Harrys: The following contest is a triple threat match scheduled for one fall and it is for the EurAsian championship!
The crowd pops as James Howard walks out, he’s got a slight grin on his face from the crowd’s reaction, but his mind is clearly on more pressing issues.
Harrys: Introducing first, from Leeds, England, weighing 223 pounds, James Howard!
Howard climbs the stairs and hops up onto the turnbuckle and looks out into the cheering crowd for a moment before jumping down into the ring and turning his attention back towards the stage.
The cheers continued but they feel more subdued now as Mikey Stormrage emerges, his eyes on the ring and his (former?) friend.
Harrys: And his opponents, first from Indianapolis, Indiana, weighing 315 pounds, Mikey Stormrage!
Copeland:
The relationship between Strikeforce has become strained recently due to Mikey’s strange behaviour.
Cohen:
Good, we’ve all been waiting months for them to beat the hell out of each other!
Stormrage gets into the ring, and there’s a tense staredown between him and Howard. Howard tries to talk to Mikey, but Mikey just stares right at him. The tension is broken by:
Chris K.O. struts onto the ramp, title over his shoulder, to hatred from the crowd. He gives the crowd a look of indignation before he heads towards the squared circle.
Harrys: And their opponents, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, weighing 232 pounds, the EurAsian Champion, Chris K.O.!
Connor:
You have to believe that the champion is the underdog here tonight.
Copeland:
Right. Even though there’s tension between Howard and Mikey, neither of them want Chris K.O. to walk out of here with the title.
Chris K.O. looks at his opponents in the ring, both of whom have turned their attention towards the champion. Referee Keith Morse tells K.O. to come into the ring, which he does, albeit slowly. K.O. kisses his title before handing it over and Morse raises it in the air and hands it to the time keeper before calling for the bell, and the match is underway.
The three men look at one another, all waiting for someone to make the first move. Stormrage decides to make it, rushing at K.O. and hitting a big clothesline, catching the champion off guard. Mikey picks K.O. back up and motions for Howard to help him out. Howard hesitates but finally grabs K.O. and Irish Whips him across the ring. As K.O. returns, Howard hits a leg sweep while Mikey hits a Crane Kick to a huge cheer from the audience.
Connor:
Looks like they dug something up from the old Strikeforce playbook!
Copeland:
Even when you’re not a team anymore, you just can’t get rid of that natural chemistry!
Cohen:
And it means now it’s just the two of them. Let the hell beating begin!
Mikey kicks K.O. out of the ring and turns towards his former tag team partner. Howard looks conflicted as Mikey gestures for him to make a move. The crowd is chanting in anticipation of this clash: “Let’s Go Howard!” chants countered with “Let’s go Mikey!” Howard finally rushes Stormrage, ducking under his attempted right hand, and unleashes of hard shots to Mikey’s head. With Stormrage stunned, Howard tries to Irish Whip him, but Mikey reverses, sending Howard into the ropes. As Howard comes back, he delivers a low dropkick, sending the big man down to the mat. As Mikey gets up to his knees, Howard hits a series of kicks to Mikey’s chest. He goes for the final shot to the head, but Mikey catches the leg and gets to his feet. Stormrage simply shakes his head before grabbing Howard by the throat, lifting him up and slamming him down hard. Mikey goes for the first pin of the match,
1….
2….
Kick out! Mikey doesn’t let up, quickly hitting a seated Senton on his friend and hooking the leg,
1….
2…..
Kick out! Stormrage gets up and begins to stalk Howard, who grabs the second rope and tries to pull himself up. But from out of nowhere, Chris K.O. comes in with a big Spinning Wheel kick that takes Mikey down. K.O. turns attention to the hurt Howard, who has just gotten up to his feet using the ropes. K.O. grabs Howard in a waistlock, attempting a German Suplex. Howard manages to block it, but K.O. doesn’t let go of the Waistlock. Suddenly, Mikey runs off the ropes and hits a running Crossbody, taking the other two men out! Mikey goes for the pin on K.O.
1….
2…..
Kick out! Mikey then tries to pin Howard,
1…..
2…..
Kick out! Mikey decides to turn his attention back to Howard. He picks up Howard and grabs him for a Belly to Belly, but Howard hits Mikey with a headbutt, freeing himself from the clutches. With Mikey stunned, Howard runs off the ropes at Mikey, but Mikey counters, catching his Strikeforce partner in an Abdominal Stretch! Howard has nowhere to go as Mikey really cinches it in deep, and with his free arm, hits elbows to Howard’s midsection. As Mikey raises his arm for one more elbow, K.O. comes from behind and grabs the arm, and locks in a standing Armbar on Mikey! K.O. wrenches Mikey’s arm back, causing Mikey to pull and put more pressure on Howard’s body, as the two men scream out in pain!
Cohen:
Wait, if Mikey gives up here, K.O. will retain!
Copeland:
And if Howard gives up, Stormrage is the new champion!
After several moments of struggling, Howard manages to untangle himself from the Abdominal Stretch. With Mikey still in the Armbar, Howard runs off the ropes and hits a running Neckbreaker on K.O! All three men are down on the mat, sore from the punishment they’re dishing out on each other. But Howard is the first to get up, soon followed by K.O. The champion gets the first shot in, with a punch to Howard, which is instantly returned. They begin to exchange shots, Howard hits a punch to a “YES!” from the crowd, then K.O. hits one back to a “BOO!” Finally, K.O. goes for the Haymaker, a European Uppercut, but Howard catches it and hooks K.O’s other arm, pinning him with a Backslide,
1….
2…..
Kick out! Both men get up quickly, but Howard is first to react, sending K.O. to the mat with a Snapmare and following up with a devastating kick to the head! Howard goes for another pin,
1….
2…..
Kick out! Howard double checks with the referee that it was only two, frustrated that he can’t put the champion away. Howard picks up K.O. and attempts to Irish Whip him, but K.O. reverses, sending Howard into the ropes. As Howard runs forward, he jumps to the second rope, and Springboard Moonsaults off! K.O. manages to move back to avoid it but Howard lands on his feet. Despite his balance, K.O. still takes advantage, hitting a German Suplex with a bridge!
1…
2…..
Mikey hits the Stormrage Splash on K.O. to break up the pin!!
Copeland:
The Stormrage Splash from nowhere! Mikey used his finisher to break up the pin!
Cohen:
Talk about overkill!
Stormrage covers K.O.
1….
2…..
Howard breaks it up this time! Mikey gets up, but Howard is already on the attack with punches and kicks, causing Mikey to back up. Howard essentially kicks Mikey into the corner, before backing up and going for the Shining Wizard. But Mikey catches him around the waist, turns and hits a Belly to Belly! Mikey lands on Howards, pinning him,
1….
2…..
Howard gets a shoulder up! Mikey gets up and wants to finish it off, pulling Howard up by his hair and lifting him for Game Over, but Howard counters with a roll up!
1…
2….
Kick out! Mikey is stunned by being caught off guard, and as both men get up, Howard hits a Dropkick, sending Mikey into the corner. Howard runs forward, and this time hits the Running Knee right on Mikey’s chin! Howard tries to follow up with the Bulldog, but Mikey blocks and holds Howard in a Powerbomb position. Meanwhile, K.O. has pulled himself up on the apron. As Mikey walks out of the corner with Howard on his shoulders, K.O. climbs onto the top rope and jumps off, hitting the Chaos Theory on Howard as Mikey slams him down!
Connor:
Unbelievable! K.O. and Mikey hit the Headshot on Howard, Strikeforce’s finishing move as a team!
Cohen:
That’s got to hurt Howard. I mean, apart from the physical hurt…
Mikey covers Howard,
1….
2…….
K.O. breaks it up to save his title! Mikey is angry as he turns towards K.O, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him into the corner. Stormrage hits a series of shoulder thrusts to the gut of K.O. Mikey backs up and launches himself at the champion, going for an Avalanche splash, but K.O. gets out of the way at the last second. Mikey hits the turnbuckles and gets the wind knocked out of him. With Mikey slumped in the corner, K.O. climbs to the second rope, grabs Mikey’s head in a Front Facelock and hits a Tornado DDT! The ring shakes from the impact and nearly as soon as they hit, K.O. locks in the Burning Crusade! Mikey screams in pain as, even through the mask, the pain is excruciating. The crowd are cheering as loud as they can, trying to will Mikey into not giving up. Stormrage can’t take any more, raising his hand to tap out. But before his hand can hit the mat, Howard comes in with a dropkick to K.O’s face! The hold is broken, and Howard quickly ties up the champion in the Tenzan Choke!
The crowds cheers have turned from encouragement to sheer joy at seeing K.O. in pain from the devastating submission! The veins in K.O’s neck are popping out as he tries to get free. He begins to inch his way towards the bottom rope and, finally, stretches out his leg and touches the rope. The referee counts to five and Howard takes full advantage of it, using those precious seconds to cause the champ as much damage as possible. But he’s forced to break the hold as the referee reaches four.
Connor:
For the first time in the match, Howard seems to be in control.
Copeland:
Stormrage is still hurting from the Burning Crusade, and now K.O. is hurting from the Tenzan Choke.
Cohen:
But is Howard good enough to take advantage?
Howard picks up a groggy K.O. and Irish Whips him into the corner. He follows up with a Shining Wizard, then followed by the Bulldog! Howard goes for the pin,
1….
2…..
No! K.O. just gets his shoulder up. Howard shows some signs of frustration, but keeps his cool and calls for the end to raucous cheers from the crowd. He goes to the corner and climbs up onto the top rope and waits for the champion to get up. K.O. is off balance, but does manage to get up, and Howard leaps off the top rope. K.O, acting on instinct alone, moves out of the way and Howard flies right into a European Uppercut from Mikey, who came from nowhere! The crowd groan in sympathy as Howard rolls around clutching his throat and jaw.
K.O. and Mikey are both holding themselves up using the ropes. Mikey makes the first move, with a right hand to the face, which K.O. quickly returns. They exchange punches until K.O. gets the advantage by doubling Mikey over with a kick to the gut. K.O. runs off the ropes and goes for a Spinning Wheel kick, but Mikey catches his legs before Slingshotting him into the corner. As K.O. bounce off the turnbuckles and staggers back out, Mikey turns him around and picks him for a Gordbuster. K.O. is in the air, but he manages to knee Mikey in the head. Stormrage stumbles forward and K.O. manages to land on his feet on the apron. Mikey goes for K.O, but he’s dropkicked from behind by Howard. K.O. pulls down the top rope, and Mikey goes over it to the outside of the ring.
Mikey uses the crowd barricade to help himself up. Meanwhile, in the ring, Howards runs into the ropes opposite K.O. As Howard comes at him, K.O. moves out of the way. But Howard improvises, diving through the ropes straight into Mikey!
Connor:
Wow, we don’t see that too often from James Howard!
Cohen:
When the EurAsian title is on the line, people do crazy things!
With his two opponents down on the outside, K.O. gets back into the ring to recover a bit. But suddenly, someone comes through the crowd. His face isn’t visible due to the hoodie he’s wearing. He jumps the barricade and rolls into the ring, a steel chair in his hand. K.O. looks worried as the hooded man gets into the ring. Before the champion can react, the hooded man blasts him in the head with the chair. Referee Keith Morse tries to stop the hooded man, but he’s merely pushed away.
Copeland:
Who the hell is that!?
Connor:
He’s just ruined this amazing match!
Cohen:
It doesn’t matter, CC. There’s no DQ in triple threat matches.
The man wraps the chair around Chris K.O’s arm. As the crowd look on in shock, the hooded man climbs to the second rope and jumps off, stomping the chair. Chris lets out a scream of pain, clutching his possible broken arm. The hooded man pulls the hood up and it’s… Dustin Hunter!
Copeland:
What the hell!? Hunter was supposed to be K.O’s protégé!
Cohen:
Apparently Dustin thinks he’s better than that…
Hunter gets out of the ring and leaves through the crowd as the referee tries to unwrap the chair from around K.O’s arm. Meanwhile, Mikey and Howard have just gotten to their feet and continue brawling, completely unaware of what happened inside the ring. Mikey Irish Whips Howard, sending him colliding into the steel steps with a crash! Stormrage gets into the ring to turn his attention towards K.O, but realises something is wrong. Mikey approaches, but the referee tells him to back off as K.O. is seriously hurt. Mikey takes some steps towards K.O. but stops. Some fans are egging him on, others want him to stop. The referee pleads with Mikey not to do any more damage to K.O. Although he’s reluctant at first, Stormrage does as he’s requested, but turns around right into the Chaos Theory from James Howard!! Howard pulls the referee over to make the count,
1….
2……
3!
The crowd gives a huge pop and Howard cannot believe it as he’s handed the EurAsian title.
Harrys: Here is your winner and NEW EurAsian Champion James Howard!
As the referee goes back to tending to K.O, Howard gets onto the second rope and raises his new title in the air. The medic and the referee help Chris K.O. out of the ring and up the ramp. Howard looks baffled for a moment as this is the first time he’s properly seen what state K.O. is in, but it doesn’t take long before he goes right back to celebrating.
Copeland:
We have a new EurAsian champion!
Cohen:
Indeed we do, but the match was kind of marred by Dustin Hunter, who came in and may have snapped Chris K.O’s arm in half!
Connor:
That is a shame, but we have a worthy winner of a mostly superb match!
Howard is making his way up the ramp, holding the title against his forehead, still not quite believing that it’s real. In the ring, Mikey’s eyes stare straight at Howard with the EurAsian title.
Cohen:
What’s really going to haunt Mikey is that he would’ve won this match had he just decided to finish off K.O!
Connor:
Whatever is going on with Mikey at the moment, he’s still too good a person to do something like that!
Cohen:
Well, being a good person just cost him the EurAsian title!
______________________
We cut backstage to see Barbosa and the crowd goes wild for the appearance of the number one contender. Barbosa turns to the left and the camera pans out to reveal the Elite X Champion, S.H.I.T., walking toward him.
S.H.I.T.: S.H.I.T would like it if you severed a limb, tonight, Barbosa.
Barbosa: Poo wishes us injury?
S.H.I.T looks confused for a moment - at least, as confused as a robot can look.
S.H.I.T: Your human expressions are confusing. S.H.I.T wishes you to break your arm.
Barbosa: We do not understand why Poo is being such a meany!
S.H.I.T's frustration is almost palpable - but in another, much more real sense, completely undetectable.
S.H.I.T: No! This is wrong. Your...clavicle? Your...orbital bone? No...your leg! That is it! S.H.I.T desires you to break a leg!
Barbosa looks confused for a moment before happily smiling.
Barbosa: You mean good luck!
S.H.I.T:
Yes. S.H.I.T wishes you to have...good luck. S.H.I.T also wishes to clarify that luck is a meaningless human concept that will eventually be proven inferior to calculating steel.
Barbosa embraces S.H.I.T in a vaguely uncomfortable fashion before backing off. His smile drops as he does so.
Barbosa: Your consideration is appreciated, but tonight, we do not need luck. Luck is inferior to steel - and it is also inferior to us.
The camera pans out a bit as the two one time partners stare at each other for a moment before the scene fades to black.
