Phase Eighty-Four: Green Eggs and Ham
Would you like them Here or There?
Pillman stands in the ring with a microphone in hand. He was pissed and had every right to after last week’s attack. The man furrows his brow as he thinks on what to say before a smile finally crosses his lips. “I’m not going to waste time going through a recap. We all know what happened last week, but now I wanna know if the Prince has the balls to do it again while I’m staring him in the eye. Or did the E string them up while you were busy trying to play Venom?” The crowd cheers on Brian as he continues. “If you’re man enough, Finn. Let’s have a chat—man to man—before I kick your ass.”
He waited for Balor and it initially seemed as if the man would never show, but the Prince finally does make his appearance. Unfortunately for Brian, the man was not in the arena. His face appears on the titantron with a stoic look upon his face. He sits back in a chair and eventually grins at his latest target. “This business is unforgiving. It owes us nothing, regardless of the work we put into it. We’re just a cog in the machine and it will run no matter who’s taken out of the cycle. Something I’ve learned is that if you want to survive, you have to become a bigger piece of the machine.” Balor pauses for a moment and sits up a bit as he stares Brian down from the other side of the screen. “You, Brian? You don’t have a significant impact on the machine. You’re a tiny screw that’s steadily being loosened up and will eventually be removed and replaced. In the grand scheme of things, you don’t matter.”
“I don’t matter, but you’ve put an awful lot of time into pissing me off and you’re just steadily making it worse. So you watched my match at Moonstruck and decided I was what? Weak? You think you can weasel your way in and do what, Finn? Replace me?” Balor starts to laugh and shook his head.
“You are the embodiment of what’s wrong with PCW. You add nothing to the machine and yet you boast about your abilities as if they’re something special. They aren’t and neither are you, Pillman. I’m going to pluck you from PCW and show you that your involvement didn’t matter as the machine will continue to operate without you. Ultimately, Brian? I want you to know that you don’t matter in this company or this business and that guys like you can’t last long with real competition.” The screen immediately goes black as Balor makes his final statement.
Logan Square Auditorium
Jenny Blake vs MJF
The two lock up with MJF tripping up her feet before stomping the chest. Maxwell proceeds to drag Jenny by the hair into the ropes to choke her. He backs off at the count four, only to race in with a running knee to the face. Blake is stunned against the ropes and he looks for the cover. One...two..—Jenny kicks out. MJF rolls her over and grabs the hair while shoving a boot into the back to pull on the strands. One...two...three...f—MJF finally lets go by shoving her face into the mat.
She crawls into the corner and Maxwell kicks the gut before sending her out with a snapmare. MJF looks for the clothesline out of the corner, but Blake reverses into a hangman neckbreaker across the shoulder. She slowly gets to her feet and takes him down with a dropkick to the side of the head. He rolls out of the ring for a brief reprieve, but Blake races across the ring for a corkscrew crossbody onto her opponent. They both go down to the floor. The fans are on Jenny’s side as she stands to her feet.
The woman tries to get him back in, but he instead counters with a knee to the gut. MJF lifts her up in the Argentine backbreaker and drops her facedown onto the apron before following up with a running knee to the face as she hangs. Blake drops back down to the floor and MJF rolls back into the ring. He starts to mock Blake and celebrates in the ring to a sea of boos. The woman slowly stands to her feet as the count reaches seven. She rolls back in only for MJF to stomp her down multiple times. He yanks her up and slings her into the ropes, but she counters with a huracarrana.
The woman follows up with multiple clotheslines before taking him out with the superkick. Maxwell drops to the mat and Jenny goes up high for a big move. MJF grabs onto the referee out of desperation and that leaves Blake open for a woman to shove her down to the mat. Maxwell quickly gets to his feet and capitalizes with the South Hampton DDT to our Jenny away in her return match. He earns his fifth point in PCW. He slips out of the ring and looks the figure up and down before she removes the hood of her jacket, revealing Kamille Brickhouse. She holds out her hand to him and he shakes it before she leads him backstage with Blake lying in the ring still somewhat dazed.
Ivelisse Vélez vs Corvus (With Vipress)
Velez gets the boot to the gut and tries for a DDT early on, but Corvus reverses and headbutts her. He then bulldozes her down with a shoulder block. Vipress looks on with an eerie grin as Corvus moves with an almost empty gaze. His movements were somewhat stiff, but he managed to maintain control as Ivelisse stands. He takes her down with boot to the face for a two-count pin. Vipress claps for him as he continues to dominate.
As he tosses her into a corner, Corvus catches from the corner of his eye a familiar individual. Austin Aries comes marching down the ring with a livid expression. Vipress was quick to charge him and the two brawled on the outside. Velez was able to get the elbow up to knock Corvus back and catch him with the vertigo kick to the temple. He drops to his knees and she quickly climbs the back for the Desert Eagle sunset powerbomb. She hooks the leg for the three count to get the shocking victory.
Vipress was livid with the results, forcing Aries to pay with a kick to the head. While he’s dazed, she looks for the Sinner’s Snap DDT. He manages to shove her off in time and intended to retaliate, but Corvus quickly jumped in between him. Aries looked on with confusion, backing away slightly. He held out his hand for Corvus to take, but the man’s face twisted into an ugly snarl. The one stoic expression long gone, but this was nothing like Corvus from before. Something was different and Aries cautiously took another step back. Corvus lunges at him and Aries just narrowly sidesteps and races up the ramp to safety. Vipress holds him back, grinning at the confused ram as he looks on. Only a touch of his cheek from Vipress calmed Corvus down, but he continued to eye Austin as he disappeared behind the curtains.
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Atwell with Phil Jackal
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Phil Jackal!” Hayley announces as the man walks into the interview area. He wasn’t dressed for a match tonight, but rather in a suit and tie. Hayley takes notice and smiles. “I see that you’re all dressed up for tonight. Anything special going on that PCW should know about?”
“Well, Hayley, I’ve just earned my tenth point last week and I figured I should celebrate. Time and time again I’ve failed to capture the PCW Championship, but as Sweeneymania approaches? I fully plan to utilize all ten points to take the title. For now, though, I want to enjoy myself and celebrate my future championship win early.”
“You seem really confident despite your previous attempts ending in failure. You have challenged for the title at least three other times in PCW in the later half of 2019. What makes you believe that your time is coming now?” Hayley asks with a bit of concern in her voice.
“Honestly, Hayley...” he starts before he suddenly stops. The man stares past her and she turns to see Tyler Breeze standing beside her with a smirk. “Tyler...what are—?”
“I just wanted to hear Phil’s explanation about why he think he’s going to take :my: title at Sweeneymania. Tell us, Jackal. We’re dying to know!”
“Unlike you and Scarlett, the taste of failure has been ingrained in my mind and I’m tired of it. I’ve learned from my past mistakes and I know what I need to do to win this time around regardless if it’s just me and the champion or a multitude of opponents. I’m going to walk out of that arena with gold and nobody is going to get in my way again.”
“You’re a loser, Phil. You’re only good enough for second place, the middle ground belt. You couldn’t carry the weight of responsibility that comes with being the top champion. You’re never going to win that title, especially not while I’m still going after it. Let it go, Jackal, before you’re disappointed yet again.”
Jackal takes a step towards Breeze and both men stare each other down before Tyler smiles. He backs away and starts to chuckle to himself before walking away to leave Jackal fuming next to Hayley.
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Kenny Omega vs Adam Cole
Kenny awaits his opponent, but as time ticks on, Cole refuses to show his face. The fans gradually begin a round of boos as Omega is without an opponent...so he thinks. The lights switch off in a second and the crowd is thrust into silence as an unfamiliar voice rings from the titantron. “Now Kenny, I know you were expecting someone else, but let me be so kind as to give my time and energy into taking his place.” Omega is struck with confusion as a stage light shines down upon the ramp. Joe Hendry makes a sudden appearance within its beams.
He makes his way down to the ramps with a smug look on his face and enters the ring just as the lights are set aglow again. The referee exchanges a confused glance with Kenny, but he rings the bell anyhow. The two men circle the ring before locking up with Joe getting the armlock. He follows up with a snapmare using the arm and kicks the back. The strike echoes throughout the arena, but Joe wasn’t done as he rebounds off the ropes with a running boot to cover him. One...tw—Kenny kicks out early.
Joe has him up by the hair and looks to whip Omega into the ropes, but Kenny counters with a whip of his own. He tries for the clothesline, but Hendry ducks under it and gets the neckbreaker for another close pin. The man sits Omega up and looks to rebound off the ropes for another boot, but Kenny ducks and rolls him up. One...two...t—Joe kicks out. He misses the clothesline and Omega counters with double chicken wing drop. As Joe slowly sits up, Kenny rebounds off the ropes with a Shining Wizard for the pin. One...two...the—Joe kicks out again. Omega yanks him up and tries to get him on the shoulders, but Joe fights out of the fireman’s carry. He gets the big boot to the face and tries for a full Nelson suplex. Kenny elbows his way out of it and pulls Joe into a jumping knee strike before setting him up for the One-Winged Angel. Joe crashes to the mat and Omega gets the three count victory to earn his first point in PCW.
Sami Callihan vs Scarlett Bordeaux
Scarlett throws the first punch to the jaw, but that doesn’t stop Sami from kicking her back in the chest. She hits the mat, but rolls through to launch herself at him with a dropkick. Callihan is knocked off balance and Bordeaux follows up with a clothesline to take him off his feet. She wastes no time mounting him, throwing fist after fist to the face before slashing her nails across his cheek. Blood dripped from her nails as Sami holds his face. She blew him a kiss and he immediately crashed his forehead into her nose with a headbutt. Bordeaux holds her face as she crawls away and Callihan gets to his feet. As she stands, he charges in with a spear to take her down to the mat. He proceeds to slam her head down repeatedly as he keeps a vice grip on her blonde locks.
The referee has to force him back, but he just grabs the legs and drags Scarlett into the corner. He yanks her up by the throat and slings the woman into the corner before sitting her on top of the turnbuckle. Sami makes the climb, but Bordeaux stops him with a slap to the face. He drops down, but wastes no time retaliate with a forearm to the face. While she’s stunned, Callihan goes back up high, trying to get her over his shoulder. The champion fights back with all her strength and slips through to the mat before countering with a powerbomb from the top. Scarlett is shocked at her own strength, but quickly snaps out of it for the pin. One...two...t—Sami kicks out.
Bordeaux rebounds off the ropes for a kick to the face to knock him back down and follows up with another pin. One...two...—Callihan kicks out again. Scarlett slams her hands on the mat before dragging Callihan to his feet. She tries to whip him into the ropes, but he counters with a whip of her own. Bordeaux jumps onto the apron outside and gets the shoulder block as he races in. She then kicks him back with a roundhouse before using the ropes for tornado DDT. She hooks the leg for a third time. One...two...thr—Sami stills hangs on. Bordeaux is enraged, stomping down on his chest before yanking him up by the arm for a forearm. She rebounds off the ropes, but I’d caught with a bicycle kick to the face to knock her down.
He races into the pin. One...two...t—Scarlett kicks out. He quickly transitions into heel lock from the pin, twisting her ankle at an odd angle. The woman let out a roar of pain and tried to drag herself to the ropes. Callihan doesn’t allow it, dragging her back to the center of the ring with an Angle Lock, but she refuses to tap out. The former champion wraps her legs around his waist for the wheelbarrow suplex to the mat before rolling into another pin. One...two...thr—Bordeaux stays alive. Sami grabs her by the hair and Scarlett slaps him across the face to free herself, but he retaliates with back kick to the abdomen. She drops to the mat and Sami rebounds off the ropes with a running boot to the face. He then rebounds again for a cannonball to the abdomen in the center of the ring. He hooks the leg for the count. One...two...thr—Scarlett kicks out again. Sami is livid, now choking her on the mat. She kicks and gasps for air as the referee starts the count. He backs off at the count of three.
Sami waits for her to stand before racing in with another boot. She ducks and rolls him up for a two count. She catches him with a superkick to the face before he can stand and rebounds off the ropes with the double knees to the back of the head. She struggles to roll him over for the pin and hooks the leg. One...two...thre—Sami shifts his weight for the crucifix pin on the mat. One...two...three! Sami just snatched the victory right out from under her. Bordeaux is stunned on the mat as Callihan returns the expression with a grin. He sticks his tongue out and flips the woman off and that was enough for her to go into a rage. Bordeaux launches herself at him, shrieking with fury as her nails dig into his face. Callihan doesn’t hesitate to realists and the two go at in the ring until security has to pull them apart. In the end, Sami waves to her while security stands between them and pointed at her title. “It’s coming back with me, bitch!”
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Would you, could you, in the dark?
Austin paced in the hall of the PCW building, waiting. As he did, his eyes constantly swept over the area. He was permanently on guard. Moments passed and he thought momentarily that they wouldn’t show until the temperature suddenly changed. It dropped significantly, a chill coming over him. He let out a sigh and his breath was visible. The man knew he was not alone anymore, but that only made him buckle down his guard even more. The coldest touch of his arm made him swivel around with a backfist, but he hit nothing. Across from him stood...:her:. She stood erect, back straight, icy stare honed on him. She curled her blue lips into a grin, but nothing about it was sweet or inviting. In fact, Aries felt as if his life was suddenly in peril, but that did not move him from his position.
“Where is he?” His voice echoed throughout the hall. The woman combed her fingers through silver strands of hair and snickered.
“With us, of course. Not a single hair was harmed on his pretty head. Were you worried?” Austin stared her down...and shockingly believed her.
“Why did you take him?”
“Vengeance.”
“You have no issue with me. I don’t even know who...or what you are.”
“No, but they do. You are the catalyst that further split them apart.” He tried to respond, but the temperature dropped even more as she took a step towards him.
The ground beneath her heels turned to crystals. Was this another trick? A hallucination or was this woman something more than he originally thought? He had asked her here for answers, but Aries was more confused than before. It’s clear she wanted to help Vipress and Priscilla, but he couldn’t understand why. They were in a weakened state. What could she gain from them at this point? “The cogs are spinning fast. Why this and why that? You’re so disoriented. Do you regret demanding my appearance, Aries?”
“How did you—?”
“I know a lot of things in this world, boy. Though in this case...your look of terror says it all. What’s the matter, Ram? Lost your fire?” She took another step and shards sprouted at her feet.
“I don’t care what you’re after, but you’ll leave Corvus out of it.”
“Or what?” She asked and hesitated. Something about her was terrifying. He doesn’t know a damn thing about her and didn’t actually have a plan to retrieve Corvus. After the way he appeared to Austin tonight, it was clear he was a man possessed. Whatever they have done to him, it would take a lot of work to undo it and it’s likely only she knew how.
“When I’m through burning your pets at the stake, I’ll be sure to leave you clinging to life just long enough to tell me how to reverse what you’ve done to Corvus.” She started to laugh and shook her head, eyes piercing right through his soul yet again.
“Is that what you’ll do? I look forward to it.”
Before he had a chance to speak, she pressed her hand against the wall and shards sprouted from them, jetting out with pointed ends. Aries just barely backed away in time to avoid the last point that would have surely impaled his chest. “Who the hell are you?” She backed away down the hall with a grin fixated on her lips.
“Enigma.”
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Heart of Phoenix Championship Match
Arisa vs Hoshiki
Arisa vs Hoshiki
The two women circle the ring and Natalya races in to take Arisa down. She tries to get the sharpshooter early, but Hoshiki kicks her off in time. The champion races in with a snapmare and quickly follows up with a superkick to the jaw for the cover. One...two—Natalya kicks out. Arisa gets to the middle turnbuckle and leaps off with the double footstomp to the torso. Natalya sits up in pain and Hoshiki rebounds off the ropes with a sliding kick to the chest to knock her back down. The challenger rolls away onto the apron and Arisa follows behind her to grab the hair. Natalya immediately elbows her back and turns Arisa around on the ropes before pulling her through the middle to get the legdrop to the back of the head. Arisa crashes facedown on the apron and drops to the floor.
Natalya throws her arms in the air with a large grin on her face. The crowd wastes no time booing her as she celebrates. Natalya finally jumps down as Arisa gets to her knees and yanks her up by the hair to sling into the steel steps. Arisa’s shoulders crash into the metal and she hollers in pain as Natalya proceeds to dropkick the shoulder further into the steps. The referee reaches a count of six and Natalya sends the woman back into the ring for the pin. One...two...th—Hoshiki kicks out. Natalya slams the head against the mat before digging a boot into the hurt shoulder. Ar as squirms under the pressure and tries to strike the leg as best as she can. Natalya finally backs off and allows the woman to crawl towards the ropes.
She gets behind Arisa and drops her with a German suplex. As Hoshiki rolls through in a daze, Natalya follows up with a big boot to the face for another two count pin. The blonde drags Arisa by the hair into the corner and continues with multiple shoulder strikes into the torso. She chops the chest hard and it resonates throughout the arena. The fans are stunned as Arisa drops to her knees. Natalya then knees the face, sending her back into the corner. The challenger backs up, blowing a kiss to the fans, before racing into the corner with a dropkick to the torso. She rolls Arisa out for the pin. One...two...thre—Arisa just barely gets the shoulder up. Natalya is pissed and starts to stomp the hurt shoulder again. She then grabs the legs for the sharpshooter, but Hoshiki squirms and eventually rolls Natalya up for a one count.
Natalya boots the hurt shoulder as she stands and whips Arisa into the ropes. The shining star quickly springboards with a crossbody to take down the challenger. Arisa uses her good arm and legs to attack back with multiple strikes. She rebounds off the ropes and Natalya quickly counters with a toss into the air. Arisa reorients herself for a hurricarana to the challenger. Natalya slings across the ring and crawls into the corner. The champion runs in for the double knees to the face and climbs the corner. She looks for the double footstomp, but Natalya rolls out the way. Arisa rolls through, but eats the Nattie By Natire discus clothesline. The challenger hooks the leg. One...two...thre—Arisa gets her foot on the ropes. Natalya is livid and rolls out of the ring. She grabs a chair and crawls back into the ring. The referee gives her a warning, but Natalya pushes past him, intent on hurting the champion.
She swings down and Arisa kicks the chair just in time. It still causes some pain, but it was knocked out of Natalya’s hands. Still, the referee must call for a disqualification as a weapon was used. Natalya doesn’t stop there, trying to hurt Arisa with the injured shoulder. The crowd starts to boo her until Frankie Valentine races into the scene. She tackles Natalya to the mat and starts swinging wildly. The two women brawl right there on the mat as Arisa is helped out of the ring. Frankie grabs the chair and unleashes the cold steel onto the back with multiple strikes until security has to break them apart.