PCW Phase Ten: Pigs in Space

The lights went dim over the UIC Pavillion and as soon as they did, the mostly packed crowd rose in cheers and a chant of "PCW" until the red lights flashed over the arena, and the first strains of The Phoneix by Fall Out Boy began and the fans began singing along, nearly the entire arena joining in with the vocals.

Louden Noxious, dressed in his full suit, his hair spiked and styled, a huge smile on his face slid to the top of the ramp, mic in hand as always right on the beat of the second chorus beginning.

Hello, Chicago! And Welcome to PCW!

He ran up the ramp to the ring and entered under the second rope. The announcer ran a lap around the ring and came to stop in the middle.

Thank you for joining us here at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago on this final day of February and also the last day of our special month-long event! This is what you've all been waiting for, Folks! So without further ado... I give you the first match, of Pigs In SPACE!

He shouted the last word of the title and rolled out of the ring.

Brandi Rhodes vs Shaul Guerrero

Shaul Guerrero's confidence exuded through her every step as she walked with down the ramp, her hips moving with her, her charisma and flair coming into the ring with her. She waited for her opponent while stretching and talking to some of her fans in the front row.

"Goin' in" started to play and the audience wasn't behind Brandi Rhodes as they were during her debut match. She came out with a different attitude, something a bit more on the cocky side. Her losses and how she'd been underestimated so far had started to mess with her head, and it showed as she entered the ring and paced near her corner, barely allowing the referee to pat her boots and kickpads.

The match went on for a good while where Shaul was taking full control of the very much disturbed looking Brandi. She seemed a lot more violent in her behavior and the way her moves were executed seemed a lot stronger, but the third generation didn't seem fazed as much as she seemed confused by the change of attitude. 

Towards the middle of the match, after a series of chops and a very strong slap to the face, the match turned into an outright brawl, and both opponents were over each other, rolling around the canvas until Shaul tied Brandi up in a very well placed sharpshooter, making her submit after a couple painful minutes where the ropes just were too far to break the hold with them.

Before the referee could even go towards Shaul to raise her hand, she slid out of the ring, grabbed a chair and slammed it over Brandi's head just as she was getting up, screaming at her to learn her place.

"Light it up" started blasting through the speakers in the arena, and AJ Lee ran down the ramp to attack Shaul, who was knocked out after the surprise attack. AJ helped Brandi up, and she took her hand, leaving with her, though she seemed just as confused as the rest of the audience.

Once the ring crew had ushered the woman back to the locker room, Louden made his way back to the ring, making sure it was clear before he entered it.

What a way to start the show, right folks?

There was an immediate round of cheers and applause in reaction to his question.

That's what I like to hear! Then let's keep this going, why don't we? Next is another singles match set for one fall! Let's hear that music!

He rolled out of the ring, making his way to his seat by commentary, feet up on the table.

Tessa Blanchard vs Madison Eagles (Special Referee)

The opening of Prelude 12/21 hit the speakers, surrounding the arena, as Madison Eagles arrived through the curtain. A smug and arrogant smile on her face that didn't do anything to get the fans on her side anymore. Madison just gave a few members of the crowd the middle finger and crotch chopped a few others while she made her way down the ramp before sliding into the ring. 

Tessa's music hit, and she was out there and being greeted by mixed reactions from the audience, though this time the boo's outweighed the cheers. She turned, her hair flipped, she winked and she walked with her arms at her sides, owner of her actions and the floor she walked on. She knew how her opponent worked, she'd watched the tapes and watched her train before, but something in the air seemed amiss from the start. 

She looked at her opponent and smiled, she'd been practising something very special and tonight was just the right time to try it out.

"LoveFuryPassionEnergy" started playing, and both competitors turned to the ramp while the audience went absolutely wild. Lita came down the ramp, pointing at both of them and adjusting her referee shirt. From the commentary station, Quackenbush announced that due to recent events, and the way Tessa's matches seemed to be a little... Weighed, we had requested a special referee for her match, but surely, that wouldn't be a problem for the third generation wrestler.

With Tessa's obvious advantage out of the picture, the match went smoothly for the first few minutes, but one after the other, Tessa's moves became more risky, flashy and... Frankly, pointless. While she delivered perfect aerial moves. There was a 630° in there, and there were crossbodies using the ropes as a slingshot, but they got countered with just a lift of knees and a quick uppercut respectively. 

Regardless, the audience was in awe of her feats, and Madison was slowly becoming angrier. She'd barely received any damage even though Blanchard had had control for the great majority of the match. Finally, the 'Soaring Eagles' was able to put Tessa away, who'd taken more punishment for her aesthetically perfect moves than her opponent had.

After the match concluded, Louden looked around, sure he was going to see at least one other member of the Rapscallion's Rebellion. After a few more seconds passed and there was no sign, he pulled himself back up, basking in the loud reactions of the crowd.

So... Who wants a tag team match?!

There was a loud reaction, but not loud enough.

Hey, now I know you're louder than that. Who wants a tag team match?!

That got a much more dramatic reaction and he clapped his hands together, grinning.

Ask and you will receive!

He slid back out of the ring leaning against it on the outside until he made it back to his seat.

Rhea Ripley & Tenille Dashwood vs Gemini & Velvet Sky

The teams were already waiting in the ring when the camera panned back to them, and while the two members of the Rapscallion's Rebellion, Rhea and Tenille, seemed to be completely comfortable with each other, their opponents, Velvet Sky and Gemini, just didn't quite seem to click, already bickering about who was supposed to be inside the ring and who was supposed to be on the apron before the first tag.

The team of Sky and Gemini couldn't get synched through the match, and it clearly showed the disparity and animosity between the partners. Meanwhile Tenille and Rhea had perfect pace, good tagging technique and their moves complemented each other perfectly. They isolated Gemini for part of the match, and the smaller woman just shrieked in agony (at the smallest of attacks, really. To the point where Rhea flicked her nose just to see her reaction... Her reaction was dropping on her back and throwing a temper tantrum that had the audience falling off their seats with laughter.)

The Australians exploited that weakness and Velvet had to tag herself in before Tenille managed to lock in the Rising Tide on her tag partner. It didn't do much to stop them, as Rhea dealt with her while the more experienced Dashwood quickly made Gemini tap.

Louden was already talking as he made it back to the ring once again.

Well, I'm willing to bet we won't be seeing that team again and somewhere Mick Moretti's probably celebrating. But enough of all that!

He walked from one side of the ring to the other.

Next up, we have a very special way to wrap up the season set up by our fearless leader, Mr. Mike Quackenbush.

You see, one member of our roster has had a lot to say recently. She has a lot to prove and has stated many times that she could take on anyone that was thrown at her. We haven't exactly seen that but it was decided, that this week she would be given the chance to Really show us what she's made of!

Before the others could make it into the ring, Louden vacated and moved over to commentary, actually taking a headset for himself too this time.

Impossible Match: Hania vs Zack Sabre Jr. vs Kimber Lee vs Jack Sexsmith vs Samoa Joe vs Jinny vs Frankie Valentine

At the center of the ring, Frankie Valentine was already waiting for their competitors to show up. This was her final shot at glory, three points and a title shot were on the line for this match, and the crowd was full of excitement, it was a collection of superstars never seen before, they were all so different and the titantron announced it as such.

Unpredictability: Jack Sexsmith
Resilience: Princess Kimber Lee
Strength: Samoa Joe
Violence: Jinny
Technical Prowess: Zack Sabre Jr.
High-Flying offense: Hania

As the screens showed the word over a highlight reel of their best matches, each one of them walked down the ring, and once the seven of them were in there, the bell rang. 

Frankie tried to hit each one of them one at a time and successfully forearmed Jack and Kimber Lee, but as she tried to do the same to Jinny, the Brit held her arm, shook her head and kneed her right in the stomach. Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors took their turns at each other. 

Kimber Lee and Sexsmith seemed to team up through the majority of the match, landing several offensive tag moves and defending one another against the attacks of Hania and Jinny, though the two females lasted very shortly as a union. 

At the ten minute mark, Samoa Joe was the first one to be eliminated from the competition when he got put into an arm trap cross-legged STF by Zack Sabre Jr. Who had been split open right above the right eyebrow by the bigger man earlier in the match.

The next one to go was Sexsmith, when his temporary partner was engaged in a battle with Hania and couldn't stop Frankie from pinning him after slamming his body repeatedly on the canvas with a series of suplexes, finishing it off with split leg moonsault: The Coup de Grace.

Just as the Princess was going after Valentine, Hania jumped at her with a springboard crossbody pin combination, and just as she was about to lift up her shoulders, the referee gave the Huntress the three count.

Hania, Sabre, Jinny and Frankie remained. The match had gone for over twenty minutes and they seemed worn out, though probably the freshest one was Jinny, though it didn't last for long. She pulled Zack for the Acid Rainmaker, which just seemed to anger him more, and he held her arm in place, jumped to her back and brought her down for a crucifix pinning combination. He just shook his head when she still threw herself at him after being eliminated, the technician clearly wanted nothing to do with the acid rainmaker or with whatever she was yelling at him as the referee led her off the ring.

Hania and Frankie had gone to attacking each other, but when they saw there were only three people in the match now, the tide changed and it became a battle of who could get rid of the technician and keep him off their limbs before they suffered the same fate as Jinny and Samoa Joe. There was a heated exchange between the three of them, but finally, it was Frankie who managed to kick Zack's head and send him down to the mat to pin him. Sabre held his neck and stood up shortly after, being led out by a ring crew member, since the very dangerous Jinny still waited for him just up the ramp.

It came down to Valentine and Hania, and it wasn't their first meeting, but when it came down to it, the Huntress took the upper hand and springboard dropkicked Frankie to successfully pin her.

After the referee had announced her victory and handed her her three points for contention, she left, but Valentine stayed in the ring for a little longer.

Mike removed his headset and went over to her to offer his hand, even if she lost, she still made it to the last two of the match, and that had been impressive enough that she didn't have a reason to feel as she seemed to feel.

She pushed his hand off and picked herself up, walking up the ramp backwards to look at the man at the center of the ring, shaking her head and muttering something under her breath. Mike returned to his seat once she was gone.

More than half the audience was on their feet by the end of the match, nearly everyone rooting for Frankie, cheering for her as she left the ring. Louden returned right after, raising the mic to speak once again.

And there you have it, Flockers! That was all she wrote. As always, thank you for the support and for being what keeps us going! Join us again next week for the start of a whole new season, kicking off with Phase Eleven: Fearful Symmetry! See you here, same time, same place!

The theme song played him out with the sounds of the cheering crowd.