FFW Global Wars - November 23, 2019

[Adam Grant]

Live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois
November 23, 2019

The FFW logo is drawn in graffiti on a brick wall before the sound of footsteps can be heard as four women are dressed in their street clothes heading through a rain-soaked alley. One is wrapping a chain around her fist, one is checking her makeup in a compact, another is pulling out some zip ties from her pocket. And the fourth is looking dead ahead as “Blow Me Away” by Breaking Benjamin begins to play. 

They fall in line
One at a time
Ready to play
(I can't see them anyway)

All four stop when they hear the sound of others arriving. Four other women come from the other side of the alley. One is swinging a kendo stick in her hand, while another is flexing her bicep. A third is dressed like a general with a red beret on her head, while the other uses a little parkour to run the side of the wall before hopping back to the ground when they see the previous for women standing across from them. 

Fire your guns
It's time to run
Blow me away
(I will stay, unless I may)

As the eight women stare across at one another, it starts to rain before we cut to footage of Savannah Star and the members of Chaotic Temptation having issues with the Franchise. Savannah is beaten with kendo sticks, and her future husband attacked by the Brazilian Storm and Jo. O.E. has her moment as No Surrender Champion ruined by an immediate rematch as Bianca Salvador takes the title back immediately. The members of the Franchise hold Missy down as Mallory Bennett shoves a soiled cloth in her mouth as she’s being restrained. 

Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven, when we die
I am a shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all

The shot cuts back to the street as the rain starts to pour before the eight women make a beeline for one another. Right before they get within reach, the reign of Shaughnessy O’Neill is shown from when she won the title in the spring, including her attack on Jo McFarlane recently. Samantha announces her opponent tonight, and then we cut to Sophia Pike rolling her head on her shoulders and waving at whoever is looking at her to come get her. 

There's nothing left
So save your breath
Lying in wait
(Caught inside this tidal wave)

The song softens as we see four women picking up wins recently, adding points to the Global Wars scoreboard before they are finally granted access into the ladder match. Lilly, Caitlyn, Areum, and Mel all are seen standing around a ladder, looking up at every title in FFW hanging over their heads. They look back at one another, seemingly ready to go to war before we cut live inside the arena with a loud roar greeting the viewers. “Blow Me Away” continues to play as fireworks shoot off from the stage, which is decorated like an army base.

Zack: On what promises to be one of the most historic nights in FFW history, never has there been a show more appropriately titled with what’s going down tonight! Welcome to the United Center, welcome to Chi-Town, and most importantly, welcome to the 5th annual GLOBAL WARS!!

Mai: Zack, what a card! The Global Wars ladder match, the FFW Championship and then there’s that up there!!

Mai points up to the rafters, where the double cage hangs over the rings. Spotlights flash all over it as many of the fans look up to it. 

Mai: Plus Bianca Reed gets beaten like a rabid animal by the lovable Melody Lennox in a strap match! The Fast Track title is on the line too, and won’t Lacey make a beautiful and perfect champion!

Zack: That all remains to be seen! Future Shock is also on spotlight when the Nova Championship is defended for the first time outside of Future Shock when Katie Hanley meets Luna Cortez! And there’s a whole lot more! So let’s stop talking about it, and send it up to Kat in one of our two rings!





Kat: The opening contest of Global Wars is scheduled for one fall to a finish.

“Just Like Fire” strums out of the system, bathing the arena in blue, red and white lights. As the verse is sung, Luci steps out from the back to a pop from the crowd, a smile on her face as she lifts a hand to them. As she drops her hand, Vincent Belmont comes out to join her.

Kat: On her way to the ring, hailing from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, weighing in at one hundred and sixty pounds, please welcome LUCI!

The blonde begins to make her way down the ramp, smiling all the way down. She stops at the bottom of the ramp and takes a step back, then lunges forward and throws herself under the ropes, popping back to her feet. She takes to the middle of the ring where she raises both arms out wide, spins in a circle and then heads to her corner, where she meets Vincent again, the two talking between themselves as the music fades out.

Zack: Luci has been racking up a few wins since she returned to FFW, but she’s got an opponent unlike anyone she’s faced since returning tonight. 

Mai: She’s no better than the bimbo who does our ring announcing, Zack. You need to be real with the people who are listening to us. 

The lights go out in the arena.

Suddenly, on the screen, the following video is being played….

A pair of boots is shown walking across the screen. As they stop and turn to face the camera, the intro of "This Time I Want It All" by Pea McGee plays, with the camera pulls back to reveal Valentina Lozano, dressed in her wrestling gear and standing in a dominant pose. Before long, Valentina begins to “levitate” upward, as if she is flying, just as the song drops, ending up…

…rising from beneath the stage, with the lights of the stage and the ramp illuminating in gold while the spotlight focuses on the stage. She’s still standing in a dominant pose, hands on her hips and squinching at the crowd in a look of detest, but nonetheless, ready to take care of business.

Kat: Making her way to the ring, representing The Privileged Circle, hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, weighing one hundred and thirty-five pounds. She is “The Latin Goddess”…

VALENTINA LOZANO!!!!!!

Valentina then confidently strides her way to the ring, with the spotlight completely focused on her and the arena erupts with a thunderous array of boos from the capacity crowd showering down on her, Valentina is soaking up the reaction, even though she ignores it. Meanwhile, while she’s walking down, Valentina's entrance video is shown on the big screen, profiling her likeness and footage of her in action.

As Valentina reaches the ringside area, she walks up and walks across the edge of the ring. She looks around the arena, not directly seeing the crowd through the darkness, but knowing that they’re out there as she sees the consistent flashing lights of the cameras and the still boisterous reaction from the crowd.

After wiping her feet on the apron and entering the ring, Valentina strides towards two opposite ring posts in where she climbs up and extends her arms out, looking on with a smirk and posing to the crowd with complete confidence. She’s taking in the atmosphere while the crowd reaction continues and the cameras flashing.

After going through her ritual, Valentina climbs down and makes her way towards the corner to take off her robe and then readies herself as she waits for the match to begin.

Zack: When it comes to Global Wars, Valentina has really made it her event. She’s been on the winning side for two years, and is the only woman in FFW who can say that.

Mai: It’s nice to hear you finally giving someone their due credit, and Valentina deserves it. She’s too successful at this event, and her nickname should be Miss Global Wars. 

As Kat makes her way out of the ring, referee Stephen Wilson completes a check of both competitors before calling for the bell to get the match under way. Valentina makes a stomping motion with her foot, telling Luci she is going to be under her boot before long, but the Australian rolls her eyes, not looking intimidated at all by the statement. The crowd fully get behind her as she makes her way to the centre of the ring. Valentina rolls her eyes at the crowd’s reaction to Luci, before she also makes her way to the centre. As soon as she reaches it she looks down at her as if she was something she stepped in, Luci shakes her head at the sight before delivering a quick headbutt to the Canadian followed just as quickly with a forearm to her jaw. 

Zack: Valentina might want to think twice before showing that kind of reaction to an opponent in future, but something tells me it won’t change her much. 

Mai: Why should she change? Luci should grow a thicker skin if she can’t take it!

Luci strikes quickly with another headbutt that keeps Valentina on the back foot, before she takes off past her towards the ropes. Using them to build up momentum, she comes back off them at speed to use a running bulldog to face plant the Latin Goddess on the canvas. Valentina pushes up to her hands and knees as Luci comes off the opposite ropes with a flying elbow drop straight into the centre of Valentina’s back to push her back down to the canvas. Valentina makes it back to her knees this time before Luci comes off the ropes for a third time, this time she connects a shining wizard to the side of Valentina’s head that rocks on her knees. A second knee strike to the head, rocks her even more before a big boot to her face flattens the Latin Goddess back first to the canvas. 

Mai: If Valentina were in this year’s Global Wars ladder match, she’d be the shoe-in to win the whole thing. I’m not gonna bet against her here either.

Zack: I won’t argue with that. But the fact is she’s not in the ladder match this year. So why are we talking in hypotheticals? 

Luci takes off towards the ropes again, this time climbing up onto the top rope as Valentina begins to pull herself up with a thunderous expression. The Latin Goddess makes it back to a fully vertical base, just in time to see Luci come off the top rope with a flying dropkick that sends her crashing back to the canvas again in a heap. The Australian comes off the far side ropes with another elbow drop, this time straight into Valentina’s chest before she gets into position for a cover, prompting Wilson to get into place for the count. 

Zack: One hell of an elbow drop right into the affluent heart of the “Latin Goddess” before the cover!

ONE!!!

TW-NOPE!!!

Valentina pops her shoulder of the canvas just after the one and grabs Luci by the shoulders to shove her away with a look of disgust at her and the crowd’s reaction to her. 

Mai:  Luci is taking her lightly if she thinks that’s enough to put Lozano down for anything more than a second. 

Luci rolls back to her feet with the live crowd giving her a lot of support as she does, before she takes off towards the ropes again. Valentina gets back to her knees and then quickly ducks to the side to avoid another aimed knee to the side of her head from Luci. The Australian stumbles forwards after missing the target but manages to right her balance before she actually falls. She spins on a dime and straight into a stiff forearm that Valentina that knocks her back a step on impact.  Valentina grabs her arm and pulls her forward into a short-arm clothesline that sends her crashing to the canvas, before she pulls her up into a second, and a third. The Latin Goddess pulls her up a fourth time but this time she whips her across into the ropes. 

Mai: This is what I love to see from Valentina, just raw bone power knocking Luci’s bicuspids loose for her. 

Zack: That’s precisely what opponents have to try to avoid when they face her. 

Valentina meets Luci in the centre of the ring as she rebounds off the ropes with a lariat that flattens her to the canvas. The Australian starts to get back up again only for Valentina to grab her by the hair and pull her up the rest of the way. As soon as she is upright, Valentina slams her face-first against her knee and then keeping her hold the Latin Goddess delivers a swinging neck breaker, which gets her a large amount of animosity from the crown. Getting back to her feet again, Valentina hits the ropes and delivers a leg drop, quickly followed by a second leg drop to the downed Australian. Ignoring the disdain being showered on her by the live crowd, Valentina delivers a knee drop into Luci’s head, before she gets into place for a cover.  

Zack: Valentina calls that PEASANT’S DEMISE and she is looking to call it a night right here and now. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-NO!!!

Luci kicks out before the two is complete, which clearly doesn’t please Valentina in the slightest as she gives the referee a disgusted look as she gets back to her feet. 

Mai: I think this bimbo ring announcer is over here cheering for Luci, and that’s not acceptable. 

Valentina sees Luci starting to get back to her feet and again pulls her up the rest of the way by the hair. She clocks the Australian with a pair of elbows to the side of the head and then fires her into the ropes. Luci rebounds off at speed and Valentina catches her for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker leaving her in a crumpled heap on the canvas. The Canadian steps onto Luci as she makes her way to the corner, and quickly scales to the top of the turnbuckle before she launches her straight off with a diving moonsault….which gets nothing but canvas as Luci deftly rolls out of the way of the impact. 

Zack: Oof! That was not the landing Valentina was looking to land right there. But Luci got the hell out of Dodge. 

Mai: Well if you can avoid getting hit with something, you should. That said, I’m sure Valentina will rebound and recover quickly.

As Valentina starts to get back to her feet looking a little punch drunk, Luci is straight on top of her, driving forearms across her back which keep her off kilter. The Latin Goddess staggers from the shots, until Luci stands her upright with a knee to her face and then shoves her into the ropes. Valentina attempts to dodge out of the way, but Luci quickly applies a front facelock and falls backwards to a kneeling position to drive the Canadian’s face straight onto her knee. Valentina bounces off and lands on her back on the canvas, before Luci throws her arm over for the cover, prompting Wilson to get into position for the count. 

Zack: A vicious Facebreaker DDT from Luci and she has a cover. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO-NO!!!

Valentina kicks out before Wilson can complete the two and Luci immediately gets back to her feet, signalling with her hand for Valentina to do the same. 

Mai: I’m telling you if this Grayson chick doesn’t quit her cheerleading, I’m gonna…. Send you over to do something about it. 

The Latin Goddess does just that and as she does, Luci runs past her to come off the middle rope for a lionsault… which ends with the Australian getting a face full of mat as Valentina rolls out of the way at the last second.

Mai: Ha! Valentina can avoid moonsaults too, Luci. Only hers was far more athletic than Luci’s. I’d give Luci’s a 4.

Zack: Taking a cue from Tara, are we? I won’t tell you the ratings I hear your commentary gets.

Valentina gets back to her feet as Luci makes it back to a kneeling position holding her ribs. The Latin Goddess doesn’t give her chance to fully gather herself before she yanks her to her feet roughly and applies a wristlock. Placing her foot on Luci’s face next she falls backwards performing an inverted stomp facebreaker. She then catches the Australian to lay her out with a rolling cutter onto the mat and gets into place for the cover as Wilson drops down beside them for the count. 

Mai: DIVINE INTERVENTION and Valentina is finishing this the way it should be. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!!!

Luci manages to get her shoulder up right at the very last moment and Valentina looks at the referee with disgust, before getting to her feet to square up to him, telling him that he wasn’t counting fast enough. 

Zack: I’ve never seen the argument about a count that a wrestler won with a referee, and that streak isn’t going to end tonight. 

Luci gets back to her feet a little gingerly and takes a moment to catch her breath while Valentina continues her argument with the referee. The crowd’s reaction to the Australian alerts Valentina to the fact she is back to her feet. She turns around just in time to see the clothesline from Luci, that almost takes her head clean off her shoulders. Luci backs off and waits for Lozano to start to rise. As the Latin Goddess gets as far as her knees, the Australian hits her with a shining wizard to put her straight back down again and earns herself another massive pop from the crowd. 

Zack: You could hear the snap off that shining wizard, and Valentina may think she’s back in Canada right now!

Mai: Won’t she be disappointed to find out she’s in Chicago of all places? 

Valentina starts to pull herself together as Luci paces around her, inviting her to get back up. The Canadian holds her head as she gets back up to her knees and starts to rise. Before she manages to get fully back up a spinning knee strike from the Australian puts her straight back down and Luci immediately goes for the cover with a hook of the legs for good measure. 

Zack: SHATTERED! And that’s it, it has to be. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Wilson gets back to his feet to call for the bell as Luci rolls off the cover with a little smile on her face. 

Mai: I blame this ring announcer for the victory. She may have slipped her fellow countrywoman something that I missed. 

Kat: Your winner……………………….via pinfall………………...LUCI!

Zack: Luci just keeps packing on the wins, and she’s heading into 2020 with another one! I think there’s gold in that woman’s future!

Mai: Ugh, I certainly hope not. I already dislike seeing her without a title. With a title may be even more repugnant. 

Luci acknowledges the cheers from the crowd with a smile as she has her hand raised by Wilson. Vincent joins her in the ring to raise her other hand before the show cuts elsewhere. 



Kindred Spirits

[Pre Recorded]

The scene opens up outside of the United Center. Not long before a long stretch black limousine pulls up. A man in a tuxedo exits the passengers side of the limo. He walks to the back, opens up the door. The first person who steps out the back is Melody Lennox, looking amazing per usual. One more person steps out the backseat. That person? Abigail “Serenity” Lindsay. The man in the tux closes the door. Abigail and Melody take a moment to soak in the atmosphere.

Melody Lennox: You, my friend, know how to arrive in style.

Melody complemented with a large grin as the driver rounded the back of the limo, grabbing their bags. Melody’s bag handle was stretched of her pink, designer luggage. She took hold of it, letting it drag behind herself on the wheels.

Abigail Lindsay: A Queen of your caliber deserves the best Melody. Stick with me, you’ll be taken care of. Promise.

Melody smiled, pleased. Making sure to keep the pace with Abigail as the two walked from the parking lot into the arena itself.

Melody Lennox: Look, I haven’t gotten the opportunity to apologize for how Bianca spoke about you. We all know that when it comes to the family tree, she got the short branch when it comes to everything, but nothing more important or pressing in this matter than class.

Melody frowned, tucking some of her pink hair behind her ear with her manicured fingers.

Melody Lennox: Rest assured. She’ll learn respect by the time this night is over.

Abigail Lindsay: No doubt about it. And no need to apologize, Bianca is one of those people who are under the assumption that having the biggest mouth in all the land is an admirable quality. What has her big mouth won her? Nothing. She got lucky at Sin & Sacrifice. What is going to please me tonight Queen, is you giving that rat the lashing her mother neglected to give her years ago. Whip her. Make B crawl on all fours. When she looks into your eyes begging you to stop, don’t. Tonight she learns the true definition of humility at the hands of her superior You. God’s... and my favorite wrestler.

Melody Lennox: Let’s be fair here, there’s not MUCH of a difference between the latter half of that statement. God knows talent, and so do you.

The smaller blonde grinned, turning her attention up to her much taller counterpart as the two entered the arena.

Melody Lennox: But, I’m afraid I do need to correct you. Bianca didn’t get lucky at Sin and Sacrifice. She cheated at Sin and Sacrifice. Let’s not get that much twisted. But there’s no cheating tonight, because there are no rules to expose. And I know what lows that that trash heap of a woman is willing to sink to now. It’s time to show her that I can go even lower if it means I come out on top.

Abigail smirks, liking exactly what she’s hearing.

Abigail Lindsay: I stand corrected. So, what do you want to do after the show? Ooo, I know. We can go back to the hotel, fire up the Disney Plus. We can binge on some classic Disney content. Sound like a plan to you or do you have something else in mind?

Melody Lennox: Ooh. You know, that sounds like a plan to me. The Unmatched, Unquestioned Queens, enjoying a few classic, timeless Princesses? We’re keeping on theme. I like consistency when it’s not annoying like that little blueberry I’m going to squish and drag from post-to-post.

She grinned wickedly. Abigail’s eyes light up.

Abigail Lindsay: Shame we didn’t meet sooner in life. Better late than never. This, right here, is the markings of a beautiful friendship. FFW better watch out. This place has been dominated by the same tired faces, we will inject much needed freshness into the veins of FFW. Global Wars, and the year 2020 belongs to us. You whip the blueberry to dust. I’ll show Andi Taka that getting my attention will not end happily for her.

 Melody Lennox: Which reminds me… we should totally stop for Jamba Juice on the way back to the hotel. Ehhh. We’ll talk about it. Best of luck! Not that it’s needed. I’ve got total faith in you.

Melody boasted with a smile, extending out one arm for a hug. She linked it around the waist of her newfound friend, given that she was so small she didn’t reach much else while smiling a very cruel, proud smile in Abigail’s direction.

[Adam Grant]

When the show heads back to the ring, it’s not Kat standing in the ring this time. Instead it’s the “Wildcat” Gabrielle Crimson with a microphone in her hand and a smile etched across her face. 

Gaby: The following contest is a Future Shock spotlight match scheduled for one fall. And it is for the Future Shock Nova Championship!

Zack: If you don’t watch Future Shock, fans, you’re in for a treat! The Nova Championship was crowned for the first time this past summer in Sydney, Australia! It’s been a hotly contested title, and we’re about to see why. Plus I’ve got Future Shock Director Adam Grant here with me.

Adam: I wouldn’t miss a Future Shock match no matter where it was, least of all on a stage like this. And I thought the fans might like to see our newest title up for grabs. 

Look out, they're closing in on you now
Wake up, or you’ll wake up six feet down
Nobody's got your back in this town
Knock 'em. In the. Teeth. NOW!

The intro to Set It Off's "Killer in the Mirror" starts on the sound system, and lights start blinking in random colors as Luna Cortez walks onto the entrance ramp. She's soon joined by her manager Christian Kincaid, as he stands right beside her to show her off for the crowd. She stops right before the ramp, taking a spin and stopping in a particular pose, winking for the cameras before turning on her heels and running her hands up her slender body and then bringing them above her head, only to then point to the ring... and then wave off the booing audience. Shaking her head, Luna then starts strutting down the entrance ramp, rolling her eyes at the fans in attendance as she makes her way to the ring.

Gaby: Introducing first, escorted to the ring by Christian Kincaid... From Fort Worth, Texas... LUNA CORTEZ!

When Luna climbs into the ring, she makes her way to the ropes facing the hard camera, stepping onto the second rope and sitting on the top rope, her back turned to the hard cam and the audience, as she makes a pose similar to the one she did atop the ramp, winking at the cameras before she waves the crowd off once again and hops back down to the ring, making her way to her corner and sharing some last minute strategy with Christian.

Zack: If Luna looks familiar to those who haven’t seen the show, that’s because she’s one of three triplets with her sisters, Tara and Anna. And she won this shot on a recent edition of Future Shock. 

Adam: When you said this title was hotly contested, you hit the nail on the head. Ever since it was created, it’s been a focal point for many of the girls on the Prospect roster. 

The lights dim, until only a couple spotlights are lit, swirling through the arena to an anticipatory murmur from the audience, as Forever Still’s “Awake the Fire” begins to play through the PA. The first few seconds of guitar riffs are met with just the spotlights, but when the beat picks up, the curtains pushed aside in either direction, and Future Shock’s resident Kiwi, Katie Hanley, bursts through the curtain, moving to the head of the entrance ramp. She hooks her thumbs under the championship around her waist, showing it off with a playful gasping expression, pumping one fist before throwing her arms up over her head and cracking a big grin. 

She takes a quick little skip of a first step, shuffling her way down the ramp and slapping hands with anyone she sees looking for a high five, even stopping about halfway down and having a little talk with one of the younger fans in the front row. The Kiwi’s grin gets even bigger as she ruffles the young fan’s hair, that half-skip pushing her back toward the ring, which she makes a remarkably quick sprint around, happy to still slap hands with anyone interested, until she’s back at her own starting point, in front of the ring steps. 

Gaby: Introducing her opponent, weighing in at 128 pounds and hailing from Wellington, in New Zealand, she is the reigning and defending Future Shock Nova Champion...this is Katie Hanley!

Katie pauses at the steps and takes a deep breath, then quick-steps up onto the ring apron, taking a second to strike a pose--rather than her usual peace sign, though, she unstraps the title from around her waist, throwing it up over her head, using her free hand to try to beckon the fans to get even louder. She grins and flashes a little wink before climbing into the ring, moving to the opposite turnbuckle and raising the title up again, this time for the opposite side of the audience, before hopping down and backing into her corner.

Zack: Katie Hanley is not a champion who shrinks from challenges. She’s as proud as anyone could be to be Future Shock’s first Nova Champion, and plans to continue it past tonight. 

Adam: Katie is a fantastic representative for Future Shock. I know for a fact from fans I speak with that she is a favorite of small girls who look up to her. I can’t fault them for feeling that way. 

Referee Ashley Pruitt checks both women for hidden objects, and holds up the Nova Championship over her head. Gaby takes it with her as she leaves the ring, and the bell sounds after that. Katie looks focused and determined, while Luna’s eyes are looking at the title as it passes by her in Gaby’s hands. As it looks like she’s about to take it for a moment, Katie goes to stop her and gets a thumb in the eyes instead. She quickly grabs the champion’s head and rakes her face across the top rope before spinning her around to bury a knee into her stomach. Luna drags her away from the ropes and pulls her head down to drive repeated knees into her face and body until she finally collapses to her knees. The challenger takes off for the near side with a hip check to Katie’s head that drops her to all fours. A leg drop to the back of her head finally puts her face down on the mat, and Luna takes a moment to bask in the non-existent adulation of the crowd. 

Zack It goes without saying that Luna has not won this match yet, and I don’t think she’s all that close either. But she’s giving Katie a chance to get back into it here. 

Adam: Luna’s attention span seems to be pretty flighty at the best of times from what I’ve seen. And that’s going to work against her here and the future, I’m sure.

Luna finally turned back to go after Katie, and the Kiwi caught her coming in with a palm thrust to the throat. It rocked her back a couple steps before Hanley whipped her across into the far corner. Cortez landed chest first before Katie followed her in with a stinger splash to her back. It drove her into the corner again before the champion grabbed her by the back of the head, and put her down with a reverse DDT. She made the cover after that, and Pruitt was ready to make the count. 

Adam: See what I mean? If she hadn’t stopped to annoy the fans, she might not be where she is right now!

ONE!!!

TW-NOPE!!

Luna kicked out before the two hit the mat, and Katie pulled her back to her feet by her arm. She fired a few front kicks into Luna’s body before yanking her forward into a short arm clothesline. She pulled back up again, firing a knee into her ribs before bouncing off the near side with a Fameasser. 

Zack: Katie appreciates the crowd as much as anyone, but as we can see, she is totally focused on the business at hand of defending her Nova Championship.

Hanley got back to her feet, watching for a second as Luna was trying to do the same. When she finally made it, the Kiwi unloaded with a stinging knife edge chop. Luna clutched her chest in pain before Katie fired off another. A third finally sent her back into the ropes before Hanley whipped her across for the ride. The champion caught her on the rebound with a high knee to the chin that staggered her backwards before a rolling koppu kick put her back on the mat once again. 

Zack: Katie’s feed are absolutely lethal, and she’s not shy about using them! Luna may not be sure if she’s in Chicago or Chattanooga. 

Adam: That’s one reason she is the Nova Champion. But I wouldn’t count Luna out. I know for a fact she can take a thumping and still keep coming at you.

The triplet rolled towards the ropes, and started to pull herself back to her feet. Katie measured her, and took off with a yakuza kick. But Luna pulled the rope down, and she tied her ankle up between the top and middle, which snapped her to the mat. Luna quickly got her bearings, and shoved the referee out of the way before she began stomping away at Katie’s body as she hung upside down in the ropes by her foot. Cortez fired kicks into her abdomen, and again shoved the referee away before delivering a knee drop into her head. 

Zack: Luna managed to low bridge that rope, and Katie’s hung upside down! She won’t let the referee free Hanley either!

Adam: All the Cortez girls are opportunistic, and they will seize on any opening. You may not like it, but it’s effective as hell, Zack.

With her leg still caught, Luna took advantage by firing kicks into the back of her knee next. Each shot caused Katie to grimace in pain as the referee demanded Luna let her free the champion. But Luna largely ignored her as those kicks to her knee and thigh continued. Pruitt finally got Katie’s leg free, letting her fall to the mat. Luna set that left leg on the bottom rope, and came down with all her weight across it. She rolled out to the floor, dragging Katie by the foot towards the post before wrapping her leg around it as hard as she could. The Chicago crowd rained boos upon her as she did it again.

Zack: Katie may not be able to stand for the rest of this match, not at the rate Luna is punishing that left knee. 

Adam: There’s no soft spot on those steel ring posts, but Katie’s knee is getting softened up in a sense. Luna’s vicious, and really wants that Nova title!

Luna glanced towards her manager before applying a figure four leglock around the post, causing Katie to sit up and shout in pain as the referee began a five count. When she got to four, Luna released the hold with her hands up. Christian gave her some advice before she rolled back into the ring, and dragged Katie towards the center of the ring to apply a standard figure four this time. Pruitt knelt by Katie to see if she wanted to stop the match, while Luna rained shots into the side of her knee. 

Zack: At least that figure four won’t get you disqualified. Luna’ relentless with those strikes, and can practically feel the Nova Championship in her hands. 

Adam: She’s effectively taken away Katie’s favorite kind of offense, those kicks of hers. It’s gonna be hard to do much if you can’t stand up on your own two feet. 

Pruitt checked with Katie to see if she wanted to stop the match, but the champion shook her head. Luna propped up on her elbows, watching the pain written across Katie’s face. The Chicago crowd began to chant for the champion as Luna sat up and pressed both hands against her ears. Then she started to pull them towards the ropes. When she got there and the referee checked with Katie again, Luna grabbed the middle rope with her hands to exert even more pain. Katie writhed on the mat before the referee glanced back to see Luna innocently propped up on her elbows. 

Zack: No point asking her what she’s doing, Luna wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped her on the butt. Meanwhile, she’s doing more and more damage to that left knee. 

Adam: Sometimes I wonder what referees think. Here she sees the rope shaking behind Luna. Does she think someone opened a window in the United Center or something? 

The crowd chant got louder for Katie as the champion propped up on one elbow, and began to try to turn them both over. Luna shook her head, and grabbed the rope again to stop that. This time, Pruitt saw it and released the figure four herself. Luna got to her feet, and gave the referee some static before she turned back to get Katie. When she leaned down to grab her, Katie pulled her into a small package to the surprise of everyone before the referee dropped for the count. 

Adam: Arguing with the referee never changes their mind, but it just might cost you the win!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THR-NOPE!!!

Luna kicked out in time before the three came down, and checked with the referee to make sure it was just a two. When that was confirmed, she grabbed both of Katie’s feet. But the champion pulled her knees into her, and yanked Luna into a triangle choke as a result. Cortez flailed her arms as she got locked into it, trying desperately to find the ropes. 

Zack: That was not the plan Luna had in mind, and we saw Katie try this against Sydney Christensen in her last defense at Future Shock Nemesis in Montreal. 

Katie tried to cinch the hold in tighter, but Luna was too close to the ropes and managed to get her foot across the bottom rope. The referee called for the break, and Katie obliged her by rolling away from the challenger. She used the corner to help her get up, though it was clear that she wasn’t stable at all. Luna wasn’t far behind her as she charged towards with a running forearm to the jaw. It snapped her head back before Luna grabbed her head and the injured leg into a fisherman suplex. The referee immediately slid into position. 

Zack: A fisherman suplex doesn’t get much more perfect than that, but is it enough to net Luna the Nova title?!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THR-NOPE!!!

Katie kicked out before three, and once again tried to get away from Luna. She made it back to the ropes, and started to use them to help her get vertical again. Luna moved in behind her, picking her up for what looked like a back suplex but Katie landed on her feet behind her. Hanley stumbled in place before Luna turned to face her, and immediately got pulled into an inverted stomp facebreaker!

Adam: If it weren’t for the ropes, I’m not sure Katie would even be able to stand up right now. But that was some pretty quick thinking on her part. 

Zack: You got that right! Luna never saw that one coming at all, and those are the shots that do the most damage, from what I’ve heard. 

With the Chicago crowd behind her, Katie started to get back to her feet again. Leaning heavily on the ropes to keep her up, she tried to work out her knee a little as Luna was getting back to her feet. Hanley moved past her, and started to head up to the top turnbuckle. Luna was back up before she made it, grabbed her arms over her head, and brought her down off the middle turnbuckle with a crucifix powerbomb. She lunged across her to make the cover with a hook of the leg. 

Adam: I’ve never seen use that out of Luna before, Zack! She might actually have done it!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!!

Pruitt held up two fingers as Luna looked up to her, causing the triplet to mutter something to herself. She headed towards the ropes, glancing over to her shoulder to see where Katie was before she got into position. 

Zack: I know what this is! It’s a Cortez family tradition with that corkscrew Arabian press! That’s gotta be what Luna has in mind!

Luna hopped up onto the ropes, and came off with her Arabian corkscrew press, just like Zack had said. It landed perfectly on target before Luna hooked both legs for the cover. Pruitt dropped immediately to make the count. 

Zack: There’s the C-BOMB, and I think we’re about to make Future Shock history, Adam!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

The referee called for the bell a chorus of boos as Christian snatched the title, and slid into the ring. Luna got to her feet with a wide grin as the referee raised her hand, and Christian gave her the Nova title!

Adam: You hit that one on the head, Zack. Wouldn’t you know it? The first time I put the Nova title on the line in FFW, it changes hands! 

Gaby: Your winner of the match by pinfall…..AND NEEEWWWW Future Shock Nova Champion…………. LUNA CORTEZ!!

Zack: Luna Cortez proved to be as dangerous as she ever was, and seized on a huge opportunity tonight in Chicago! And the Nova division has a new leader!

Luna made a point to climb every corner and hold up her new title, getting more boos from the crowd but overwhelming praise from her manager.

Zack: Luna Cortez has made history, and leaves Global Wars as Future Shock’s new Nova Champion! Fans, if you aren’t watching Future Shock, you just saw what you’ve been missing!

Adam: You’re right again. We have a whole roster of young women all hungry for success and the ultimate goal of making here to FFW. 

Luna and Christian headed towards the back as the referee attended to Katie, who was starting to move in the ring.

[Adam Grant]

Kat: The following match is scheduled for one fall to a finish!

Zack: Kat could have easily classed this as a grudge match, given all the interactions these two have had in recent weeks. I’ve invited Charlotte Harker to join me for this match, because she’s been in the ring with Andi quite often throughout her career so far. Welcome to the booth.

Charlotte: Hey Zack, pleasure to be here to give you my insight into this match. I’m looking forward to watching Abi beat Andi from pillar to post whenever she has the upperhand. It should be fun, don’t you think?

"IKU ZOOOOO!"

The familiar call of one Andi Takata cues the start of her music, 'Setsunairo' by TokiwoIkiru , as her rising sun of a video plays on the screens.

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

As the real lyrics begin, The Lucky Star rises up from under that stage on a lift, hands held high to praise the sun on the video screen. And probably some of her highlights.

#Tobe, tobe, hitome o ki ni shite kakushita te, ōkikuhiroge
#Te, to te,  ga fureau koto o osorezu ni, habataiteyuke

Takata turns around to the crowd finally, pumping her fist in the air to rally them with her!

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Takata dances to the next part, fist still going as her feet have her hopping around the stage.

# Deki nai, riyū o naraberu notte mechakucha, kantandakedo
# Sō janai akirameru no wa damedamedame kōkaishitakunai

Kat: INtroducing at this time, hailing from The Great Cosmos, she is a magical girl, the Genuine Space Princess and YOUR Sunshine Senpai…

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Kat: The Lucky Star, Andiiiiiiiiiii Taaaaaaakataaaaaa!

# Susumitaikara!
 
Our Sunshine Senpai starts to dance her way down the ramp, clear of the stage, noticing all her kouhai in the cheaper seats!

# Taninu, dōshi, onaji pēsu ja ,1 ban ni wa narenai
# Ushiro, yubi wo, sasarete datte
# Hashiridashita mon ga katsu, torubeki michi wa tsu~~~

As the pyro shoots straight up  and pops behind her, The Lucky Star takes off for the ring, slapping hands on her way down the ramp and around the ring before coming back around!
# Itsu made mo  kowagattenna, kowagattenna
# Dōse itsuka hateru inochinara
# Tobikonde,  tobikondeike

 Andi hops up on the apron, dancing around more along to her song, as if performing it herself. Which, if you're within earshot, she is.

# Mizukara o  utagatte na, utagatte na
# Jinsei ichi do kirina dekara!
# Sakaratte , sakaratteike!
# Onnanara  mai chitte, mai chitte sake!

Takata pumps her fist some more, trying to get the ringside crowd involved from her spot on the apron, moving herself back and forth to capture EVERYONE.

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Andi finally turns and hops over the top rope, running straight across, off the ropes and back again, putting both hands up into the air.

#Doki, doki, kanjiru kodō wa atsui mama, nagareteyuku
#Hon, kide, afureru koe wa “ madamadamada, konna monjanaize~~ ”
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Takata takes off for a far side turnbuckle, singing along to the crowd while posing on the top turnbuckle.

#Tsukamitaikara!
# Namida, korae, fuanna yoru o, ikutsu koetekita ndarō
# Ten to, ten ga, sen ni tsunagaru 　
# Shunkan shōmei shitai, mayō hima hanai~~

After a moment, Andi darts across to a turnbuckle nearer to the hard cam, and repeats her actions for the tv side before standing on the top turnbuckle itself to dance!

# Mizukara o  utagatte na, utagatte na
# Jinsei ichi do kirina dekara!
# Sakaratte , sakaratteike!
# Onnanara mai chitte, mai chitte, sake!

Andi flips down from her perch up top, landing on her feet and throwing her arms up into her classic pose. As the song fades down on more of the 'war' chant, Takata gets herself ready to go.

Zack: No matter what Abi’s reasoning was, she picked this fight with Andi all on her own. She obviously thinks she can make an example out of her. But you know well how hard it is to keep Andi down.

Charlotte: At this point, I’m not sure it matters why Lindsay has picked this fight, she’s gotten exactly what she wanted and now all the pressure is on her to step up to plate and prove she can beat a woman who has earned herself a place in the FFW Hall of Fame.

A loud purrrrrrrrrring engine can be heard from somewhere in the arena. The chorus of "Wreak Havoc" by Skylar Grey begins the play. Suddenly, a motorcycle burst from backstage. It stops at the top of the ramp, the person driving the motorcycle briefly takes off her helmet, revealing herself to be Abigail Lindsay.

Kat: From Los Angeles, California, weighing in at one hundred and fifty five pounds, Abigail “Serenity” Lindsay.

She places the helmet back on and drives down to the ringside area. She circles the ring twice. The bike comes to a halt. Serenity slides off, takes off her helmet. She hops on the apron apron, proving how flexible she is she lifts one leg off, then drops down in a full split. she slides under the bottom rope. She slumps down into the corner waiting for the match to start.

Zack: Abi has been rather impressive since her return to FFW, I’d say. And she’s been picking her targets on top of that. Do you think she might have bitten off more than she can chew here?

Charlotte: Honestly, I think there is a chance of that Zack. As impressive as she has been, she’s never been in the ring with someone quite like Andi Takata, she’s going to have to be at her best and at her most dangerous to pick up victory tonight. 

Kevin Fisk called for the bell to get the match started and even before it started to ring, Andi darted towards her opponent catching her foe with a running forearm strike to her jaw, sending her back into the corner. Takata quickly followed it up with another forearm strikes before she used a monkey flip to bring the Los Angeles native out of the corner and to the middle of the ring. As Lindsay rolled through and came to her feet she found Takata upon her once more as the Sunshine Senpai left her feet to snap off a head scissors takedown that once more sent Abigail spinning through the air and down the mat where she rolled through and started to come to her once more only to get a two footed dropkick to the chest from the Japanese wrestler that caused her to reel backwards into the corner once more.

Zack: How much do you think it’s bugging Andi that she wasn’t able to be part of the ladder match later tonight representing Japan? 

Charlotte: Andi’s a proud competitor, it’ll really be eating at her that she wasn’t good enough; that she came up short against Mel Avilo and couldn’t pull double duty here in Chicago. 

Andi gave her foe no time to recover as she stepped forward and began to drive forearms into the side of Lindsay’s jaw putting all her weight behind the blows. Fisk called for the break, asking Andi to back up and let the Californian out of the corner only to be forced to use the five count. He reached four then Andi stepped away, giving “Serenity” just enough time to draw breath before she took hold of the top rope and began to fire off stiff side kicks into her opponent’s midsection. Again Fisk ordered the break and counted to four before Andi heeded his instruction, the Space Princess grabbing hold of her foe by the wrist before she whipped her across the ring into the opposite corner. Lindsay hit the turnbuckles and Takata charged towards her only for the Los Angeles native to get her feet up and drive them into her foes face causing Andi to stumble backwards, holding her face.

Zack: If she had made it to the ladder match, I don’t think she’d have been able to give 100% to this match AND the ladder match too. 

Charlotte: I think she’d have tried to give 100% in both matches, but neither one of them are going to be easy or walks in the park and the strain would have caught up with her eventually. If we’d been lucky, she might even have gotten injured.  

Andi took a moment before she started to step forward only to find her top grabbed by her opponent as Lindsay stepped out of the corner and fell backwards, jerking Takata downwards and sending her face first into the middle turnbuckle. The Japanese wrestler started to push up on the middle rope to get to her feet only to receive a headbutt for her troubles, followed by a second headbutt before Lindsay grabbed hold of her opponent pulling her forwards as she scooped her up and dropped her with a snake eyes into the top rope. The FFW Hall of Famer reeled backwards only for Lindsay to push up onto the middle rope from the inside, measuring up her foe before launching herself into a flying clothesline that took Andi down to the canvas. 

Zack: Let’s speculate for a moment, and say you are in Abi’s corner tonight. What advice would you give her at this point? 

Charlotte: I’d tell her that the best strategy for beating Andi is to be absolutely relentless when you’re on top. Don’t let her have a moment to recover. Don’t let her wrestle the match at her tempo and keep her grounded as best you can.

Takata rolled and started to push up to her feet, getting to her knees as Abigail bounced off the ring ropes and caught her foe with a running knee strike to the jaw, sending her sprawling back down to the mat. Andi quickly tried to rise to her feet only for Lindsay to use the ring ropes to her advantage once again, springboarding off them to deliver a leg lariat that saw Andi hit the canvas back first once more. Again Andi tried to push up quickly only for Lindsay to skip forward and deliver a stiff kick into her foe’s ribcage, causing her to roll to her back which afforded the Californian the opportunity to leave her feet once more and deliver a double knee drop into Andi’s body. The former Unity Tag Team Champion rolled to her side, holding her chest for a moment before she found herself pulled up to her feet. The Los Angeles native hooked her opponent around the head and began to bring her knees upwards into her chest before she leapt into the air and brought Andi face first into her knee, causing Takata to fall backwards to the mat. Lindsay waved her upright as Andi got her feet underneath the girl otherwise known as Serenity skipped forward, burying a boot into her gut to double Andi over before she dove over her back and rolled her up with a sunset flip.

Charlotte: Beautiful sunset flip and Abi’s looking to put Andi away. May possibly be just a little bit early though.

One…

Two--

Zack: That’s the old bell clap right there, but with Andi’s legs providing the escape!

Andi clapped her legs together and rolled backwards, looking to come to her feet quickly as Abigail came to hers against the ropes and quickly spun around, jumping onto the bottom rope and from there to the top before she arched her back and connected with a moonsault to the rising Andi which saw both of them land in a heap in the middle of the ring. The pair started to rise only for Lindsay to get to her feet first and rake her nails down Andi’s back, causing the Japanese wrestler to arch her back before she was lifted upwards and sent stumbling forwards with an inverted Atomic Drop. Just as it looked like the Sunshine Senpai was finding her balance, Abigail wrapped her arm around her head and dragged her forward to deliver a bulldog into the middle turnbuckle. 

Zack: We can already see that Abigail’s working towards her end goal. You know she likes to use that high flying DDT of hers, and Andi’s felt it already too in recent weeks. 

Charlotte: She’s taking headshots at every opportunity she gets and looking for the knockout blow. Takata could find herself knocked senseless...more senseless than normal. The Doc’s must have really trouble administering a concussion test to her.

Takata staggered backwards, holding the top of her head and Lindsay again used the ring ropes to her advantage as she delivered a springboard knee strike that saw the Space Princess land on her back on the mat. Before Andi could start to rise to her feet, the Californian wrestler bent down and grabbed hold of her legs around her thighs and fell backwards, catapulting Takata chest first into the turnbuckles as her head snapped forward, her hand just coming up in the nick of time to stop her head from taking the full brunt of the blow to the steel ring post. Andi landed unsteadily on her feet and was quickly rolled up into a schoolgirl pinfall by Lindsay.

Zack: Abi’s happy to get the win as quickly as possible, and it looks like she’s on her way to that. 

One…

Two…

...THR-

Charlotte: Not quite. Not this time. But when you’ve rung Andi’s bell as often as Lindsay has, it’s always worth trying to surprise your opponent with a roll up.

Before Fisk could complete the count Andi kicked out of the pinning combination, sending Lindsay backwards into the corner and Abigail quickly caught herself against the ropes before she climbed up to the top rope. She measured up Takata as the Sunshine Senpai spun towards her and Lindsay launched herself from the top rope and caught her foe with a meteora, driving her back down into the canvas. The woman also known as Serenity popped back up to her feet and tried to rally the crowd behind her only to get loudly booed by the sold out arena. The Californian ignored the audience as she turned her attention back to her opponent, measuring her up once more before she dashed forward as Andi came up to one knee, Abigail looking to catch her with a shining wizard only for Takata to duck underneath the flying foot. Abigail adjusted in mid-air to land on her feet with her back turned to her opponent only for the Space Princess to pop up, grab hold of Abi and jerk her downwards into a double knee backbreaker, Lindsay bouncing off her foes knees to land on her own.

Zack: Conversely from Abi, we know how much Andi likes to use her Space Crusher. As someone who’s felt it, is there a way Abi can avoid it? 

Charlotte: You’ve got to be prepared for it to come at any time and you’ve got to counter before Andi can jerk you down and drive your head downwards into the Crusher.

Abigail quickly began to come back to her feet only for Andi to show that she too could use the ropes as a tag team partner, hopping off the middle rope and into a springboard headscissors takedown sending the American wrestler to the middle of the ring. Lindsay looked to rise back to her feet quickly but as she did so, Andi darted towards her and left her feet to grab her head and spike the Californian down into the canvas with a jumping DDT. Abigail began to push upwards, getting to her knees as the FFW Hall of Fame wrestler bounced off the ropes and delivered a bionic elbow to the top of her skull. Lindsay fell forward, catching herself with one hand on the canvas only to fall victim to a toe kick to the chest that brought the blonde up to her feet. 

Zack: Has it been enjoyable for you to see Andi struggling as she has lately since returning to FFW? Like Nevaeh, she’s been in a bit of a slump lately. 

Charlotte: I’ve got to admit, it has been good to watch Andi fail so regularly. Especially while she still has that chip on her shoulder and believes that she’s as good as she was before she took a short leave of absence.

Andi didn’t give Abigail a chance to recuperate before she spun around and caught her opponent with a roundhouse kick to the side of her head. Lindsay stumbled to the side and Takata immediately headed after her, delivering a palm strike to her face, followed by a second as she forced her back against the ropes. The former Unity Tag Team Champion trapped her opponent against the ring ropes and started to deliver her multi-strike combo, delivering rapid fire standing strikes to the Californian’s body which prompted the official to intervene once again, asking Andi to let her foe off the ropes before he started his count, threatening to disqualify the Space Princess. As he got to four, Takata shoved Lindsay back against the ring ropes before she fired the Californian across the ring with the Irish whip, bouncing off the ropes to meet the blonde with a running palm strike. 

Zack: Shades of Gillie Barnes right there with a palm strike right to the face! Andi’s borrowing a little from other playbooks against Abi. 

Charlotte: We’ve talked about how unpredictable Abigail can be, looks like Andi is fighting fire with fire and trying to show Lindsay a couple of looks that she won’t have seen during her research.

Lindsay hit the canvas and instantly sat up as Andi charged towards the ropes again, bouncing off them and came back to deliver a rolling neckbreaker to her opponent. As Abigail dropped back to lay back on the canvas, Andi launched herself into the air and connected with a double leg drop across her chest. Quickly the Space Princess made the cover.

Zack: Andi’s using her natural quickness here, and she may have Abi down for a three. 

One…

Two…

Charlotte: Just a two but the Space Princess is being to roll and that can only spell trouble for Abigail. If she wants to be successful she HAS to stop her cold as soon as possible.

Lindsay kicked out and was immediately pulled to her feet by the Sunshine Senpai who wasted no time at all in delivering a Mongolian chop to the blonde, following that up with an Irish whip into the corner. Andi followed in hot on her heels and launched herself into the air to deliver the Butt-Butt hip check. As the Space Princess landed upon her feet she unleashed her Starstruck attack delivering a bewildering number of spinning back fists and back kicks to her opponent in the corner as Fisk ordered her to let out of the corner and used the count to try and force Andi to comply. As he reached four, Takata dropped down to one knee, hooked her foe around the leg and brought her out of the corner with a dragon screw leg whip. As Lindsay hit the canvas, Takata kept hold of her leg and quickly pulled her into position to lock in a sharpshooter, sitting down low as she pulled back on her opponent’s leg, applying pressure to the American’s spine. 

Zack: Not often we see Andi going for a submission. She’s usually a “strike first and strike hardest” kinda girl. You think Abi’s giving her trouble or this is experimenting?

Charlotte: I think Abi’s giving her trouble and Andi’s trying to soften her up and plot out her next move here.

Fisk dropped down besides the blonde and asked her if she wanted to quit only to get a ‘No’ from Lindsay as she fought against the hold while Takata leaned back further in the hold. It got another ‘No’ from the Californian wrestler as she continued to try and fight against the hold, shaking her head as a look of pain started to appear on her face when Andi leaned back further still, applying yet more pressure in the hold. Once more Lindsay told the referee ‘No’ when he asked her the question. Instead the blonde wrestler began to force herself up onto her fists and started to walk herself towards the ring ropes, progressing slowly inch after inch as she did so. Fisk asked her again as Takata tried to make the hold more effective. Finally Lindsay managed to stretch out her hand and wrap it around the bottom rope. Fisk called for the break immediately and started the five count, Andi standing up and releasing the hold on four before she stepped away from her opponent. 

Zack: Andi took every bit of that five count she could get. I’m starting to wonder if maybe some of Abi’s comments about her are festering in her alien mind. 

Charlotte: You’re right Zack. Andi’s always been pretty spiteful though. It doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s trying to make Lindsay pay for anything and everything that she’s said about her.

Abigail spent a couple of moments laid out on the canvas, holding the bottom rope with one hand still while her free hand gripped the bottom rope tightly. Slowly she started to pull herself with the aid of the ring ropes and as she made it back to a vertical base, Andi darted forward, leaving her feet to drive her knees into her spine. The woman also known as Serenity bounced chest first off the ring ropes and staggered backwards, spinning around only for Andi to lift her into the air and drive her face first into the ring mat with a wheelbarrow facebuster. Lindsay writhed on the mat for a moment before she started to push upwards, only getting to all fours before Andi left her feet and delivered a double foot stomp that drove her back into the mat, causing Abigail to cry out in pain. Despite that the Californian forced herself to push herself upwards, getting to all fours again before Andi hooked her arm and rolled her over into a magistral cradle pinning predicament. Fisk slid into position and made the count.

Charlotte: Andi knows every single pinning combination in the text book and then some. She’s bringing them out right now and this might be a little too early to try this one.

One…

Two…

...THR--

Zack: Some may not appreciate her methods, but Abigail Lindsay is showing me a lot of resilience and toughness tonight. But I guess you have to be when you like to mess with people as much as she does.

Lindsay kicked out and was brought to her feet almost soon as the referee had confirmed the count to Andi, the Hall of Fame wrestler hooking her opponent’s head and delivered a series of five knees into her midsection. As the fifth connected, Takata released her grip on her opponent, allowing her to come upright before she sent her down to the mat with a standing dropkick. Abigail tried to scurry back up to her feet only to get caught with a flash kick to the jaw from her opponent which caused the American to stumble backwards towards the ropes. The Space Princess through stopped her before she reached them by grabbing hold of her wrist and sent her in for the ride, catching her on the return with the UV Rays double overhead chop, causing Abigail to collapse to her back. The Sunshine Senpai stood over her foe for a moment before she launched herself into THE Shooting Star Press from a standing position. As it landed, Takata hooked her leg as she made the cover.

Zack: One of her favorites! Andi stuck the landing on THE shooting star press!

One…

Two…

...THRE--

Charlotte: And STILL Andi comes up short!! You think it’s shaping up to not be the Space Princess’ night here in Chicago?

Andi looked up to the referee and asked for the three count, only to get a shake of the head and the two confirmed by the highly experienced referee in charge of the contest, causing the Space Princess to look at him hopefully for a second before she nodded her head and started to come to her feet. As she did so, she brought Abigail up to her feet and tied her up in a Full Nelson and started to force her to sway from side to side with her arms in the air for the Caramellnelson. Takata looked to spin Abigail around, trying to get her in a better position to deliver the Caramellplex, causing Fisk to hop out of the way and giving Abigail enough of an opening for her to catch the Sunshine Senpai with a mule kick between her legs, unseen by the in-motion referee. Takata stepped gingerly backwards, holding her groin as Abigail spun around, wrapped an arm around her foes head and dropped her down to the canvas with a snap DDT. 

Charlotte:  Mule Kick!!! That’s going to slow down anyone and Abigail’s not giving Fisk any chance to query it.

Zack: No kidding. She knows how to get what she wants in there, and is adept at decoying things from the referee.

Lindsay sat up, holding her back for a couple of moments before she pushed up to her feet at the same time as Andi and kept the Hall of Famer on the back foot with a rake of the eyes. Takata tried to clear her vision and as she did so, Abigail took a step backwards, sizing up her opponent before she launched herself into a bicycle knee strike to her knee, levelling Andi to the canvas. Andi took a moment before she pulled herself into a sitting position and the wrestler from California came off the ropes in front of her to drive a knee into her face, that sent Takata back down onto her back. Once more the Space Princess sat up and again, Lindsay dropped back off the ropes and charged towards her foe, meeting her as she sat up once more with a meteora that drove Andi downwards into the canvas. Lindsay quickly dropped down into the mount position on top of her foe and started to pummel her with right and left hands. Andi covered up after Fisk had called for the break and started the count though the Californian continued to deliver the shots to her foe’s forearms only relenting and coming to her feet as the referee’s count made it to four. 

Zack: If Andi can stretch the five count, Abi certainly has no qualms about doing it herself. She realizes what a win over Andi on a stage like this could do for her. 

Charlotte: It’d be a huge feather in her cap. Andi might be in a slump but she’s still a Hall of Famer and, for some reason, people still seem to hold her in high regard.

Lindsay rolled away as she came back to her feet and held her hands out to the side, asking for support from the crowd and getting a hugely negative response. She didn’t let it phase her for a moment as she dropped back to the ropes one more time, bouncing off them as Andi came to her feet and taking her down to the mat with a spinning heel kick. Takata rolled to the side as she hit the canvas, holding her head before she started to push up onto all fours which saw Lindsay deliver a double boot scrape to her face, forcing the Space Princess to roll over into a sitting position. As she did so the Californian dropped down behind her, driving a knee into the top of her opponent’s spine as she reached around in front of her and locked in a straitjacket choke hold, pulling back on both of her arms in an effort to make her submit - Andi shaking her head when the referee asked if she wanted to submit.

Zack: I don’t see Andi quitting, but the problem here is that she doesn’t have to. It won’t be long before she passes out with the constriction of blood to her brain! Unless space princesses work differently. 

Charlotte: I’ve found that she still hurts and bleeds like everyone else whenever I’ve hit so… I assume Lindsay will be able to make her pass out and I look forward to seeing it happen. Choke her out. USA!! USA!!! USA!!!! Am I the only one who finds the lack of patriotism in this crowd disappointing given it’s Global Wars?!?

Lindsay stood up, keeping a tight hold on her foes arms as she did so only to drive another knee strike into Takata’s spine and jerked back once more on her opponent’s arms trying to choke Andi out and put her to sleep with the Strait Jacket. Still Andi refused to submit as she tried to free herself from the hold, trying to jerk her hands free from Abigail’s vice like grip and having little success in her attempts. Again the Space Princess shook her head defiantly as the referee asked her if she wanted to quit, stretching her leg out as far as possible, only to find they were too close to the middle of the ring to be able to reach them. Again Fisk asked the question and got another ‘No’ from the Sunshine Senpai before the woman began to push upwards from the canvas, arching backwards over Lindsay’s knee as she began to try and straighten up...only for the Californian to use the straitjacket hold to drive the back of her foes head into the mat with an inverted sit out facebuster.

Zack: Let’s flip it around for a second. I know how you feel about her, but what advice would you be giving Andi right now, if by some twist of fate you were managing her?

Charlotte: Well, I guess that would mean I could tell her to quit and live to fight another day. Maybe come out second and hope her opponent falls asleep during her entrance? Beyond that, keep her distance, don’t get caught in close and use her speed and rapid fire strikes to stay on top.

Abigail shook her head after delivering the move and quickly pulled Andi to her feet and into a side headlock, using her grip to drag the Space Princess towards the ring ropes which she used to deliver a springboard bulldog to her opponent. Takata began to push upwards the canvas as if by instinct and was encouraged to make it the rest of the way to her feet and as the Hall of Famer made it back to her feet, Lindsay used the ring ropes to propel herself into a springboard roundhouse kick to the side of her opponent’s head, dropping her to the mat again. Takata rolled over, holding the side of her head where the boot connected and began to rise unsteadily to a vertical base only to fall victim to a springboard DDT; Lindsay standing her on the top of her head for a moment or two before Takata collapsed onto her back on the canvas and the Californian dove on top of her to hook her leg for the cover.

Zack: We could be three seconds from one hell of an upset!

One…

Two…

...THRE---

Charlotte: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Andi managed to somehow get her shoulder up. After that, she should be tested - she’s either on something or there’s nothing up there to hurt.

Andi rolled her shoulder at the last moment and Abigail looked up towards the referee, asking for three only for the official to show her the two count. Lindsay looked at him calculatingly for a second or three more before she jerked Takata up from the canvas and into a guillotine choke, wrapping her legs around her foes body to lock in a body scissors in an effort to squeeze the life out of her. Fisk immediately checked that it was a legal hold before he checked whether or not Andi wanted to submit and got a ‘No’ as the Space Princess seemed to be trying to find a way to escape. Abigail choked up on the submission, pulling her arms even tighter in an effort to put Andi to sleep, tightening up the body scissors as she did so too. Still Andi continued to try and pull apart her foes grip only to fail again before her movements started to slow, her arms finally starting to hang limp. Fisk raised the Space Princess’ arm in the air and watched as it dropped. He raised it once more and again it dropped straight down. 

Zack: Abi’s tried more than once tonight in this match to choke Andi out, but it hasn’t worked so far. She may be a little closer to the goal line now though.

Charlotte: Andi’s not moving and she’s just one arm drop away from this match being done and Lindsay walking out with a victory.

Once more Kevin Fisk held Andi’s arm and released it only for it to stay upright this time. The crowd began to rally behind Takata as she began to kick her feet against the mat, shoving Abigail backwards onto the canvas. The Californian kept both the guillotine choke and the body scissors locked in tight as she was forced to roll backwards and tried to pull the Space Princess back down to the canvas. Instead, the Sunshine Senpai pushed upwards to get her feet underneath and started to move around, pushing her foe across the canvas before she kicked out her foot and wrapped it around the bottom rope. Fisk called for the break and used the count to get Abigail to release the hold on the four count.

Zack: Once again, Abi’s milking that count. No one wants to see a disqualification, but Lindsay is definitely testing the referee’s limits.

Charlotte: Them’s the rules though Zack. She’s only got to release before the referee reaches fives - he chooses to give her some leeway in order to get a result, then she’s free to exploit that isn’t she?

Lindsay shook her head as she came back to her feet and looked to pull Andi away from the ropes. As Abigail got the Sunshine Senpai to the middle of the ring, she placed her foes head between her legs before she wrapped her arms around her waist and fell backwards to deliver a piledriver that spiked Andi down onto her head. Takata fell sideways to the mat and the Californian floated over into a cover, hooking her leg as she did so.

Charlotte: Beautifully done by Abigail Lindsay and I think that should just about do it. Stick a fork in Andi, she’s done.

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zack: Abigail Lindsay is so close to victory that she can feel it! But she’s learning once again why Andi has all the accolades that she does.

At the very last second Andi’s shoulder popped up off the canvas and fell back down to the mat as Fisk showed the two count to Abigail and pointed down to the shoulder of the unmoving Hall of Famer. It caused the American to ask the referee for the three count once more only to be refused as Fisk told her again it was only two, getting another glare from the competitor. Finally Lindsay rose to her feet and headed towards the corner, cracking her knuckles and licking her lips before she stepped out onto the apron and climbed to the top rope as Andi began to push upwards. Lindsay waved her upwards and as Andi came to her feet, Abigail launched herself into the Serenity Now Shooting Star DDT only for Takata to spin out of the way at the last moment. Lindsay adjusted in mid-air to land on her feet and as she spun around to face her foe the Sunshine Senpai caught her with a superkick.

Zack: Big time superkick from the space princess! Sometimes these start a party, which you’ve been invited to more than once, Charlotte!

Charlotte: That I have Zack and I promise you that they are not at all fun parties to visit. Though I can’t imagine any party thrown by Andi is a lot of fun - even Kaoru’s abandoned her.

Abigail hit the canvas and came unsteadily back to her feet, holding her jaw only to eat another superkick that flattened her once again only for Lindsay again to stagger up to her feet where she caught another superkick knocking her down to the canvas. Again the Californian native rose back to her feet, holding her jaw once more with both hands and was on the wrong end of a third superkick that saw her fall back into the corner, holding herself up by the ring ropes. Andi wasted no time at all in delivering three more superkicks in quick succession to her opponent before she pulled her out of the corner and jerked her downwards into a small package pinning combination.

Charlotte: Those superkicks have led to a small package… Abigail might not have a clue where she is right now!! I’ve got to give it to Andi, those superkicks can be effective.

One…

Two…

...THRE---

Zack: Neither one of these two are going to go down easily! I’m used to seeing this from Andi, but I gotta give Abi credit too.

Lindsay kicked out ahead of three, which saw Andi roll back to her feet and immediately called out “SHINING STAR!!!” as she charged forward, stepping up onto her opponent’s thigh as she made it to one knee and drove her boot into the side of Abigail’s head with a shining wizard kick. As the Californian wrestler fell backwards to the mat, Andi moved quickly and launched herself into a standing moonsault that connected perfectly across her opponent’s body before the former Unity Tag Team Champion hooked her leg to make the pinfall.

Zack: A scintillating moonsault, and that could be the end of the road for Abi in Chicago!

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charlotte: SOOOOO Close!!! But Abigail is showing that anything Andi can do, she can do better!

Andi stared at the referee as he held up two fingers to confirm the two count to the Space Princess who asked for the three to make sure one more time only for Fisk to show her the two once again. Finally Andi nodded her head, coming back to her feet and pulling her opponent upwards with her and began to unload on the side of her head with a series of rapid fire forearms which kept Lindsay wobbling on her feet before Andi took off across the ring, launching herself into a handspring on her return as she went for the Space Crusher….

Zack: Uh oh, starting to have watercolor flashbacks all of a sudden here, Charlotte?!

Charlotte: Told you she could hit this out of nowhere. Even with the showboat--NO!!!!

...only for Lindsay to push her off of her, sending the Sunshine Senpai stumbling forwards before she spun around and received a double handed thrust to her throat. As Takata gasped for breath, Abigail dropped back towards the ring ropes, springboarding off the middle rope and delivered a disaster kick to her foe’s face. Andi teetered for a moment before she fell backwards like a tree felled by a lumberjack. As she landed on her feet, Abigail took a moment to get her balance before she headed towards the corner, cracking her knuckles once more. As she started to climb to the top rope once more, Andi rolled over to her front and started to push upwards slowly. As the Japanese wrestler got to her feet, Abigail launched herself from the top rope and into the Shooting Star DDT - Serenity Now - landing it perfectly as she drove her foe into the canvas headfirst. Lindsay quickly made the cover, hooking Andi’s leg as she did so.

Charlotte: SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lindsay hit it perfectly and that’s got to be all for Andi!! Surely!!! What else could Abigail hit her with?!?

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fisk called for the bell as Lindsay rolled away to a sitting position as the crowd booed her loudly as a smile spread across her face and she was helped back to her feet by the referee.

Zack: Abigail Lindsay has done it again! She picked this fight, Charlotte, and she made sure she finished it too! What a win to put in her record book!

Kat: Here is your winner, by way of pinfall...ABIGAIL LINDSAY!!!

Charlotte: She picked a fight at the right time with a slumping Hall of Famer and now she can revel in the glow of victory and enjoy all the rewards that I’m sure will come her way.

The referee raised her hand in the air, getting her a louder boo from the crowd, not that Lindsay seemed to care as she began to celebrate her victory while Andi rolled out of the ring to the floor, holding the top of her head as she landed on her feet before the show cut elsewhere.



Gold Standard United

The FFW Unity Titles are on display in a close up as the shot pulls back to show them in the hands of Valerie McKinley and Lacey. But joining them in the shot is their manager, Kyle Kilmeade, as well as the “Lioness” Elizabeth Lannister and Jordan Majors. 

Kyle: How long did I tell you this was going to happen? How many times? And look what happened. At Breaking Point, FFW finally got new Unity Champions that will carry these titles the way they deserve to be. And tonight, I’ve gathered everyone for a singular reason. But first, let your champions address you.

Valerie: How many different ways do you people want us to say “I told you so?” I mean honestly, it’s getting KIND of repetitive at this point. Buuuutttt…..we told you so. When are you people going to realize that when it comes to value and worth, gold is always the best investment? We know our worth. Kyle definitely knows our worth. And now, O.E. and Scarlett know our worth as well. Now don’t get me wrong. They were ...adequate champions. They just never got the chance to really show what tag team wrestling is all about. But Lacey and I can, and we will. Now the former champions can sit back and watch as we repeat the historic run we had down in Future Shock here on the main roster.

Lacey: We’re not only going to repeat the historic run we had with the Future Shock tag Championships, we are going to better it. The run we had in the Future Shock is going to look like a dress rehearsal by the time we get through with our reign as your FFW Unity Champions. 

Kyle: And in just a few moments, we will be adding the Fast Track Championship to the collection when Lacey does what she’s already done by pinning Harley Shannon for another three count. The only difference this time is she gets to add more gold to the collective. 

Lacey: It’s only a matter of time now. Before the end of the night I will be adding another Championship to my list of ever growing accomplishments. People really should just stop trying to deny the inevitable, considering that doubt the Gold Standard is starting to make them look even more stupid than they already are. 

Kyle: Now with all that said, I wanted to go ahead and welcome the newest member of the Gold Standard. At Breaking Point, this girl right here proved how much she wanted to be part of this group, and earned her spot in the best way possible. We’re all very proud of you.

Kyle gives Jordan a side hug, looking down to her with a smile on his face. 

Jordan: From the moment I stepped into this company, Kyle has had his eye on me and I’ve had my eye on the Gold Standard. It was only a matter of time before I found a way to show these women and their manager that I was not only perfect for their group, but that I truly was - golden.

Valerie: Jordan is coming into a group that is known for success, and she absolutely proved that she is about this life like the rest of us. She has the absolute potential to make it to the top, and she’s got the right group around her to help get to that level.

Lacey: Nobody can deny that Kyle has an eye for talent. Just look at the calibre of talent he manages and the proof is right there for all to see clearly. 

Kyle glanced towards the “Lioness” and then back to the camera. 

Kyle: Elizabeth, tell everyone how it felt to not only watch Valerie and Lacey become the Unity Champions, but welcoming a new addition into this sisterhood in Jordan. 

Elizabeth: I couldn’t be happier for Valerie and Lacey. Everyone told them that they didn’t stand a chance against O.E. and Scarlett. Everyone told them that they were in over their heads. Who exactly is having the last laugh? The former champions are going to have an even worse time tonight when they get taken out in War Games. As for us? We’re going to be sitting pretty. Jordan is a perfect fit to the sisterhood, and I am very excited to see what the coming year brings us.

Jordan: If you thought my golden mist was just a stunt to join the Gold Standard than you are sadly mistaken. This is just the beginning. The new year will only bring me more opportunities to breathe my own brand of golden fire on anyone who dares to stand in our way. In 2020, we’ll all be Gold together.

Kyle: Long story short, folks, is 2020 is gonna see the Gold Standard live up to that name even more than it ever has before. Now if you’ll excuse Lacey, we got a title to go win. 

He offers Lacey an arm before the pair head off camera, while Valerie and Elizabeth both praise Jordan and welcome her aboard the group. The show then heads back to the ring after a highlight package for the Fast Track Championship match.

[Adam Grant]

Kat: The following match is scheduled for one fall to a finish and is for the FFW Fast Track Championship!!!

Zack: It’s time for our second championship match of the night after a heated Nova title match earlier. I’ve got one of Harley Shannon’s best friends in the world here with me, and a woman who could be the next Aspire Champion in January. Mara, welcome to Global Wars!

Mara: Good evening Zack and thank you for that warm welcome. I’m sure this is going to be one heck of a match. 

The lights dim as the opening bars of Turn You On by Stitched Up Heart hit the speakers around the arena.

Are you awake, You're gonna have to hear the words I say
Don't you try turn away, I'm everything you ever dreamed I'd be
I'll make you wish that you never talked, Back to me
I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
Your pain will set me free

A red spotlight hits the curtain and Kyle Kilmeade walks out and proceeds to hold it open for Lacey to walk through. Stepping onto the stage in front of Kyle, Lacey wears a green and black one piece, which has a deep vee cut all the way to her navel, black fishnet tights and matching green and black boots. She runs her hands down her curves, while giving a little sway of her hips and then stands with her arms folded across her chest and her head lowers. 

I'd bite I'd scratch I'd hold you down, Just to turn you on
I'd leave you waiting tied and bound, Just to turn you on
Close your eyes, And come with me tonight
I'd burn this whole room to the ground, Just to turn, just to turn you on

She snaps her head up and flings her arms out at the sides of her in one fluid motion, almost as if someone has just pulled the strings on a puppet. Keeping her gaze straight ahead she slowly smirks before lowering her arms to her sides and making her way down the ramp with Kyle walking beside her.

I'll make you beg, I'm gonna teach you things you won't forget
Don't you try turn away, I'm everything you ever dreamed I'd be
I'll make you wish that you never talked, Back to me
I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
Your pain will set me free

Kat: Making her way to the ring at this time,.....She is one half of your FFW Unity Tag Team Champions…..LAAAAACEEEEEY!!!

I'd bite I'd scratch I'd hold you down, Just to turn you on
I'd leave you waiting tied and bound, Just to turn you on
Close your eyes, And come with me tonight
I'd burn this whole room to the ground, Just to turn, just to turn you on

Completely ignoring the crowd at either side of the ramp, Lacey speeds up as she reaches the ring and jumps up onto the apron. Taking hold of the top rope with both hands, she slowly and seductively sways her hips and wiggles her way down and back up, almost like a serpent, before springboarding over the top rope. When she lands in the ring she immediately drops down into the splits and stays there for a moment with her arms outstretched. After getting back to her feet, she climbs up onto the top turnbuckle facing the outside. Pulling something from her top she opens her palm and blows the contents into the crowd.

I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
And all the pain you feel will set you free
If you behave this night will never end
Turn off the lights and start again

The lights shut off completely for a second at the end of the theme, when they come back on, Lacey is standing in her corner sharing some last minute words with Kyle, handing him her Unity Tag Team Championship belt for safe keeping.

Zack: Lacey’s looking to become a magpie tonight if she can collect a second title. Those of you who saw Breaking Point saw her and Valerie become the new Unity Tag Champions with the help of Jordan Majors. How confident do you think Lacey is feeling off the back of that match? 

Mara: Have you ever known Lacey to be short of confidence Zack? I think she’ll be stood in that ring right now and will be supremely confident that she’s going to be leaving with the Fast Track Championship tonight.

There’s a short silence as the arena falls dark, building up the tension before “Seven Notes in Black” by The Vince Tempera Orchestra starts to play and a single spotlight falls on the middle of the stage, straight onto the flame haired Future Shock Prospect with the Future Shock Championship held high above her head. As the crowd cheer wildly for her, Harley holds the pose for a couple of moments, until the song stops playing for a couple of seconds. The girl was wearing a leather jacket over her ring gear; her head tied up in a bun, held in place by two chopsticks. She was joined on the stage by Jake Chandler who applauded her.

Kat: Weighing in at 122 lbs, standing 5’6” tall and coming from Hanover, New Hampshire. She is the FFW FAST TRACK CHAMPION...HARLEY SHANNON!!!

After a couple of moments of silence the song starts up once more - with a more eerie tone and at that moment Harley starts off down the ramp, shedding her leather jacket before reaching back and pulling the chopsticks out of her hair and shaking her head to let her bright, flame red hair fall down around her shoulders. As she got to the bottom of the ramp, the girl picked out a young fan at ringside, giving the chopsticks to the fan before she slides into the ring and popped to her feet. Heading for the corner, Harley climbed to the middle rope, holding the title high into the air to get cheers from the fans before she dropped back down to the canvas in the corner, where Jake was stood on the outside. She held the title up in front of her, giving the faceplate a kiss before she surrendered the championship to the referee and waited for the match to start.

Zack: Some would say, Mara, that this is a case of the champion needing to show she can beat the challenger. I know Lacey’s said that too. Do you think that’s playing on Harley’s mind? Could it be a distraction for her?

Mara: I know it’s on her mind, she’s spoken about it too - that the record books show Lacey has a victory over it, regardless of how it came about and I think that she’s going to want to prove a lot of things after what happened at 2nd Impact.

Malcolm Parks took the title from the flame haired wrestler and walked it across the ring to present the prize to the challenger. Immediately Lacey took it from him and raised it above her head before she placed it upon her shoulder, asking the crowd ‘Wouldn’t it look great on me?’ The sold out arena booed and jeered the Gold Standard member as she paraded around the ring with the title...only to be knocked down to the mat by a discus forearm from Harley. Lacey rolled and started to come back to her feet, the Fast Track Championship still held on her shoulder as the bell rang and Shannon pulled the red haired wrestlers head downwards, driving her knees up into her face before hooking her head and driving her into the mat with a DDT. 

Zack: I think the lesson to be learned here, Mara, is to keep your hands off a title until you’ve won it! Lacey seemed to believe this is a foregone conclusion. 

Mara: That’s certainly going to annoy Harley and after everything that has been said in the build up to this match...You’ve got to think that she was already a little bit wound up.

Lacey rolled away and again began to rise to her feet, still holding onto the Fast Track Championship only for Harley to grasp her wrist and jerk her forward into a T-Bone suplex. It finally saw the Gold Standard member release the title belt as she landed, allowing the referee to scoop it up as Lacey once more started back to her feet only for Harley to catch her with a running high knee to her chest that sent Lacey backwards into the corner. Shannon stepped up onto the middle rope and immediately began to rain down closed fist shots into her opponent’s forehead while Parks moved to hand the title off to a ringside assistant. The crowd were counting the blows and had already reached ten before Parks came back towards the two wrestlers, asking for the break and starting to use the count on the defending Champion; the referee reaching four as the crowd counted the twentieth blow before Harley dropped back down to her feet in front of her opponent, holding her ribs for a moment. Ignoring the effect of the match with Jacqui Minogue a few days prior, she one more grabbed hold of the challengers wrist to pull her forward out of the corner and once more sent her down to the canvas with a rolling elbow strike to the side of her head.

Zack: I’m seeing a much more aggressive Harley her in this match. She definitely is fighting like she has something to prove to everyone… including herself. 

Mara: We’ve already talked about Harley having something to prove and it wouldn’t surprise me if she was trying to end this quickly after having Jacqui work over her ribs a few nights ago.

Lacey staggered to the side, catching hold of the ropes to keep herself upright before she came off them, still unsteady on her feet and was caught by Harley with a bicycle kick to her jaw. Once more the red haired woman fell backwards into the ring ropes and this time when she bounced off them, Harley caught her with a kick to the stomach. Lacey doubled over and the orange haired Fast Track Champion grabbed hold of her opponent by the head, spinning her around and drove the Challenger into the canvas with a sit out facebuster. Quickly Harley made the cover, hooking the leg as she did so.

Zack: Harley’s already looking to call it a night, but this may be premature just yet with Lacey!

One…

Two--

Mara: Two count, but Lacey had the wherewithal to kick out and is still in this one. Can she turn the tide?

Lacey kicked out as the referee’s hand met the canvas and the Challenger rolled away, across the ring and to the outside. The Gold Standard member landed on her feet and held her head and nose as she was joined by Kyle. Her manager tried to give her advice but only had a few scant seconds before Harley came charging across the ring and launched herself into a baseball slide which caught the challenger perfectly in the jaw, sending her back into the ringside barriers. Harley didn’t give her any time at all to recover as she stepped towards her and began to drive knees into her midsection. Five landed before she took hold of her head by a handful of hair and rolled her back underneath the bottom rope into the ring. The flame haired wrestler gave Kyle a death glare for a second or two before she slid back into the ring and popped back up to her feet. She measured up her challenger as Lacey came to her feet and immediately went to deliver a flash kick to the jaw to start The Eruption.

Zack: How right I was! Harley was already aiming for her finisher, but Lacey is far too cognizant right now for that! She’s not gotten her worn down enough yet. 

Mara: You know that Kyle will have prepared for that and have it well scouted and so it proved. Harley might just have given her opponent the opening she needs and Lacey will make her pay for that.

...Only Lacey saw it coming and caught her foot by the ankle before the blow could land. Harley hopped up and down for a second before Lacey spun her around and launched herself forward to catch the flame haired woman with a stiff clothesline to the back of her head, sending the Fast Track Champion down to the canvas, Lacey landing on her knees next to her as she did so. The Challenger quickly forced herself back to her feet, holding her head for a moment as she did so before she dropped back to the ropes, bouncing off them as Harley made it back to her feet and the redhead caught her with a jumping knee strike to the side of her head. Harley stumbled to the side, trying to keep her feet underneath only for Lacey to grab her around the legs, hoist her up into the air and drop the Fast Track Champion face first into the mat with a flapjack. 

Zack: It’s easy to get caught up in the presentation that Lacey has around her. If you look past that, she is a very skilled competitor in there. Her career title history in such a short time is proof of that.

Mara: I can’t disagree with that statement. Lacey can be devastating inside that ring, regardless of what you might think of her and her attitude. Harley’s going to have that reinforced to her right now in the worst way possible...for her.

Harley bounced up off the canvas onto her knees, holding her chest as Lacey made it back to her feet and began to fire kicks into her opponents body as the orange haired wrestler slowly started to rise back to her feet. As Shannon made it to her feet, the Challenger took her straight back down to the canvas with a neckbreaker. The Fast Track Champion held her neck for a moment as Lacey came to one knee, holding her arms wide with a grin on her face - which only got her booed once more by the capacity crowd. The New Hampshire native sat up and as soon as she did so, Lacey drove her knee into the top of her foes spine before she locked in a straitjacket rear chinlock, crossing Harley’s arms over in front of her chest as she pulled backwards while keeping her knee pressed against Shannon’s spine. Parks dropped down in front of the Fast Track Champion, asking her if she wanted to submit and getting a ‘No’ from the woman.

Zack: I can’t see Harley giving up. Not after all that Lacey has said about her, and the week she’s had so far.

Mara: No, not at all. Harley will definitely persevere and will go after what she wants like a dog with a bone. Though Lacey is definitely giving her plenty of reason to regret her choices.

Lacey stood up slightly, keeping her grip tight on Harley’s arms as she drove her knee into her spine once more, pulling back further and further upon her arms as she did so. Again the official asked the question of the Champion, getting another ‘No’ from her which prompted Lacey to again deliver another knee into spine as she told the New Hampshire native how good the Fast Track Championship was going to look when she won it. Harley kicked her feet against the canvas as she continued to refuse to submit to the hold, the crowd starting to rally behind her as Jake encouraged them to get louder for the defending Champion. As she was cheered on, the flame haired woman started to push upwards, arching her spine to come to her feet; Lacey getting her feet underneath her as Harley rose which saw the Gold Standard member spike the back of her opponents head into the canvas with an inverted sitout facebuster. Harley cradled her head as she lay on the canvas only for Lacey to jerk her upwards from the mat and straight into a snap DDT. The challenger rolled her foe to her back and made the cover as she asked the Champion what it felt like to lose in her first defence.

Zack: There’s the cover, and Lacey’s giving us all a little commentary at the same time!

One…

Two…

Mara: That might backfire on Lacey. It’s only going to fire Harley up and make her all the more determined to defend this title and give Lacey a bad evening.

Harley kicked out with authority, shoving Lacey away from her. The red haired woman pouted at Malcolm Parks for just a moment as he showed her the two count but didn’t argue with the official as she once more jerked the Fast Track Champion up to her feet by her hair. As soon as Lacey made it back to a vertical base, she pulled her foes head downwards, driving knees into her head and chest while Parks reprimanded her for pulling on her hair. The referee began to count the Unity Tag Team Champion down, getting to four before Lacey delivered a single knee facebuster to Shannon. The New Hampshire native popped up off her foes knee and staggered backwards, trying to find her balance as Lacey darted past her and used the ring ropes to springboard onto her opponent’s shoulders and snapped off a headscissors takedown to the woman.

Zack: Did you have any advice or tips you thought would help Harley tonight that you shared with her before this match? 

Mara: Her and I didn’t really talk too much before this match, but if I had, I’d have told to watch out for Kyle on the outside and to be ready for Lacey to cut corners when she has her in trouble.

As the orange haired woman hit the canvas she rolled through and started to come back to her feet only for Lacey to catch her before she could make it further than one knee, delivering a running kneelift to her jaw that sent Shannon falling down to canvas once more. Quickly the challenger pulled Harley to her feet and fired her into the nearest corner. Harley struck them back first and an instant later the Gold Standard member was upon, connecting with a shoulder thrust into her ribcage. Three more followed it before the red haired woman stepped backwards, grabbing hold of the Fast Track Champion by her hair and hurled her out of the corner with a beal. The American woman hit the mat hard and started to push upwards. Lacey measured the Fast Track Champion up as she was pushing up from the canvas and when the orange haired woman made it to her knees, Lacey shouted out Kneel Before Me and darted forward, driving a running big boot into Harley’s face. As the New Hampshire native hit the canvas, Lacey followed up with a big leg drop across her chest and made the cover once more.

Zack: Lacey’s playing some of her greatest hits tonight, and it could be about to culminate in Fast Track gold!

One…

Two…

...THR--

Mara: Harley’s reeling and I’d say Lacey’s confidence is growing… except I’m not sure it could get any bigger. Nonetheless, if she keeps this up, Harley’s leaving empty handed.

Once more Harley kicked out ahead of the three count; Parks confirming the count to Lacey who again pulled the Fast Track Champion upwards, scooping her up off her feet only to drop her throat first over the top rope with a stun gun. Harley staggered backwards a step before she fell to her knees, gasping for breath only to receive a dropkick to the shoulder blades from the Challenger that sent the Champion sprawling across the middle ropes. Lacey wasted little time in throwing herself across her opponents back, pressing her throat down against the middle rope as she choked her out. Parks called for the break and began a quick count, causing Lacey to let up at the count of four; the red haired woman getting up, hands raised to show she’d given the break….only to drop back down across Harley’s back once more, choking her out again. There was another demand for the break and another quick four count from the referee to get the break which once more only lasted for a second before Lacey dropped down across her back to choke her again.

Zack: It’s been said before and isn’t any less true. There’s not a shortcut that Lacey won’t take to get what she wants. 

Mara: Not at all, the Gold Standard member is absolute ruthless. Harley though has to overcome that and if she wasn’t prepared for these tactics then...more fool her.

Once more the referee called for the break and got to the count of four before he got the break from the Gold Standard member. Parks tried to get between the two women to read the red haired wrestler the riot act only for Lacey to shove him out of the way as she hopped up onto the middle rope, using it to springboard over the top and into a guillotine leg drop across the back of the Fast Track Champions head as she lay over the middle rope trying to catch her breath. Shannon bounced off the middle rope and fell backwards to the canvas, holding her throat, gasping for air once more as Lacey sat on the ring apron and blew a kiss to the crowd. The Unity Tag Team Champion revelled in their jeers for a moment before she stood upright on the ring apron and grabbed hold of the top rope, measuring up Harley before she looked to slingshot herself back into the rope and into a back splash… as Shannon brought her knees up, giving the challenger a rough landing; Lacey immediately sitting up and holding her spine. 

Zack: Not a fun way to spend a Saturday night in Chicago with Harley’s knees buried in your back, is it? 

Mara: Desperation from Harley. She absolutely had to do something to stop Lacey and that will do it for her. So long as she’s capable of following it up.

Harley rolled to the side and pulled herself up to her feet as Lacey also began to rise and Harley skipped away from the ropes and landed a stiff knife edge chop to her opponents chest. A second and a third followed it as the Fast Track Champion’s blows started to turn Lacey’s flesh the same colour as her hair. As each blow landed, the Gold Standard member took a step backwards before Harley grabbed hold of her top and sent her down to the mat with a judo throw that she instantly followed up with a leg drop across the chest.  Lacey immediately rolled away and started to come back up to her feet; the two wrestlers making it upright simultaneously and once more Harley struck first, catching the challenger with a crescent kick to the side of the challengers head. The red head reeled away, stumbling as she fell into the corner. Harley followed her in quickly and delivered a running knee to her gut before she took hold of Lacey’s hand to whip her across the ring. 

Mara: This is what Harley is good at, she has educated feet and good striking ability. When she starts rolling then she can really start to press home an advantage and get the upper hand.

Zack: There’s a reason Harley is one of the most decorated women in Future Shock history, and it’s on full display tonight. 

As Lacey hit the opposite turnbuckle, Harley chased in after her, delivering another running knee to her midsection. Lacey started to lean forward only for Harley to straighten her up once more with a European uppercut. A second, third and fourth European uppercut followed that as Parks asked the Fast Track Champion to let her opponent out of the corner, getting to four before Shannon attempted to jerk her foe away from the turnbuckle pads only for Lacey to apply the brakes by grabbing hold of the top rope. Harley tried again but Lacey kept a tight hold of the top rope refusing to go anywhere. The New Hampshire native released her hold on Lacey’s hand and went for a haymaker right only for the Unity Tag Team Champion to block the attempt and counter with a thumb into the orange haired woman’s eye.

Zack: No matter how big or small you are, you can’t toughen up your eyes. 

Mara: Nope and that is definitely stopping Harley before she can do real damage to Lacey and her Fast Track aspirations.

Harley stepped backwards, trying to clear her vision as Lacey pushed up on the inside of the corner to the middle rope and launched herself towards the partially blinded wrestler and caught her with a knee strike to the side of her head. It caused Harley to spin around and drop down to one knee which let the Gold Standard member hook her head from behind her and drive the back of her head into the canvas with a reverse DDT. Lacey floated over and made the cover.

Zack: Lacey’s got the cover again, and she may have Harley’s number after all!

One…

Two…

...THR--

Mara: Two and a half count!! Harley’s living dangerously. She really needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat here and turn the tide.

Harley kicked out again and this time as Malcolm Parks confirmed the two count to Lacey, the red haired woman asked for the three, scowling at him when he confirmed the two once more and told her that the kick out came in time. Lacey pushed up to her feet and looked at her foe as Shannon was getting back to her knees only to drive the flame haired American into the canvas with a spinning bulldog. Before the Fast Track Champion had a chance to try and get back to her feet, Lacey floated over onto her back, sitting down low as she pulled her arms up onto her knees and interlocked her fingers beneath her jaw, pulling backwards as she applied the camel clutch. A grimace appeared on Harley’s face but she refused to quit when asked by the referee which saw Lacey lean backwards in her sitting position while pulling on her foes head to bend her spine further and further. 

Zack: You have to give Lacey credit. You know she and Kyle saw what Jacqui did Tuesday night, and they are capitalizing on it. 

Mara: There’s a target been put on her ribs and why wouldn’t you look to exploit somebody else’s handiwork if it makes your life easier? Fighting through pain and injuries is just part of the job, Zack.

Still Harley refused to submit as she fought against the hold, a look of agony appearing on her face. She tried to get her knees underneath her to ease the pressure and push upwards. Finally the Fast Track Champion managed to do just that, allowing her to free her arms which saw Lacey release the hold as she stood up, jump into the air and catch Harley with a mushroom stomp to the back of her head, sending her face first into the mat once more. The challenger took a half second to play to the fans, getting a loud boo from the crowd before she delivered a knee drop to the back of Shannon’s head, rolling her over once more to make the cover.

Mara: Mushroom stomp to the back of the head and Lacey wasting time playing to the crowd. Still, she might have done enough to pick up the win. 

One…

Two…

...THRE--

Zack: Still no dice for the challenger. I get the sense this is harder than Lacey might have envisioned.

Harley rolled her shoulder up off the canvas before the count could be completed and Lacey glared at the referee this time, asking for the three but again only saw the two count confirmed to her. With a shake of her head she looked over to Kyle who encouraged her to keep going. The Gold Standard member turned her attention back to her opponent and brought her up from the mat to her feet and looked to set her up for the spike piledriver...but never got the chance to deliver the move as Harley straightened up, lifting the challenger up off her feet and sending her tumbling down to the canvas with a back body drop that saw Harley fall to her knees, holding her ribcage with both arms as she did so. 

Mara: Lacey was looking to put the Champ away there but Harley countered purely on instinct. How much damage has been done to her ribs though? How much more has that back body drop taken out of her?

Zack: We’ll find out before the bell rings again in this Fast Track Championship match here tonight in Chicago at Global Wars!

Lacey quickly rolled back up to her feet with a look of anger on her face and took off towards the ropes, coming back towards Harley with an attempted Bionic Elbow only to see Shannon pop up to her feet and cut her off; countering the move with a T-Bone suplex to the red head. Again Lacey hit the mat and rolled over, coming back to her feet as the crowd were cheering Harley on and the Fast Track Champion made it to one knee before she launched herself forward and caught the risen Lacey with a spear to her midsection. Harley rolled away from the Unity Tag Team Championship and came to her feet before she moved towards her foe, who had made it to one knee as she locked in a side headlock. The Gold Standard member continued to come up to her feet and walked her opponent backwards into the ropes and tried to shoot her off only for the New Hampshire native to put on the brakes and then took Lacey back down to the canvas with a headlock takedown. 

Zack: The schedule of the Fast Track Champion isn’t an easy one. No matter who wins tonight, they are gonna have to give our resident cosplay princess a rematch!

Mara: The only good thing for Harley is that she’ll have Christmas to recuperate and heal her ribs before that match. Right now we’re seeing her trying to control her opponent with this headlock and protect her ribs as she does so.

Harley wrenched on the hold a little tighter as she lay on top of her foe on the canvas, the redhead looking frustrated as much as anything and once more she started to slowly push upwards, fighting her way back to her feet. As Lacey returned to a vertical base, Shannon released her grip on the side headlock and quickly transitioned through to a side Russian leg sweep. The Fast Track Champion used the momentum to roll backwards and came back to her feet. As Lacey sat up, Shannon launched herself forward and delivered a rolling neckbreaker. Once more the momentum brought her to her feet and she took off towards the ropes, bouncing off them to catch Lacey with a low dropkick to her chest. As Lacey lay back on the mat, Harley made the cover and hooked her foes leg with one arm as she clasped her other arm against her body.

Mara: Harley’s looking to put this one away as you can see the toll it’s taking on her...but this might be too soon for her to score a successful defence.

One…

Two…

...THR-

Zack: With each of these kick outs, I wonder if it’s adding to the thoughts Lacey’s already put in Harley’s head about not being able to beat her.

Lacey kicked out and sat up only for Harley to quickly lock in a bodyscissors around her waist, trying to squeeze the life out of her with her thighs as she used both of her hands to dig her nails into her shoulder, pinching at the nerve with a shoulder claw. A pained expression appeared upon the face of the Gold Standard member as she tried to prise Harley’s fingers away from her shoulder with one hand while the other tried to force apart the Fast Track Champion’s ankles, having little success with either attempt while she refused to submit to the hold. Harley dug her fingers in deeper, which elicited a small cry of pain from the challenger who refused to submit as the referee asked her the question again. On the outside, Kyle moved around the ring to get into Lacey’s eyeline, offering her a mix of encouragement and advice. He got a nod from his charge as the red haired woman pressed her hands down into the canvas and used all the upper body strength she could muster, ignoring the pain in her shoulder to inch sideways, shaking her head whenever the referee asked her the question, refusing to submit before she let out another cry of pain and hurled herself to the side, managing to roll onto her front where she could reach out to grab hold of the bottom rope. The official called for the break and started the count, Harley breaking at three and rolling away. 

Zack: Look at Harley bending the rules a little by not letting go just yet. I think the proof of what Lacey’s said is starting to show through in the champion’s demeanor tonight.

Mara: One thing is for certain, Harley won’t go down without a fight and she’ll give Lacey all that she has tonight. The challenger will certainly have earned the win tonight - if she does win.

Lacey held her shoulder with a look of pain on her face as she began to rise to her feet once more only for Shannon to jerk her away from the ring ropes, driving knees into her midsection before hooking her head and leg as she lifted her upwards, holding her vertically upside down for a moment before delivered the fisherman buster. Harley kept her grip around Lacey’s head as she rolled her hips and came back to her feet, bringing her opponent up with her and into a snap suplex, followed by another snap suplex. As the third suplex landed, Harley still had her opponent’s head trapped, bringing her upright once again and as she brought her to her feet she feigned another suplex only to pull Lacey downwards, surprising the redhead as she rolled her up into a tight small package.

Zack: Shannon going for broke here, trying to catch the challenger off guard!

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mara: Rolling suplexes and then a small package!!! But still no dice for the Champion!! But that trickery is something that’ll keep Lacey on her toes.

Lacey kicked out and immediately looked towards the referee who confirmed the two count as Harley was already back to her feet, the flame haired woman taking off towards the ropes and came back towards Lacey to catch her with a knee trembler while she was on one knee. The Unity Tag Team Champion was brought back up to her feet by the blow to her jaw which saw her reel backwards and Harley delivered a front kick to her midsection. The Gold Standard member doubled over and found her arms trapped as Harley spiked her face first into the canvas with a double underhook DDT. The Fast Track Champion didn’t waste any time in rolling her opponent onto her back as she made the cover and hooked the leg.

Mara: HUGE DDT!!! Harley drove her skull into the mat like she was driving home a railroad spike!!!

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zack: And again, Lacey gets the shoulder up! Harley’s gotta be wondering what else can she do at this point!

Lacey rolled her shoulder a moment before the referee could complete the count and Harley sat up on her knees, looking to the referee with a look of disbelief on her face as she asked for the three count as Lacey rolled towards the ring ropes, only for Harley to get a shake of the officials head as he showed her the two count once more which saw Harley take a moment to process the decision before she nodded her head and came to her feet. The flame haired wrestler moved towards Lacey and began to pull her upwards, getting her to her feet only for the Gold Standard member to grab hold of Harley’s top and fall backwards, jerking the Fast Track Champion off balance and sent her falling through the ring ropes to the outside. 

Zack: Ringside is not the best place for Harley to be, not with Kilmeade floating around out there. 

Mara: It’s not the best place to be in a match with Lacey, let alone with Kyle at ringside. Remember what Lacey was able to do to Kelly in SVW Zack...

Lacey rolled out underneath the bottom rope to follow her foe, landing on her feet on the outside and moved back towards the corner, waving Harley upwards and as the New Hampshire native made it to her knees, Lacey came forward quickly and drove a second Kneel Before Me running big boot into the Fast Track Champions face causing her to collapse backwards to the floor. Lacey quickly pulled her upright with two handfuls of hair, moving Harley quickly towards the ring steps and slammed her face first into the top step. Parks leaned through the ropes and started to tell Lacey off only for her to drive Harley’s face into the steel twice more before she rolled Harley back into the ring underneath the bottom rope. 

Mara: Harley’s getting her features rearranged and her face flattened against the steel of those steps. Lacey’s ruthlessness shines through once more!

Shannon rolled onto her front and started to crawl towards the ropes as Lacey followed her into the ring where Parks immediately reprimanded her for her use to the ring steps, Lacey arguing with the official that she had done nothing wrong - and anyway, none of it would’ve happened had Harley not pulled on her hair. As the referee had his attention diverted by Lacey, Harley made it to the ring ropes and was leaning on the bottom one as she tried to pull herself upwards only for Kyle to charge down the side of the ring and clock her to the side of the head with the Unity Tag Team Championship. Quickly the manager retreated towards the corner, the crowd booing and jeering the manager and his client loudly as he started to polish the faceplate of the title. 

Zack: Look at that! Harley just got a glimpse of the Unity Tag Title, and I doubt she’ll ask to see it again! I wondered how long it’d take him to get involved. 

Mara: Kyle’s earning his money with that shot and he’s trying to make absolutely one hundred percent sure that Lacey leaves with a second title tonight!

Meanwhile Lacey moved past the referee and pulled Harley up and away from the ropes, pulling her into position and delivered the spike piledriver while Jake hopped up onto the ring apron and tried to tell the referee about the title shot to the side of the head. Shannon crumpled down onto her front on the canvas, Lacey playing to the crowd for a couple of seconds, telling them that the Fast Track Champion was leaving with her and she was three seconds away from getting her second title, before she finally started to move to roll Harley to her back and laid across her nonchalantly to make the cover as the referee was still ordering Jake down to the floor, threatening to throw him out; Kyle moved around the ring and seemed to be heading towards Jake which saw the After Shock host drop off the apron and stare at the Gold Standard manager.

Zack: Jake’s getting under the referee’s skin, and we may be about to crown a new Fast Track Champion in the process! 

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mara: Jake might just have saved Harley’s bacon there with his intervention...or at least he’s managed to delay the inevitable just a little bit longer.

Harley’s shoulder popped up from the canvas a moment before the count could be completed, Parks waving off the three count immediately and holding up two fingers for the timekeeper and the whole crowd to see, causing them to cheer Harley loudly as Lacey came to her feet and berated the official, telling him that even the morons at ringside could see it was a three count. Despite her protest, the official stuck to his guns, telling her the shoulder came up in time and that it was only a two count. Once more the referee got a death glare from the Unity Tag Team Champion before she spun away from him imperiously and headed back towards her opponent, getting to her as the Fast Track Champion made it back to her hands and knees. Lacey pulled her the rest of the way to her feet and into position for the Throe Of Passion, giving the flame haired girl a gentle kiss on the lips as Harley started to fire elbows into the side of her foes head. 

Zack: We know what this is! Lacey’s got the champion into position with a THROE OF PASSION on it’s way! But Harley’s not going for it!

Mara: Lacey had the Eruption scouted earlier and Harley obviously knows the Throe of Passion inside out and back to front by now. She’s not letting herself fall victim to it.

Lacey staggered away from her opponent and as she turned back to face Shannon, the New Hampshire native fired off a super kick that caught her flush on the point of the jaw. Lacey dropped backwards to the canvas as Harley fell into the ropes, catching herself and using the top rope to hold herself upright as her legs were like spaghetti underneath. The Fast Track Champion took a good few seconds to gain her bearings, before she managed to get her feet underneath her, watching as the Gold Standard member began to rise. When Lacey got to her feet, Harley stepped forward, waiting for her foe to turn around and face and the moment she did, Shannon lashed out with a flash kick that missed the target as Lacey spun out of the way of the blow and behind Shannon, leaving her feet as she jerked the flame haired Champion downwards into a backstabber. 

Zack: A backstabber! Lacey got every bit of it too! And Harley’s in the wrong place at the wrong time right now!

Mara: If her ribs weren’t on fire earlier, they definitely will be now. Once more, her reliance on the Eruption could cost her massively here!!

Harley bounced off her opponents knees and landed on her front before she quickly started to push upwards to all fours. Lacey was quickly upon her, pulling her upright and straight into the Throe of Passion reverse STO. Immediately Lacey rolled Harley onto her back and hooked her legs for the cover as Parks slid into position to make the count.

Zack: There’s the THROE OF PASSION!! I’m not sure Harley’s getting up this time!

One…

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Parks called for the bell, Kyle slid into the ring and helped Lacey back to her feet, the red haired wrestler hugging him tightly as she realised that she had won the match while Parks retrieved the title belt. 

Mara: Throe of Passion was all she needed and a good year for Lacey turned into a great year - and it only took three seconds!! She joins the small number of people who have been able to call themselves double champions in FFW.

Kat: Here is your winner, by way of pinfall...and NEW FFW FAST TRACK CHAMPION!!!.... LACEY!!!!

Zack: And the first of the FFW titles on the line tonight has changed hands! Lacey has added some new hardware to the Gold Standard! Lacey is now a double champion in FFW!

Mara: Harley put up one heck of a fight though Zack and made Lacey earn every bit of it and was eventually proved to be right in what she said about Harley. Now Harley has to regroup, heal up and try to come back stronger in the new year.

Lacey snatched the title belt from the official and demanded he raise her hand in the air; the crowd booed her loudly while Harley rolled out of the ring, holding her head and back as she landed on one knee on the outside looking upwards into the ring where she was met by Jake who helped her back to her feet, checking that she was okay. Back in the ring, Lacey thanked Kyle as she took her Unity Tag Team Championship from him and raised both of her title belts in the air, causing the crowd to boo her even louder as the show cut elsewhere.



Mirror Image

The show cuts to the back, and finds Adam with his fiance standing by alongside Amber Carano at the interview set. 

Amber: I’m here with one of the participants later tonight in War Games as well as the Director of Future Shock, MIssy and Adam. Thank you both for joining me, as I understand there’s some news that you have, Adam. But before we get to that, let me ask Missy here. Have you ever been in War Games before, and what kind of preparations have you made for tonight?

Missy: I have been in War Games style matches before, just not here in FFW. And honestly it’s just the same preparations that I put in before any match. There’s nothing new or unusual that I do. 

Amber: Fair enough. Adam, the Prospects won the series again at 2nd Impact this past Tuesday night in Denver. I’m sure you’re feeling proud.

Adam shakes his head before he begins.

Adam; Technically, you’re right. But I don’t class that show as winning the night. There’s no way to tell how the main event would have ended between Arabella and Scarlett, especially after Sydney got involved. So I’m not going to count that, and say FFW and the Prospects got a draw. Am I proud of how well my roster performed in their matches? Absolutely. And I think it also shows the main roster that these girls are as real as it gets. I don’t think many would have taken them lightly before that show, but they certainly won’t after it. But like I said, I’m not classing that show as another win for the Prospects against FFW. At best, I think it’s a stalemate. 

Missy: I don’t know, I think Scarlett was taking them pretty lightly… but you’re right that she won’t after that show. Or at least I hope she’s learnt something… but this is Scarlett we’re talking about. I do know for a fact though that she was spitting feathers after the way that match ended. 

Adam: I can understand that. But just to let everyone know, the next Impact special will be coming up in April. And I’ve already been told that I’ll be making all the matches for it. So here’s a sneak peek of one of the main roster girls you’ll be seeing testing the Prospects that night. 

He raised his arm and pointed down to Missy. 

Adam: Missy here has said she wished she had spent more time in Future Shock. Well she’ll get a homecoming in April for a night!

The brunette grinned at the announcement, but then rolled her eyes slightly. 

Missy: I can already hear the calls about how it’s favoritism or some bullshit like that from whoever I end up facing… because we’ve never heard someone accuse you of having favourites before, right?

She got a matching eye roll at that before he nodded his head.

Adam: Well if so, they’ll get over it. But not to take over this interview, Amber, you were right about me having an announcement to make. Another Prospect has been called up to the main roster, And she will begin her FFW career starting in 2020. You’ve seen what kind of impact these new graduates have made this year. Look at Harley winning the Fast Track, for example. Or Tara defeating Gillie in her debut. So the shark tank that is FFW just got a new inhabitant. 

Amber: Well that sounds intriguing. Which one of your roster has graduated to FFW to start in 2020? 

Before Adam could answer, the trio were joined by the Prospect in question. Cassandra Steen walked to stand beside her twin sister with a smirk on her face. 

Cassandra: Hey sis, pleased to see me here?

Missy didn’t respond, but her facial expression certainly showed that she was not happy to see her. 

Voice: Only the greatest and most talented Prospect in age has finally found her way to FFW, along with ME!!

Dante Knox stepped into the shot, looking very proud of himself and tugging on the lapel of his suit. 

Dante: There was only so long before cream could rise to the top! And Cassandra Steen will continue her success in 2020, no doubt eclipsing her sister yet again by likely becoming a champion long before her sibling managed to do so!

Cassandra: I proved I was the better Steen in Future Shock, and I will do the exact same thing here on the FFW roster. How long was it before you even got into a title picture, Missy? Nearly a year… yes. I think I can do MUCH better than that. In fact, I would wager that I’ll be holding FFW gold before you even get your nose back into a title picture. 

Dante: Take it to the bank! Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re gonna go see the owner of this company. Tell you what though, Adam, find me in about a half hour and we can plan our itinerary for that ski weekend we’ve been discussing!

He gives Adam a pat on the arm before the pair head off camera. Adam rubs the bridge of his nose as Amber speaks.

Amber: You and Dante are going on a ski weekend together? That sounds like it could be interesting. 

Adam; Going anywhere with him would not be a vacation for me. That’s not happening.

Amber: Missy, what are your thoughts? 

Missy: Trust me you don’t want to know my thoughts right now, because I know that FFW has some younger fans that might be watching. 

Amber: Big news all around, fans! There’s going to be plenty to look forward to in 2020! Now let’s send it back to the ring, because the Global Wars ladder match is next!

And that’s exactly where the show heads to from backstage. 

[Adam Grant]

A short recap of the match between Tara and Nevaeh from the first Future Shock Impact is shown, including how it ended with twin magic. We go back to the live show and find Kat standing in the center of one of the two rings.

Kat: The following contest is a grudge match scheduled for one fall to a finish. 

Zack: You just saw how things ended the last time these two met, and Nevaeh hasn’t forgotten it either. She’s looking for redemption against Tara, and I’ll be joined by her manager shortly.

As “Rise” by Sixx A.M. we see the arena lights blinking in sync with the lyrics of the music. Nevaeh Summers eventually storms her way onto the stage , fired up, and motioning to the crowd, before stopping at the top of the ramp and looking out at the people. Nevaeh is wearing yellow rimmed sunglasses as well as a white Poisoned by Ivy military jacket with yellow trim. As we keep looking at Nevaeh we see she is wearing yellow colored leather pants running down her leg. The side of each leg is laced up with white colored fabric, showing of her skin. On her feet we see black boots and white kickpads. On the front of each kickpad appears her logo as there is a circle with “NS” in the center of it in Yellow. While “The" scrolls on the top and “Finest” scrolls on the bottom, also in yellow.

Nevaeh looks around the building, nodding her head, as she starts feeling the crowd. “Feel that energy” is what can be heard coming from Nevaeh as she goes about heading down the ramp halfway and begins pointing her left hand out to the crowd and moves it around as if she was conducting them. The crowd moves from left to right, linking arms. Nevaeh then points to the opposite side of the crowd with her right hand, urging that side of the building on the same way, to which they do. Nevaeh lowers her head, her hands still swaying to the crowd till she raises her head up and snaps her arms out to the side.

As Nevaeh strikes her signature pose a row of pyro goes off next to her, starting far out and rushing close to her, before a big unified explosion happens behind her. Nevaeh now lowered her head back down and looked towards the ring and began walking down the ramp with a purpose.

Kat: Making her way to the ring at this time she resides in Los Angeles, California by way of Atlanta, Georgia. She weighs in tonight at 120 pounds. She is Nevaeh Summers!!!

Nevaeh reaches the bottom of the ramp and goes about slapping hands with the fans. Nevaeh now heads to the opposite side and slaps a few more hands before removing her sunglasses and just casually tosses them out towards the crowd. Nevaeh than quickly runs to the ring, sliding in under the bottom rope, and gets to a knee. Nevaeh just looks out for a moment before getting to her feet and shimmies out of her jacket.

Nevaeh then approaches the middle of the ropes facing the hard camera. Nevaeh climbs up them, hooking a leg over the top rope and straddling it. Nevaeh now sits there and looks out to the capacity crowd. The blonde began motioning them to get louder, which they do. She eventually lowers her head and starts motioning her arms as if she's conducting them again. This time we zoom out and capture the front row all around motioning along with her. After a moment Nevaeh snaps her head back and her arms out. Multiple spotlights soon shift down onto her, basking her in the light.

Nevaeh keeps striking the pose till she sees fit. Once she has she gets off the ropes and makes her way to the opposite side of the ring where she puts one foot on the bottom rope and the other on the middle. She bounces on them while looking out to the crowd and stretches her arms out yet again, encouraging them to get louder.

Nevaeh bounces off the ropes and lands on her feet. She starts psyching herself up as she paces back and forth along a corner.

Zack: There are very few people that have done everything Nevaeh has done in FFW, but she isn’t going to rest on past laurels. She knows she’s in a slump, and it hasn’t stopped her from striving harder than before. That’s one thing I admire about the former Baby Peach.

Look out, they're closing in on you now
Wake up, or you’ll wake up six feet down
Nobody's got your back in this town
Knock 'em. In the. Teeth. NOW!

The intro to Set It Off's "Killer in the Mirror" starts on the sound system, and lights start blinking in random colors as Tara Cortez struts onto the entrance ramp, with her manager Christian Kincaid right there with her. She stops right before the descent and pulls off a short dance move, crouching down only and taking a spin, proceeding to get back up, sliding her palms against her midriff before raising her hands her head... Only to nonchalantly wave the booing audience off as she brings her arms down again. Blowing raspberries, she then starts strutting down the entrance ramp, shaking her head at the fans in attendance as she makes her way to the ring.

Kat: And her opponent, escorted to the ring by Christian Kincaid... From Fort Worth, Texas... "The 10-Star Prodigy..." TARA CORTEZ!

When Tara climbs into the ring, she makes her way to the ropes facing the hard camera, leaning onto them and posing for the audience, moving her arms much like in the same way she did earlier with her starting dance, raising her hands up high again, only to then wave the crowd off once again before she hops back down to the ring, making her way to her corner and sharing some last minute strategy with Christian. He then heads for the booth. 

Zack: Christian, welcome to the booth. Tara looks as confident as she has since the day I first saw her. But the question is if it’s overconfidence?

Christian: How can it be overconfidence when you have the record she does? She’s been in Future Shock and FFW for about 2 years, and has racked up a sum total of one loss. Who else on this roster can say that? 

Referee Melinda Davis checks both women as Kat leaves the ring, and then calls for the bell to start the match. Tara moves to the center, rolling her head around on her shoulders. Nevaeh, though, doesn’t walk towards her. She CHARGES her, and takes her down with a double leg sweep before firing off mounted punches to her head. The Chicago crowd eats it up as the blonde lays in multiple shots before rolling back to her feet. She grabs the triplet up, and pulls her to the corner. She slams Tara’s face into the top turnbuckle three times, the middle three times, and the bottom four times. Tara gets pulled back to her feet, and shoved into that same corner before Nevaeh uses a spinning heel kick to her body that doubles her over, followed by a gutwrench suplex out of the corner. 

Zack: Wow, Nevaeh came to Chicago all kinds of fired up! And Tara Cortez is seeing all 10 of those stars, and maybe a few more!

Christian: I figured Nevaeh would come in full of fire, but it’s not the first time Tara’s endured something like that. I mean she spent most of the year facing Vivi, who shows as much if not more fire every time she gets in the ring.

Cortez tried to get to her feet but Nevaeh used a deadlift around her waist, and snapped off a German suplex that sent the triplet into the corner. Tara slumped against the bottom turnbuckle before Nevaeh hit the far side. She came back with a running knee to her chest. Another bounce off the far side saw her connect with a face wash boot to the jaw before she dragged her out of the corner, and hooked her leg to make a cover!

Zack: Nevaeh’s not only looking for the win, but she’s looking for it in record time too! There’s the cover!

ONE!!!

TW---NOO!!

Just as the two was coming down, Tara kicked out. Nevaeh mounted her again, raining punches down on her briefly before hopping back to her feet. She pounded the corner with her fist, rallying the crowd as she beckoned “10 Star” to get up again.

Christian: She definitely has a fire in her belly tonight, I’ll give her that. But all this playing to the crowd is just giving Tara time to regroup. 

She doubled back to grab Tara, pulling her up by the head and snapping a vertical suplex before rolling through into a second and then into a third. Summers nodded her head at the crowd reaction, and hit the near side ropes into a rolling thunder senton. The blonde headed for the corner, making her way up to the second turnbuckle from the inside. She launched into a diving elbow drop, only for Cortez to roll out of the way and let her crash onto the mat. 

Christian: See what I mean? You can’t give someone as cerebral as Tara time to react in the ring. Things like that happen when you do.

Zack: Nevaeh was looking for an elbow to Tara’s “10 Star” heart, but no one was home when she got there. This is the opening Tara needs right here!

Tara managed to get herself together somewhat quickly after getting to her feet. When she saw Nevaeh starting to get up as well, she took off with a running knee lift to her face that snapped her head back. The brunette pulled her head under one arm, and connected with a double underhook DDT. She looked down to Nevaeh with a half smirk on her face as she got to her feet, and began a Garvin stomp on each part of her body with the final stomp landing on her head. 

Zack: How did you help strategize for an opponent like Nevaeh? What advice did you give Tara heading into this match?

Christian: That kind of stuff, I save for paying clients. But I’ll give you a freebie. Anyone you face who comes in all pissed off is gonna make a mistake. Running on emotion will only get you so far, because sooner or later, the adrenaline wears off.

Nevaeh tried to get to her feet again, and Tara helped her the rest of the way before she whipped her across to the far side. Summers rebounded into a pop-up gutbuster that doubled her in half on the canvas when she landed. Tara admired her handiwork for a second, and waited till she rolled onto her stomach to connect with a double stomp to her back. Nevaeh got whipped into the ropes again, with Tara using a flapjack this time. But instead of her neck, she had Nevaeh landed across the top rope with her stomach. The Hall of Famer hung over that rope until Tara scooped her onto her shoulders into an electric chair. The triplet rolled into the cover with a leg hook as Davis dropped to count. 

Zack: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flapjack like that, and Tara damn near cut her in two with it! That might be all Nevaeh had left!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

NOPE!!

The blonde got her shoulder up in time, and Tara pulled her back to her feet. She scooped her up into a front carry, and began to drop her across her knee. Cortez wouldn’t let her fall to the mat, instead picking her up for another backbreaker across her knee three more times. 

Christian: Everything in your body centers around your core, which is why they call it that, Zack. What you see here is Tara making everything Nevaeh could do tonight hurt. 

The punishment continued as Nevaeh headed towards the ropes. Tara stomped her lower back to stop her before planting that foot and then grabbing her arms to pull up behind her into a standing surfboard submission. Davis spun around, and dropped down in front of Nevaeh to check for a submission. Tara tried to make it worse for the Hall of Famer as she grinded her foot into her back, while she pulled back on both arms. Davis asked if Nevaeh wanted to stop the match, but she shook her head. 

Zack: There’s not too many better at slowing down a match than Tara. Nevaeh came in full of fire and fury, and Cortez has slowed that pace to a crawl. 

Christian: Tara doesn’t do a lot of high flying, and she’s not going to try to run circles around anyone. What you see her doing here is what she does best. Nevaeh can’t even tap out right now, she’d just have to say she quit. 

Davis checked again to see if Nevaeh wanted to stop the match, and got the same answer as before. Summers shook her head, and Tara responded by lifting her foot and stomping again into her lower back. She also grinded her heel again, causing the anguish on Nevaeh’s face to worsen with each passing second. Tara told her to quit, but Nevaeh ignored that. The referee checked again as Nevaeh glanced to her right, seeing how close she was to the ropes and stretching her leg to get her foot across it. It worked, and the referee called for the break. Tara let go at four, shaking her head in disappointment at Nevaeh.

Zack: Tara can shake her head all she wants, but I don’t think Nevaeh would give her the satisfaction of winning by submission. Not after what went down at the first Impact special.

Christian: I know that’s a popular talking point for her, but let’s remember Nevaeh took her eyes off Tara, which made everything that happened possible. You should never take your eyes off an opponent. Ever.

Summers rolled onto her back as Tara took off for the far side. Cortez came back quickly, looking for a standing moonsault like her opponent uses. But Nevaeh got her knees up, and Tara landed on them instead. The Chicago crowd got behind her all over again, chanting her name as the Hall of Famer started to get up again. She held her ribs in pain, measuring Tara as she tried to get up. As soon as she was in position, Nevaeh took off and delivered her jumping reverse bulldog! The impact hurt them both, but Nevaeh quickly made the cover afterwards. 

Zack: A little homage to Steph Stefano with the WALK OF SHAME! Nevaeh’s looking to avenge what happened at Impact!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THR-NOPE!!!

Tara’s shoulder came off the mat in time, and Nevaeh rolled away from her. She was still favoring her ribs as she got to her feet, and started waving for Cortez to get back to her feet. The former Prospect started to rise again before Nevaeh charged towards her, hitting her running leg drop bulldog this time! She immediately went for another cover as Davis moved into position!

Christian: Nevaeh’s trying to play all her greatest hits here. You can tell she wants this to be over sooner than--

Zack: There’s the GOLDEN STATE OF MIND!! Nevaeh’s gonna hang Tara’s first loss in FFW on her right here!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!

Once more, Tara got her shoulder up to stop the count. Nevaeh checked to be sure with the referee, and got back to her feet. Summers headed back for the corner, and made her way to the top rope. 

Christian: If my ribs and back are bothering me, the top rope is the last place I want to be in a match. But Nevaeh is probably looking for that elbow drop again!

Whatever she was looking for didn’t happen as Tara charged the corner, and knocked her feet out from under her. The blonde landed on the top turnbuckle instead, causing her immense pain before Tara pulled herself together and climbed up with her. Cortez hooked her head, and snapped off a superplex! She made it back to her feet, and raised her hands in the air, shouting “TEN STARS!” to nothing but boos from the Chicago crowd. 

Zack: Nevaeh took a second too long to get up there, and Tara made her pay for it with that superplex. Now’s not the time to be rating your work!

Christian: Look at that, Zack. She not only rates other peoples’ moves, but she even judges her own. That’s not something you see everyday. 

She dragged the blonde to her feet, and whipped her across for the ride. Cortez went for a clothesline, but Nevaeh ducked underneath it and ended up behind her. She scooped her arms, and countered with a Gory bomb! That brought the crowd to their feet as Nevaeh immediately dropped into the cover with a leg hook!

Zack: A picture perfect Gory bomb, and Nevaeh got every bit of it too! This won’t end well for Tara!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!

Tara’s arm came up once more in the nick of time, causing Nevaeh to shake her head as the referee held up two fingers. The blonde pushed back up to her feet, getting more and more inspired by the Chicago crowd chanting her name.

Christian: Nevaeh’s pulling out all the stops, and she’s still not found the key to putting Tara away. Less listening to the crowd and more staying on her might help here. 

Nevaeh pulled the weakened Tara to her feet, underhooking both arms before she connected with her snap DDT. The fans popped as she hit it, and the Hall of Famer rolled her over quickly to make the cover!

Zack: Talk about closing the show! Nevaeh just unveiled the GRAND FINALE!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Davis called for the bell to another pop from the crowd as Nevaeh sat up, one hand against her ribs but a smile starting to beam on her face. 

Christian: It took a former FFW Champion and Hall of Famer to do it, but Nevaeh finally snapped her streak. What more can I say?

Kat: Your winner by pinfall………………...NEVAEH SUMMERS!!!

Nevaeh got back to her feet, clearly getting more enthusiastic as she had gotten the win. The referee raised her hand in victory, bringing another smile to her face. 

Zack: That’s gotta feel amazing for Nevaeh after the last few months she’s had, and this may be the return to form that we’ve been waiting to see!

Christian: Maybe so. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go see about Tara.

Christian left the booth and helped Tara out of the ring as Nevaeh basked in the crowd’s adulation before we cut to a commercial for Relentless. 

[Adam Grant]

The history between Bianca Reed and Melody Lennox is shown, dating back to Unstoppable 10 forward until the show returns live to the ring. Kat’s standing in one of the rings with her microphone in hand. 

Kat: The following contest is a strap match! The only way to win is by dragging your opponent and touching all four corners in succession! 

Zack: It is a rare occasion when FFW has sanctioned a strap match, but after Bianca Reed got whipped like a wild animal by her sister-in-law after a match with my broadcast partner for this match, it seems very fitting. Welcome to the booth, Mila, and congratulations on your team’s win at 2nd Impact!

Mila: Thanks Zack, I’m glad to be here. It’s not often, if at all that I get to watch a match from a vantage point like this, and I think this one is going to be one hell of a match given all the bad blood until now. 

I told ya, baby
Uh-oh
I told ya

The arena darkens as “Rockstar 101” by Rihanna begins to play before the camera takes us behind a woman with purple hair. She steps out onto the stage, raising her hand and making a fist as the camera looks over her shoulder. She tosses her sunglasses on her head out to the crowd as she heads towards the ring.

Rocking these diamonds
I'm rocking this chain
Make sure you get a picture
I'm rocking my fame

Kat: Introducing from Atlanta, Georgia, this is the Princess of the Reed family……...BIANCA REED!!!!

Bianca climbs up onto the apron, drops into a split before sliding under the bottom rope to the inside. She brings her legs together and hops to her feet, already making eye contact with her opponent and running them down verbally while her music fades and before the bell even rings.

Zack: I haven’t seen anyone be able to push the buttons of Bianca Reed quite like Melody has since she arrived. You wouldn’t know they were in-laws with the level of animosity between them. But before we are done, they are both likely to feel the sting of a ten foot leather strap!

Mila: You know, I think them being in-laws might actually explain the level of animosity between them a little. There’s nobody that can get under your skin quite like family can. Even when it’s not a blood relation. 

The lights in the arena go dark. Smoke billows over the stage, rolling in a thick, musky fog cloud. On the tron, a video package plays. Buildings are engulfed in flames, people are being beaten in the street in the dead of night. Handcrafted signs are in the air, held up by tattered, gloved, painted hands.

KRRRRCH - static fills the air.

"Calling all cars! Calling all cars!" a female voice says through what sounds to be a scanner or radio. "All units needed in Gotham City. Riots in the street are losing contro-AHHHHH!"

Her voice is cut off and a revolting, thick, brutal slicing sound is heard, sounding like a blade cutting through a thick slab of meat. On the stage, a scarce few thick red droplets begin to rain down from the rafters, while a haunting tune begins to play, accompanied by a maniacal, female laughing cackle. Melody Lennox's voice breaks through the laughter, stating rather bluntly:

Melody: You're gonna get what you FUCKING deserve!

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air..
Where are the clowns?

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move...
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

"Send in the Clowns" began to play over the PA system. The light show beginning to flicker in shades of green, purple, white, orange, red, and blue: all of the traditional circus colors. Protestors and rioters in dark garb, clown makeup and masks, hair wild and vibrantly colored. The rioters carry a body overhead: a woman, her arms stretched out to each side, Christlike in her pose. They hold her body to the sky, as the theme cuts, suddenly switching to "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish. The protestors crouch down to a knee, then the next, tilting their raised arms to let Melody Lennox slide to her feet from their hands. The rioters bow to The Villainess, who grins and giggles maniacally at the ring waiting for her at the foot of the ramp. Her petite body wears a cranberry colored, fitted boustier-style vest with some orange accents and a blue necktie tucked in, as well as matching neon deep purple short shorts, and black bedazzled wrestling boots laced with orange and black ribbons. Her blonde hair is done in pigtails, secured with purple ribbons and the ends dipped in a toxic-color green. Her face is painted in a pale white, eyes made up with blue diamonds around them, small red eyebrows painted on, and lips painted blood red. Melody glances to the ring with a malicious smile, beginning to dance on the stage. Her hips swaying, shimmying, her feet tapping with each graceful leap.

I'm that bad type
Make your mama sad type
Make your girlfriend mad tight
Might seduce your dad type
I'm the bad guy, duh

Melody twists a green tipped ponytail around her finger. The unnerving smile on her face soon twisting into a mask of pure venom and rage as she made eye contact with Bianca. Her fists balling at her sides, painted face doing nothing to hide the coldness in her expression. She scowls, storming down the ramp at a lightning face pace.

Kat: Ladies and gentlemen, introducing to the ring at this time: weighing in at 100 pounds, from New York City by way of Huntington Beach, California, she is 'The Villainess'... Melody LENNOOOOOOOOX!

Melody climbed onto the apron from the outside, holding onto the top rope. Her face twisted into a mask of pure horror and rage at the blue-haired woman in the ring. Cackling wickedly, before launching herself into the ring at full speed. Her cold baby blues locked onto her rival, exchanging an unnerving smile in her direction and a hearty chuckle, followed by a middle finger. Eagerly offering her wrist to the official a "Bad Guy" faded to the distance.

Zack: Melody, dressed like the Joker, may not realize what she’s gotten herself into with this. And I don’t think the Joker has ever had anyone to deal with quite like Bianca Reed. 

Mila: I’m sure that she won’t be thinking it’s any kind of laughing matter by the time the match is through, no matter what the result ends up being. 

Referee Stephen WIlson is handed the leather strap, and heads towards Bianca, who is already pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. She holds out her wrist, never taking her eyes off Melody as he attaches one end to her wrist. Then he heads towards Melody in her Joker garb, who is keeping an eye on Bianca the whole time. He asks her to hold out her wrist, but Melody holds up a finger and steps out of the ring instead. She walks around the ring to the other ring, and climbs into that one, telling the referee she wants to use this ring instead. 

Zack: Melody wants to have the match in the other ring. I’m not sure what the point is, the rings are identical. What’s the difference? 

Mila: There is no difference. I think… she’s trying to play mind games with Bianca, attempting to get some kind of tactical advantage by throwing her off a little maybe. 

The referee joins her in the other ring, and tries to put the other end of the strap around her wrist. Bianca steps through the ropes of one ring and starts into the other before Melody rushes her, and tries to attack Bianca coming through the ropes. But Bianca blocks the shot, and starts firing back with furious right hands of her own! She sends Melody backwards before lowering her shoulder for a short spear that takes her down to the mat. Reed pummels her with right hands as Melody covers up with both arms, trying to deflect the shots. “Killer B” grabs her arms to pull them apart, and drives a headbutt into her face! Melody monkey flips her off, and rolls out to the floor as the referee is chasing after her to put the strap on her wrist. 

Zack: That’s why she wanted to do it, Mila! She wanted to get a cheap shot on Bianca, but that backfired big time! And Melody’s on her bicycle getting out of here with the referee still trying to get that strap attached!

Mila: Bianca never took her eyes off Melody this whole time, there was no way at all a cheap shot like that was going to catch her off guard. Better luck next time Melody. 

Melody darted around the corner at top speed with Bianca chasing after her. The blonde almost made a full circle around the ring before she glanced behind her to see where Bianca was. But the Future Shock graduate had dropped out of sight. Lennox backed up around the next corner, looking both ways as Bianca rose up behind her to a pop from the crowd. The blonde’s eyes widened as she realized it, and Bianca grabbed her head and smacked it off the steps. Lennox staggered backwards before a hard Irish whip sent Melody into the barricade back first, and Bianca followed after her with a clothesline that sent them both over the top into the crowd!

Zack: This match hasn’t started yet, the bell hasn’t sounded because Melody still hasn’t put the leather strap on her wrist! But we’re getting one hell of a pre-match in the meantime! 

Mila: Melody might be reconsidering everything at this point… or if she isn’t, she should be. It’s hard to find any kind of sympathy for someone who’s brought it on herself. 

Bianca pulled her up with two handfuls of hair, and smacked her face off the top of the barricade. It caused her to almost fall until Reed grabbed her head again, telling two of the fans sitting to her right to move. They cleared out of the way before Bianca scooped her sister-in-law over one shoulder and used a powerslam into the row of seats. The Sister Slayer’s back arched up off the steps as Bianca snatched the strap from the referee and attached the other end to Melody’s wrist herself. 

Mila: We might not end up getting much of a match at all at this rate, but at least Bianca’s managed to get the strap onto Melody’s arm now. 

Zack: Good luck getting them back into the ring so we can start this match! But you’re right, we’re all hooked up now!

Melody got to her feet, and darted over the barricade to get away from Bianca. But Reed climbed over after her, and stood her ground. When Melody tried to run, she didn’t get far before she stopped, thanks to Bianca not budging an inch. Reed grabbed the strap with both hands, and started to pull Melody back towards her as the blonde tried to grab the apron and  then post to stop her. She wrapped both hands around one ring post, and held on for dear life as Bianca was having trouble pulling her off it. So instead she walked towards her, and delivered a stinging strike with the belt across Melody’s back, causing her to shout in pain!

Mila: Ouch. I think we all felt that one, I know I did. I don’t think Melody’s thinking all that clearly right now, because otherwise she might have thought twice about trying to run when she’s attached at the wrist to Bianca. 

Zack: Melody’s learning real fast that you can’t run far with that strap around your wrist, and you could hear the leather snap against Melody’s back!

Lennox dropped to her knees, and Bianca started whipping her with the strap. Shot after shot after shot landed across Melody’s back before Bianca moved down to her legs. She started whipping them too before Lennox tried to crawl under the ring to get away from her. Bianca shook her head, and started to pull on the leather strap again to try to drag her out. It was starting to work as she made some progress with Melody completely hidden under the ring. 

Zack: You can’t get away from her, Melody! She’s trying to create some distance, but there’s nowhere to run with that ten foot leather strap attached to her wrist! 

Mila: I wonder if Melody is regretting lashing Bianca like she did now, because Bianca is sure as hell giving her a taste of what it feels like!

Bianca backed up a couple steps to continue pulling when Melody rolled back out onto the floor. She had a fire extinguisher in her hands, and blasted Bianca in the face with it (as well as some ringside fans in the process). It blinded Reed, and caused her to start coughing as Melody got to her feet, using the strap as a clothesline to take her down to the floor. And she immediately started striking her with it across her own back. Each shot caused Bianca to freeze up in pain before Lennox leaned over her to wrap the leather around her throat and pull back on it to choke her!

Zack: Melody found herself an opening with the help of the fire extinguisher, and now she’s content to just choke Bianca into unconsciousness. And by the way, this match still hasn’t started yet officially!

Mila: If Bianca doesn’t find away to free herself from that choke there won’t be a match at all because she’ll be unconscious. I’ve always found it rather difficult to have a match when one person is unconscious after all. 

She pulled her to her feet, and started trying to drag her backwards with the strap around her neck. Bianca gasped for breath as Melody backed herself up to the barricade, giving “Killer B” a chance to reach behind here and rake Melody’s eyes. It gave her a chance to unwrap the leather from around her neck, as she coughed, trying to get her air back. Melody rolled into the ring and back out around the corner before she jerked Bianca towards her. Reed ran chest and face first into the post. The diminutive blonde grinned as she pulled her back to her feet, and yanked back into the post again. 

Zack: Melody’s starting to get creative with that strap, using the ring post like a tackling dummy for Bianca to hit! And the post doesn’t feel a thing, but Bianca sure does!

Mila: Look at her face! Melody is enjoying this, but I doubt she’ll like it much if Bianca manages to get even the briefest of openings. 

Lennox finally rolled into the ring, and slapped the first corner. She dragged Bianca with her to the adjacent corner, and slapped it before the referee waved it off. He told her Bianca has to be in the ring, and the match hasn’t even started. Melody looked thunderous as she pulled Bianca under the bottom rope into the ring. Finally, the referee called for the bell to start the match and Melody had to start over. She slapped the same two corners again, and was on her way towards the third. 

Mila: This could be over extremely quickly, Melody’s already well on her way to the third corner. I’m sure most of the crowd won’t like it much if she manages to make it. 

Zack: If she does it, this will be one of the shortest matches in FFW history officially since the bell just rang a few little bit ago to start it. 

She was almost there, but didn’t make it as Bianca sat up on her knees on the mat. The blonde looked back to see her as Bianca got to her feet, and charged the corner. She drove Melody back first into the turnbuckles before climbing up onto the middle, wrapping the leather around her fist and unloading with ten big punches to her head. She let the blonde stumble out of the corner a couple feet before Bianca climbed up onto the top rope. As soon as Melody turned around, Reed came off the top rope with an elbow drop to the top of her head. It dropped her like a rock before Bianca headed back to the corner, and slapped it. The referee followed along behind her as she made it to the next one, and slapped that. 

Zack: That elbow to the dome may have knocked Melody out cold, and now it’s Bianca who is halfway home! In a lot of ways, Mila, I think winning a strap match is even harder than just getting a three count. 

Mila: I’d agree. I mean keeping someone’s shoulders pinned to the canvas for three is one thing, having to make it to all four corners of the ring with that person attached to you by the wrist… well, that’s a WHOLE different ball game. 

Bianca dragged Melody to the third, having to step over the strap at one point. And when she went to tap the third corner, Melody yanked the strap up between her legs. That stopped Bianca in her tracks before Melody got back to her feet, and lunged towards her to apply a sleeper hold. Bianca weakly reached for the third corner before Melody pulled her down to the mat, locking the hold in deeper. 

Zack: This is very smart for Lennox. If she can put Bianca to sleep, she can easily pull her around the ring and start tapping corners again!

Mila: In some ways it would make it easier for her, but if she did that Bianca would basically be a dead weight attached to her wrist, and Melody’s not exactly big. 

Bianca’s hand reached out for the ropes out of instinct, as Melody dropped down onto the mat and turned it into a rear naked choke. She wrapped her legs around her waist to squeeze even more as Reed’s movements began to falter and slow down. Her arms finally fell to the mat, and her eyes closed. “Killer B” was motionless on the mat, looking every bit asleep as Melody kept the hold applied anyway. 

Zack: I think she’s out, Mila. Bianca’s stopped moving a few seconds ago, and if Melody doesn’t break it, we could be talking about serious issues. 

Mila: I don’t get what she’s trying to accomplish now. Bianca’s stopped moving and a smarter move would be to make to the corners before she starts moving again… not waste time on something that’s not necessary. 

She finally released the hold, and got back to her feet. Bianca remained motionless on the mat as Melody grinned ear to ear, but got nothing but boos from the Chicago crowd. She strolled over to the nearest corner, and tapped it. She was halfway to the second before looking back at Bianca, asking her if she wanted to stop her. But Reed still wasn’t moving, so she casually strolled over to the second to tap it. Melody looked out to the crowd, and pointed to the third corner and started a leisurely skip towards it. 

Zack: There’s no conceit in the Lennox family, Melodys’ got it at all! She’s having a ball going corner to corner with no sense of urgency whatsoever. 

Mila: It’s absolutely sickening to watch her acting like she doesn’t have a care in the world. C’mon Bianca get up and kick her ass!

She made it to the third, and slapped it with ease. Melody then put her finger to her chin, as if she couldn’t remember which was the only corner left. The grin on her face got even wider as she strolled towards the last corner. She only got halfway though before she couldn’t move any further. She glanced back to see what was holding her up…. Or who! Bianca was back to her feet as the crowd roared! Reed shot her a double bird, and pulled Lennox towards her into a spinebuster! She hopped back to her feet as the referee waved off Melody’s progress. 

Mila: YES! That certainly took the smile off Melody’s face didn’t it? And I think everyone in this arena currently wants to personally thank Bianca for that. 

Zack: Melody could have won, I think. But she wasted too much time enjoying her stroll around the ring! And now “Killer B” is holding court once again!

Bianca jerked Melody back to her feet, pasting her with a left to the jaw. It caused Melody to stumble backwards, only to get pulled back into a second and a third before a clothesline mowed her down for the fourth. She headed for the corner, and made her way up top once again. She launched herself into a frog splash that landed perfectly on target, once again exciting the crowd in the process. Then she got back to her feet, and wrapped part of the strap around Melody’s ankles. She tied them together, pulled the other end of the strap over her shoulder and started heading for the corner!

Mila: That is one way to keep your opponent down in a strap match. If Bianca hurries up, she could just get around all four corners here. And I bet that would be one of the sweetest victories of her career if she does. 

Zack: Melody’s trussed up like a holiday roast, and now “Killer B” is gonna start taking a tour of all four corners of the ring!

Bianca made it to the first, dragging Melody with her as she tapped the corner. She started towards the second as Melody tapped the bottom turnbuckle behind her. Reed made it to the second, tapping the top and headed for the third. Lennox tapped the bottom one as she was being pulled, while the crowd was trying to warn Bianca what was going on when she tapped the third corner… Melody did behind her!

Mila: Bianca has no idea that Melody is keeping right up with her on tagging those corners… even with the crowd doing their best to warn her. I have a really bad feeling about this...

Zack: the rules say you have to tap corners, it doesn’t say it has to be the TOP of the corner! And you’re right, Melody’s hit every corner Bianca has! But does she realize…? 

Bianca started towards the fourth before Melody grabbed the bottom rope to stop her progress. Reed turned back around as Melody got free, and rose to her feet. “Killer B” glanced to the referee who had both hands counting three corners when she realized what was happening, and Melody saw it too before she lunged towards Bianca trying to get past her for the fourth. Bianca caught her as she left her feet, trying desperately to reach the final corner and getting pulled into an inverted atomic drop instead. Melody dropped to her knees on the mat, and Bianca headed for the final corner!

Zack: Bianca caught onto what Melody was trying to do, and that shot right there will slow anyone down, man or woman! Reed is only a few feet from the final corner!

Mila: It’s so close I’m sure she can practically taste it, and with Melody slowed down if not stopped completely she has a pretty free path to it too!

Melody clutched the strap still, trying to halt Bianca entirely. Reed turned as her sister-in-law went for a double leg sweep. But Reed sidestepped her, and used the rope for a springboard into a reverse frankensteiner……

Zack: Look at that, Bianca’s going for REED’EM AND WEEP!!

Reed bounced off the ropes into her finisher, spiking Melody’s head onto the mat before she crawled over and tapped the fourth corner. Wilson called for the bell to a pop from the crowd, and Bianca pulled herself back to her feet.

Mila: That was not an easy win for Bianca, that’s for sure, but I bet it feels bloody good. Or it will once she gets her breath back a bit. 

Kat: Your winner of the strap match…………’KILLER B’ BIANCA REED!!!

The referee raised her hand, and helped her remove the leather strap from around her wrist. Reed looked down at the welts already forming on her body before climbing the top rope, and raising her hand once more!

Zack: You can see the red welts already starting to form on Bianca’s body and legs! She’s gonna be in agony for a few days to come, but she’s feeling nothing right now after finally putting this issue with Melody to rest!

Mila: I think there’s going to be a lot of welts and bruises for both of these two for a few days. I hope they’ve got plenty of ice on standby!

Reed rolled out to the floor, telling the camera the hunt for the Evolution title was back on track. As she headed up the ramp, she could hear the Chicago crowd chanting “Killer B” as the show cut to a commercial for Relentless. 




Challengers in Waiting

A clipboard with what appears to be a contract is grasped firmly in the hand of Carson Black as he heads through the doorway into the locker room of Angela and Jem of No Holding Back. 

Carson: Ladies...ladies… I’m going to need your signatures on something. Would you care to join me? 

He produces a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and taps the end. Jem looks quizzically towards her partner.

Jem: Well, okay. Sure. You’ve certainly managed to pique our interest that’s for sure. Tend to do that when you walk in telling us you need our signatures.

Angela: Yeah. What exactly is that you’ve got for us? What are we signing over...or signing up to? What’s probably the best manager in wrestling got up his sleeve for us? What are you bringing to us as an early Christmas present?

Jem: It’s not those cards that they’ve been selling online is it? The ones with the kisses. Not got us a waiver to stop us from claiming lip based injuries from puckering up have you? 

Carson: It’s for a little show called Relentless, and this particular document will schedule you to face the new Unity Champions, the Gold Standard, for their titles that night. I thought that might be of interest to you both. 

He says with a smile before holding out his pen for either of them to take it. 

Jake: At least I hope it is. 

Jem: Yes. Yes it is. Hand me the pen and let’s get this match made. Let’s get it signed, sealed and delivered.

Angela: We’re definitely interested. Very interested. We’ve waited a whole career...a whole lifetime for an opportunity like this to become the tag team champions in the biggest and best wrestling promotion in the world. Sounds like no better time to do it than Relentless.

Jem: We’re excited. We want this. We want to give the Gold Standard one heck of a match and I know that we can take the title belts from them. So let’s get this contract signed already!!

He watches as they sign their names to it, and replaces his pen into his pocket. 

Carson: Since they ended your Future Shock Tag Title reign, I thought you might like to stop theirs before it gets anywhere close to the record. And given this is your first ever shot at the Unity titles, you might be even more motivated than normal! 

Jem: Especially given the way they ended our Future Shock Tag Title reign...and then went on to break our record reign...You’re damn right I want to end their Unity title reign and take the titles away from them and reach the pinnacle - the absolute pinnacle of Tag Team Wrestling in this industry. There’s absolutely nothing that would make me happier than doing that at their expense. 

Angela: I think even if we win at Relentless and break the record OWS set, Jem’s still going to be holding onto that grudge. She might just forgive it on her deathbed...maybe. If Lacey and Valerie are lucky. Pretty much assured that Jem will be focused and firing on all cylinders when we reach Relentless. I’ll be right there with her too.

Carson: That’s what I like to hear ladies. Definitely what I like to hear. 

Carson looks down at the newly signed paperwork with a smile before the show heads back to the ring for the next match. 

[Adam Grant]

Kat: The following match is a ladder match and it is the climax of the Global Wars Series!!!

Zack: It’s time for the match that this event is named for: the Global Wars ladder match, fans! Four women have earned their way into this match, and I’m joined one of the participants’ best friends for it. I’m referring to England’s representative Lilly Arthur in this case, and I’ve got Jem Michaels of NHB here to show support for her fellow countrywoman. 

Jem: Hey Zack. I’ve got a good feeling about this match tonight. I think Lilly’s ready and with the Christmas break coming up and having all that time to rest up, I’m sure we’ll see her leave everything in the ring to become a two time Global Wars Winner and get that No Surrender shot she wants.

The Intense electrical thrumming of “Diabolic” by Dance With The Dead signals the coming of Areum Jijang, white and yellow strobes matching the staccato piano-percussion mix.

A moment passes by and Areum appears on stage, the dry ice fog on the entrance ramp parting to show her, and in front of her, seated in a dessicated old hospital wheelchair, housing the disturbing effigy that was a Max Sato Realdoll. Boos rain down upon her, but Areum seems far less offended than she is visibly nervous, she shouts at “Max” to shut up before starting off down the ramp.

When ‘Big Bang’ gets ringside, she roughly carts the life-sized doll over to her corner before hurriedly sliding into the ring and backing into her corner, scanning the ring, the ref, and the crowd as though something might jump out at her.

Kat: INTRODUCING, hailing from Seoul, South Korea by way of Fresno County, California, accompanied by… uh… well… standing five-feet tall and weighing in at one-hundred-thirty-five pounds, “BIG BAAAAAAANG” AREUM JIIIIIJAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

Areum holds her middle fingers high as the crowd showers her with more boos, before turning and shouting at Max to ‘Shut up!’ before turning her attention back to the upcoming match.

Zack: Areum can definitely be described as marching to the beat of her own drum, Jem. How proud do you think South Korea is to have her representing them in Global Wars? Do you feel she represents the nation well and it’s people? 

Jem: Being completely honest with you Zack, I think winning fixes a lot of ills - at least for as long as she’s winning. I think they’ll be very happy they’ve got a representative in the final four and will ignore the more erm… bat shit cra--- eccentric side of her.

Ah-ooh!
If you got troubles let 'em go
Let 'em soar so high, high into the sky
Just like a red balloon

“Red Balloon” by Charli XCX begins to play as red balloons fall from the ceiling, just before Caitlyn comes out through the curtain, looking up in amazement at the balloons showering down on the crowd before looking down to the ring.

Monday morning
Shoot up like a rocket
Yeah, the sun is shining
Keep it in my pocket
Got this golden feeling
Never gonna stop, it just goes on and on

The balloons start getting tossed around in the crowd as Caitlyn makes her way down the ramp to the ring. The former fitness instructor hops up onto the apron and over the top rope to high five a smiling Kat.

Kat: Introducing at this time....Hailing from New York City, New York and weighing in at One Hundred and Twenty-Six pounds...She is Caitlyn Storm!

Today, I opened my eyes
And now I'm so happy and free
I've got my friends by my side
And that's all that matters to me
So, come on, get up and join in
'Cause this is just what you need
Let's do it all day long

Caitlyn heads for the corner, and climbs up to the second turnbuckle. She glances around the crowd pumping her fist in the air a couple of times to get them even more amped up. The music fades out from there as Caitlyn climbs back down to await the start of the match.

Zack: As much as I like Lilly, Jem, I am also a fan of this woman right here. Caitlyn Storm only had her first ever shot at a title at Unstoppable. And she’s been here in FFW for some time now. I don’t think we could begrudge her if she won tonight. 

Jem: Not at all. I like Caitlyn. She’s got a lot of heart and a bucketful of determination and all the talent in the world. If those feet start to fly, it’s going to spell big trouble for the other three women in this match. Plus, the crowd are going to be right behind her.

“All Stand Up” by Status Quo starts to play as the young lady runs out onto stage, heading to one side she urges the crowd to their feet, clapping her hands above her head. Skipping across to the other side, she waves them to their feet as she once more claps her hands over head. Only to suddenly sprawl face first onto the entrance ramp as Bianca Salvador darted out of the back and clocked her with the No Surrender Championship to the back of her head. As Lilly hit the steel, the Franchise member followed it up by falling to her knees and used her forearms to drive the Titanium title belt into the back of her head again. Bianca popped up to her feet and delivered another forearm drop with the title belt into the back of Lilly’s skull before she pulled her head up the hair and told the Englishwoman that she’d never get her hands on the No Surrender Championship. The Brazilian left the title belt on the steel under Lilly’s face as she pulled the Sheffielder into the Rest Hold Paradise lock, holding her hand as she sat upon her back, trash talking the brunette.

Jem: Lilly made no secret which title belt she wanted if she won tonight. Seems like Bianca was paying attention and is taking the opportunity to send a message to Lilly and anyone else who might want the No Surrender Championship heading into 2020.

Zack: Good Lord! You’d think the “Typhoon” had enough to focus on with War Games later tonight! She has nothing to do with this match other than her tag partner’s supposed to be in it!

In the ring Caitlyn looked towards Areum as the assault was taking place, shaking her head as Jijang had a growing grin upon her face. The American shook her head and slid out of the ring and sprinted up the ramp, nearing the stage before Mel charged through the curtain and caught Storm with a spear that almost broke her in half. As Storm curled up in a ball on the entrance ramp, Mel began to stomp away at her body. In the ring Areum pointed up the ramp towards Lilly and Mel and Caitlyn as she seemed to be making a point to referee Stephen Wilson who reluctantly seemed to agree with the South Korean and called for the bell. As it sounded Areum slid out of the ring and headed straight for the nearest ladder, closing it up and taking it back to the ring, sliding it in underneath the bottom rope. 

Zack: Areum may not be so crazy after all! While the others are fighting, she’s getting herself a ladder and looking to make this the shortest ladder match in FFW history!

Jem: She’s making hay while the sun shines Zack and if Mel doesn’t do something, she might well find herself out of this before she even had a chance - and what a waste that will have been after beating Andi to get here.

At the top of the entrance ramp, security began to head towards Bianca only for the No Surrender Champion to come to her feet, quickly pulling Lilly up with her and drove her down into the steel of the entrance ramp with the Typhoon Driver while Mel pulled Caitlyn upwards and drove her downwards into the entrance ramp with the Mel-Bomb Gutwrench driver. Security quickly got themselves between the No Surrender Champion and England’s representative in the match; the Brazilian wrestler raising the title belt in the air to loud jeers from the crowd as security forced her to head backstage while medics headed to check on the unmoving Lilly. 

Zack: The way this is looking, Jem, Lilly may not even be part of this match! It may well just be three women vying for that open title shot!

Jem: Bianca’s certainly done a number on her and might have helped open the door for Mel, but if there’s any chance at all that Lilly can get to the ring, she will. She won’t let this opportunity pass her by.

Meanwhile in the ring Areum was setting up the ladder and beginning to make her ascent up towards the contract which prompted Mel to leave Storm writhing on the entrance ramp. Avilo sprinted down the entrance ramp and slid into the ring, catching Areum by the leg as she climbed upwards. Mel jerked the South Korean down to her feet on the canvas and Areum immediately struck first, catching the Brazilian with a thumb strike to the eye. As the Franchise member staggered backwards, Areum quickly followed up her attack with a throat thrust before she launched herself into the air and delivered a leaping knee strike to Mel’s jaw. The Brazilian hit the mat and instantly rolled back up towards her feet where she was caught with an armdrag that sent her across the ring. Mel immediately came back to her feet as she hit the canvas and the Big Bang skipped forward and caught her with a stinging knife edge chop to her chest. A second, third and fourth followed that as the South Korean wrestler forced her opponent back into the ring ropes before she Irish whipped her across the ring and caught her on the return with a leaping forearm strike to the jaw, dropping her to the canvas.

Zack: Who do you give the advantage to at the moment, given what we just saw, Jem? Caitlyn’s trapped between a nut and a powerhouse at the moment!

Jem: Right now, Areum’s got the upperhand. It’s still early, she should still be fresh enough to climb that ladder quickly… if she can put Mel down, this is hers for the taking.

Areum looked up to the title for a moment before turning her attention back to Avilo as the Brazilian wrestler had made it back to all fours and stopped the Franchise member in her tracks with a knee drop to the back of her neck. As Mel was driven down face first into the canvas, Areum mounted her back and began to paintbrush slap the back of her head viciously with open handed right and lefts. The Big Bang then pulled Mel upwards and hurled her through the air with a release German suplex. Avilo hit the canvas hard near the ropes and held the back of her head for a second, rising as she did so. Areum measured her up as the Franchise member came to her feet and the South Korean wrestler darted forward and caught her with a codebreaker that sent Mel falling backwards through the ring ropes...the Brazilian wrestler catching them and managing to land on the apron. Areum spun away from her opponent and headed back towards the ladder once more, checking it’s positioning before she began to climb.

Zack: Areum is the only one who has made a massive effort to get up that ladder. I’m not convinced she’s as off the bean as she may appear, Jem. 

Jem: She has quite the chip on her shoulder and is out here to prove something to everyone - and what better way to do it than by pitching a shut out and winning Global Wars 2019?!?

As Areum started to rise, Mel forced herself to roll back underneath the bottom rope and pushed up to her feet before she headed for the opposite side of the ladder. Areum looked down at the Brazilian and looked to climb faster, getting almost to the top and fired a shot towards Mel as the Franchise member climbed, slowing her down for just a second before she continued her climb. Jijang fired another shot and a third before Mel drew level with her on top of the ladder and blocked the fourth closed fist thrown her head before returning fire with one of her own which snapped Areum’s head to the side. Jijang recovered the pair started to exchange right and left hands atop the ladder, neither one noticing as Caitlyn had pulled herself up on the entrance ramp and was heading towards the ring. The American wrestler slid underneath the bottom rope and walked straight towards the ladder, her face screwing up with effort as she planted her feet and leaned into it, forcing it to start to fall to the side - the two women on top of it realizing in the nick of time and jumping down to land safely on the mat in the ring as the ladder struck the top rope, bounced and folded up as it hit the mat. 

Zack: That ladder is hard to control in the ring, no matter how many women are in there with it, as we just saw. But I’m curious, Jem. What title do you think someone like Caitlyn would go after if she won tonight? 

Jem: That’s an interesting question Zack. We saw her come up just a little shy at Unstoppable in the Fast Track ladder match so she might feel like she’s got some unfinished business there. Though she could always push herself, test herself and head straight towards the Evolution Championship.

Mel and Areum both took a moment to find their balance and as they did so, Mel found herself on the receiving end of a superkick to the jaw from the American wrestler that saw the Brazilian drop to the mat like a sack of potatoes. Caitlyn turned to face the Big Bang and received a forearm to her face for her troubles. Areum quickly followed it up with a second which saw the American take a couple of steps backwards which allowed the South Korea to leave her feet and took one of her legs out from underneath her with a low dropkick to the knee that saw her catch herself on all fours. Storm quickly began to push herself back upwards, only getting as far as one knee before Areum rocked her with a low roundhouse kick of her own to the side of the New Yorker’s head causing her to fall to the side. Again Caitlyn caught herself with one outstretched arm on the canvas and began to straighten up on her knees only for Jijang to grab her by the hair and snap her backwards, hurling her down to the canvas.

Zack: I heard a wild rumor this past week leading into this match, Jem. There’s some speculation going on that if Areum wins tonight, she’s gonna chase the Unity titles…. With Max. 

Jem: With… Max...the doll? Well...that would be… different and it’d be interesting to see if management would allow it - given it’s a doll and a him...but...umm… yeah. That would be an interesting way to use this opportunity.

Storm only stayed on the mat for a moment before she started to rise back to her feet, receiving a double axe handle blow to the top of the head from the South Korean who then brought her back to her feet. As Caitlyn was pulled up to a vertical base, Areum grabbed hold of her wrist and jerked her forwards into a raised knee to the gut, followed by a second and a third before the South Korean whipped Storm across the ring into the ropes and caught her on the return with a spinning spinebuster, driving her back first into the canvas once more. Areum popped back up to her feet with a double fist pump that saw the crowd boo her loudly - not that the South Korean cared as she turned to the Max Sato doll sat at ring side and verbally dissecting the man it represented. As Storm started to get back to her feet, Mel was also rising to her feet and Jijang dropped back to the ring ropes, building up a head of steam as she looked to take them both down with a double clothesline. She caught Mel perfectly across the chest, sending her down to the canvas while Caitlyn ducked beneath it.

Zack: I know it’s not like her at all, but if I were Caitlyn and Areum, I might join forces long enough to take Mel out of this match. I think she poses the biggest threat with that power advantage.

Jem: That would be a wise move by these two - when Mel recovers from having Caitlyn kicking her teeth down her throat. But Areum could possibly win it before that happens with how it’s going so far.

Areum spun around to face Storm and as she did so, the American contender left her feet and delivered a codebreaker to Jijang’s jaw. As the South Korean began to pull herself upwards, Caitlyn began to use her educated feet to full effect, snapping off bone rattling kicks into her body. The Big Bang tried to cover up and came to her feet quickly in an attempt to stop the kicks but it only saw Storm change her point of her attack from the Asian woman’s body to her legs. Jijang staggered backwards a step and a half as Caitlyn looked over her shoulder and spotted that Mel had made it back to her feet which saw the blonde yank Areum towards, using the momentum to lift her upwards and drop her with a flapjack that caused the Big Bang to deliver a headbutt to Mel’s spine as she landed, sending both the Franchise member and the former Aspire Ring holder down to the mat. 

Zack: And what title do you think Mel here would want to go after if she won? She lamented how she’s trying to stand out as more than just a tag team wrestler. I’d say she’s done that, but what do you think would be her goal? 

Jem: That’s a tough one Zack… obviously the No Surrender is out of the question - for now. The scary thought would be if she went for the Ultraviolence Championship. Can you imagine that amount power being put behind a swinging road sign or a cookie sheet?

As the South American and South Korean wrestler rose to their feet quickly only for Caitlyn to measure them up and in one swift movement deliver matching stinging kicks into their midriffs. It caused both women to lean forward as they’re arms crossed their stomachs for a moment which was just long enough for Storm to grab both of their head and introduce them to each other with a meeting of the minds. As their skulls crashed into each other Areum stepped backwards, holding her head before she fell to her ass; Mel meanwhile also staggered backwards, staying on her feet for long enough that Storm was able to step forward and catch her with a kneeling jawbreaker that sent Avilo stumbling back into the corner. 

Zack: I think Areum may be stronger than she looks. I mean she’s caught Mel with some stiff shots so far, and each of them has registered big time. Not every powerful wrestler has to be jacked, fans. 

Jem: If Claire was here Zack, I’m sure she’d been able to go over the mechanics of it all, telling that it’s not all about muscle mass...  that you’ve got to factor in weight transfer, hand speed and technique and it’s probably that which Areum is adept at.

Quickly the New Yorker followed up the move with a two footed dropkick to the Brazilian’s chest, rolling to her feet and charged towards the rising Jijang, catching her with a running kneelift to her jaw. It brought Areum to her feet and as she did so, Caitlyn grabbed hold of her wrist and Irish whipped her into the same corner as Avilo; Jijang  striking her back first to crush her against the turnbuckle pads. Storm quickly retreated across the ring to the opposite corner before she came charging across the ring and left her feet to catch Jijang with a double knee strike to the chest. Areum staggered forward out of the corner and as she did so, Caitlyn hooked her head from behind and as she stepped up onto the middle rope to catch Mel with a step up enzuigiri to the side of the head, she dropped the South Korean with a neckbreaker. Mel stumbled a couple of steps out of the corner before she fell through the ropes and to the outside while Jijang held her neck and kicked her feet against the canvas for a moment. 

Zack: Caitlyn’s got both women down, and there’s no better time than now for her to start heading skyward!

Jem: She’s been hitting anything that moves and you can’t help but be impressed by this performance from her. Plus, she’s already got a ladder in the ring which gives her a little bit of an advantage if she wants to go claim the prize.

Caitlyn looked at her for a second before she hopped up onto the middle rope and fell backwards to catch the South Korean with an elbow drop to her chest. It spurred Areum to quickly begin to come to her feet as Storm took off across the ring, bouncing off the ring ropes once more and came back to catch the South Korean with a running bicycle kick to the side of her head, sending her through the ropes to the outside where she landed in a heap next to the Franchise member competing in the match. The American took a moment to look down at her two opponents on the floor but then quickly moved towards the ladder, pulling it up from the canvas and setting it up below the contract that was hanging above the ring. Storm checked to make sure it was secure as she set up while at the top of the entrance ramp, Lilly pushed away the medics that were checking on her and started to push up to her feet before she began to stagger down towards the ring, picking up speed as she did so. 

Zack: Lilly’s not going to miss out on an opportunity like this! And if Paul Revere were alive two centuries later, he’d be warning that the British are coming!

Jem: Lilly’s tougher than she looks and Caitlyn needs to climb like the wind if she wants to end this now because Arthur’s looking pretty determined to stop her right now.

The English woman slid underneath the bottom ropes and forced herself to get to her feet as Caitlyn was two steps away from the top of the ladder and stretching out trying to reach the contract. Lilly immediately headed towards the ladder, crashing her shoulder into it and caused the steps to teeter. Storm looked down at Arthur for a half second before she reached up for the contract once more, finding it out of reach before she shook her head, looked down at Lilly as the Sheffield native was preparing herself to shove the ladder once more and the American launched herself from very nearly the top of the ladder, landing on the Englishwoman’s shoulder and snapped off a headscissors takedown. 

Zack: Look at that uncanny agility from Caitlyn Storm! She won both of her matches in the series against some impressive opponents, but the hard work isn’t over yet!

Jem: You’ve got to remember Zack, Storm was in this exact situation just a few months ago at Unstoppable. She’s got a pretty good idea of what she can do and what she can get away with when she’s on that ladder. 

Lilly rolled through and began to come to her feet but only got as far as one knee before she found herself dropped to the canvas by Caitlyn with a Shining Wizard to the side of her head. Storm landed on her knees and quickly started to head back to her feet and stepped towards the ladder...only for the Englishwoman to wrap both of her arms around her ankle as she tried to slow her advance. Storm turned around and looked down on Lilly before she stooped and began to pull the Englishwoman back up to her feet by her hair once more only to snap off a DDT, spiking her down into the mat on the top of her skull. Lilly slumped onto the canvas and Caitlyn once more came to her feet and started to move towards the ladder once more.

Zack: Caitlyn is like a moth to a flame with that ladder, she’s been drawn to it over and over again with good reason. And this Chicago is showing some serious patriotism as a result!

Jem: Storm’s doling out knock out shots, sadly though Mel and Areum have had time to recover so she might need to load up a couple more before she tries to climb again.

Meanwhile on the outside, Mel and Areum were starting to rise only for Avilo to strike first, catching Jijang with a throat thrust. The South Korean began to gasp for air and received another throat thrust from the Brazilian wrestler. As the Big Bang stepped backwards, Mel drove a front kick into her midsection that saw the South Korean drop down to one knee. As she did so, Avilo followed it up with a curbstomp to the back of her head, driving her down face first into the floor. Jijang tried to push upwards, Mel helping her to come upright as she lifted her onto her shoulders into position for the powerbomb, stepping forward before she hurled her spine first into the steel ring post with a modified buckle bomb. Areum staggered forward and straight into the Brazilian’s grips who scooped the South Korean off her feet and drove her down into the thin matting at ringside with a powerslam.

Zack: There’s that power I was talking about earlier. Areum doesn’t look it, but anyone who can powerslam a woman like Mel has strength in reserves!

Jem: Yup and I think Mel might have just put her down for the count. The only give when Areum’s spine met that ring post, was in Jijang’s bones.

In the ring, Caitlyn had approached the ladder and started to climb once more as Lilly had begun to recover on the mat and crawled after the American, pulling herself up the rungs once more before she grabbed hold of the New Yorker’s ankle. Storm tried to kick her off only for the Englishwoman to keep a firm grip on her leg as she continued to force herself upwards and managed to grab hold of Caitlyn’s other ankle, jerking them both out from under her. As Storm fell from the rungs of the ladder, her jaw crashed into the steel of the steps. The American wrestler stepped backwards, holding her chin before she found her balance and as she did so, she charged forward and caught the still rising Lilly with a knee to her spine causing her to crash chest first into the steel of the ladder. Arthur reeled backwards and Caitlyn wasted no time at all in locking in a Full Nelson on her opponent, holding it in tight before she swept her legs out from underneath her and slammed her down into the ring mat.

Zack: Caitlyn with a full nelson facebuster on Lilly! There’s no friends in a match like this, folks! They all want the prize, and friendship was left in the locker room.

Jem: I’m sure they’ll be friends when this one is done… but right now there’s a title shot at Relentless on the line and only one of them is walking out with it. They both desperately want it to be them or they wouldn’t have bothered to turn up.

As Storm rose to a vertical base, Mel slid into the ring behind her and came back to her feet, where she grabbed hold of the American by the back of her tights and the scruff of her neck and sent her flying forwards into the ladder, her head just missing the rungs as her shoulders collided with the steel legs of the ladder. Caitlyn stepped backwards which saw Mel hoist her up high into the air and drop her forward onto her knee with an atomic drop, sending the New Yorker face and chest first into the ladder. Again the New Yorker bounced off the metal and straight back into the powerhouses arms, Mel applying a rear waistlock before she spun around and launched the smaller woman through the air with a release belly to back suplex. Storm hit the ladder hard, causing it to fall backwards and hit the ropes - it bounced off them, folding up as it did so and toppled forward to crash into the back of Storm’s skull causing Mel to grin before she spotted Lilly beginning to rise. 

Zack: Look at that smile on Mel’s face. She’s got some evil intentions on her mind, and winning this will break her out of that mold she feels she’s been stuck in for ages. 

Jem: You see the way she used the ladder as a tag partner? That’s certainly gonna have taken the stuffing out of Storm and it’s poured cold water on this partisan crowd in Chicago.

As Lilly got to her feet, the Brazilian charged towards, mowing her down with a clothesline before she scooped her upwards off her feet and dropped her throat first over the top rope. Lilly landed on her feet, trying to catch her breath and spun back around towards the former Unity Champion who lifted her high up into the air for a Gorilla Press Slam and unceremoniously dumped the English wrestler over the top rope to the floor where she landed face first. Caitlyn pushed the ladder away from her as she rolled to the side and onto all fours, holding the back of her head for a moment as she did so. Avilo headed straight towards her and grabbed hold of the American by the head, pulling her upright and into a snap suplex. As the move landed, Mel rolled through, keeping her foe’s head trapped, pulling her up to her feet with her and delivered another snap suplex. Again the Franchise member didn’t release her opponent as she again lifted her up to her feet before she hoisted her vertically, holding her upside down for a good few long seconds, letting the blood rush to her head before she drove her down to the canvas.

Zack: Mel’s letting all the blood rush to her head here. It’s a good thing they all will have a month to recover, because it’s clear they are gonna need it after this. 

Jem: A month to recover, a month to think and stew on what could’ve been Zack - especially if you don’t give it everything you’ve got right here, right now. Every athlete wants to end their year on a high because it sucks if you don’t.

Quickly Mel once more jerked Storm to her feet and Irish whipped her into the ring ropes, catching the American with a big boot to the jaw that sent her down to the mat. Storm sat up for a second before she fell straight back down to the mat, taking a couple of seconds before she started to sit once more only for Avilo to skip forward and drove a vicious boot straight into her spine. A second followed before she reached down and jerked the American to her feet and once more lifted her up vertically, holding her there again - long enough for the crowd to boo her loudly - before she dropped Caitlyn on the top of her head with a brainbuster. The Brazilian wrestler turned towards the ladder and was about to go towards to pick it up when she spotted Lilly Arthur sliding back into the ring underneath the bottom rope and starting to pull herself to her feet by the ring ropes. Mel measured her up before she charged towards the Englishwoman and delivered a running face wash big boot to her, causing Lilly to lean back against the ropes. Avilo quickly followed it up with a series of alternating European uppercuts and vicious knife edge chops that sent Lilly staggering back into the corner which saw Mel retreat to the middle of the ring before she sprinted forward and left her feet to splash Lilly against the corner pads. 

Zack: One on one, I don’t think there’s anyone who can match Mel in power toe to toe, and she’s using every bit of it tonight on anyone who opposes her. But wins aren’t based on strength alone, it also has to do with strategy and heart and determination too!

Jem: You’re right Zack and I think Mel’s strategy is pummel anything and everything that moves until it stops. It’s proving to be pretty effective, don’t you think?

Lilly slumped over the ring ropes as Mel stepped backwards away from her and the Franchise member spotted Caitlyn beginning to pull herself up to her feet in the opposite corner and Mel took off towards, catching her with a running clothesline. Immediately the Brazilian took off across the ring again and delivered a corner clothesline to Lilly before returning to deliver another to Storm.   more Avilo run back and forth across the ring, dishing out corner clothesline towards the New Yorker and Sheffielder before she stopped in the middle of the ring and looked towards the ladder, up to the contract and then back to Caitlyn and Lilly slumped in the corners and back to the ladder once more; a malicious grin beginning to appear on her face. 

Zack: Mel’s checking to see where the bodies are buried before she heads for the heavens and the biggest opportunity of her career hanging over her head right now!

Jem: Is she going to climb though Zack? That grin on her face suggests she might feel like she has to do a little bit more to keep these two down long enough to get up there.

Mel headed towards the ladder, pulling it up from the canvas and again looked towards the two women in opposite corners and quick stepped towards Caitlyn using the ladder as a battering ram to slam the top step into her sternum. Looking over to Lilly, Mel quickly backed up and drove the feet of the ladder into Lilly’s stomach and chest. The Brazilian repeated that twice more, dashing back forth alternating battering Storm’s chest with the top step or slamming the feet of the ladder into the Englishwoman’s body. As she did so, Areum had recovered on the outside of the ring and slid back into the ring, pulling herself up by the ring ropes only for Mel to dart forward and crash the top step into the underside of the South Korean’s jaw; Jijang just getting her hands up to cushion the blow slightly as Mel continued to drive the ladder into her, sending the Big Bang tumbling over the top rope to the floor where she landed hard on her back.

Jem: Caitlyn and Lilly are definitely going to know they were in a ladder match tomorrow; it’s going to be imprinted on their chests!!

Zack: Every champion in FFW better be watching this match with bated breath, because none of your titles are safe! These four can pick ANY title they want!

Mel didn’t waste any time as she dropped the ladder between Lilly and Caitlyn and headed first towards the English wrestler, jerking her out of the corner and straight into an STO slamming her face and chest first into the steel. The Englishman rolled away, almost convulsing against the canvas as she held her body and rolled towards the apron. Mel headed across the ring towards the Storm, picking up speed as she caught her with a shoulder thrust to the gut. The Brazilian followed it up with a second before the strong woman lifted Storm up to sit her on the top rope, slapping the taste out of her mouth before she pulled her head down and lifted her onto her shoulders in position for a muscle buster, which saw her drop Caitlyn on the ladder. The New Yorker immediately spasmed on impact, rolling away to the apron. 

Zack: It’s a good thing we have several licensed medics backstage, because every one of these women are no doubt going to be availing themselves of their services tonight. 

Jem: And if there’s anyone at a loose end backstage, they should probably run on out to a grocery store and bring back every bag of ice and every packet of frozen vegetables they can cover. These girls will need that too.

Mel surveyed the scene then picked up the ladder, setting it up in the middle of the ring underneath the contract while on the outside, Areum pulled herself to her feet with the aid of the crowd barricade. A look of fury flashed upon her face and as a fan heckled her, she turned around, grabbing him by the shirt and threw him to the side before she reached over and stole his chair, folding it shut. Jijang slid underneath the bottom rope as Mel was starting to climb the ladder with the chair in tow, came to her feet and measured up the Brazilian as she was half way up the ladder and swung it violently into the spine of the Franchise member. Another chair shot followed, then a third and a fourth and a fifth before Mel dropped off the ladder and landed on her feet unsteadily. Areum reared back with the chair and as the Brazilian turned to face her, the South Korean brought the chair down on top of her skull as Mel’s hands came up just in the nick of time yet still she fell down to the mat. 

Zack: Mel tried to deflect direct impact with that chair, and she may have done somewhat. But it didn’t work well enough to keep her from hitting the mat. 

Jem: Areum’s taking back her pound of flesh after being hurled into the steel post and Mel just barely saw that chair shot. If she hadn’t, that could have been her night done and she’d be waking up backstage to the smelling salts, Zack.

The Big Bang didn’t give her any time to recover as she started to wear her out with rapid fire chair shot after chair shot after chair shot after chair shot; endlessly battering her body with the steel until she finally dropped the twisted seat to the mat. Areum looked at the ladder and then at Mel, shaking her head as the Brazilian was already starting to push up as though purely driven by instinct and JiJang grabbed her by the head, pulling her into a standing head scissors before she dropped her face first into the chair with a pulling piledriver. Areum shoved Mel to the side as she sat on the mat and looked around her, spotting Lilly and Caitlyn still down on the outside, holding their front and back respectively as Avilo was down on the canvas. Jijang smiled as she came back to her feet and started to head towards the ladder, looking over to the Max Sato doll at ringside and screaming at him as she began to climb up the ladder.

Jem: That was a sickening pulling piledriver, Zack. How much more do these girls have to give? Could this be it? If she stops screaming at her...tag partner??

Zack: They’re fighting like they’re in someone else’s body tonight, and with good reason as an open title shot to any championship in FFW hangs in the balance for the winner.

Areum was only moving slowly up the rungs as she continued to scream at the doll as Mel looked up to see the South Korean wrestler climbing and forced herself to move, rolling to all fours and began to crawl towards the opposite side of the ladder. As Avilo reached it, she started to pull herself up the ladder, scrambling as best she could towards the top. Jijang made it to the penultimate step and reached up to grab hold of the contract and began trying to pull it down but before she could, Mel arrived at the top of the ladder and caught the Big Bang with a stiff right hand to her face. Jijang tried to ignore the shot as she yanked on the contract in an effort to free it only to get another shot to the face from Mel, followed by a second which saw the South Korean to release her grip on the prize and start to fire back on the Brazilian. The two wrestlers began to exchange shots atop the ladder; the pair going back and forth, neither getting the upper hand.

Zack: It’s a fistfight almost fifteen feet above the ring! Mel and Areum are close to the promised land!

Jem: And whoever wins this match is going to have to do it the hard way while the other is going to have one heck of a crash landing.

As the exchange continued, the pair starting to teeter as the blows continued to land, Lilly and Caitlyn recovered and they two started to move towards the ladder and began to climb up behind the other two competitors. Lilly was behind Areum and as she climbed up the ladder she turned around to face the crowd and slipped her head between Jijang’s legs, grabbing hold of her thighs, while Caitlyn climbed straight up the ladder, also feeding her head between Mel’s legs. It took a moment for the Brazilian and South Korean wrestler to realize what was happening and as they did so, Lilly jerked Areum off the ladder and drove her down into the mat with a sitout powerbomb. Simultaneously, on the other side of the ladder, Caitlyn pushed up another step before she fell backwards and took Mel down to the canvas with an electric chair drop.

Zack: It’s high drama in the Windy City! This may be the most exciting Global Wars finale in the history of the series!

Jem: We’re seeing exactly how much this means to these four girls; how much they want this title shot; how much national pride they’ve got. Which one of them is it going to be to climb up their first though?!?

Lilly and Caitlyn started to move, getting to their feet and the pair started to climb the ladder simultaneously, both getting to the second rung before they spotted each other through the ladder and together shook their heads and dropped back down to the canvas. The two wrestlers stepped around the ladder and began to throw shots at each other; Storm firing off a kick towards Lilly which the Englishwoman rode as she stepped forward, getting another kick to her body before she finally managed to close the gap. The Sheffielder began to fire off forearms into the side of the American’s head while Storm we bringing knees upwards into the brunette’s midriff before Lilly delivered a headbutt to Caitlyn’s forehead, causing her to stumble backwards which allowed Arthur to take her down to the canvas with a drop toe hold. Storm quickly began to come back to her feet only for Lilly to bounce off the ring ropes and halt her rise as she got to one knee with a bionic elbow to the top of her skull. Before the American wrestler could recover, Lilly scooped her up in her arms and hurled her overhead with a fallaway slam straight into the ladder. 

Zack: It comes as no surprise that this crowd is solidly behind Caitlyn Storm tonight, and Lilly’s not doing anything to win them over at this point!

Jem: I’m not sure Lilly’s even aware of this crowd at the moment to let it bother her. I think the only thing on her mind is getting to the top of that ladder.

The ladder teetered, rocking and back and forth as Caitlyn writhed on the mat, holding her back for a moment. Lilly steadied the ladder and quickly climbed up the first four rungs before she leapt off as Caitlyn was beginning to get to her feet and delivered a double foot stomp to her back which drove her down into the canvas. As Storm rolled away, Lilly pulled the ladder to the side and back into position underneath the contract before she started to climb upwards. As she neared the top, Mel began to climb up behind her, catching her and wrapped her arms around the Englishwoman, trying to jerk her off the ladder into a German suplex. Lilly though hung on tight and tried to kick her foe off her, driving downwards with her boot, planting it into her chest each time. Mel through refused to release her hold as she continued to try and jerk her off the ladder. Areum also came to her feet and moved between Mel’s legs, lifting her upwards into a powerbomb position and drove her downwards just as Arthur’s grip gave way, Lilly landed hard on the canvas from the German suplex as Mel was driven downwards; the ladder twisting and turning as it fell to the canvas. 

Jem: You take your eyes off any of your opponents for a second and you wind up paying for it in a match like this one. Areum’s got the upperhand, but she’s also going to need another ladder - I certainly wouldn’t want to climb the one that’s in their in it’s current state.

Jijang stared at the warped ladder as it landed on the canvas and looked up just in time to see Caitlyn Storm take full advantage as she caught Areum square in the face with the Storm Rising springboard spinning heel kick. Storm popped back to her feet, getting a loud cheer from the crowd and looked down at the twisted metal of the ladder in the ring and slid it to the outside, following behind it as she quickly moved to retrieve another ladder. The American joined the ladder in the ring and was about to pick it up as Mel staggered towards her and caught her with a thumb to the eye before she drove her down into the ladder with a sitout facebuster. Caitlyn rolled away and as Mel came to her feet, Lilly darted forward and caught the rising Avilo with a one handed bulldog that sent her face first into the ladder.

Zack: Caitlyn’s starting to find that third gear, because she’s already gone through second! There goes Mel down, thanks to Lilly! And that possible tag title shot for Areum and Max seems farther and farther away now.

Jem: It’s swinging back and forth, round and round like one of those pendulum mandala weights with the point that draws in the sand. Anyway...who’s your money on Zack?

The Brazilian rolled away and as she did so, Lilly quickly set up the ladder so that it was leaning in the corner and the Englishwoman moved towards the Brazilian, leaving her feet to catch her with a leg drop across the chest. Arthur came back to her feet and quickly grabbed hold of Mel around the thighs, falling backwards to catapult her face first into the ladder. The Franchise member staggered backwards and Lilly lifted her off her feet and drove her down into the canvas with a side suplex. Mel arched her back up off the canvas and Lilly stepped out onto the apron to head up to the rope behind the ladder, reaching up for the top step and launched herself forward using a double knee drop to drive the ladder down into Mel’s body. Lilly rolled away holding her knees for a moment as Avilo pushed the ladder off to the side, holding her body as she held her chest.

Zack: it’s a good thing for Lilly her husband is a massage therapist, because hes’s gonna be working out bruises and knots for the rest of the week after this is over. 

Jem: Like I said, she’s putting her body on the line tonight because she desperately wants to be a two time Global Wars Winner and prove what I’m already certain of - England produces the best wrestlers in the world.

Lilly slowly began to rise and as she did so, Caitlyn came towards her, leaving her feet for a jumping spin kick only for the Englishwoman to duck underneath it. Storm landed on her feet but as she did so, Lilly caught her with a boot to her gut before she scooped her up and slammed her to the mat with a michinoku driver. Storm rolled away and Lilly once more pushed up to her feet, pulling the ladder up with her and started to set it up underneath the contract. The Englishwoman began to climb up the steps, getting half way up before Areum began to follow behind her. Arthur made it to the top step and reached to try and unhook the contract, getting her hands around and seemed to struggle for a second which saw Jijang catch her and drive her head first into the top step. Areum repeated that a second and a third time as Mel started to rise on the mat. Lilly clung onto the ladder but it only saw the South Korean wrestler deliver a headbutt to the back of her head, slam her face first into the top rung once more before Jijang managed to throw Lilly from the top of the ladder; the Englishwoman landing hard on the canvas back first.

Jem: So...so very close for Lilly...inches away but then Areum turned those inches into feet and with the torment on her back, you might as well be asking Lilly to climb mountains rather than a 15 foot ladder.

Areum grinned down at the Englishwoman as the brunette writhed on the canvas in agony before she turned her attention to the contract hanging down from the rafter and stepped up to try and pull it down herself. As she reached up for it, Mel began to climb the otherside of the ladder, forcing herself to move rapidly. As she got to the top, she delivered a throat thrust to Jijang that saw the South Korean wrestler gasp for air and followed that with a palm strike to the bridge of her nose. Jijang wobbled again but still managed to grab keep hold of the ladder.  Mel shook her head and planted her hands on the top step before she leapfrogged over the top of the ladder and wrapped her legs around Areum’s head before she sent her flying off the top rope and into Max Sato’s lap at ringside, upsetting the wheelchair and causing the real doll to land on top of Jijang as Mel landed on the canvas and rolled to the ring ropes; the ladder twisting slightly under the forces it had just been put under but still staying vertical - albeit wobbling.

Zack: Areum got launched by Mel, and luckily Max was there to break her fall! Jem, there could be dissension on that team before they even make it up the ladder! 

Jem: We’ve seen plenty of teams that aren’t necessarily as tight as sisters be wildly successful in FFW. And trouble in paradise could be the least of this teams worries in all honesty.

Mel held her back as pulled herself back to her feet and spotted Storm starting to rise on the far side of the ring and charged towards her, catching her with a knee strike to her body that sent her down to one knee. Before she could get up, the Brazilian wrapped her arms around her and drove her down into the canvas with the Mel-Bomb gutwrench driver. Mel came back to her feet and headed towards the ladder as Areum shook her head on the outside and suddenly came to life as she realised that Sato was on top of her; the South Korean slapping the shit out of the doll as she came to her feet and drove her boot into the midsection. The Asian woman had a look of fire across her face as she looked back to the ring and saw Mel preparing to climb the ladder once more and as the Brazilian stepped upwards, Areum saw the ladder wobble dangerously. Jijang nodded her head and moved to retrieve another ladder from ringside.

Zack: That’s a smart play from Areum there, further proving my point that I don’t think she’s as far gone mentally as we like to believe. Imagine her in the Ultraviolence division!

Jem: You’re absolutely right Zack. A woman like Areum in the Ultraviolence division with her chaotic streak and her unpredictability… I’d be very happy to watch that from the sidelines, well out of harm’s way.

Mel continued to slow, carefully climb up the ladder, clinging to it for dear life the higher up she got. As the Brazilian made it to the top step, the ladder wobbled dangerously, causing her to pause before she reached up and steadied the contract before she started to try and pull it down. At which point a recovered Areum, who had slid into the ring with a new ladder and had come to her feet, drove the ladder upwards and between Mel’s legs catching her with a low blow. A second low blow followed that which saw Mel try to get away by stepping around the ladder to the other side. As she did so, Big Bang shook her head and drove the ladder upwards to catch Avilo in the forehead with the ladder before the Brazilian could get a firm grip on the set-up ladder and saw her fall back to the canvas. 

Jem: Very, very smart from Areum. She saw that Mel had a huge head start so she used the ladder to her advantage and kept this match alive a little bit longer. Can she get up there though?

Areum smiled and moved to set up the brand new ladder next to the damaged one, making sure that it was set up securely before she circled around it and dropped back to the ropes, catching Mel with the Trigger Pull running knee to her seated foe. Quickly Areum pulled Mel upwards and delivered the Detonation kick to her. Jijang turned towards the new ladder and began to climb upwards, getting half way before she was joined by Lilly who had climbed up the damaged ladder and stopped the South Korean with a jab to her kidneys. As Areum froze, Lilly hooked her head under her arm and launched herself off the ladder to drive Jijang from halfway up the ladder and into the canvas with the Water Lilly reverse DDT, double knee backbreaker combination. The move left all four women down on the canvas as both ladders wobbled from side to side before they both came to a rest stood upright on their feet. 

Zack: Everyone’s down, the only thing left standing are the two ladders! Something’s gotta give as that open title shot contract for Relentless hangs in the balance!

Jem: All four women have given their all Zack. I think right now this is going to come down whichever woman recovers quickest.

Slowly all four women started to recover and each one ignored their rivals as they all started to crawl towards the ladders and began to climb; Lilly and Areum on one side on separate ladders, Mel and Caitlyn on the other, also on separate ladders. The four wrestlers made it to the top simultaneously and all four reached up to grab hold of the contract before they all started to use their free hands to indiscriminately fire off punches and chops and forearms and elbows towards their foes, each one taking any time they could to try and undo the hook that was attached to the contract. As the four wrestlers began to lean into the blows, the ladders started to rock and wobble dangerously underneath the competitors before they finally toppled out from underneath them, the four wrestlers collapsing to the mat between the two ladders just as the contract was freed; landing between them. The four of them started to recover, each one looking up to see the contract was missing from above them before they all spotted it on the mat and all made a desperate dive towards it. 

Jem: Four way fight. Fifteen feet in the air. And none of them are willing to let go of that contract. This can only end badly!

There was a screech of pain from the midst of the pile, followed by another agonised cry before a woman managed to squirm out from the mass of humanity and slipped outside of the ring with the contract held tightly against her chest. The referee called for the bell and moved around the ring to raise her arm in the air as the announcement was made.

Kat: Here is you winner… and GLOBAL WARS CHAMPION 2019!!!... LILLY ARTHUR!!!

Zack: Would you look at that!? Despite being assaulted by the No Surrender Champion to start this match, Bianca may have just cemented herself as Lilly’s guaranteed chosen opponent at Relentless! England has won Global Wars FOR A THIRD TIME!!

Jem: YES!!! Congratulations Lilly!!! That might have been one of the hardest fought matches of the year. All credit to all four of these warriors tonight, each and everyone of them has shown us something. Each one has been hugely impressive and I’m certain the future is bright for all of them. Salvador might wanna start counting down the days till Lilly takes the No Surrender title away from her!!!

The crowd cheered Lilly loudly as she clutched the contract to her chest and her husband Colin headed down to the ring to congratulate her. Mel glared at Lilly angrily while Areum slid out of the ring to berate her Max Sato doll and Caitlyn Storm slid out of the ring, one more across her chest and offered Lilly a handshake which was accepted. Caitlyn raised her hand as Colin raised her other one, causing the crowd to cheer the Englishwwoman as the show cut elsewhere.

[Adam Grant]

Kat: The following contest is scheduled for one fall to a finish and it is for the FFW CHAMPIONSHIP!

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, 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, even raising both arms and beckoning the crowd to get even louder--which they happily do.

Kat: Introducing first, from Seattle, Washington, and weighing in at 137 lbs, this is the "Emerald City Siren," SOPHIA PIIIIIKE!

Sophia hooks her arms over the ropes and grins, climbing through the ropes and 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...who promptly throw it back at the Siren. For her part, Sophia either doesn't notice or doesn't care, just settling herself back in the corner, waiting for the match to begin.

Zack: Tonight is the night for Sophia Pike to prove what she’s been saying for a long time now! She has a shot at the richest prize in FFW, and she’ll either prove she was right or come up short.

Mai: We’ve all learned it’s never wise to bet against Sophia. And I’m not going to start tonight. I may have actually put some money on her. 

The crowd gets plunged into darkness. The silence gets broken by John Youle as he starts to make the introduction.

Kat: Hailing from Sherbrooke in the province of Quebec, Canada. She weighs in at 142 lbs and stands 5’8” tall. This is the current and reigning FFW CHAMPION… “ONE WOMAN SHOW” SHAUGHNESSY O’NEILL!!!

Alice Cooper’s Poison begins to play as the video wall shows close ups of different parts of Shaw’s face before finally cutting to a live feed of the young woman as the spotlight hits her in the middle of the stage. Starting to nod her head along to the beat of the music with the championship belt sat on her shoulder, the young woman heads down to the ring, the spotlight following her all the way to the ring, eyes never leaving her challenger. Rolling under the bottom rope Shaw kips up to her feet and stands in a corner, checking everything about her ring gear is in position before she finally passes her title belt off to the official while she waits to start the match.

Zack: It’s clear that the fans, myself included, don’t know quite what to make of Shaw heading into this match tonight, not after what went down at Velocity.

Mai: For once, we are in agreement. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but a match against Sophia is a terrible time to be thinking about making career changes. 

Referee Jennifer Stranger hands off the FFW Championship to Kat to take with her as she leaves the ring, before she completes a check of both competitors for illegal items. Finding nothing untoward she calls for the bell to get the match underway. Both Shaw and Sophia are quickly out of their corners to meet in the centre of the ring, but both start to circle each other, looking for an opening. After a few moments Sophia makes a move towards Shaw, attempting to get her into an arm wringer, but the Champion has no interest in that and avoids it by instead getting her into a wristlock. Sophia immediately starts firing shots with her free hand and manages to land several into the side of Shaw’s head, forcing the Champion to release her hold as she takes a step back to avoid the hits. Pike immediately follows her and tries to get her own grip of Shaw’s arm, but the Champion quickly snatches it away and shoves the challenger towards the ropes. Sophia stops herself before she hits the ropes, and turns into a headbutt from the Champion that sends her staggering backwards. 

Zack: Sophia certainly got herself worked up in her promo for this match, didn’t she? She talked about how long it took for her to get this shot.

Mai: She did have to climb a while to get here, that’s true. But so does most everyone who gets to challenge for the FFW Championship. It’s not like most promotions where you get there in three months or less. 

O’Neill grabs Sophia by the arm and fires her across into the opposite ropes. Shaw speeds up as Sophia rebounds off, and the Emerald City Siren only narrowly avoids a running forearm from the Champion. Shaw manages to stop herself before she hits the ropes herself and spins on a dime just as the challenger does the same, and the two start to trade blows. After several shots from each competitor have landed, Sophia starts to get the better of the exchange. She pushes the Quebec native back several steps before she clocks the Champion with an uppercut under her chin. Shaw reels back from the impact, but comes back quickly with another headbutt that catches the challenger off guard.  A third headbutt quickly follows from the Canadian which keeps Pike on the back foot and slightly disoriented. Quickly Shaw scoops the challenger up and slams her to the canvas with a thud. 

Mai: I’m a little surprised that Kyle isn’t out here like he was for her last match with Savannah. Think he dumped her as a client? 

Zack: It wouldn’t surprise. Leeches suck off the host as long as it’s beneficial for them to do so, and I’m sure he wants to be far removed from her. 

Before the Emerald City Siren can gather herself, Shaw pulls her up to her feet and connects yet another headbutt which knocks her back a couple of steps. O’Neill grabs Sophia by the wrist and pulls her into a forearm to the jaw, before she fires her across to the nearest ropes. Pike bounces off them and the Champion uses a drop toe hold to send her to the mat. Immediately the Quebec native takes off to the ropes, using them for a springboard to deliver a knee drop to the downed former No Surrender champion. Shaw gets back to her feet and steps between Sophias’s legs. She grabs both of them, but as she attempts to twist them into a knot around her own leg, Sophia manages to pull one free and lashes out, catching the Champion with a boot to the face that sends her reeling. 

Zack: I know you said you don’t tend to bet against Sophia, and I can certainly understand that logic. But look at how few times Shaw has had her shoulders pinned, much less submitted.

Mai: Oh, I’m aware of her success in FFW. I am not questioning that. But see, the difference is Sophia’s kinda scary. Shaw isn’t, to me.

Pike gets back to her feet looking more than a little annoyed as Shaw pulls herself together. The challenger immediately strikes with  a trio of rapid elbows into the side of Shaw’s head, punctuated with another uppercut that knocks her back a step. The champion recovers her composure quickly only to eat a roundhouse kick from the challenger that knocks her back a couple more steps. Again the Champion recovers her composure quickly, only to find herself on the receiving end of a standing dropkick from Pike that sends her staggering backwards towards the ropes, before Sophia uses a drop toe hold of her own to take Shaw down to the canvas. Sophia attempts to stomp down on her elbow but Shaw sees it coming and tries to pull her arm out of the way, causing the Emerald City Siren to catch her wrist instead.

Mai: It’s obvious to me that Shaw’s been doing her homework on Sophia, not that it’s ever a real secret what strategy Sophia will bring into a match.

Zack: None at all. In that regard, Pike is one of the most predictable opponents in the sport you can name. But if it ain’t broke, she doesn’t have a lot of reason to change it. 

As Sophia takes off towards the opposite ropes Shaw starts to push up and just manages to get back to her feet before the challenger comes off the ropes at speed to deliver a running knee lift that stands O’Neill upright. The challenger grabs her by the arm to send him across for the ride, but at the last second Shaw plants her feet and instead pulls Sophia into a forearm smash to the jaw. Still keeping hold of the challenger’s arm, Shaw pulls her into a second forearm smash before she attempts to use an arm wringer.  Sophia snatches her arm back away from Shaw angrily, and at the same time swings with her other arm, catching the Champion square in the jaw. Another uppercut follows that sends the Champion off balance before Sophia fires her across into the nearest corner. The Quebecois hits back first and Sophia follows her in with a running forearm that whips her head back off the turnbuckle. She grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her forward to drive her knee into the Champion’s ribs before she uses a hip toss to bring her back out of the corner and down to the canvas with a thud. 

Zack: The thing with this match for me is I think Shaw may be as technically sound as the challenger. And I can’t decide if that works in Sophia’s favor…. Or against it. 

Mai: Everything works in Sophia’s favor. I’m convinced if she came in with a 103 degree fever, she’d find a way to make that work for her. 

Sophia again attempts to stomp on Shaw’s elbow, but the Champion rolls away towards the ropes before she can. Quickly the Quebec native gets back to her feet, as Sophia comes off the opposite ropes towards her. Shaw ducks to the side to avoid an oncoming clothesline and Sophia only barely manages to stop herself from hitting the ropes. She spins around quickly as Shaw advances and ducks to avoid a headbutt from the Champion. Shaw readjusts quickly and instead uses a legsweep to send her crashing to the canvas. As Sophia hits, Shaw quickly grabs her legs again, this time managing to lock in the sharpshooter she had attempted earlier. Sophia gives a grunt of discomfort and anger as Shaw leans back into the hold trying to apply as much pressure as possible. 

Mai: I don’t see Sophia tapping out…. Like ever. Especially when you take into account what all is at stake here. 

Zack: I’d agree with you on that. With as much talking as she’s done, I think the idea of submitting is a foreign concept to the challenger. 

Stringer drops down in front of Sophia to ask if she wants to stop the match, and she receives a very definite, very angry no, yelled in response. The challenger digs her hands in the canvas and starts trying to drag herself towards the ropes. She manages to move herself, and Shaw with her a few inches, but Shaw increases the pressure stopping her in her tracks with a pained expression. The referee asks again if Sophia wants to give in and the Emerald City Siren grits her teeth and hisses the word no again. She digs her hands into the canvas again, and starts to drag herself towards the ropes. As Shaw tries to readjust her position to pull her back, the challenger lunges towards the ropes, managing to grab onto the bottom one with her fingertips prompting Stringer to call for a break. Shaw pushes it to a count of three but finally releases the hold at a count of three and backs away with a small smirk on her face. 

Zack: Shaw is still not too bothered about bending the rules in the ring, is she? But that could fall under the case of fighting fire with fire. 

Mai: Might as well, because we know damn well Sophia will take the shortcuts every chance she gets. It doesn’t cost anymore. By the way, fighting a fire with fire is one of the worst ideas I can think of.

Sophia starts to pull herself back up to her feet, and giving her legs a shake to get the blood flowing again as she does,  but before she can get fully up under her own steam, Shaw pulls her the rest of the way. The Quebecois pulls her into an elbow to the side of her head and then fires her into the nearest corner. Pike hits back first and Shaw follows her in with a running knee to her ribs which bends her forwards slightly. With the former No Surrender champion bent forward, Shaw starts to hammer forearms across her back and neck, until Stringer calls for her to let Sophia out of the corner. Shaw carries on until a count of three, and then uses a knee to Sophia’s jaw to stand her upright. She lets the former No Surrender champion stumble out of the corner, before she fires her across into the ropes. Pike rebounds and Shaw catches her for a stalling vertical suplex to send her to the canvas with a thud. The champion hooks one of Sophia’s leg for a cover as Stringer slides into place for the count. 

Mai: Shaw let all the blood rush to her head, and I’m not sure this is gonna get the job done against Sophia!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-NOPE!!!

Sophia gets her shoulder up before the two hits the mat and forcefully shoves Shaw away from her. Shaw rolls back to her knees and then on up to her feet, as Sophia rolls towards the ropes. 

Zack: You called that one. It didn’t work, but I don’t think there was much doubt about that either.

Using the ropes to steady herself a little, Sophia gets back to her feet as Shaw closes the gap between them. As Shaw goes to grab the challenger by the head, Sophia ducks down and comes back up with a surprise uppercut that rocks the Quebec native back on her heels. Sophia reaches out and quickly grabs Shaw by the arm and twists it into a hammerlock. She starts to deliver knee shots into the Quebecois ribs until ten in a row have landed. The challenger still keeps the hammerlock in place, pushing her hand further up her back until she gets a grunt of discomfort from the champion. Sophia runs the champion face first into the corner, and only Shaw putting her foot on the bottom turnbuckle prevents her from colliding face first with the top turnbuckle. Pulling her back out again by the trapped arm, Sophia instead uses a hammerlock DDT to drop her to the canvas. 

Zack: Here we go back to what we were talking, the most predictable strategy you can expect from the challenger. 

Mai: That’s gotta be a bugbear for her opponents though, Zack. They know what’s coming and STILL end up losing.

Shaw gets back to her feet pretty quickly, but before she can fully get her wits about her, Sophia grabs her arm and delivers a double knee armbreaker. The challenger looks more annoyed as Shaw starts to get herself upright again, until Sophia hits her with a roundhouse kick to the jaw to put her back down again. The Emerald City Siren stomps down on the champion’s elbow successfully this time, getting a yell of pain from Shaw in response. She manages a second stomp to the same elbow but as she goes for a third Shaw narrowly manages to roll out of the way. The Quebecois starts to rise giving her arm a shake as she does. Sophia attempts to grab it again, but Shaw clearly wants none of that and quickly pulls it out of her reach. Pike looks even more annoyed and instead starts to deliver vicious elbow shots into the side of the champion’s head. She reaches ten in a row, before she fires Shaw into the nearest corner. Sophia follows her in and repeats the process again, reaching another count of ten elbows into the side of her head before she pulls the Quebecois back out of the corner and straight into a headbutt that sends her staggering backwards.

Mai: I’ve never been a big fan of headbutts personally. Sure, they hurt your opponent but they don’t help you too much either. 

Zack: I guess it falls under the case of do unto others before they do unto you. 

Before Shaw can gather her bearings, Sophia grabs her arm and twists around behind her to get it into a hammerlock again. She runs the Quebecois face first into the corner again, this time managing to drive her face into the top turnbuckle. She uses her free arm to drive her elbow into the centre of Shaw’s spine and grinds it there until Shaw gives a grunt of pain. The champion starts to throw her head backwards in an attempt to hit Sophia in the face, but the challenger manages to avoid the attempts.  Stringer calls for Sophia to let Shaw out of the corner, and the former No Surrender champion ignores her until a count of four. Pulling her back out by the hammerlock she spins her around and pulls her head down to drive her knee into her face, before releases her arm and getting her into position to use a Northern lights suplex to send her crashing to the canvas. 

Zack: There’s not too many women more effective in their own wheelhouse than Sophia Pike. She could work this strategy all night. 

Mai: Unfortunately for Shaw, she’s more than happy to do so as long as it ends with her taking the FFW Championship. 

Sophia immediately gets into position and grabs for Shaw’s arm but the champion manages to pull it away from her before she can get a firm grip on it. The anger shows on Sophia’s face immediately as she storms to her feet and starts to stomp on any part of Shaw’s body that she can reach, her legs, her shoulders, her chest and finally her face. Still Shaw keeps her arm out of the challengers grasp and starts to pull herself up to her knees. As soon as she reaches them, Sophia uses a superkick to flatten her back to the canvas and gets into position for a cover. 

Mai: Jesus H. Christ, she may have knocked Shaw out!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOPE!!!

Shaw kicks out before the three is complete and Sophia glares accusingly at the referee, before getting back to her feet. 

Zack: Man, it was a heartbeat away from the crowning of a new FFW Champion! Sophia was so close, she could feel the title in her hands!

Sophia doesn’t give Shaw a chance to try and get up, instead working to get her into position for her seated Fujiwara armbar. Despite Shaw trying to snatch her arm back again, Sophia actually manages to lock it in this time. Stringer drops down to ask if she wants to end the match and Shaw shakes her head to tell him no despite the pain showing clearly on her face. 

Zack: I don’t recall the last time I saw Shaw ever give up in a match, and I’m not positive it’s happened. She and Sophia have that in common.

Mai: I don’t remember her doing it either any time recently, so we could be in for an Ironwoman match if they keep looking for submission wins.

Sophia pulls back more on Shaw’s arm as she tries in vain to move herself towards the ropes. Pike smirks as she tells the champion to tap but Shaw doesn’t look like she has any intention of doing that, instead she digs her nails into the canvas and tries to move herself closer to the ropes. Sophia pulls back even further on her arm, and gets a shout of pain in response as Stringer asks her again if she wants to give in. The champion doesn’t get much of a response at first, as Shaw’s head spins around looking for an escape route. Sophia pulls back even more on her arm applying as much pressure as she can causing the agony to become visible on Shaw’s face. Stringer asks the question again, but Shaw shakes her head and nods towards the ropes. The referee immediately calls for a break prompting Sophia to look at her with anger and confusion, as she points out Shaw’s foot across the bottom rope.

Mai: Observant referees can be a real pain in the ass, Zack. As a former manager, I can tell you how much they are annoying.

Zack: Sophia can make “grr” faces later, she better let go quickly or the referee is gonna give her an even worse reason to be angry when she disqualifies her. 

At a count of four, Sophia releases Shaw’s arm and reaches down to knock Shaw’s foot off the rope. The Quebecois raises her foot quickly catching the former No Surrender champion in the face. Pike reels back slightly and Shaw uses her other foot to kick her in the face again, before grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down into a rollup. 

Zack: Shaw going for broke here, and Sophia didn’t see that boot coming!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

NOPE!!!

Sophia kicks out just after the two and Shaw gets back to her feet grimacing as she holds her arm to her body and then gives it a shake to try and get the blood flowing back into it again. 

Mai: In the Book of Pike, all rollups are doomed to failure. Shaw should have read it. 

The challenger gets back to her feet, and Shaw grits her teeth against the pain in her arm as she pulls Sophia forwards and rains forearm shots across the back of her head and neck to knock her down to her knees. She takes off towards the ropes and bounces off them to come back with a running knee to Pike’s head. The former No Surrender champion drops back to the canvas, but Shaw immediately pulls her back up and whips her across into the corner. Sophia hits back first and Shaw follows her in, leaving her feet for a Thesz press. The champion straight away starts to rain blows down into Sophia’s head until Stringer calls for Shaw to let her out. 

Zack: Good Lord, Shaw got fired up big time! And those right hands are postmarked for Sophia’s head!

Mai: She needed that second wind, because Sophia was working her over pretty well there. 

At a count of four Shaw pulls Sophia out of the corner and into a kick to her gut to bend her forwards, before using a swinging neckbreaker to send her down to the canvas. The champion gets back to her feet and gives a little bow to the crowd, who aren’t sure how to react to her after her actions recently. She shrugs off the less than awe inspiring response as Sophia starts to rise. Shaw moves rapidly to help her the rest of the way before getting her into position to deliver her Canadian destroyer. Pike lands heavily and Shaw rolls her onto her back before hooking both legs for the cover, as Stringer drops down into position for the count. 

Mai: O’NEILL’S OBLIVION! This is it!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Stringer gets to her feet and calls for the bell as Shaw rolls off the cover and back to her feet looking rather pleased with herself. 

Kat: Your winner……….. and still FFW CHAMPION… “ONE WOMAN SHOW” SHAUGHNESSY O’NEILL!!!

Zack: I don’t know anyone who gets up from that flip piledriver, and we can add Sophia Pike’s name to that list! Shaw’s picked up a very difficult win tonight at Global Wars!

Mai: I think Illinois has a state lottery, and I encourage Shaw to go out and buy a few scratch off tickets tonight. Her luck is insanely high. 

Shaw has her hand raised by Stringer, before the referee goes to retrieve her championship. Stringer hands it back to Shaw who clutches it to her with her good arm for a moment before she raises it high above her head. On that image the show cuts elsewhere. 


Evolutionary Homecoming

A short teaser shows Velocity’s first show of 2020 is heading into the heart of New York City on January 9th. Then it cuts to Amber Carano backstage with the Evolution Champion and her husband. 

Amber: January 9, 2020 is the first FFW show of 2020 when the roster heads for New York City at Madison Square Garden! And the woman with me right now is gonna be headlining that show! Kelly Kincaid, you’re going home January 9th on the first Velocity of 2020!

Kelly: Hi Amber. What a way to start the year eh? At the World’s Most Famous Arena, one that’s got so much sporting history. And January 9th 2020, we’re going to add another chapter to that. One with me going home and appearing in the Main Event with all my family and friends in attendance cheering me on. 

Christian: She’s been on cloud nine since she found out about this earlier today. And while they didn’t say who I’m pretty sure I know who she’ll be seeing that night.

Amber: You’re probably right. Kelly here will be meeting the #1 contender to her Evolution title that night, Scarlett Silver, who will be in War Games later tonight. And not surprisingly, it will be for the Evolution Championship. 

Kelly: I think Christian and I both had a feeling that’s what you were going to say Amber and to be honest, it’s going to be one heck of a match to kick off 2020 and one Hell of a Main Event to set the bar high for the year to come. There might not be any bad blood, so to speak, between Scarlett Silver and I but anyone who has watched either of us know that we’re both very competitive wrestlers; both of us will pull out all the stops to win. And I think everyone remembers the series that her and I had over the Fast Track Championship. I’m sure this will top that; that we’ll go one step further than that and all the fans will be in for a huge treat at the first ever Velocity.

Christian: I’m glad it’s Scarlett, because I’m not sure we’d have the main event if it was Kelly and Jo, Round 44, ya know? Especially with it being as lopsided as that match history is. Scarlett’s been a lot more focused lately, which everyone seems to have noticed. It’s been a work in progress for me as a trainer, and as you can see, there’s not too many who are more up for the big matches than her lately. 

Amber: That’s true, and it’s interesting to note how similar Scarlett is to you, Kelly. You both have been Fast Track Champion. You’re both managed by the same person, and even have the same birthday. Even if Scarlett says she looks a great deal younger than you. Does this new more focused Scarlett give you more pause than you had in previous matches with her? 

Kelly shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Kelly: Yeah...she claims that she looks a lot younger than me anyway. As for this new more focused Scarlett, nope, it makes no difference to me to be completely honest with you Amber. Anyone with eyes could see that she had all the talent in the world and that she had the potential to be as good as she is showing the world right now. If she didn’t have this talent and Christian didn’t think that she had this inside of her, he wouldn’t have been so eager to work with her - it’s not like he manages and trains people just to pick up a paycheck you know. Every match we’ve had, I’ve prepared as though I’m going to get a Scarlett Silver at her very best; a Scarlett Silver that was capable of focusing from bell to bell. The only difference is that this time I’m actually going to get that.

Amber: Fans, that’s going to be your main event for the first FFW show of 2020 at Velocity on January 9th. In Kelly’s backyard, she’ll defend the Evolution Championship against Scarlett Silver. Circle it on your calendar, and let’s send it back to the ring. 

The couple heads off in one direction before the show heads to a video package detailing the history behind War Games.

[Adam Grant]

The buzz in the crowd gets louder than it has all night as the War Games double cage begins to lower over the rings. The arena darkens as spotlights shine all over the cage as it lowers, and members of the ring crew lock it around the two rings.

Zack: For the first time since 2012, FFW has brought back War Games! The double sided cage is getting locked into place, and two factions are about to collide in what is one of the most brutally punishing matches in the sport. Four walls, one ceiling, submit or surrender! I’ve got Kelly Kincaid here with me, welcome to the booth. I understand your husband has been preparing a strategy for his clients and Savannah going into this. 

Kelly: Hey Zack. Yeah, Christian’s had a couple of ideas for this match and a few different ideas and strategies that he’s looked to try and make sure all of his clients are prepared for as many different situations as possible. It’s one of the things that make him as good a manager as he is - the best manager around in my opinion.

Kat: The following contest is WAR GAMES!! The rules are as follows. One member of each team will enter for a five minute period. A coin toss determines which side’s teammate enters next with the teams alternating every two minutes till all eight women are in! And then...THE MATCH BEYOND begins! There is no pinfall! No disqualification! The only way to win is by making a member of the opposing team submit or unable to continue! 

Kelly: Kat’s given us a quick run down of the rules there Zack and you’re really looking for whoever starts this match to have an awful lot of stamina and heart. They’re going to be in there a while and they could find themselves on the wrong end of a handicap match for a while.

Zack: We’ll have the coin toss during the first period of this match. Four FFW referees are assigned to this match all around the cage until everyone in inside this thing. Whoever wins that coin toss will definitely have a massive advantage throughout the night. Let’s get the participants out here!

As the intro to Bang Bang begins to play from the speakers, a multitude of strobe lights in different colours start to dance around the crowd before they converge on the stage. The curtain twitches, and first from the back comes Christian Kincaid. Scarlett and O.E emerge together and each take a place on either side of their manager. As the verse begins, Scarlett starts to dance seductively to it, with O.E watching with her head tilted to one side. After a few seconds she starts trying to shadow Scarlett’s moves…. badly. Meanwhile, Missy steps out and watches the two before heading towards the rings. 

Sure she got a body like an hourglass
But I can give it to you all the time
Sure she got a booty like a Cadillac
But I can send you into overdrive (oh)
You've been waiting for that
Step on up, swing your bat
You see anybody could be bad to you
You need a good girl to blow your mind, yeah

As needing a ‘good girl’ is mentioned in the lyrics, Scarlett gives a nod and point towards O.E before they start making their way down the ramp towards the ring, with Christian walking in between the two...and O.E still trying to do the moves Scarlett was earlier. Missy looks back at them, waving them forward as she stands outside one entrance to the cage.

Bang bang into the room (I know you want it)
Bang bang all over you (I’ll let you have it)
Wait a minute let me take you there (ah)
Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!)
Bang bang there goes your heart (I know you want it)
Back, back seat of my car (I’ll let you have it)
Wait a minute let me take you there (ah)
Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!)

Kat: On their way to the ring, please welcome Missy,  “The Orochi” O.E. Ayano, and “The Star Distraction” Scarlett Silver! Accompanied by Christian Kincaid, they are CHAOTIC TEMPTATION: REMIXED!

She might’ve let you hold her hand at school
But I’mma show you how to graduate
No, I don’t need to hear you talk the talk
Just come and show me what your momma gave (oh yeah)
I heard you've gotta big baby, mouth but don’t say a thing
See anybody could be good to you
You need a bad girl to blow your mind

The foursome reach the edge of the ring as the second verse begins, and again Scarlett starts to dance seductively….and again, O.E tries and fails to copy her moves. Silver tries to encourage her partner to copy her moves, and slows down to break them down for her...but O.E still somehow manages to look like she is fighting with an invisible foe instead.  Missy shoots them both a look as if to ask if they are serious, telling them they have business to handle.

Bang bang into the room (I know you want it)
Bang bang all over you (I’ll let you have it)
Wait a minute let me take you there (ah)
Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!)
Bang bang there goes your heart (I know you want it)
Back, back seat of my car (I’ll let you have it)
Wait a minute let me take you there (ah)
Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!) (You know what, girls? let me show you how to do it)

The girls make gather around the entrance to the cage on their side of the ring, while Christian stays on the floor near their corner. 

It’s Myx Moscato
It’s frizz in a bottle
It’s Nicki full throttle, it’s oh, oh
Swimming in the grotto
We winning in the lotto
We dipping in the powder blue, four door
Kitten so good
It’s dripping on wood
Get a ride in the engine that could
Go, Batman, robbin’ it
Bang bang, cockin’ it
Queen Nicki dominant, prominent
It’s me, Jessie, and Ari
If they test me, they sorry
Ride his uh like a Harley
Then pull off in his Ferrari
If he hanging we banging
Phone ringing, he slanging
It ain’t karaoke night but get the mic 'cause I'm singing

In her element, O.E busts out her moves seamlessly to the rap, this time with Scarlett attempting to copy her...and giving up after a few moments of looking like she is having a seizure, instead choosing to fluff her hair and stand with one hand on her hip. Missy finally gives up, and starts discussing something with Christian.

B to the A to the N to the G to the uh
B to the A to the N to the G to the hey
See anybody could be good to you
You need a bad girl to blow your mind (your mind) (okay)

As their theme music starts to fade out, Scarlett and OE join Missy, and start to share a few hushed words with their manager as they await the start of the match.

Zack: Chaotic Temptation is one of the most tightly knit groups in FFW! Missy and OE are used to fights like this, but Scarlett...I think it depends on which Scarlett we see tonight. Do you have any idea who may be starting for the Temptation and Savannah?  

Kelly: Unfortunately Zack, I don’t. I don’t ask Christian about his other clients for obvious reasons. I think Chaotic Temptation are going to need to see the focused, driven and determined Scarlett tonight. This is the sort of match where she’ll be made to pay for it if she allows herself to get distracted.

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.

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

"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. She stands there, taking in everything. Savannah 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."

As she joins her team in their 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: Let’s be honest, Savannah Star isn’t known for being much of a team player! But she’s going to have to rely on Chaotic Temptation as much as they will her against a Franchise that could not be more devoted to one another!

Kelly: Salvation came from an unlikely source at Velocity but I’m sure Savannah is going to be pragmatic about it - she’s seen what happens when she tries to take them on all at once, so I’m certain she’ll welcome Chaotic Temptations assistance.

As “Run That” by Snow Tha Product hits, the lights in the arena darken and a spotlight hits the ramp, illuminating Angelina Fantastica in a black bomber jacket with “Fantastica” embroidered in gold on the back. Beside her is Lyla Fox, dressed to the nines and seemingly ignoring the crowd, focusing instead on her client.

Kat: From Staten Island, New York by way of Los Angeles, California, she is the Shaolin Stunna, the True Papi Chulo, La Corazon Oscuro, Angelina Fantastica!

She marches down the ramp to the ring, a cocky grin on her lips. Before she ascends the ring stairs, she pauses and takes her large gold hoop earrings off, handing them to Lyla for safekeeping. Lyla tucks the earrings away and nods as Angelina heads to her team’s side of the cage, shrugging off her jacket and staring a hole through Savannah on the opposite side.

Zack: We’ve all heard that this will be the last time we see Angelina Fantastica in a ring for a while. The only thing keeping her is a desire to destroy Savannah Star, and I expect her to fight like she’s in someone else’s body tonight, Kelly.

Kelly: We’ve heard Angelina’s comments on Twitter, she’s coming out here tonight to end Savannah’s career after the comments that were made about her father a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure she’ll hit that ring like a hurricane...she just needs to make sure she doesn’t get too much tunnel vision because Missy, Scarlett, O.E. they’ve all got the talent to make you pay if you ignore them.

The arena darkens, bringing with it a large quantity of dry ice. In the ring, the green, white and orange lights pulse until they form the Irish Tricolour in the centre of the ring. It’s this sight that brings about jeering from the audience. As the lights settle, a drumbeat hits the speakers, soon to be followed by a well-known riff that doesn’t quite sound as people would know it to be. It is then that a woman steps out on the stage; Jo McFarlane. Not that you can tell right away - her face is obscured by a white bandana covering her mouth and nose, and she wears a green beanie on her head, which appears to be entirely covering her hair, showing only her eyes. She is also dressed in camouflage; traditional green colours, a long-sleeved jacket and trousers. Through the fog as the crowd begins to jeer, standing by her side, is her father.

If you’re havin’ trouble with the high school head,
He’s givin’ you the blues.
You wanna graduate, but not in his bed,
Here’s what you’re gonna do!
Pick up the phone, I’m always home
Call me anytime.
3624-360, I lead a life of crime.

Kat: Introducing first/And her opponent, from Derry, Northern Ireland, weighing one hundred and twenty seven pounds, she is “THE REBEL CHILD” JOOOOOOOO MCFARLAAAAAAAAANE!

During the verse and Kat’s introduction, Jo first taps the stick on the floor, then starts off down the ramp, towards the ring. Tommy remains a step behind her the whole time...though it’s difficult given the massive height difference. She moves quite quickly, and stops at the bottom. Moving towards a corner at ringside, she drops the kendo stick in her hand against the barricade, making sure the referee sees that she did, giving him a pointed stare.

Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, and they’re done dirt cheap.
Dirty deeds, and they’re done dirt cheap.

As the chorus plays and the solo starts up, Jo joins Angelina, removing the jacket she wears, revealing a similarly coloured top. Her father joins her in the corner, and the two exchange words as the music fades out.

Zack: No one has had more matches with Jo than you, Kelly, at least that I know of. She said she’s excited to be inside War Games, which may change depending on how this match goes. 

Kelly: I’ll give Jo credit, she has got a lot of heart and will put up a lot of fight and given the attitude we’ve seen from her since joining the Franchise, this type of match could be right up her street.

“Something New” starts up over the speakers, and the jeers have almost drowned out the music before the Typhoon has even arrived (though in fairness, the beginning is pretty quiet). Yellow, green and blue spotlights dance around the arena, while the tron shows images of both halves of the team in action. Suddenly, the music stops and the tron cuts out...only for the sound of crashing thunder to echo loudly through the arena.

Love to hate
Repeating my mistakes
But there’s no one left to listen
No one left to listen
Take a chance, and fuck the consequence
When there’s no one left to listen
No one left to listen

As a curtain of dry ice smoke fills up the entrance stage, Bianca Salvador walks up to the top of the ramp, followed closely by her manager Kyle Kilmeade, right behind her. Once there, she looks over the booing crowd with a smirk on her face before she goes to a knee and opens her arms wide in her Witch of the Winds pose. After a couple of seconds in that pose, Bianca lunges forth and punches the air with a loud "YEAH!!!", walking down the entrance ramp as her managers follow, Kyle giving her a lonely round of applause.

Right! Now! We’re taking control!
Tired of waiting
Tired of waiting for something new!
Right! Now! We’re taking control!
Tired of waiting
Tired of waiting for something new!

Kat: Introducing their partner, escorted to the ring by Kyle Kilmeade... She is the reigning FFW No Surrender Champion… From Porto Alegre, Brazil... "The Typhoon"! BIANCA SALVADOR!!!

Instead of going straight to the ring though, she walks up to a camera, getting right up to the lens with her mischievous smirk, and then flexes her biceps for the gun show, kissing the bulging muscle and talking a bit of trash to the audience at home. After that, the Typhoon joins Jo and Angelina and staring into the booing crowd, only to wave them off. Kyle then headed towards the back one last time.

Zack: Not surprising to anyone, the Chicago crowd is not a fan of the “Typhoon” of the Franchise! But with the rules being submit or surrender, the No Surrender Champion may be the not so secret weapon to winning this match!

Kelly: It’s definitely an asset, but that said, you’ve got a former two time No Surrender Champion in this contest in the form of Savannah Star and O.E. did make Bianca tap out when the title was on the line. And you know O.E. hasn’t forgotten a single second of the ten minutes that followed that.

Two sea eagle cries as the strings and the gypsy guitar of "The Scarlet Dawn" echo through the PA system. Accompanied by her manager Kyle Kilmeade, Mika Demidov walks through the entrance gate, dressed like the true royal she is. Before the music drops, Kilmeade removes the cape from over the Empress' shoulders, allowing the Red Star to throw her right hand in the air, index, middle and ring fingers fully extended upwards. The bass drops HARD, and a volley of white, blue and red pyros shoot behind her back, and her manager presents her to the crowd.

Kat: And their partner, escorted to the ring by Kyle Kilmeade... From Saint Petersburg, western Russia... "The Red Empress"... MIKA DEMIDOV!

She then walks down the entrance aisle, scowling at the crowd and ignoring the outstretched hands who wish for a high-five, before she exchanges high fives with the other members of the franchise. They all form a circle, going over some strategy with Kyle, Tommy, and Lyla. 

Zack: Mika came back after ages away from a FFW ring at Sin & Sacrifice when she defeated Savannah Star. This is only her second match back, but we already know she’s not got a hint of ring rust. 

Kelly: It was a very good performance from Mika. She showed why she was a former FFW Champion, a Hall of Fame talent and why she’s so highly thought of - both by Kyle and by the Franchise and Samantha Star.

Referees on each side of the cage opened the door for the respective teams, waiting on the first entrant to enter the cage. Angelina climbed inside for the Franchise, and immediately crossed both rings and dared Savannah to start the match. The blonde didn’t seem to pay her any attention until Angelina leaned over the top rope and spit in her face. That got her attention as Savannah headed into the ring for Chaotic Temptation. Star barely got through the ropes as the door closed before Angelina was on top of her, raining right hands with a vengeance to her back. Star pushed her backwards, and then the fistfight began as they started throwing hands. Savannah whipped her across into the corner, but Angelina stopped before hitting the turnbuckles and caught the blonde coming in behind her with a spinning backfist. She jerked Savannah’s head under one arm, and rammed her head first into the cage wall before pulling her down and unleashing another volley of right hands to her face. 

Zack: I’m not sure Savannah was the plan to start the match, but after getting spat on by Angelina, I guess plans changed, Kelly! And look at Angelina go!

Kelly: Fantastica wanted Star and wants to end her career. She’s got five minutes all alone with her. Now is the time for her to make it count and if she can, Chaotic Temptation are going to be a disadvantage all night long.

Savannah managed to shove her off, and try to get back to her feet. But Angelina was right behind her with a running high knee that sent her into the ropes. Fantastica grabbed two handfuls of her hair, and drove her face into the cage as hard as she could. The brunette whipped her across to the far side, and caught her on the rebound with a running shoulder tackle before heading to the corner, and taking off one of the turnbuckle pads. She dropped it between the rings, and went back to get Savannah. After getting her back to her feet, she went to drive her face into it, but Star blocked it with her foot. Savannah began hammering her elbow into Angelina’s body to slow her down before pulling her into a front facelock to deliver a series of knee lifts into her head and face. It dropped the Franchise member to her knees before Savannah pulled her up enough to deliver a DDT. 

Zack: She really wants to do a number on Savannah, and wasted no time getting that turnbuckle pad off. But Savannah was a little too wary to let her make use of it. I understand we’ll be having the coin toss shortly to see which team gets the advantage throughout the match.

Kelly: Savannah wasn’t quite worn down enough for Angelina to do everything that she wanted to do and Star’s established a toe hold in the match with the DDT. She has too keep this up because if Fantastica gets a chance to recover, she might explode in Star’s face again.

The blonde dropped to her knees, and rained forearms across Angelina’s back to keep her down. But the brunette finally got away from her, and got back to her feet with the help of the ropes. Savannah charged towards her, only for Angelina to catch her coming forward with a stun gun across the top rope, taking the wind out of her at the same time. As the Las Vegas native coughed and gasped for breath, Angelina grabbed her head and slammed her face into the exposed turnbuckle. Not once, but repeatedly. Fantastica struck her face into the exposed metal at least six times before Savannah collapsed to her knees with blood coming out of her nose. 

Kelly: There we go. Fantastica got a couple of steps of separation and it was all she needed. Savannah’s in a bad way now. There’s a good possibility her nose is broken which could make it harder for her to breath and with all that blood loss, she’s getting weaker by the heartbeat.

Zack: Not to mention the fact that she may not be seeing clearly either. Anyone who’s ever even been hit in the nose will tell you that your eyes tear up quickly. Angelina’s looking to get her pound of flesh and already has struck first blood. 

Star clutched her face before Angelina drove an elbow into the top of her head, and then dug her fingers into Star’s nose to try to make it worse. She pulled back with her fingers, almost like she was trying to rip her nose off her face. Savannah shouted in pain as she tried to pull her hand free, but Angelina had two fingers all the way up to the first joint deep into Star’s nose as she continued pulling at it. 

Zack: Good Lord, look at this! I think she’s trying to rip her nose off her face! Angelina with two fingers ripping at Savannah’s nostrils, and trying to exacerbate whatever damage she’s already done!

Kelly: You’re not kidding Zack. Angelina’s not holding back at all - but we knew this was going to happen from everything that has been said in the build up. Angelina’s doing everything that she can to make Savannah a non-factor in the rest of this match.

The only relief Savannah could get was when she jammed a finger into Angelina’s eye, causing the brunette to stumble away blinded. Savannah touched her nose, and saw her own blood on her hands. She ducked under the bottom rope between the two rings, and used the apron to try to wipe her face clean. Angelina had gotten her vision back, and immediately grabbed her feet to pull her away from the apron. Savannah rolled onto her back, and pulled her knees to jerk Angelina down. She hammered forearms into her jaw before she could get back to her feet, and then applied a triangle choke. 

Kelly: Smart from Savannah. That’s all of her experience on display there Zack. Now she’s got it locked in tight, she can use this time to recover a little bit while also taking some of the starch out of Fantastica.

Zack: And she can keep this on as long as she wants too. Even if Angelina gets to a rope, no one’s gonna break it! She may put her out before we even get to the next entrant!

Angelina began scrambling quickly, trying to use her free arm to grab onto anything. But Savannah showed no signs of letting go, even when Angelina instinctively got to the ropes. Star tried to cinch the hold tighter, and Angelina’s movements started to slow down. The clock on the video wall showed less than a minute until the next entrant was coming inside the cage. Savannah glanced over to it as Kyle and Christian met at the ramp with referee Jennifer Stringer about to perform the coin toss. Meanwhile in the ring, Angelina started to come to life again in a last ditch effort to get free as she turned her head and bit into Savannah’s thigh. It caused the blonde to shout in pain, and ultimately let go. Bite marks with little droplets of blood could be seen on her leg as she got back to her feet. 

Kelly: I don’t think there was any other way Angelina was getting out of that hold and she knew she couldn’t stay in it much longer. She had to do something desperate and she did. I hope Savannah’s up to date on all her shots.

Zack: She’s bleeding from her nose and now her thigh, thanks to Angelina Fantastica. The Shaolin Stunna took a page from Mike Tyson’s old playbook with that shark bite, though hers was a lot lower than his was. 

Star got back to her feet as Angelina was trying to get her wits about her. The clock was less than thirty seconds now as both teams looked ready to send in a new entrant. At ringside, Stringer told Kyle to call it in the air before she flipped it. He called heads in the air, and that’s exactly what it landed on before the door opened for the Franchise! Jo went under the ring, grabbing a pair of kendo sticks before she headed inside the cage. And Savannah barely had time to register her arrival before the redhead began wearing her out with one of the sticks across her back!

Kelly: Jo’s armed with her favourite weapon and Savannah’s in massive trouble. Two members of the Franchise, one out to kill her, and they’re lining up to take their shots. This is the point where she hopes this is the quickest two minutes of her life.

Zack: It better be! And if you’re Jo, you’re gonna try to incapacitate her as much as possible before help makes its way into the ring. Angelina is still trying to shake off the effects of that triangle choke!

Jo dragged the blonde into the second ring closest to her team’s door, and continued to wear her out with the stick. Savannah rolled away from her, and finally got to her feet before Jo stuck one end of the stick against her throat and jammed the other end into the mat. Star began coughing violently, clutching her throat as Jo grinned at her handiwork. The “Rebel Child” looked over to see Angelina still getting herself together in the other ring, and immediately pulled Star up and pinned her arms behind her. Jo called out for Angelina, who picked up the other kendo stick and joined her in the other ring. The redhead told her to have fun as she held Savannah’s arms, and Angelina began swinging that stick into Savannah’s body as the bonde was still shaking from all the hard coughing she was doing. 

Kelly: This is what the Franchise are best at - working together. Savannah’s been here before and unfortunately she can only ride with the punches and wait until the cavalry arrives to bail her out and even up the numbers.

Zack: You got that right! There’s not gonna be a single inch of her body that isn’t going to be in pain for days after this match is over, win or lose! 

Angelina raised the kendo stick over her head to deliver a shot to her skull, but Savannah kicked her below the belt to stop that. It caused Fantastica to drop the stick, and allowed Savannah to break Jo’s grip and drop her with a stunner. Star hit the near side ropes, using a springboard bulldog to plant Angelina face first on the mat. The blonde sat up, clearly in pain still even though both of her adversaries were face down on the mat. The fans started chanting her name as she glanced up at the clock to see how much longer she had till help arrived. And it was less than a minute in change. 

Zack: Savannah needs to stay on top of these two the best she can. While she’s trying to get herself together, so are they! And we’re just over 30 seconds from a member of Chaotic Temptation entering this match!

Kelly: Thirty seconds...Savannah needs to give these fans every reason to cheer her and try to keep Jo and Fantastica on the back foot because she’s about to get a fresh woman join her that can swing this match in their favour. For at least two minutes.

She got back to her feet, looking down at the kendo sticks Jo had brought before picking one of them up for herself. She glanced over to see Jo starting to rise, and teed off with a huge swing that struck across her back. The redhead’s face froze in pain as Savannah fired a few more shots across her back, and one across her shoulder to double her over on all fours. She then stepped over her and pulled the stick across her neck, pulling back on it to try to choke the redhead out. As this was going on, Angelina was back to her feet and stopped her with a right cross onto her busted nose. That sent Star down as the blood began to seep again from her seemingly broken nose as the timer hit zero. 

Kelly: Jo was learning the lesson the hard way that you live by the Kendo stick and you die by the Kendo stick. Then Angelina hit that bullseye she placed square between Savannah’s eyes earlier and that’s pretty much turned this match on a dime back to the Franchise.

Zack: Savannah’s nose is a bloody mess, and it might as well have a target painted in blood on it for the rest of this match! But Savannah’s got some help coming! Chaotic Temptation is about to even these odds!

The door opened on the Chaotic Temptation side of the rings, and in came Scarlett Silver. Angelina spun around a half second before Scarlett launched herself over both top ropes into a flying clothesline that mowed her down. The fans roared in approval as Scarlett grabbed Jo by the head, and sent her into the cage wall. McFarlane staggered backwards into the ropes before Silver began using left and right hand combination shots to her body with a bionic elbow on top of her head. The redhead toppled backwards into the ropes before Silver sent her across for the ride. As soon as she rebounded, Scarlett used a pop up to let her bounce off the top of the cage down into a facebuster. Angelina was coming in from behind her as Scarlett was turning around. Fantastica went for a swing of the kendo stick, but Scarlett caught it under her arm and shook her head. She jerked the New Yorker forward into a neckbreaker, and nipped back up to her feet to a roar from the crowd. 

Zack: I think we know which Scarlett Silver showed up for War Games! She’s a one woman wrecking crew, and taking on both members of the Franchise practically by herself! 

Kelly: We saw what she did to Isis and Valentina when she was in this mood and given Angelina’s already worn down after the first seven minutes in this match. Neither her nor Jo have the game changing power of Isis.

Jo started to get to her feet before Scarlett whipped her into the far corner. She landed back first before Silver landed an avalanche splash then climbing up to the second turnbuckle. She rained ten punches down on her head before letting her stagger out of the corner. Silver hopped up onto the second turnbuckle from the inside, waiting on her to turn around before jumping off into a codebreaker! It catapulted Jo right into the cage wall again, and Scarlett was already back to her feet with a lariat from the other side to take her down. 

Zack: Scarlett Silver is a living breathing hurricane of offense tonight in Chicago! Jo’s catching it from all sides, and I don’t envy whoever’s coming next for the Franchise to try to bring Scarlett down!

Kelly:  You’re right Zack. Whoever is lined up next might want to just hold off for a little while, see if this hurricane blows itself out before they get put themselves in the way. Or maybe just roll in and ask for some tips on how to look their best in the ring.

Angelina had made it back to her feet, and Scarlett looked to give her the same treatment. She whipped her into another corner, and went for another splash. But Fantastica stepped out of the way, and let her hit the corner instead. She ducked under her to lift her into an electric chair! Fantastica mounted her quickly, and started pummeling her with right hands to the head, trying to take some of the steam out of her. It worked well too as the timer hit zero once more. The door on the Franchise side opened, and in came the No Surrender Champion. Bianca glanced over to see Angelina punching Scarlett, and immediately went after Savannah. She charged towards her with a flash kick that sent her through the ropes between the rings. 

Zack: And now the numbers game is back in favor of the Franchise! Bianca and Savannah have no shortage of bad blood and history between them! Meanwhile, Angelina’s pummeling Scarlett with everything she’s got!

Kelly: Probably the smartest thing Angelina could do and honestly, if I were Bianca? I’d be helping Fantastica rather than dealing with Savannah. If Scarlett gets back to her feet and starts firing on all cylinders as she was doing, she might win this match on her own.

Savannah was trying to keep herself from slipping between the rings as Bianca grabbed one of the kendo sticks Jo had brought into the match. She struck it down across Savannah’s right shoulder, causing a sickening sounding snap as it struck. Salvador shoved her through to the other ring, and was about to apply a Fujiwara armbar before Angelina finally joined her. Fantastica dropped down into a cross armbreaker instead, violently pulling on Savannah’s arm while Bianca put the boots to her. Salvador then headed back after Scarlett in the other ring with Jo. 

Kelly: Fantastica wants to end Savannah’s career and after hearing that snap after the kendo stick and this armbreaker...she’s certainly shortening it and taking years off her career potentially. 

She and Jo pulled Scarlett back to her feet, and the pair shoved her into a corner to take turns chopping her across the chest. They both shot her across for the ride, and scooped her up into a double flapjack on the rebound. Bianca and Jo each grabbed Scarlett’s arms and legs before throwing her up into the air, and letting her crash land back on the mat. The two women applied dual submissions as Bianca went for a Boston crab, while Jo had a camel clutch on Scarlett simultaneously. Meanwhile, the timer hit zero again.

Zack: Angelina’s trying to tear that arm out of socket, and in the other ring, Scarlett is being tortured with that Boston crab and camel clutch combo! Remember, fans, no one can give up until everyone is inside War Games!! 

Kelly: No one can tap out, but they’re certainly slowing down Scarlett and taking all the wind out of her sails, very smart strategy from the Franchise here. Hopefully they can keep Angelina focused on victory as the number even up and not just on trying to kill Savannah.

The door opens for Chaotic Temptation, and OE grabs the chair Kat is sitting in before she heads inside with it. She makes a beeline for Angelina, and clobbers her with the chair to make her let Savannah go. And OE immediately goes to the second ring. Jo gets up to greet her, but gets caught in the stomach with the chair. It doubles her over before Ayano crashes it across her back. Bianca goes to get her next before OE tosses the chair at her. Salvador catches it just before OE hits a superkick into it, causing it to strike her in the face. With both of them down, OE started striking their bodies with the chair, taking turns between them until she was the only one standing with a dented chair in her hand. 

Zack: O.E. Ayano bringing some steel, and she’s none too shy about using it! Every member of the Franchise got a little bit of it, especially the two women who were torturing her tag team partner! 

Kelly: She’s completely non-discriminatory in her chair shots, she doesn’t give a damn at all who she tags with it. It’s bought Savannah a couple of moments to try and ignore the pain in her arm and pull herself together. 

Savannah finally got back to her feet, with her right arm hanging at her side. Her face winced in pain as she looked over to OE, who slid the chair into the other ring to her. Savannah seemed to only be able to move her left arm as she picked up the chair, glancing down to Angelina who was starting to get up. She let the chair go, and took off for the far side to deliver a punt kick that sent Fantastica rolling into the cage wall. Star still didn’t seem to be able to move her right arm though. OE was about to go to her when Bianca surprised her former challenger with a chop block to the back of her knee. The boos began again as the “Typhoon” grabbed OE’s foot, and began spiking her knee into the canvas repeatedly as if she were driving a nail.

Zack: Bianca got the drop on OE there, didn’t she? And look at her trying to keep her from standing up the rest of this match. I don’t like the way Savannah can’t move that right arm either, that’s a bad bad sign! Angelina may have literally yanked it out of socket!

Kelly: You have to credit the Franchise here, they’ve worked over Savannah’s arm to the point where she can’t use it right now and Bianca’s now got a target on OE’s knee. We’re nearing the Match Beyond and they’re looking to give themselves plenty of options to pick up the win.

Jo had gotten back to her feet, and immediately put OE into a figure four leglock to further damage her knee. Bianca put the boots to it as well until she saw Scarlett starting to get up again. The “Typhoon” scooped her over one shoulder, and went to drive her headfirst into the cage wall, but Scarlett slipped out the back to her feet. Before Salvador could turn around, Scarlett grabbed her head and slammed it into the cage wall instead. She spun the champion around, and scooped her up into a Michinoku driver just as the timer hit zero again. Silver turned towards the Franchise door as it opened, and Mika cautiously stepped inside the ring. 

Kelly: Scarlett’s standing here and Mika’s obviously seen what she was capable of earlier...but right now, she’s got all of Silver’s attention.

Zack: I don’t blame Mika for being cautious or Scarlett for that matter. These two have never met before in the ring, and they are obviously well aware of what the other can do. 

Mika and Scarlett locked eyes as the door shut behind her, and the blonde darted towards her in a fast break. They met in the center, and started exchanging blows until Mika raked her eyes to get the advantage. She pulled her head down for a knee lift into her face, and then fired her into the corner. Scarlett hit the post shoulder first before Demidov grabbed her around the waist to deliver a series of rolling German suplexes. She pulled her up, and planted her with a pumphandle slam. Meanwhile Jo was still working the figure four until Savannah stepped through into the other ring, and dropped a knee into Jo’s face. Her right arm still hung at her side until Mika grabbed it into an armbar, bringing her to her knees in agony. Bianca got her bearings, and pulled Scarlett out of the corner. She slammed her onto the mat before grabbing the kendo stick to mount her and choke her out with it. 

Zack: Missy’s out here pacing like a wild animal ready to get into the cage, while Savannah still doesn’t have use of that arm. But Mika is damn sure trying to make it even worse. Fans, you’re seeing why that one woman advantage is so crucial in War Games right now!

Kelly: As soon as that door closes behind Missy the match beyond starts and one of these teams can finally pick up victory. If Mika keeps that hold locked in and as she makes it more effective...Missy might not even get an opportunity to make an impact on this match.

Angelina had began to get to her feet in the other ring, but was soon greeted by OE as she tried to help Mika. Ayano caught her with an inverted atomic drop into a short arm clothesline. She hobbled for a moment, and surprised Mika with a scorpion kick that sent her backwards a couple steps into the ropes. Savannah’s right arm dropped to her side, tears on her cheeks, before OE told her to close her eyes and hold her breath. Star had a curious look, but did it before Ayano grabbed her right arm and twisted it as hard as she could. Savannah shrieked in pain, but soon was able to move her arm and fingers again.

Zack: Damn! OE just popped Savannah’s arm back into the socket! I can’t imagine what that feels like, but it could make a huge difference in this match as we tick down towards the final entry, Kelly.

Kelly: Couple of moments of pain of excruciating pain for Savannah but she’s gotten use of her arm again and that’s going to make her more of a threat in the closing stages. That could make the difference for Chaotic Temptation.

The two joined forces as they shoved Mika back into the corner, and began stomping away at her together. OE used her bad leg as she held the ropes, while Savannah joined with her to do it. Star pulled her out, and pulled her head between her legs to plant her with a piledriver. OE was about to do some more damage when Angelina used a leg trip to bring her down. She draped that leg across the bottom rope, and came down across her knee. Also in that same ring, Bianca had tossed the kendo stick away and pulled Scarlett back to her feet. It looked like she was going for a belly to belly suplex, but Scarlett used a bell clap to disorient her. She followed that up with a jawbreaker and a superkick that popped the crowd! But her revival was short-lived as Jo made it behind her, and connected with her wheelbarrow facebuster! It was at that point the timer hit zero one last time.

Zack: Scarlett was starting a rally, but Jo just hit the BANG! McFarlane has proven to be extremely effective in this match, despite never being in War Games before! And now, Kelly, it’s time for one last entrant!

The door opened in the empty ring as Missy stepped into the cage. Bianca and Jo were about to head for her when she pulled out a chain from her top, and started wrapping her fist before waving them forward! 

Kelly: Missy is absolutely raring to go here and with her trusty chain, Jo and Bianca might just be hoping the other jumps first to give them the opening… because you can bet whoever goes first is gonna get their bell rung with that chain.

Kat: Ladies and gentlemen, all 8 women are in the cage! The MATCH BEYOND HAS BEGUN!

Jo was through the ropes first before Missy charged her with a running forearm to the jaw that sent her back into the corner. Bianca tried to catch her from behind, but turned into a discus punch to the jaw instead from Missy. The brunette headed for the far side as Jo pushed up to move out of the corner, only to get a massive Superman punch from Missy that floored her where she stood. When she saw Bianca coming towards her again, Missy used a hard uppercut right under her chin with the chained fist that sent her to the mat too. 

Zack: I don’t know if that was spit or a tooth that just came out of Bianca’s mouth! Missy’s got a kiss that don’t miss with that chained fist! And she’s heading to the other ring! Mika and Angelina won’t like what’s coming!

Kelly: You’re right about that. I’ve been in that ring with Missy and she hits pretty damn hard without that chain wrapped around her fist...with it, she’s throwing knockout shots and Mika and Angelina need to be wary of what’s coming there way.

As Missy started to head towards Mika, Angelina came in from behind looking for a double ax handle shot to her back. But the brunette spun around, and caught her with a gut punch with that chained fist that dropped her to her knees. The Brit took off for the far side, and came back with her curb stomp to drive Angelina head first into the mat. Missy glanced over to Scarlett, giving her a nod before she reached into her top and threw her a chain too. Silver started to smile as she caught it, and began wrapping her fist up. She spotted Jo getting up in the other ring again, and took off. Scarlett sailed over the ropes into a Superman punch of her own that leveled the redhead where she stood! 

Kelly: Scarlett doesn’t look to be any slouch when she’s got a chain around her fist even. Jo’s got her teeth rattled and I hope Samantha’s got a real good dentist on speed dial, her girls are gonna need one tonight!

Zack: Missy brought two chains, I guess she had room for another one in that top of hers! The last thing they want is Scarlett to start rallying again, we know what happens when she starts getting amped up!

OE was about to join her partner before Mika surprised her with a high knee to the back of her head that sent her into the cage wall. The Russian scooped her leg out from under her to snap her to the mat before she applied an inverted figure four! OE’s body spasmed on the mat as the pain started coursing through it, thanks to her injured knee. Meanwhile on the other side of the ring, Missy had pulled Angelina into a rear naked choke. Bianca headed to break it up, putting the boots to Missy but she wasn’t letting go! Savannah tackled the blonde to the mat, and started raining right hands on her with her newly rejuvenated arm! In a ring to themselves, Scarlett was dropping chained rights into Jo’s head!

Zack: Look at this, Kelly! We got dueling submissions here! OE’s getting her knee wrecked with that inverted figure four, and Missy’s choking Angelina out! I’m amazed Angelina has anything left in her, same goes for Savannah!

Kelly: This might all be about who can dig down deepest and hold out the longest. Everyone else in this match has paired off and there’s no help coming from anyone.

Jo managed to flip Scarlett off her, but it was clear to see she was busted open because of those chained fists she had been absorbing. She got to her feet, staggering a little as she was about to go help Angelina. But Scarlett grabbed her instead, and whipped her across to the far side. Jo rebounded, and surprised her with a forearm. She went to pop up her up into the air, but Scarlett… stopped in mid air! The redhead looked up as Scarlett had grabbed onto the top of the cage, hanging for a second until Jo looked up and ate a Frankensteiner!

Zack: Look at that! Jo went for a pop up...but Scarlett didn’t come down! She used the cage, and drilled Jo with that hurricanrana!

Kelly: Really smart from Scarlett. I’m going to have to watch out for that sort of creativity and innovation when her and I face off for the Evolution Championship in January.

OE clawed at the mat as Mika kept the hold locked in, screaming at her to quit. Bianca and Savannah were still pummeling each other, and Angelina’s movements had slowed dramatically at this point. A referee was positioned in front of each of the two submission attempts before one of them called for the bell.

Zack: This match is over, but who won it?! 

The referee nearest Angelina and Missy called for the bell, saying Angelina was no longer responding in the hold. When the crowd found out, they roared in unison before Missy let the hold go!

Kat: The referee has ruled that Angelina Fantastica can no longer defend herself, therefore your winners of WAR GAMES…… SAVANNAH STAR, SCARLETT SILVER, OE AYANO, AND MISSY!!!

Kelly: Missy had that rear naked choke locked in tight. Angelina had no response to it, no way to escape it and the rest of Chaotic Temptation and Savannah had the rest of their opponents tied up long enough for them to get their rewards!

Zack: None of these women will ever be the same after a match like this! War Games takes years off a career, and it’s no doubt shortened a few tonight! 

Mika let her hold go as she looked over to see Angelina. Fireworks began to shoot from the top of the cage as Missy got back to her feet. She helped OE up and joined Scarlett in the other ring. Savannah wasn’t far behind as they helped her up as well.

Zack: There’s a reason War Games is considered one of the most brutal matches in the sport, and you’ve just seen why! Angelina passed out, and after all she’d endured since the start, who can blame her?! Savannah and Chaotic Temptation have toppled the Franchise!

Kelly: Hard fought from both teams and they will all be feeling the effects of this match for the next couple of days at least, if not for a lot longer.

Zack: What a night it’s been! Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll see you January 14th in New York City at Velocity for the first FFW show of 2020! Don’t miss Girls’ Night Out on the 3rd! Congratulations to Savannah and Chaotic Temptation! And good night from Chicago!!

The cage started to rise before Christian joined his clients and Savannah in the ring. The referees raised their hands in victory to a roar from the crowd before Global Wars faded off the air.