[Cut back to the main bowl. The camera roves through the crowd, cutting to a few shots of the Empire Girls dancing before cutting to Thomas and Neely.]
DT: Looks like Beast has some business with our general manager tonight!
MN: He's gonna make him feel the RAAHR, isn't he?
DT: You never know.
MN: Except when you know.
DT: In any case, we've got another match for you tonight, one that was scheduled after a completely unprovoked debut attack! Last week Karl Brown was laid out by the rookie named X, but this week the Dragon looks to gain some revenge!
MN: Who the hell is X, anyway? Isn't he one of the X-Men?
DT: He's actually one of our newest roster members, and he's making his debut against some tall odds in Karl Brown. Let's head to the ring! Tony?
TONY FATORA: Th' following contest-
[Cue up: "Zero" - Smashing Pumpkins. The crowd pops loudly as Dan Ryan walks out onto the ramp and into the ring, holding a large sack.]
RYAN: Hold on a second here. I've had my eye on both X and Karl Brown all week, and I noticed that Karl Brown's got his heart set on tackling X in any gimmick match I can think up. Well, since you've left it to my imagination, Karl...
[Ryan reaches into the sack and pulls out a length of steel chain.]
RYAN: ...I've decided to give you something interesting. We're gonna have ourselves a little chain match tonight. No disqualifications, no count-outs, falls count anywhere, all weapons are legal. Now let's get this thing started.
[Handing the chain to the official, Ryan heads to the back as the crowd roars!]
DT: Oh dear! It's a chain match!
MN: Yeahhhh! BLOOD!
[The arena is bathed in darkness seconds before "Rainmaker" blares out, causing a cascade of green and white lights to flicker across the arena in time to the music and pyro to explode from the side of the stage. With the first words, Karl steps through the curtains with a steel chair in hand, looking around at the crowd. He high-fives fans either side of the aisle, stopping for autographs along the way, as he walks to the ring. Circles the ring once, then vaults over the top rope, standing on the second rope, arms aloft, saluting the fans on each side of the ring, before waiting in the centre of the ring for his opponent.]
TONY FATORA: Introducing first... He hails from Nottingham, England... He weighs in at two hundred and eleven pounds... Thissss issssss KARRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLL... BRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!!!
["X Gonna Give It To You" by DMX blares over the loudspeaker as the lights go down. Time passes, strobe lights light up the entrance way and everyone is looking around for X, but he is no where to be found. After a few more seconds, a commotion seems to be erupting in the crowd. X appears in the crowd carrying his patented black steel chair marked with a white X and wrapped in barbed wire. He stands on a chair or anything he can find in the crowd and while still holding his chair in his right hand, he crosses his arms to make an X. He fights his way through the crowd, hops the barrier, and rolls into the ring. He starts banging on the ropes with the chair and then proceeds to make the same X gesture while standing on the middle of the ropes.]
TONY FATORA: And his opponent, making his Empire Pro Wrestling debut... He weighs in at two hundred and ten pounds and hails from the Bronx, New York... He is the man known as X!!
MN: Karl's so screwed! I thought he was one of those technical dorks!
DT: I wouldn't say that. While Brown is indeed technically sound, he's competed in many gruelling matches, including the even more hardcore Mayhem Mountain inside a three-tiered cage made of steel and barbed-wire!
MN: Yeegh! That's sick.
[The official explains the rules to Brown and X, then attaches the twenty-foot chain to their wrists.]
[SFX: *DING* - Bell rings.]
MN: It's BLOOD TIME!
[Hefting his barbed wire chair, X charges at Brown and swings the furniture towards the Englishman's head. Brown immediately ducks to the mat, grabbing the chain and swinging it across X's legs as he avoids the chair. The chain catches across X's calves, tripping him up.]
DT: Oh, Brown immediately using the chain to good effect, taking X down!
MN: Took a tumble, he did!
[X rolls to his feet quickly. Picking up the steel chair he brought with him, Brown moves in and takes a swing at X, who blocks it with his barbed-wire chair. Brown swings again, this time aiming for X's right shoulder. The shot connects, and X drops his chair, holding his shoulder in pain. Brown picks X up and shoves him into a corner, chopping him a few times before bringing him down with a single-arm DDT onto the bad shoulder.]
DT: Brown's singling out X's arm here, perhaps trying to prevent him from swinging a weapon!
MN: Hey Dave, why doesn't X have a real name?
DT: Huh?
MN: He's just X. Is that on his birth certificate?
DT: I wouldn't know.
[Picking up his plain chair again, Brown winds up and waits for X to rise. As X comes to his feet, Brown throws the chair at him. X catches it in both hands, and Brown superkicks it into his face!]
DT: OH! Brown DRIVES that steel right into the face of X! The cover!
One -
TWO -
Kickout by X!
MN: Seriously. What's that guy's name.
DT: I don't know, Mike.
[Pushing the chair aside, Brown hauls X to his feet and chops him a few times. He whips X into the ropes, but X stops himself by grabbing the top rope. He then grips the chain and begins reeling Brown towards him. Brown fights it, but X manages to pull him in and dropkick him.]
DT: Big dropkick there by the man who calls himself X!
MN: He needs a real name. I'm so gonna give him one.
DT: Mike-
MN: Herbert? Humphrey? Hogarth?
[As Brown rolls to his feet, X grabs the chain and wraps a loop of it around Brown's neck. He pulls back on the chain, digging it into Brown's neck like a garrote. Brown struggles against it, gasping for air. He tries to fight out with elbows, but X slugs him and drills him with a back suplex. Brown lands hard on a coil of the chain, holding his back.]
DT: X is trying to choke the life out of Karl Brown - and now a HUGE back suplex!
MN: ...Frank, Tony, Gerald, Hubert...
[Wrapping both hands around the coil of chain still hanging around Brown's neck, X pulls him to his feet and chokes him for a moment longer. He then slams Brown roughly to the canvas with a jerk of the chain. Picking up his barbed-wire chair, X raises it to the crowd, then slams it onto the head of a recovering Brown to fell him!]
DT: MY GOD! That barbed-wire chair just PLASTERED into the head of Karl Brown, and blood is everywhere!
MN: That thing's SICK!
DT: X isn't covering!
MN: And he STILL needs a name!
[Grimly, X hacks at Brown a few more times with the chair. He grabs the Englishman by the chin and talks trash to him, then slams the chair into his body a few more times.]
DT: Hard shots there from X as he continues to wail away with that chair!
MN: But a name... YES! I've got it! WILBUR!
DT: Say what?
MN: I said WIL-L-L-L-L-LBUR-R-R-R-R!!!
[X whips Brown into the corner, and absolutely CLOBBERS him with the chair as Brown bounces out. X goes for another shot, but Brown ducks under, firing back with lefts and rights to stun his opponent. X throws a right in retaliation, but gets a chain-assisted drop toe hold into the corner for his trouble.]
DT: Brown now fighting back, as he lifts X up into a fireman’s carry, making his way quickly to the opposite ropes... HOLY-
MN: WHAT THE HELL?!
[Brown runs to the ropes with the smaller man on his shoulders, leaping as far into the air as he can, barely clearing the top rope. In mid air, Brown rolls forward, landing squarely on X’s chest as the two men hit in a somersault Samoan splash, as the crowd goes crazy! Both men stay down, X from the fall and Brown from having performed the move and striking his knee hard on the ramp way!]
DT: Ladies and gentleman, I don’t know what to call what we’ve just seen... Karl Brown just pulled off an amazing move, and the tide has turned fully in his favor!
MN: I'm SO calling that sh(bomb) the Downtown Dunk!
DT: Brown appears to be hurt! Looks like his knee came down hard on the steel ramp!
[A bloody and dazed Brown slowly pulls himself to his feet, wincing as he holds his knee. After a moment, X gets up as well. Grabbing a large loop of chain, Brown takes a step forward and whips X right in the face with the chain, knocking him to the floor!]
DT: Brown with that CHAIN to the face of X! Down goes the rookie!
MN: Poor Wilbur. Downtown smoked him with that damn chain, man.
[Still clutching the loop of chain like a whip, Downtown applies it liberally to X's back like a whip, causing the other man to thrash in pain. After a few lashes Brown loops the chain around X's right shoulder, setting his foot against X's back and pulling back as hard as he can. X howls in pain, his shoulder injury from earlier suddenly reaggravated.]
DT: Brown with that chain around X's arm! He's trying to wrench that shoulder right out of its socket!
MN: It's official: He's the HARDCORE DRAGON, baby!
[Gritting his teeth, X lunges backwards and smashes Brown in the gut with an elbow. The newcomer slides his arm out of the chain loop and kicks Brown in his bad knee, knocking the Englishman down. X wraps the chain around Brown's upper body and drags him up the ramp, where he grabs Brown's leg and slams the knee into the steel of the ramp!]
DT: OH! X picking apart that knee, and Brown is SCREAMING in pain!
MN: Wilbur knows what he's after!
[Again, X drives Brown's knee into the ramp. He then grabs the chain again and drags Brown up the ramp. Grabbing Brown by the hair and an arm, he hurls him towards the set. Brown hits the set wall headfirst and flips over, his back slamming into the set before his body slumps down, leaving him sprawled on his head!]
DT: And X sends Brown headfirst into the set, as he's in total control here!
MN: He's, like, totally rocking Downtown out!
[A look of satisfaction comes across X's face. He rolls Brown over to free him from the chain, pulling it out to its full length. He then drags Brown towards the ten-foot-high cage occupied by one of the Empire Girls - Tiffany to be specific. He lays the chain across Brown's bloody face and stomps on it a few times, then hops onto the cage and begins scaling it.]
DT: Looks like X is going to the top of the cage!
MN: So that's why Wilbur loosened up the chain. Give himself enough room to climb.
[X doesn't make it. As he nears the roof, Brown kips to his feet to a big crowd pop. He scales the cell quickly and waistlocks X from behind, his legs hooked around the cage and his arms about X's waist. He tries to fall back, but X fights it. Breathing heavily, Brown slugs X in the head. X's grip loosens, and Brown falls back to deliver a German suplex off of the neon cage, sending X flipping to land on his head on the steel ramp! Brown's legs remain hooked around the cell, and thus he remains hanging from the cage, leaving X to lie prone on the ramp!]
DT: MY GOD!!! A GERMAN SUPLEX FROM THE DANCER'S CAGE TO THE RAMP!!!
MN: HOLY SH(BOMB)!!! HE IS THE HARDCORE DRAGON!!!
DT: We've heard of Brown pulling off maneuvers like that before - but actually seeing it is something else! WOW!
MN: It's SO over!
[Flicking Tiffany a weak smile through the blood running down his face, Brown climbs back down the cell and makes his way to the ramp. X is beginning to stir. Brown loops the chain twice around X's neck and shoulder, then sets him up and drills him into the ramp with the Dragon's Bite!]
DT: DRAGON'S BITE!!! CHAIN-AIDED DRAGON'S BITE ONTO THE STEEL!!! BROWN MAKES THE COVER!!!
ONE!!!
TWO!!!
THREEEEEEEE!!! BROWN WINS IT!!!
[SFX: *DING* - Bell rings.]
TONY FATORA: Here is your winnerrrr... KARRRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLL... BRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWNNNNNNNNN!!!
DT: What a victory for Karl Brown here tonight, as he settles the score with X in an impressive showing!
MN: Man! That was cool! I've never seen Brown get hardcore like that!
DT: Well, now you have!
MN: Man, he SO should start calling himself the Hardcore Dragon. That'd be utterly awesome, man.
DT: Perhaps. Folks, when we come back, we've got another match for you! Beast! Tyrone Walker! Next!
[Cut to a commercial for Burger Sultan.]
[The EmpireTron lights up, and the crowd cheers as we see Beast standing in GM Paul Freeman's office. It appears as though the conversation is almost over, as the two men are standing and shaking hands.]
Beast: Thanks again for giving me this time.
PF: You're welcome, Beast. I know you have some things you need to work out, and I'm glad to help out in any way I can.
Beast: So what I had in mind is all cool, right? You're not going to get flak from Ryan or anything, are you?
PF: No, I think we're safe on this front. This match, and any subsequent ones like it, should be a good potential ratings grab for Aggression.
Beast: Great. Glad it's all settled.
PF: Now, don't you have a match?
Beast: Yes, I do. Thanks again.
[Beast turns and leaves the office, and the EmpireTron goes to black.]
DT: I wonder what that was all about?
[The arena lights fade down to darkness, then slowly come back up in deep blue as the sound of chanting monks fill the arena, and the video screens light up with "BEAST" flashing in different styles and colors of text, mixed in with video clips of Beast executing various moves on his opponents. The chanting monks play for about 15 seconds, then fade into Nickelback's "Figure You Out", and as the opening guitar chords hit, a blast of red and white pyro go off around the stage area, then Beast walks through the smoke down the ramp and to the ring, an electric pop coming from the fans.]
MN: I think we're gonna find out, 'cause HERE COMES THE RAAHR!!!
[Once in the ring, Beast salutes the fans by touching his fist to his chest over his heart a couple times before raising his hand in the air, drawing more cheers. Beast then walks over to one side of the ring where he receives a mic.]
Beast: Now... everyone listen up. Especially you, Tyrone Walker. The time for running is over. There's nowhere left to go. There's nowhere left to hide. Sooner or later, you're all going to have to face the alpha male, the apex predator.
You're going to have to face Beast.
[Crowd pop.]
Beast: And now, when you do, it's not going to be anything you've ever dreamed of, or thought you'd ever encounter. When you face me, it's not just going to be any old match. No-sir-ee! When you step into ring with me, it's going to be a Beast's Prey match!
[The crowd pops again!]
MN: Beast's Prey? What kind of crap does Optimus Prime got flowing through those transistors?
Beast: The rules are simple! There are no rules! No DQ! No count out! Weapons? The more the merrier!
[Pop!]
Beast: It's going to be the ultimate test of survival! And my first victim is going to be Mr. Walker! Ty! You can turn tail and hide, but in the end, we must all face the test!
And a final word for our esteemed Champion...
I suggest you watch this match, Sands, and I suggest you watch carefully. What I'm going to do to Walker tonight isn't going to be a fraction of what I'm going to do to you before I take your World Title. Now Walker, get out here and take this ass-kicking like a man!
[Beast tosses the mic aside, and readies for his match.]