AS 45: Phoenix vs. Matt Tastic (KFAD Qualifier)

[Ty Burna]

Another KFAD qualifier comes our way with Phoenix taking on the man who had an excellent showing at the Lottery, Matt Tastic. Both men have been close to the brass ring before but have never gotten the opportunity to take on the World champion for the title. This is their big moment to achieve that goal but only one man will be able to go Kingdom Come IV in the Elimination Chamber. Will Phoenix rise to superstardom or will the Tastic finally have a chance to climb the ladder?

Deadline is Tuesday, March 20th at 11:59 PM Central Time.​

 

[ABMorales787]

"We want Tastic!" "We want Tastic!" "We want Tastic!"

An ecstatic crowd cheers loudly outside a stadium. However, there is no Tastic present. At least not outside. We go inside where we see Matt Tastic on the phone. Dressed with jeans, a leather jacket and sunglasses, it seems he'll be ready to meet the crowd calling for him once he hangs up. He paces back and forth with a door to the crowd being close by.

Matt: "I'm a little exhausted, but I'm fine Chuck. Doctor says I only have a bump or two."

Chuck: "That's good to hear. You still have appearances in Liverpool, Manchester and one all the way in Cardiff, Wales before we tape shows this week, so stay sharp."

Matt: "Righto. I should be well rested for my match with Phoenix by then. Air travel knocks me out fast and those 1st class flight chairs are pretty damn comfy."

Chuck: "Glad to hear it. 100 dollars have been wired to your ATM account. Use that strictly for food. We'll send you more once you get to Cardiff so don't go eating it all in one day."

Matt: "Dollars or Euros?"

Chuck: "...Umm. I hear your name out loud. What time is it? Shouldn't you be doing your interview by now?"

Matt: "Yeah, I'd better head out for my interview so I can get to the autograph and photo session. These London fans are rabid."

Chuck: "Get going then."

Matt: " 'kay."

Matt hangs up the phone and heads out as the fans cheer for the guy. He salutes them, high fiving any guy and hugging any girl on his way as he heads for a small platform with a mic on it. He bows acknowledging the cheers and gives a hearty smile too.

Matt: "Call me crazy, but I think you people wanted me to get out and sign some pics, right?"

The crowd cheers on...

Matt: "No? Guess I'll just head back in then..."

Now the crowd boo's.

Matt: "I'm joking. Just joking. Before I start taking pictures and signing, I was asked to have an interview session with the "Fan-Tastic" people of London, England. Am I right?"

"YEAH!" goes the crowd in unison.

Matt: "Very well then. Who goes first? Ummm... You other there. Come here and ask away."

The fan selected is brought over by security. A young male with a "rWo" shirt comes to talk.

Fan #1: "You're awesome, Matt! What match do you consider to be your best?"

Matt: "My best match? Damn. I'd have to go with my match versus Red Mask at Apocalypse. I moved so smoothly that night, I actually beat him clean. It also knocked a chip off me since back then a lot of people always said I wasn't as good as he was. Great memory for me and something I consider an establishing moment for my career. Any other questions?"

Fan #2: "I have one!"

The fan in question gets up. He can best be described as looking like this:

Spoiler

He gets to the podium slowly.

Fan #2: "How does it feel to be upstaged and made to look overrated by Steven Holmes?"

Matt: "What?"

Fan #2: "I mean, it must eat you alive that not only did he start the Lethal Lottery match with you, but he outlasted you and also had a previous match with Gordito earlier that night. A particularly brutal match. He upstaged you. You! The guy who was being built as this "hero" who would last the longest. You kinda did. You came in second place. It's been a bit of a theme with you, hasn't it? Thoughts?"


Matt: "Yeah, ********* much big guy? One guy did more than me, so what? Ty won, Steven did better than me, the other 27 did what exactly? That's right, fall behind us. Get over yourself, big guy. I did what I said I'd do and that was to reach the end. I put the period at the end of the sentence when I eliminated poor lil' Ball Boy. Sure, it would've been nice to win. Hell, being runner-up would've been nice too. But I'm happy enough with what I got which was far more than what many other could say. But if you ask me, Rush was the one who truly stole the show. There's the true winner right there. I wish him the best of luck in his long awaited rematch with Blade this week. It's two years in the making. Anything else to add, grumpy?"

"Rush! Rush! Rush! Rush!" The crowd shows their approval.

As the older, grumpy fan leaves with a somewhat unsatisfied look, a younger, perky teenage girl steps up.

Fan #3: "Mr. Tastic, I have a question. You face Phoenix one on one this week to qualify in the King For A Day Chamber match. But at the same time, reports of you seeing a psychiatric have come out. Do you think you may have problems heading to your match this week?"

Matt: "Wow, it's true what they say. Stuff can't stay secret from the fan's in this business. I went to a shrink a few times before the Lethal Lottery and going on this tour. If my performance at the PPV isn't enough to say I'm in peak physical condition, nothing can explain it. I just had a sleeping problem. But I'm fine now.

Fan #3: "And Phoenix?"

Matt: "I don't know... Painting something? Oh, you meant... Well, the way I see it, the guy is an awesome in-ring performer. A bit weird outside, but awesome in that squared circle. The man is a true poet with his actions and his words."

Fan #3: "You think you can beat him?"

Matt: "I don't know. The way I see it, it's as even as flipping a coin. It can fall on either side with the same amount of chance. It's how these qualifying matches are all set. The participants are all equal matches to each other from a viewers perspective. In that ring though, it's gonna boil down to who wants that opportunity more. Last year, I was in the match, he was gone. That's definably good fuel for him to do anything he can to beat me. But at the same time, we've wrestled before and... HE CLOBBERED ME! Oh, it was terrible! He hit me in the face, he dropped me on my ass! For a minute, I thought he was gonna crisp me with flames shooting out of his own pipe! It went for 8 minutes, but it felt like 8 kilometers..."

Fan #3: "Don't you mean hours?"


Matt: "No, the beating was so bad I lost my sense of reason. And a few brain cells too. Point is, I lost spectacularly then. Then he left for a good while. It would kinda look bad on me if he beat me fresh off a hiatus while I was busy staying in the ring for about an hour. I don't mean to be bad to the guy, but it wouldn't look good on me to give out such a show just to lose the following week. I'd hate let my "Fan-Tastics" down, but I'm just gonna have to cut Phoenix' resurrection from the ashes short. At Ascension, he's gonna have to realize that I'm not the same guy I was back then when I Deliver Kickassery. I'm more experienced, I'm more prepared, and hell, I'm even more good looking. At Ascension, Phoenix better bring his A-Game. Because to me he's just a chicken on flames judging from the name. On Sunday, he'll dance with the Firestarter. Good luck to him. I think that's enough though, so I guess it's time for some photos and autographs. Who's first?"

The crowd cheers and lines up for their session with Matt as the scene closes. In the dark, a voice echoes. It's not gone yet.

?: "Liar. LIAR!"

Matt: "Hissy fit? I don't see what's the problem? It's just a match."

?: "You don't feel that way about Phoenix. You don't feel that way at all."

Matt: "You're right. I don't. But I can't just say that to the crowd. I know that he can also be one hell of a jerk. After all, he did torture Garth Black for ages after their team fell apart. He really knows how to hold a grudge. But you're crazy if you think I'm scared. He's still just another wrestler. And what I said about how I am today is indeed true. He'll be an example of it. I'm all fun and games, but I still do want to win. And I still want to some day become World Heavyweight Champion. So I WILL give it my all.

?: "As you always should..."

Matt: "Damn straight..."

 

[Thriller Ant]

The scene opens with Leon Kensworth standing next to Phoenix in the backstage interview area.

Phoenix, you have a King for a Day qualifying match against Matt Tastic tonight. He is sure to be riding a wave of momentum after his showing in the Lethal Lottery, how do you plan to combat that?

Well, Leon, as you know, momentum is a huge part of wrestling. Wrestlers with momentum can do things they normally couldn’t dream of doing, like slam giants, come back from the brink of defeat, or make death-defying leaps. Matt Tastic has about as much momentum coming from the Lottery as you can without actually winning the thing. To be honest, for one night, cheering for him to fight his way closer and closer to the end, I was a fan again.

Phoenix pauses for a moment, and his demeanor changes from calm and casual, to a bit more edgy and frustrated.

After a while, though, I realized that he was in my spot. I wanted to main event Kingdom Come. I want my shot at the World Title. The moment my feet hit the floor that night, those two goals, at least for now, disappeared. It’s kind of ironic that I face Matt this week. Despite all of the praise he has gotten since the Lottery, which is well deserved, the moment his feet hit the floor, we were at the same place. Despite the differences in time spent in the Lottery, we both came up short.

That brings me to tonight. Matt Tastic, one of the shining stars of the Lethal Lottery match, faces Phoenix, and his flop of a return. One man goes to Kingdom Come with a shot at the most valuable curse in wrestling, the King for a Day contract. The other goes back to the locker room, hoping he can get another opportunity to make the card for the biggest show of the year. Matt may have momentum coming in, but when I pin his shoulders to the mat for a count of three, there will be no doubts which of us will be carrying it into the chamber at Kingdom Come.

Phoenix walks off set and the screen fades to black.