After an emotionally taxing week, Stephanie finds herself at yet another arena for Team Work. She taps her finger against her upper arm, lost in thought about the booked matches. Squaring her shoulders, she smooths her hair out before turning to make sure the show starts off well.
Everyone needing a lowkey showing this week, a number of multi-men matches had been booked, starting with a fifteen man battle royal. As the ring fills up, the Usos eye the Dudleys with no lack of hatred in their eyes. Jack Evans, Rusev, Neville, Bray Wyatt, Adam Rose, Lashley, Mark Henry, Sin Cara, and AJ Styles wander around the ring, waiting and watching for their first opportunity at action while the Dudleys, the Usos and the Ascension exchange blows until Bubba and Jey realize who's involved and quickly dispatche of the Ascension, allowing the two teams with the most issues to continue fighting, the anger from that eight man match the week prior still fresh.
Finally others in the match decide to move and Viktor and Konnor get involved too, picking their spots where they can. Konnor goes after Jack Evans while Viktor targets Neville, to slightly better results than his tag partner. Through all of the brawling going on around them, Jack Evans gets an opportunity and whips Konnor into the corner before hitting him with a cartwheel back elbow, dazing him well enough that Jack's able to lift him up and sling him over, effectively eliminating him. Across the ring, Lashley and Rusev are exchanging bonerattling punches, forearm shivers and clotheslines that barely rocks the other man until Adam Rose is knocked against the top rope, holding the ropes down with his body. When Lashley notices, he moves quickly and one rough shoulder tackle later and it's all over, Rusev landing heavily on the outside.
Unfortunately for Lashley, Mark Henry is watchful and quick, clotheslining Lashley over too, then tossing Adam Rose over for good measure. Sin Cara is next to get picked off after a risky 630 senton from Jack Evans leaves him staggering and vulnerable to elimination due to a brisk dropkick by AJ Styles. The Dudleys and the Usos are still brawling all around the ring, the others careful to avoid getting caught up in this drama, when Jey Uso sends Devon flying over his shoulder in an attempt to get away from his onslaught, sending him over the top rope and straight to the floor, eliminating him.
Mark is next to go as Bray sets his sights on him, finally making his first move of the night and lunging after the larger man, bewildering him with punches and elbows, finally taking him down to one knee, which makes it easier for him to hit Sister Abigail. Getting Mark Henry up is no small feat, however, so Bray contorts his body into the lead-in for his spider walk and watches upside down as Mark slowly comes to, getting to his feet. Bray walks on his hands towards him before rolling into a up-right position as well, lunging forward and hitting him with a short-armed clothesline, sending him over. When Mark staggers but remains on the apron, Bray strikes him in the throat with an open palm, knocking him off finally as he struggles to breathe.
Jack Evans and Neville are fighting in the corner, Evans finally lifting Neville up onto the top rope and moving to flip him off in some ridiculous high risk spot, just for Neville to grab him and slam him back down to the mat below. Evans recovers quickly, however, and lunges up, snapping Neville in the side of the head with his heel, sending him off of the turnbuckle and to the floor below, just barely missing the stairs. Boos and worried whispers from the crowd surround them as the match continues,
Bubba then evens the playing field, fighting free from both Usos enough to elbow Jey, punching Jimmy away when he tries to come to his brother's assistance once more. Bubba growls, growing tired of this, and grabs Jey, slamming his face into the turnbuckle repeatedly, the crowd falling silent until Bubba slings Jey mercilessly over the top rope, dusting his hands off dismissively before turning to deal with Jimmy.
AJ is fighting with Jack Evans, trying to eliminate him, when he feels himself grabbed by the back of the head, spun around and met with an elbow straight to the nose, his eyes watering in immediate response. There's no time to think or fight back before a heavy weight crashes into his midsection, sending him against the ropes. He's not sure afterwards who got him, Bray or Jack Evans, but either way, he's eliminated and his opportunity is done. Jack Evans follows quickly afterwards, however, and they both stare up in some shock as Bray Wyatt laughs down at them, looking like some sort of demented Santa Claus.
Before they can move, Bubba sends Jimmy flying out not far from where they're slumped, still digesting all of this. Bubba and Bray square off then, Bray continuing to laugh until Bubba slaps him hard across the face, his eyes suddenly blazing as he gets up in the tag team specialist's face. They glare at each other until Bray shoulderchecks Bubba, sending him back a few feet. Rebounding off of the ropes, Bubble clotheslines Bray and they begin exchanging brutal punches and slaps, elbows and every other kind of offense they could manage at this short distance. A clothesline hit by both at the same time downs them both and they lay there, dazed and breathless after the lengthy match.
Neither notice the last remaining guy, Viktor, until they're both back on their feet once more brawling close to the ropes, trying to eliminate the other desperately. Neither have time to move, finding themselves both eliminated by the cackling Ascension member overhead. As the audience buzzes and Bubba curses, storming backstage, Bray stands at ringside and eyes Viktor curiously, as if staring at a puzzle that he hasn't yet deciphered. Chuckling faintly to himself, Bray turns and leaves the man to his celebration.
The next match is Drew Galloway vs Zack Ryder, the two men circling each other anxiously. Neither had seen each other since Drew's release from WWE, and this is a bit awkward. Eventually they lock up, struggling for the upperhand, and Drew succeeds, punching Zack in the face a few times before slinging him into the ropes, lifting him up and booting him in the face. The pin attempt that follows is an offense and Zack angrily kicks out of it, scrambling to his feet and diving into Drew, punching him around the shoulders and neck before hitting a facebuster on him, then dragging him over to the corner to hit a diving elbow. Drew struggles and gasps as Zack follows it up with the broski boot, standing back to let the man have time enough to stand.
Except that Drew still has some fight in him and, when Zack tries to hit the Rough Ryder on him, Drew wriggles out and reverses Zack into a neckbreaker against his knee. Zack cries out and thrashes around, grabbing the back of his head before Drew lifts him and hits the Future Shock on him, leaving him motionless long enough for the three count. Drew gets to his feet once the bell has rung and he's announced the winner, stumbling back against the ropes and catching his breath while Zack slowly comes to and gets to his feet. They stare at each othe for a few moments before Drew pulls away from the ropes and approaches him stiffly. "Ya did good, man. Thought ya had me for a minute there." He holds his hand out and, despite the bland smirk on Zack's face, waits until Zack meets him halfway, shaking his hand.
Releasing his fingers, Zack steps back. "Thanks, bro," is all he says before rolling out of the ring to go backstage to lick his wounds, shake off the sting of this loss. Again.
A triple threat match is next and the crowd whispers and buzzes as Dalton Castle makes his way to the ring, once more flocked by his Boys. As they assist him into the ring, help him to strip down to his ring gear, and fan him while they wait for his opponents, Dalton smirks, his confidence regained, perfectly happy once more. Silas Young is still a thorn in their sides, yes, but they're together, and that's the important thing right now. The crowd chants LUCHA LUCHA LUCHA! when Kalisto's music hits, the highflyer flipping into the ring to the Boys' awe and envy, Dalton stroking their faces leisurely to reassure them. Chris Jericho is the last participant in the match, staring at Dalton and his two boys with a curious look on his face, adjusting his wrist tape, before the Boys leave the ring and the match begins.
It's hard to keep track of the three participants, Kalisto's highflying, Jericho's varied moveset and Dalton's freaky strength making it something to behold. They start slowly, circling each other before Jericho grabs Dalton and tries to chop him, just to get kicked in the head by Kalisto. Dazed, he rolls aside and lets the younger two men go at it, shaking the stars away from his vision before rejoining the fray just as Dalton suplexes Kalisto and tries to bridge him into a pin. Jericho's boots in his ribs stops that and Dalton rolls off, gasping and grabbing at the bottom rope, trying to pull himself up as the Boys run up and fan him off. This somehow seems to revive him and he rejoins the fray after Kalisto hits a sunset flip powerbomb, sending Jericho across the ring.
Dalton sneaks in and hits another suplex, trying for yet another pin when Jericho recovers enough to hit the lionsault off of the ropes, landing heavily against Dalton's ribs, making it even harder for him to breathe. He scrambles off but this time doesn't approach the ropes, instead grabbing Jericho and trying to suplex him, desperate to finish this before he takes more damage to his ribs. Which would've been fine but before he could follow along, Jericho gets free and hits the Codebreaker, Dalton laying on the mat motionless, only just able to see a blue and green blur out of the corner of his eye as his boys jump up and down, trying to reinvigorate him.
This more than anything works as he remembers about how he failed them a few months ago, vowing never to do so again. Struggling to his feet, he breathes raggedly, watching as Jericho holds Kalisto in the walls of Jericho, Kalisto clearly close to tapping... when Dalton lunges forward, grabbing Jericho from behind and throwing him back, digging the toes of his boot into the rough canvas as he finally succeeds at the bridge, pinning him to the mat until the referee counts the three, Dalton immediately rolling out to collapse at his boys' feet. The twins grab him under the arms, waving their fans at him, and laugh happily as they pull him to his feet. He breathes deeply and drapes his arms over both of their shoulders, smirking up at Jericho as he glares at them, a deep loathing in his gaze.'
The next match is a triangle tag match, none of the divas looking thrilled with their partners for the evening. Tamina is partnered up with Lucha Underground's Kobra Moon, while Natalya tries to talk strategy with TNA's Jade, who couldn't look more disinterested if she'd tried, which leaves Sasha to partner with Charlotte. Although Sasha's determined to become Divas champion as soon as possible, Jade is clearly only in this match because she wants to, and Tamina can't seem to click with Kobra Moon, so Charlotte and Sasha run roughshod over them, Sasha sneaking in a tag on Charlotte and locking in the bank statement on her former sister, Tamina's hand hitting the mat desperately as pain from the submission hold ratchets up along with the pressure.
Sasha laughs as she rolls away and sneers down at the grimacing woman. Looking up, she catches Charlotte's eye, the threat clear. Soon, that'll be you. Charlotte rolls her eyes before leaving the ring, Sasha's hungry gaze locked on her divas title. Very soon...
After Fenix defeats Dolph Ziggler, the main event begins. A six man elimination match with Heath Slater, Darren Young, Alex Shelley, Action Ortiz, Trevor Lee and Alberto Del Rio filling the ring. Although the others lunge forward like this match is crucial to their careers' futures, Alberto sits back and watches them with a disgusted look on his face, clearly thinking himself above such nonsense. Alex Shelley brawls with Trevor Lee, the current TNA X-Division champion overwhelming him to such an extent that he actually eliminates Shelley after hitting a small package driver on him, giving him no room to fight free or even to breathe.
Action Ortiz is eliminated next, Heath using his slightly rusty boxing skills to dodge his powerful strikes and eventually take him down with a scoopslam, then a flapjack when he gets back up once more. Staggering to his feet once more, Heath grabs him and hits the Smash Hit, holding his breath as he dives for the pin, amazed that he actually has succeeded in getting rid of the man. This apparently gives him a boost of confidence that was sorely needed because, when Alberto rushes forward, finally deciding to join in the match now that a couple of people are gone, and Heath course corrects and rebounds off of the top rope, meeting him with a slingshot corkscrew splash that downs him, leaving him just dazed enough to be vulnerable to a pin.
Heath laughs, wiping at his face and brushing his hair back in disbelief. He's winning! He'd even eliminated people! He's so distracted watching Alberto leave that he doesn't realize that Darren Young's eliminated Trevor Lee and is now coming up behind Heath, snagging him and pinning him to the mat, winning the match once the referee counts the three. Heath sits up and gapes on as Darren celebrates. "Son of a bitch, man!" he yells out, slamming his fists against the mat. "I had that!" Darren's laughter and the mocking the crowd makes him more angry, more resolute. This ain't the end for me, he decides grimly. I'll get back on track... I will...