PCW Phase Twenty-Five: Dagger Of The Mind

The UIC Pavillion was packed with eager fans, happy to have their show back on its home turf. Many of them were wearing tee shirts or other gear showing their support for the company or for the wrestlers in it. There was a peppering of signs throughout the audience as well, moreso toward the front, closest to the ring.

The crowd went wild as the lights dimmed and the beginning notes of The Phoenix started to play. In no time, Griffin West slid into view on the stage wearing a tailored suit. He pulled his personalized mic out of an inner pocket of the suit and cleared his throat once before talking into it as he walked down the ramp.

Did you miss me PCW?

He waited for them to cheer, let it go on for a minute then waved off the applause.

Of course you did. I'm the best.

He pulled himself up onto the apron and leaned against the turnbuckle from the outside.

Mike did a great job filling in for me the last two weeks, but there's no substitute for perfection.

He grinned and then continued.

Annnyway. We've got a big night ahead of us! There's been a lot going on lately, points gained and lost, a champion that has proven time and again he can't be dethroned, new foes and new friends. So welcome back to your weekly spandex soap opera, friends! So let's get into it!

He walked around the apron to the other side, still talking.

We're starting out with two competitors that have one whole point between them. They're both tough as nails and willing to do what it takes to win. Let's give them a warm, PCW welcome!

He tucked his mic away, clapped his hands together and hopped off the apron, sauntering back to commentary to sit, grinning next to Mike as he put on his headset.

Charlie Morgan vs Eddie Kingston

Jessie J's "Do It like a dude" started playing and though the crowd didn't know what to do with themselves for a moment, as soon as the energetic Charlie Morgan came out to the ramp, jumping and posing, everyone was sold on her. Her brave character and her determination shone through every one of her moves and after going to the turnbuckle, she jumped down and started stretching fully, ready for what was about to come.

Bobbing his head to the beat of Jay-Z's Renegade before throwing the curtain back, Eddie Kingston came out with one arm raised as he began the walk down the ramp, halfway down he paused and threw up his sign, his index and middle finger crossed, his ring finger held down by his thumb and pinkie still in the air. Making his way down to the ring as he paused after climbing through the rope, turning to one side of the ring and flipping off the crowd before laughing. He bounced on his feet as he shadowboxed, waiting for the bell to ring.

The match started as gruesome as Eddie had promised it would be, but despite having the obvious weight and height advantage over his opponent, Charlie never backed down from the fight or seemed to be taken back by his strength and experience. The War King took Morgan through hell and back during the entire half of the match, but the relentless fighter didn't stay down through the pin attempts.

Before he knew it, the roles had been reversed and Charlie was putting him through everything she could, knocking the big man down for what seemed to be the moment to even out the match. His legs got kicked from under him, and after that, his head, over and over, to which he responded with a Backfist to the future straight to her head. The damage had been done, and though both of them were down, and neither of them were close enough for a pin, at the referee's 7 count, Kingston turned on his side and placed an arm over the knocked out Morgan to win the match and his first point for championship contention.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Pavor Nox

Zack walked calmly to the ring, the red, blue and white lights bounced back from his light jacket, reflecting on it from the moment he came out and even as he stood in the middle of the ring, the collar of his jacket popped up in his usual fashion. He started stretching and looked straight at the ramp, standing back up and jumping from side to side while he waited for his opponent to arrive.

For a moment, all the lights go dark the first eerie notes of "Protege Moi" by Placebo playing in as one light bathes the stage and down the ramp blinking eerily in and out as Pavor Nox makes his appearance. He's tall, looks almost too slender and is accompanied by a smaller figure that looks like a porcelain doll, walking somewhat disjointedly beside him. His shoulders are covered with black feathers and there's a black band of makeup covering from just below his eyes to his hairline. He looks slowly from one side of the crowd to the others to mixed reactions. All of the lights flicker turning red then dark and then bathing the ring in red light alone while the ramp goes dark. The doll is present to the ringside but Pavor is unseen until he pulls himself slowly into the ring from the side. The lights flicker back to full life and he tilts his head to one side, sizing up his opponent as he unstraps his short feathered cloak.

The towering figure of Pavor came close to Zack, the lights went down until a single light seemed to sway over the ring. The bell sounded muffled when it did ring, but despite the strange setting, Zack didn't back down. Not until Pavor smiled at him, with his teeth brightly illuminating his otherwise darkened face in the new lighting. The screens focused on the action happening between the turnbuckles while the staff worked to try and get the electricity working normally again.

"I hope you suffer" started faintly playing through the speakers and the screens lost the ring images to show what seemed like first-person footage of someone rushing through the streets of New Orleans, two pairs of dress shoes standing side by side, a hotel room. Then, "Lo Horsemen" played over it, a fast succession of messages saying "I love you," a rain of diamonds... A hand with black nail polish drowning in the falling gems as a swarm of spiders ran over them until the hand was nowhere to be seen. Just eight-legged terrors guarding the diamonds so they'd remain just out of reach, where nothing could retrieve them or dig through them, even if they tried.

By the time the lights came back, Zack was immobile in front of Pavor, who put him down by doing a rather slow version of his Acrophobia move, planting Sabre in the center of the ring and covering him for the pin.

The small doll sitting beside the timekeeper stood up and clapped, a clinking sound coming from his hands.

Chad Lail vs Allysin Kay

"Day of rage" started playing and Chad Lail walked down the ramp with a stern look on his face, arms at his sides, strong and confident as he stepped inside the ring to meet his opponent.

As the melody gradually amplified, the harmonious hum signalling the arrival of the AK-47. As the words came forth with the resonating beat, she made her appearance in seconds. Nothing complex about her could be determined as she revealed herself to the crowd. Feathers embellished her features as they bounce upon her shoulders. Spiked bra, fishnets, and high-waisted shorts said it all. Allysin Kay: the very definition of a rebel. Everything about her expression read as apathy. Pinkies held up to her sides, she crosses her legs and bows before raising those fingers up high. The self-proclaimed savage continued down the ramp without a single shift in expression. Only when she climbed those steel steps did the faintest smile show, generating nothing short of a cold demeanor as she entered the ring, once again bowing as those pinkies were lifted up high.

After the way Allysin dismissed the fight from the start, and with how high her confidence levels were, Chad wasn't going to let her walk out in one piece and it seemed that AK had nowhere to go for a while, being relentlessly tossed around the ring over and over again, from pillar to post and back again. Lail wasn't letting go for a moment, but despite the beating, and probably because she was intently listening to the commentary table describing how much of an uneven contest this was, she kicked out of the Gun Rack and crawled to the ropes to catch her breath for a moment.

Once she had recovered, despite Chad following her to the outside and shoving her unceremoniously back in, the match took an entirely different turn and the earlier beating seemed to have pushed Kay past the point of confidence into the desperation zone, where she pulled every trick from her sleeve to win the match, and to everyone's surprise, managed to pin Lail after hitting him with the Cut-throat, but she still remained in the ring for a bit longer, regaining her strength to stand up, and was helped by a pair of paramedics, but held her three points proudly up in the air as she left.

Braun Strowman vs Flash Morgan Webster

A roar blasted through the arena as "I Am Stronger" played and the fans sitting down in the arena got on their feet to witness the spectacle that was Braun Strowman. The goliath of a man came walking out of the curtains and everybody started cheering for the Monster Among Men. Strowman raised his arms and screamed loudly and then proceeded to march down the ring focused with the intent to bring the pain to his opponent. He stepped up to the apron and stepped over the top rope with his tree trunk legs and walked over to the corner waiting for the bell to be rung.

"In Mod We Trust!" - The familiar saying of this line was heard on the speaker as the crowd clapped along to the fellow tune of Flash Morgan Webster. Stepping out of the curtain with his trusty helmet beside him that is named Arabella. The self-proclaimed Modfather would take a look around at the crowd as he began to walk down the ramp and around the ring, hi-fiving a few members of the crowd before sliding inside the ring. Placing Arabella at the corner, Flash would go on the turnbuckle raising his fist up as the crowd began to chant along "Oi! Oi! Oi!"Alongside the theme. Looking rather pleased, Webster would get off from the turnbuckle soaking in the recognizable cheers of the crowd.

Braun Strowman took a step forward and stood at the center of the ring and Flash Joined him, standing in front of the Monster Among men, who laughed briefly at the difference in height and weight. But his laughter didn't last long. With a smirk, Flash ran towards the ropes and flung himself at Braun with a dropkick, sending the bigger man flying off between the ropes and down to the floor, right in front of the announcer's table.

He leaned over the ropes and yelled "who's laughing now?" before using the middle rope to propel himself and land with a strong looking senton over Strowman's stomach, standing up right after to pick him up and shove him inside the ring.

Once it was established that Braun couldn't win in terms of strength, the match went as hard-hitting and cardiac as nobody would have expected, but it seemed to have turned into a full battle of monsters, where the feats of strength were a thing offered by the minute. But just as it appeared things were turning sour for Webster, a sweet scent filled the air, and little by little, he overpowered Strowman, grabbing him for a vicious looking suplex as Taeler Hendrix watched from the top of the ramp. 

Flash got his third point, and even as he stood on wobbly legs, his superhuman strength came back to him just as he looked up at Hendrix, and then looked back down at his points again. He'd won the match, but at what cost and how?

Once all three of the wrestlers had vacated the ring, Griffin walked back to it. He ducked under the top rope and mouthed "WOW" before raising his mic.

Is it just me or was that just... Impressive. I don't know what this side of Flash Morgan Webster is but I like it! And with that, your own Mod Father is officially at Three Whole Points and can officially challenge for any title here in PCW. Join us again next week for Phase 26, The Conscience of the King, to see where all this is going! We'll see you same time, same place! Thanks as always!

Griffin grinned as the lights and music faded to nothing.