PCW Phase Twenty-Four: The Man Trap

The UIC Pavilion fans were ready for the return of PCW to their hometown and the reactions were as loud as they have been before the Japan tour, if not even louder than ever before. With the onslaught of new stars and the departure of others who'd made their TWA debut while the crew was travelling, the crowd was ready to see what new things The Phoenix, and the changing lights would bring them.

Mike Quackenbush joined the crowd once more inside the ring, this time the microphone lowered before he made it to the center, and he nodded and bowed at the applause, grabbing the mic and addressing the crowd.

Welcome, everyone, to a brand new season of Phoenix Championship Wrestling! It's so good to be home, finally. I hope you followed our Japan excursion because we had a lot of interesting things happen in the last few episodes of season five. Before we start, I'd like to remind you all that we're having this season right on Pride Month and, as we've proven before, this company is all about equal rights and equal fights. This shouldn't be celebrated just one month, this should be something that we remember daily.

Enough talk now, without further ado, I bring you the first match of the night. We have the visiting Rhea Ripley, straight from Official TWA, facing the Pixie Valkyrie Frankie Valentine in a bout for the ages!

He stepped away from the ring, leaving it empty for the competitors to come in while he joined Griffin and Colt on commentary.

Frankie Valentine vs Rhea Ripley

The first few notes of “I Will Not Bow” hit and the crowd perked up, anxious to see the owner of the Breaking Benjamin tune as the titantron loads. The boos quickly split to cheers as Frankie Valentine’s name and face appear and she sauntered out of the curtain with her hands up, making a turn to show herself off and flexed, before walking down the ramp. She slid into the ring and up on the turnbuckle and flexed her arms again with a smirk on her face, hopping down to get ready for the match to start.

Rhea came out to a happier beat, bouncing and running down the ramp while touching hands, stopping a few seconds here and there before reaching the ring, climbing up on the apron and sliding between the ropes, climbing up on the turnbuckle to pump the already excited audience, the fans cheering even louder for the hyper Australian in her return match to her home company.

Frankie and Rhea met at the center of the ring with a polite handshake, it wasn't the first time facing one another, and their bouts had always been respectful and competitive, the returning Australian did pull Frankie in for a quick lockup, and they started the match with smiles on their faces, decided to prove their worth and have fun while doing so.

Frankie leaned towards using a lot of technical holds, a lot of technical moves and in keeping the much taller woman tangled with her limbs. Finally, it was a Chikara Special that gave Frankie the win over Rhea, and her third point for contention!

Jay Lethal vs Rachael Ellering

The first twenty seconds of "Scorched Ops" begins to play throughout the arena. White spotlights swirl around as Jay Lethal makes his way out onto the stage, the crowd showing a mixed reaction to the man who throws both hands into the air. His index, middle and thumb fingers raised on both hands as sparks fly from both sides of him on the stage and he makes his way towards the ring. He wastes very little time, prepared to face any challenger thrown his way.

The opening strands of Shinedown's "Cut the Cord" begins echoing throughout the arena as the fans all begin to stand in anticipation for who's coming out. Finally, when the drums begin to ring out, Rachael Ellering busts through the curtain, screaming for fans to get on their feet. A smile was etched across Rachael's face as she made her way down the ramp, slapping hands with the fans before sliding in the ring. Rachael goes to a corner, and stands on the turnbuckle, staring into the crowd. Hopping off, she waited patiently in the corner for her opponent.

Ellering put Lethal almost through hell during the first part of the match, throwing him and tossing him around as if he were weightless, but after taking a small breather, where he stood at the center of the ring, extended his arms and inhaled, he seemed to be reinvigorated, giving Rachael as good as he'd been given, until a Lethal Injection put her out of the contest, giving Lethal his second point for contention.

Austin Theory vs Joey Ryan

Bursting just on through to an opening that saw many of that amount of the fans; only a few more steps positioned him just inches away from an audience member in the crowd with their hand open and out as it looked Austin Theory would meet him there. However at the last second, he brought out such a smug grin over his facial expression that had showcased this shocked em

otion— all of this was a rue, he was playing the fans with a reaction of his pearly whites to be very noticeable while those few footsteps were taken with his hands out toward each side of him with such confidence. Finally placing himself inside of the apron before he easily followed through to stand in the middle of the ring. Allowing all of the boos to follow inside as he thought to allow the fans to bask in his glory.

Rupert Holmes' "Escape" started playing and Joey Ryan made his entrance through the curtain, making a strutting walk down the ramp, dripping oil down his chest, into his trunks and coming into the ring with a half-split against the ropes, leaning on them while sucking on his blowpop, waiting for the match to start.

The match began and it started with Austin trying to keep his hands away from Joey, knowing that a single mistake could put him through the YouPorn plex in no time. The more tenured wrestler took the upper hand throughout the start of the match, giving Theory everything from That '70s Kick to a taste of the blow pop he pulled out of his trunks, followed by a superkick, from which the younger man took maybe a little long to get up to his feet from.

Despite Ryan's advantage, the match took a turn in favor of Austin theory, and finally, the Unproven cutter gave him his second win since his debut, and his second point for championship contention.

Taeler Hendrix vs Pavor Nox

Taeler's moves and seductive pace left the crowd speechless, hypnotised almost by the way she seemed to control her body, even as she slid up on the apron and threw her head back, letting her red locks touch the canvas before standing up and getting inside to face her opponent.

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 smell of the pheromones had lingered in the air since Lethal's match, and when Taeler moved her hair back with one hand, it seemed to intensify too. Every one of her movements was calculated and methodical, directing the strong scent towards her strange opponent.

Pavor observed her every move. Unblinking, cold, tilting his head slightly to one side and smirking at her, if just for a split second before jumping at her at full speed. The Poison Princess wasn't expecting the fight to go quite this way, and his attack took her fully by surprise.

They exchanged blows, Taeler trying to get the upper hand using her pheromones a few times during the match, but was unable to get any reaction from her opponent in the ring. Finally, it was Nox's Acrophobia, a threatening looking crucifix powerbomb who took the victory over the redhead bombshell.

After the match was done, and even though Pavor's strange companion waited for him at ringside, having slowly moved there by taking tiny steps, he still stood in front of the fallen Hendrix, towering over her with his impressive height.

after a few seconds of staring at one another, the Fear Master offered a hand for her to stand up, which she took, like a silent agreement that had just formed between them.

Once the competitors had abandoned the ring, Mike moved from the announcers' table to the center of the squared circle, observing the three strange figures as they left the stage and disappeared out of sight.

Well... We... Have just witnessed something very interesting tonight, ladies and gentlemen... And I hope you liked everything you've seen, despite how confused we may be about it.

Thank you so much for joining us today, and I hope you join us next week for Phase Twenty-Five: Dagger of the Mind. Same place, same time.

The music played him out, lights going dim and the sounds of the crowd's reactions fading.