat of battle awaiting her. She takes off her robe, giving it to a stagehand. She stretches her wrists before devoting her mind to the war upon the horizon.

Zack: So tell me, OE. We both know Savannah has another match tonight in the Global Wars battle royal. Do you think she might try to conserve energy or look to end this as quickly as possible? Or do you think she goes all in?

OE: Bottle blondie would be dumb as fuck to try and rush headlong into a match with Pike. Make mistakes and all that, so she prolly gonna hit some strategy. Wait her out. Pick her a part... Hope Pike ain’t got the same game plan.

The arena goes dark for just a moment, the funky opening chords to Voodoo Johnson's "Dirty Angel" playing through the PA, before the white lights are replaced by swirling green replacements, bathing the arena in the favorite color of the Emerald City Siren. A few seconds pass, though, before Sophia Pike actually makes her way out through the curtain, met--immediately--by a chorus of boos, which she largely brushes off with a flick of of either wrist. She pauses at the head of the ramp, hooking her thumbs under the strap of the No Surrender title belt, chewing a piece of gum fairly obviously, and shaking her head at the collective audience, for whatever reason.

Clearly in no particular hurry, judging by the utter lack of pace, Sophia makes her way down the ramp. About halfway to the ring, one fan is able to get past the practiced apathy of the Siren, and she actively gets in his face, shouting...something, that for the most part can't be heard over the music playing in the arena. Whatever the fan says back to her seems to amuse the self-proclaimed Queen of King County, who just smirks and waves him off, making the shorter trip down to the ring and climbing up onto the apron. She leans back against the ropes, grinning with a little more joy than one should probably get out of being almost unanimously booed. She unstraps the title from around her waist, raising it up with one arm, using the other to beckoning the crowd to get even louder--which they happily do. Sophia holds her pose, her title in the air, for a couple more seconds before climbing into the ring.

Maggie: And her opponent...from Seattle, Washington, weighing in at 137 lbs, she is the "Emerald City Siren," and the reigning, defending FFW No Surrender Champion...SOPHIA PIIIIIKE!

Sophia winks at Maggie and grins, climbing up onto the second turnbuckle and stretching both arms out, bending just a little bit at the waist and leaning herself forward. She shouts something at the sections of fans she can see, but again it's mostly unheard. Eventually, she hops off the turnbuckle and pulls her Queen of King County shirt off, tossing it out into the crowd. She scoops the title back up off the ground, draping it over her shoulder as she waits for the match to begin.

Zack: Sophia may be playing the role of spoiler in trying to keep Team USA from pulling in 5 points heading into the battle royal. If she doesn’t, more than just Scotland will be mathematically eliminated from winning the series.

OE: The hopes and dreams of a coupla teams is riding in on Pike. Here she look like the type to crush all of those.

Robert Valero took the title belt from Sophia Pike and showed it to the challenger then raised it into the air for the crowd who suddenly got loud as Sophia sprinted out of her corner and left her feet to deliver a running two-footed dropkick to Taylor’s chest, knocking her backwards into the corner. Valero handed off the title to a ringside attendant and called for the bell as Pike got to her feet and began to pepper her foe’s stomach with rapid fire kicks to keep her foe back in the corner. Savannah covered up and as she did so Sophia grabbed hold of her wrist, feeding it over and under the top rope and jerked her arm as though trying to pull it from the sock, using the ring rope for additional leverage. Pike jerked on the arm once more before she stood up on the bottom rope, pulling Taylor’s wrist up and began to fire elbows downwards into her shoulder. Valero called for the break only for Sophia to deliver one final elbow strike into the shoulder before she let go of her opponent’s wrist and brought her out of the corner with an armdrag into an armbar.

Zack: Sophia’s wasting no time getting right to work on her favorite appendage. Once she gets started, she can be relentless in her assault.

OE: Worse is her rep. Every victory she picks up keeps messin’ with the minds of folk in there. Thinkin’ in their head they can hang a one-on-one loss on the bitch but in the back of they mind they like ‘damn why won’t she go down’?

The Queen of King County quickly looked to increase the torque of the armbar as she had Taylor on the mat and the referee asked the Las Vegas native if she wanted to quit only for Savannah to fix him with a withering stare as she began to push upwards. Taylor got to her feet and began to fire off closed fists shots into Pike’s midriff, landing three blows before she was able to pull her arm out of the Champion’s grasp, yanking her towards her and into a raised knee into the gut. Pike cradled her gut with one arm and Taylor turned to set off across the ring but only made it two steps before she was violently pulled backwards and slammed to the mat thanks to Sophia grabbing a handful of hair. As soon as Taylor hit the canvas the reigning No Surrender Champion left her feet and delivered a knee drop to her shoulder.

Zack: Savannah was starting to get some offense going, but Pike put an end to that sooner than later.  What’s your strategy if you’re Savannah tonight, OE?

OE: Personally I got a whole other strategy in mind if I ever face the champ but uh... Taylor probably figure she can out nasty and out fight Pike.

The former No Surrender Champion rolled away, holding her shoulder as she did so and pushed upwards to her feet only for Pike to grab hold of her arm again and twist it into an arm wringer. Pike rotated the arm in the shoulder socket once more before she bent it at the elbow and then violently snapped the arm straight causing Taylor to drop to one knee. Sophia rotated the arm once more in the socket before she twisted her opponent’s arm up her back and into a hammerlock. Taylor grimaced for a moment, her free hand reaching across her to hold her shoulder as Valero asked her the question and got an agitated ‘No’ in response from the blonde that only saw her arm get pushed further up her back. The Nevada grimaced once more before she threw an elbow backwards causing Pike to lean to one side; a second elbow causing her to take a quarter step to the side and out of range. As she did so, Taylor lashed out with a back kick that caught the Champion square on the kneecap. A second back kick caught her in the same place and got Taylor the break. As Pike staggered backwards, Savannah left her feet and surprised her with a pele kick to the top of the head - though Taylor landed on her back and shoulder as she landed.

Zack: Savannah’s not really known for her kicks, but she’s clearly been working on them! That Pele kick dimmed Pike’s running lights, but she’s getting up before the challenger.

OE: Nah but look fam. Look how she landed. Congratulations. You just played yaself.

Pike was quick to her feet and looked to advance on Taylor only for her to suddenly drive herself upwards and forwards, driving her shoulder into the midsection and allowing her to lift Pike up off her feet and fall backwards, dropping her face first into the canvas with a flapjack. The pair rose to their feet simultaneously and Sophia immediately made to grab hold of the arm that she had been working over only for Savannah to cut her off with a kick to the gut, followed by a second and then a third before Taylor swept Pike’s legs out from under her and sent her crashing down to the mat. Sophia rolled away to begin to rise to her feet getting to one knee before she received a running knee to the jaw from the challenger that brought her up to her feet and caused her to reel away towards the ropes. Taylor went after her, turning the Champion back towards her and straight into a European uppercut followed by three haymaker right hands that all struck the brunette wrestler on the side of the jaw and caused her to stagger backwards into the ropes.

OE: Savannah beatin’ on her face like a drum, givin’ her that two piece, that three piece, that four piece special with the biscuits.

Zack: …..Yeah. She’s doing the wise thing too, and not giving her an inch. She has to stay on Pike, you can’t waste time in the ring with her.

Savannah followed her every step of the way and as Sophia’s back hit the ropes Taylor was there to bury her knee into her middle three times before she shot her across the ring. On her return the reigning No Surrender Champion found herself scooped off her feet by the Las Vegas born wrestler and dropped across her knee with a backbreaker before she was pushed off her knee and landed on the canvas on her front. Taylor didn’t waste any time at all, leaping forward and onto her back, planting her knees on her lower spine, paintbrush slapping the back of her head three times before she hooked a hand underneath her chin and pulled backwards for a modified camel clutch. As she kept the hold applied, Savannah shook out the arm that Pike had been working over, trying to get the blood flowing through it once more. Valero slid into position to ask the Champion if she wanted to quit only to get a ‘No’ from her and Taylor leaned back to pull back a little further on her head, bending her spine more.

Zack: Savannah’s trying to get some blood flowing in that arm again, and this camel clutch gives her a chance to do that and maybe plan a few moves ahead. Where do you think Sophia’s weakest from a physical standpoint?

OE: Her lower body. Think about it. All her shit, the armbar, the suplexes, the nasty shots. All of it is arm based. She ain’t do much with her legs besides to lift. Never really do ish wit’ ‘em offensively. That and the base of her back seem like the way to go to me.

Pike still refused to quit as the official asked her the question and instead planted her hands on the mat and with a grunt of effort started to push upwards. She got one knee underneath her before she threw herself to the side and rolled them both over. As Taylor landed on her back, she quickly wrapped her legs around the body of the Seattle born wrestler and attempted to lock in a Coquina clutch only for the reigning Champion to fight against it and deliver a back headbutt that saw both wrestlers roll away from each other. The pair returned to their feet simultaneously only for the blonde challenger to dart forward and catch the Champion with a high knee to her chest, forcing Pike to take a step backwards and allowing Savannah to catch her with a spinning roundhouse kick to the side of her head. Pike spun away after taking the kick and found herself lifted off her feet as Taylor grabbed her from behind and into a slingshot backbreaker. The Queen of King County rolled away, pressing her hand against the small of her back and Savannah measured her up and took the opening, leaping into the air and connected with a backsplash to Sophia Pike.

Zack: As much as Sophia is relentless, I’d call Savannah surgical. Everything has a purpose, a point to it. There’s rarely a time when she hits a move just for the sake of hitting a move.

OE: All them shots to the head, to the chest... Seems to me Taylor is plottin’ for that. What she call it? Ace of Spades?

The Las Vegas native rose to her feet and set off towards the ropes, building speed as she rebounded off the ropes, crossing the ring as the brunette slowly started to push up to all fours and leapt into the air to deliver a curb stomp that drove the No Surrender Champion straight down into the canvas. Immediately Taylor dropped down next to her and locked in an arm trap crossface submission, leaning backwards to pull as far back on her head and neck as she possibly could. The referee slid into position in front of Sophia Pike and asked her if she wanted to quit, only to get a muffled ‘No’ from the woman. Taylor began to jerk her head back and forth a couple of times before she leaned back once more and again the official asked but got another refusal from Pike who started to use her feet and free hand to drag them sideways with a loud grunt of effort. Once more Savannah tried to pull backwards further in an attempt to wring as much pain out of the hold as possible and make the hold as effective as possible. Pike’s hand wavered over the mat in response.

Zack: Sophia’s thinking about it, OE! She’s in that much agony! If she does, Team USA is gonna shut out more than one team in Global Wars later tonight!

OE: DON’T YOU TAP PIKE! EY! DON’T YOU TAP! I NEED YOU TO WIN SO YOU CAN LOSE LATER!

Robert Valero asked her again if she wanted to quit, Sophia not replying as her hand still hovered over the mat. Finally it fell but didn’t tap; Pike curling it up into a fist and punching the mat before she let out a loud primal roar and threw herself to the side as best she could, dragging Taylor with her. Stretching out her arm, Pike reached for the bottom rope and found herself scraping it with her fingernails. She stretched out a little further and just managed to hook her fingers over the top. Immediately Valero called for the break and when it was immediately forthcoming he pulled on Savannah’s hands and broke up the submission.

Zack: I don’t think it’s the referee’s job to put their hands on a competitor, you can run into a lot of pain doing that. But Valero broke the hold, and he’s already getting the look from Savannah.

OE: She looks hot. By that I mean pissed. I ain’t Mai.

Taylor glared at him from a sitting position and began to rise to her feet as Pike began to use the ring ropes to get back to a vertical base before she was pulled away by Savannah and into a spinning neckbreaker. Sophia held her neck and kicked her feet against the canvas in pain only for the former No Surrender Champion to pull her upwards and into a snap DDT. Taylor pushed up to her feet and pointed to the top turnbuckle as she gave a sign to the fans and began to climb to the top rope, perching herself on the top turnbuckle as she set up for the Welcome To Sin City dragonrana, waiting for Pike to get to her feet and turn to face her. Slowly the Seattle native pushed upwards, looking a little unsteady as she did so and flung herself to the side, catching hold of the top rope and causing Savannah to lose her balance and land hard on the turnbuckle arm.

Zack: There is no soft landing anywhere in that ring, least of that metal arm. I’m not sure that was intentional, she kinda fell into it. Either way, Sophia’s got herself an opening.

OE:  Opening? Fam, that ain’t no opening. That’s a wide open space. That’s rental property.

Pike grinned as she turned and made towards the corner, where she climbed up to the second rope and grabbed hold of a handful of Taylor’s hair to pull her head forward and into a series of seven rapid fire forearms to her face. As she finished up the series Sophia hooked her opponent’s head and brought her down from the top rope to the mat with a snapmare. Taylor’s eyes went wide as a hand went to the base of the spine and another to her neck only for Sophia to skip forward and deliver a stiff penalty kick into her spine. Savannah rolled away and began to rise only for Pike to grab hold of her head and bring a knee up into her face before she moved around her, grabbing hold of her attire and sent her shoulder first between the turnbuckle pads and into the steel ring post. Taylor held her shoulder and tried to step backwards towards the middle of the ring only for Sophia to again shove her forward into the ring post, earning her a reprimand from the referee.

Zack: Sophia using the ring post like a tag partner, and drawing the ire of the official. If he disqualifies her, she’d keep the title and she may break his arm for doing it.

OE: He got life insurance? He might need it, the way Pike and Taylor been eyeing him up every time he get a little too fresh.

Pike rolled her eyes at the official as she pulled Savannah back away the corner, hooked her and snapped her backwards into the mat with a side Russian leg sweep. Sophia grimaced on impact, her hand momentarily going to her back as she rolled over and then used both of her hands to pin her opponent’s arm against the canvas and went straight back to work on the shoulder she’d been targeting throughout the match as she kicked up into the air and drove both her knees into the joint and upper arm. She did it a second time and a third before she stayed knelt on the limb and began to fire off forearm strikes into the Las Vegas native’s face, forcing her to cover up.

OE: That is absolutely gross. Look at the impact of all of them hits. Hey! Hey! This ain’t no MMA contest!

Zack: Sophia’s treating Savannah’s face like red meat, and her arm is the tenderizer. Taylor is just getting pummeled here.

The referee demanded the break only to see the No Surrender Champion deliver one final forearm to the face before she acquiesced, pulling Taylor upright before she scooped her off her feet and delivered a shoulder breaker to the same arm. Savannah tried to roll away only for Pike to follow and deliver three vicious stomps to the shoulder before she pulled her upwards once more and into a hammerlock that she used to bum rush Taylor shoulder first straight into the top turnbuckle. Savannah held her shoulder as she stepped slowly backwards only for Pike to step out to the apron, where she reached over the top rope, grabbed the Nevadan’s wrist and dropped to the floor, snapping her arm against the top rope. Savannah spun away, holding her shoulder in agony as she let out a cry of pain and dropped to her knees as Pike slithered into the ring underneath the bottom rope, grabbed her head and delivered a low angle DDT.

Zack: This match has seen action in and out of the ring, OE. Savannah’s really gonna be in rough shape come Global Wars win or lose. How do you feel about her calling your stablemate ‘spank bank material’ heading into tonight?

OE: I’d say don’t be salty just cuz every dude who prolly smashed you moved on so you gotta take it out on my girl like that. Then again if I looked like how seasickness feels, I’d be mad at Missy too.

As soon as they hit the mat, Pike moved around her foe and continued to target the arm as she locked in a figure armlock. Savannah’s face was a mask of agony as she looked up and found Valero asking her if she wanted to quit, Taylor shaking her head and repeatedly told him ‘No’. As she refused Sophia screamed at her to quit as she torqued the submission hold further but only saw Taylor continue to shake her head and repeat ‘No’; even as her free hand pulled at her hair and face in pain. Pike continued to scream at her to submit as the former No Surrender Champion gritted her teeth and began to inch backwards across the mat, kicking her foot behind her as she sought the rope. She managed to move her body back another couple of millimetres, screaming out as it temporarily increased the pain created by the submission hold. She still refused to quit as Valero asked the question of her while Pike demanded that she give up. Kicking her foot out once more Savannah managed to hook her foot over the bottom rope.

Zack: I’ve never seen a case where an opponent gave up because they were told to by the opponent. And that streak won’t end tonight. It’s clear to me Savannah is giving this match everything she has, she’s not even thinking about the battle royal later. I don’t think so, at least. What about you?

OE: Ey, easier time for the rest of us, no doubt. Whoop on her ass, jawjack Fake Titties her partner and the rest of the teams can actually proceed to go at it.

The referee called for the break and didn’t get it as Pike upped the pressure that she was applying and screamed at her opponent to give up. The official again asked for the break and was about to intervene to pull Sophia away from her opponent when she rolled away and came to her feet, leaving Savannah rolling about the mat, holding her shoulder in pain. The Seattle native played up to the crowd who booed her only for her to give them the middle finger before she turned back to face her foe and grabbing hold of her wrist to pull her back to her feet and jerked her into a shoulder block. Taylor dropped to one knee with a grimace on her face only to be yanked back upwards and into another shoulder block that sent her to her knees. The Nevada native was dragged again to her feet and this time Sophia whipped her into the ropes only for Taylor to leave her feet as she bounced off them and catch Pike with a Thesz press knocking her down to the mat. Savannah took up the mount position and began to fire off heavy blows with one hand only for Sophia to roll her off of her.

Zack: Look at those piston-like shots with Savannah on top! These two flat out do not like each other, and I think it’s only gotten worse as this match wears on.

OE: I mean you heard ‘em on their promotional videos and shit. Pike sees that tag match with Taylor as the only stain since she got on the roster, and Taylor sees Pike as a pretender to the No Surrender pantheon. Like we was all on some Greek Mythology shit.

Taylor rolled away and pushed up to one knee as the Seattle native got her feet underneath her and began to advance on the Nevadan who suddenly exploded into her with a spear that drove the brunette back first into a mat. Taylor landed on her knees and grabbed Pike’s ankles as she forced her way back to a vertical base and held her legs apart to deliver two kicks to the back of her knee followed by two stomps into the No Surrender Champions lower abdomen and then wasted no time at all in stepping through and locking in a figure four in the middle of the ring, as she favoured her shoulder. Pike let out a cry of pain as the hold quickly took effect but refused to quit as the referee asked the question. Sophia’s hands ran through her hair and across her face before she stretched first to one side and then to the other and then behind her in an effort to reach the ropes only to find herself stranded in the middle of the ring before she tried to force Taylor’s legs away from hers but found the hold locked in tight. In frustration Sophia slapped the mat with the palms of both hands but refused to quit as Valero asked once more.

Zack: Sophia’s pounding the mat, she better be careful about that. Valero could call it a submission! I tell you what, there are teams watching this in the back who are begging Sophia Pike not to give up!

OE: DON’T YOU TAP! DON’T DO IT! DON’T GO INTO THE LIGHT! THERE’S HARPS AND CLOUDS AND MORMONS THERE!

The woman from Seattle, Washington took a couple of moments to lay back on the mat and tried to refocus, ignoring the referee who asked her if she wanted to quit. Slowly Pike began to rock from side to side, building up momentum as Taylor tried to stop her using her one good arm. The Emerald City Siren though continued to build momentum before she finally managed to roll over onto her front, reversing the pressure. Savannah’s eyes went wide and she shook her head, immediately stretching out in front of her and grabbing the ropes, prompting the referee to ask for and then facilitate the break by separating out their legs. Taylor dragged herself to the ropes and used them to start to pull herself upwards as Sophia forced herself upright, and hobbled slightly as she momentarily favoured one knee and darted forward in an attempt to catch Savannah while she was on her knees with a superkick to her jaw. But the blonde swayed out of the way and as Sophia tried to adjust, she grabbed her around the waist, came up to her feet and hurled her backwards with a German suplex straight into the turnbuckles.

Zack: You can see Sophia’s face, and know without a doubt how much that hurt her! Savannah is very close to becoming a two time No Surrender Champion!

OE: Nasty German suplex in the corner, I think Taylor just Megamann’d Killer C.

Sophia’s face was screwed up in excruciating pain as she sat against the corner pads, while Taylor rolled onto all fours, staring at her for a moment before she lunged forward and delivered a forearm to her jaw. Savannah used the ropes, pulling herself to her feet and delivered a series of boots straight into the Emerald City Siren’s midsection. Again Valero intervened asking for separation which only saw Taylor pull her opponent up to her feet, driving a knee into her middle before she whipped her across the ring. Sophia struck the opposite turnbuckles hard chest first and Taylor measured her up and took off after her, delivering a yakuza kick into the middle of her back that saw Sophia fall forward, her face striking the top turnbuckle. Once more the Nevadan tried to get life back into her arm as she rose to her feet and grabbed Pike around the waist, lifting her up and placing her on the top turnbuckle in a sitting position. Quickly Taylor stepped through the ropes and joined Pike on the top rope, hooking her head with her good arm before she launched them both backwards, driving her back first into the canvas with the Snake Eyes avalanche shiranui.

OE: SNAKE EYES!! Roll them bone... We comin’ up on the end again?

Zack: It certainly looks that way. I think Taylor can see the promised land! And she’ll roll into Global Wars sore, but she’ll have the titanium title in her bag when she does!

Sophia rolled onto her front and started to slowly push up to all fours as Taylor got her feet underneath and used the bottom rope to springboard into the air and delivered a double foot stomp into Pike’s spine. The Seattle native collapsed back down to the mat and Taylor quickly moved to her feet, trapping them around her leg before she bridged backwards and locked in the Ace Of Spades double leg muta lock, pulling on her head and neck as Sophia let out a screech of pain that she quickly silenced by biting her own bottom lip. The referee asked the No Surrender Champion if she wanted to quit and Pike refused, telling Valero there was no way in Hell that she was quitting. Taylor kept the hold applied with her fingers interlocked under Pike’s chin pulling back further and grimaced slightly as she did so. Again the referee asked Pike if she wanted to tap out but got another refusal as Sophia grabbed hold of Taylor’s arm and started to pull on it, trying to free herself.

Zack: ACE OF SPADES!! Savannah Taylor could be seconds away from regaining her title, and making Global Wars moot for a few in the back! Pike’s trying to find a way out though!

OE: Pike got a nasty little grip though on Taylor’s arm. I’m sayin’ man, her upper body strength is what she’s nastiest with.

Savannah kept the hold locked on, her teeth gritted as she continued to try and keep her arm in place and fingers interlocked underneath Sophia’s jaw despite the Champions efforts to free herself. Still Pike refused to tap out or submit as she moved her grip further up Taylor’s arm and began a series of short vicious tags that seemed to make the Nevadan grit her teeth even more as she tried to keep the Ace of Spades applied only to finally roll away holding her injured shoulder.

OE: Too much work Pike put in on that shoulder. Taylor couldn’t keep it together.

Taylor rolled away and came to her feet, cradling her arm as she rose before she tried once more to get the blood flowing through the arm and started to advance on the Emerald City Siren who was holding her back with one hand as she sat in the corner. As Savannah got close, Pike lunged towards her, grabbing hold of her opponent by her gear and fell backwards into corner once more, sending Taylor crashing shoulder first into the turnbuckle. Immediately Savannah reeled away towards the middle of the ring as Pike pulled herself up to her feet and darted towards Taylor, grabbing the back of her head and driving her down into the mat. The Las Vegas native pushed back up and quickly found herself pulled the rest of the way to her feet only to be sent flying with a butterfly suplex. Savannah landed hard and almost immediately began to rise to her feet only for Sophia to grab hold of her injured arm, twisting into a hammerlock that she used to drive the former No Surrender Champion into the mat with a hammerlock DDT.

Zack: Devastating impact right there, and Sophia is back in the driver’s seat! She’s gonna spoil Team USA’s plans after all!

OE: Take ‘em home, Pike! The rest of us teams in the back gonna be relaxin’ a bit!

As soon as they landed Sophia floated over Taylor’s back, grabbing hold of her injured arm once more and attempted to apply the Space Needle. Savannah had the move scouted though and pulled her arm back against her body before Pike could get a tight grip on it. Pike slapped the mat in frustration as she bounced back to her feet and turned towards her foe, finding her on her knees and skipped forward delivering a superkick to her jaw. The blonde rocked back to sit on her heels after getting her jaw jacked, her eyes glassy only for Pike to jerk her back to her feet by her injured arm, pulling her off balance and spinning her around to the middle of the ring before yanking her arm downwards into a double knee armbreaker. As Taylor landed on the mat, Pike rolled over her and locked in the Space Needle, causing her opponent to immediately grab for her shoulder as she cried out in excruciating agony.

Zack: There it is, the SPACE NEEDLE! How much of this can Savannah take?! Somewhere in the back of her mind, she has to be thinking she needs to be able to fight later tonight! How much pain is too much to risk everything?!

OE: Shit. You’d think some chick from Vegas woulda known better to go all in.

Valero dropped down to ask the Nevada native if she wanted to quit, Taylor shaking her head even as she pulled at her hair and cried out again in pain; all the while the Emerald City Siren was shouting at her to quit. Valero asked once more as Savannah reached desperately for the ring ropes, finding them out of reach and then tried to find a way - anyway at all to get Sophia off of her - tears starting to run down her cheek. Pike pulled back further. Savannah cried out once more and tapped the mat urgently. Immediately Valero called for the ring bell, Pike keeping the hold locked in tight until it finished ringing before she realised it and slowly pushed up to her feet, raising her hand in the air as she held her back while she looked down emotionless at Taylor who was rolling away clutching at her shoulder in agony.

Maggie: Here is your winner and STILL FFW NO SURRENDER CHAMPION…”THE EMERALD CITY SIREN” SOPHIA PIKE!!!

Zack: Sophia just keep turning them away! Savannah was in absolute agony, and no one can take away the effort she displayed. But Sophia Pike continues to be too damn good!

OE: Lemme see Team Japan win tonight. She’ll go from hearing she’s too damn good, to ‘it’s too damn bad’.

Valero retrieved the No Surrender Championship and presented it to Sophia Pike before raising her hand in victory then went to check on Savannah Taylor who was still holding her shoulder and arm against her body.

Zack: If I’m Steph Stefano right now watching in the back, I just realized which one of the team is going to have to carry the load after this. Taylor better hit an ice bath as soon as possible.

OE: Yo Taylor can just stay in back if she wants. It’ll be over quicker that way.

Pike moved towards the corner, holding her back and climbed up to the middle rope, holding the belt aloft before the show cut elsewhere.



Honor Bound

After a quick commercial for the new FFW video game with variant covers, the show returns inside the Staples Center as “We Own It” by 2 Chainz starts to play. The crowd immediately recognizes it, and gives the man heading out onto the stage quite a warm reception. Adam looks pleased as he listens to them a moment before being handed a microphone.

Adam: Thank you, it is a pleasure beyond words to be back home in Los Angeles tonight for Global Wars. Before I get started on what I came to talk about, I want to congratulate Bianca Reed on retaining her Aspire Ring earlier tonight against Kaya Crimson in what I thought was an outstanding example of what Future Shock is all about.

Both Kaya and Bianca’s mention gets quite a loud response from the crowd, causing Adam to nod in agreement before he continues.

Adam: 2017 has proven to be a groundbreaking year for Future Shock. We’ve crowned our very first tag champions in No Holding Back. We took the show overseas to both London and Sydney this year, another first for the brand. We crowned the first ever Prospect to hold the Future Shock Championship, Harley Shannon. And I’d go so far as to say the show has a tremendous amount of buzz around it with all the new Prospects we’ve been seeing and will be seeing. With 2018 approaching, I have been giving a lot of thought in what new ground we are going to break next year.

Mai: I hope it’s a wet bar at the arena, then I might come in and lend my talents in place of Lyn for you, Zack.

Zack: Please don’t put yourself out. Well….anymore than you already do.

Adam: I’ve already come up with a few ideas that I’ll be exploring further. But one idea I want to tell you about is something I find very unique. Obviously, we are all here tonight to see Global Wars and how six teams will represent their countries. And I wanted to bring...something like that to Future Shock. And as a result, I’ve come up with exactly what I think fits best. And it’s called Honor Bound.

Mai: If it’s anything like an honor bar, I’m in.

Zack: Could you just stop talking, please?

Adam: In Honor Bound, Prospects won’t be representing their country. I’m not trying to copy FFW after all. The Prospects will be representing someone they choose. It could be a trainer, it could be someone on the FFW roster, it could be a manager. But they will be competing in honor of the person they choose. They will earn points in their name the same way as FFW does in Global Wars. 5 points for submission, 3 points for a pinfall, and 1 for a win by disqualification or countout. That person that each Prospect will choose will be in their corner, guiding them as they progress through the series. In essence, they will be honor bound to the person they chose because they obviously don’t want to let them down. Each Prospect involved will have 3 matches in the Honor Bound series. The Prospects with the most points after all the matches are complete will meet, and the winner will have their opportunity at the Future Shock Championship against whoever is holding the title at that time.

Zack: This sounds like an interesting concept. I’m curious who will sign up, and who they will be representing in the series.

Adam: I’ll be looking to pick six Prospects to compete in the Series. They will have to decide who they are going to be Honor Bound to, and that individual will need to be present for their matches as well as helping guide them towards the ultimate goal of them challenging for the Future Shock Championship. And to the person they chose to be Honor Bound, he or she will receive a Hall of Fame style ring that they can wear. So to all the Prospects, the question is yours now. To whom will you be Honor Bound?

Adam’s music begins to play again as he heads to the back, while we see a promotional teaser for Honor Bound coming in 2018 to Future Shock.