Vesuvius - I am telling you, it's the only way to go.

Jason Knight - If you want buyrates, I agree. I just can't see everyone else sitting still for it.

Vesuvius - Look, I own them. They will do what I tell them to and they'll love it as much as I demand that they do.

Jason Knight - Just so you know, turnout was a little weak for this one. You might have the crowd turn against you at the end of this.

Vesuvius - I am well aware of the situation in the back. We'll be fine.

~~~~~~~~

"Astronomy" by Metallica plays as we see images from the past year flash on the screen, from the firing of Lethal Weapon to the Rated R title win to Max Cameron pinning Vigilante to Nameless defeating Daniel McCoy to win gold last week. In between, we see various posed pictures of current AW stars and former GWO stars are seen faded out in comparison. We then head to ringside where Ricky Sims and Henry Lesher are prepared to call tonight's event, none of which will be in the ring.

~~~~~~~~

Dodgeball

The crowd cheers as they see Hoshi take her place in the small court they have set up beside the stage for Dodgeball. Across from her stands Gerard Angelo, with him getting a more mixed reaction than she did. Each of them have a black ball in hand. The referee is explaining they get just the one ball each and explains not to cross center line, the basic rules of the game here as the crowd starts a chant for Hoshi Yakamoto. We see Bart Phillips in the crowd watching.

Henry Lesher - Explain to me again why this is on a wrestling show.

Ricky Simms - It's the end of the year and, as such, the event tonight will be more about fun than about fighting.

Henry Lesher - I want violence or people will take chair shots from me when the lights go out.

The referee blows the whistle and the crowd cheers as Hoshi and Gerard square off here. Gerard fakes a toss of his ball and Hoshi ducks momentarily. She then lets her's fly and Gerard ducks it, the ball bouncing harmlessly off of the wall behind Gerard. Gerard then lets his fly and Hoshi ducks out of the way in time, leaving them both holding the one ball again and at a momentary stalemate in this contest.

Henry Lesher - Oh great, neither of them have a friggin' clue and I get to sit and watch them miss for an hour.

Gerard fakes again and Hoshi lets her ball fly. Gerard uses his to deflect hers back towards her. When she reaches for it, Gerard hauls off and drills the ball into Hoshi's face, causing the referee to blow the whistle on contact. Referee Mark Davis then raises Gerard's hand in victory. As Hoshi holds her nose and Bart looks on, we see Jason Knight on the screen.

Jason Knight - That was a great display there, Gerry. You know what you get for that win? You get the honor of stepping into the ring next week against Thibor Dragosani. Thibor requested you weeks ago actually. We have allowed him to seethe with anger first and next week, he will take you apart. Have a good week and congratulations. Oh and Hoshi, I didn't forget you. Next week, you step into the ring with Nameless in a clash of the champions kind of thing. Good luck with that.

His image fades from the big screen and Hoshi and Gerard both look baffled with what they were just told. As Gerard then turns to head back to the backstage area, Thibor attacks him from out of nowhere with a clothesline to the floor and then does the same to nearby Hoshi. Thibor stands over them with a sadistic smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~

Backstage we see Kelly Buchanan primping herself in the mirror when Scavenger enters the picture. Kelly gives him a dirty look.

Scavenger - Look, I want to apologize to you on behalf of my wife. I don't know what came over her last week.

Kelly Buchanan - She had better stay away from me.

Scavenger - I agree. I told her just to avoid you and you'll avoid her and it's all going to blow over.

Kelly Buchanan - I don't know about that. That bitch shows my ass to the world and I'm going to let it blow over? When I say keep her away from me, I mean keep her away from AW events. If you don't, you'll regret it and deeply so.

Scavenger - *smiles* Kelly, just let it go.

Kelly Buchanan - Keep her out of the building and I will.

Scavenger turns and walks away shaking his head. Kelly narrows her eyes and is clearly still quite angry about the whole thing.

~~~~~~~~

Poker Challenge

We see a poker table set up inside the ring. Nameless, Daniel McCoy and Tommy Purr are sitting around the table. Both Purr and McCoy are looking nervously at Nameless as if they don't know what to expect from the champion here. The cards are dealt face down and we see on the screen what each player got. Nameless got an ace of spades and a 10 of spades. Daniel McCoy got a two of clubs and a four of clubs. Tommy Purr got an ace of hearts and a king of hearts.

Ricky Simms - Nameless comes out hot with those two cards and he's betting. McCoy calls, though I'm not sure why. His cards are terrible.

Henry Lesher - Matches his wrestling skill.

Ricky Simms - Purr raises and now we wait for the flop.

Henry Lesher - Shannon Skanes is coming out?

The dealer turns over the three cards before him and we see a three of clubs, an eight of diamonds and a jack of hearts. None of the three players react to that.

Ricky Simms - No one has a pair yet.

Henry Lesher - Go into the ring and tell Nameless he doesn't have a pair.

Ricky Simms - No.

Nameless bets first, then McCoy again calls. Purr shrugs and stays in as well, making the minimum bet he has to in this one hand takes all game. The turn card is played and it is a five of clubs.

Ricky Simms - Aces are the high cards right now. No pairs on the table, but McCoy looks like he could draw a straight.

Henry Lesher - McCoy and straight in the same sentence and no laughter heard? How odd.

Again, all three players make their bets and stay in the game. The chip count is getting low and all three look somewhat frustrated by what appears to be a lousy hand for all thanks to the dealer. We wonder if the next card played will be the one stating the rules of the game. When the dealer turns the river card, we see a six of clubs and then it's revealed what the three players had. Daniel McCoy pumps his fists when he sees he drew the straight and won the hand. Nameless then turns the table upside down and grabs McCoy around the throat. Tommy Purr jumps up from his chair, folds it and smashes it across the head of Nameless. Nameless drops to one knee, but then wraps his other hand around the throat of Tommy Purr. As Nameless goes for the double choke slam, Tommy thumbs him in the eye and then rolls himself out of the ring. McCoy joins him there and the two of them begin to have words about McCoy's good fortune. Inside the ring, Nameless destroys the poker table.

Ricky Simms - Purr and Nameless aren't impressed.

Henry Lesher - That was some lousy dealing. Was Shengee not available to screw this up tonight? What does McCoy need fifty grand for?

Ricky Simms - Oh, I am sure he'll find some use for it.

Outside the ring, Purr and McCoy start throwing punches at each other as security comes out to break things up.

Ricky Simms - Well fans, Happy New Year. Next week, in 2006, we'll see how McCoy turns his good fortune into another winning streak.

Henry Lesher - He has never had more than one win in a row. There's never been a streak.

Ricky Simms - See you next week for another edition of Assault from Mesa, Arizona!

We fade to black on Nameless inside the ring, his head bowed as if he feels he missed an opportunity this week and he is reflecting on it. Next week, Hoshi could be the one paying for his anger.