Chapter 37: First Taste of Blue
The Triple Threat Match turned out to be no disappointment. For the most part Chris Masters dominated the match. The turning point came when the ref was knocked out leading to Carlito spitting apple into the face followed by a low blow that eventually led into a Backstabber. When Carlito took too much time showboating, Kennedy snuck up with the Green Bay Plunge giving Mr. Kennedy the final spot for RAW in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
As part of the inter-promotional match up that we'd all would be taken part of, we four RAW superstars were invited to Smackdown! The show kicked off with all 8 men that would be participating, in The VIP Lounge, waiting as MVP was let in by his bouncer and into the ring to confront us.
"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the VIP Lounge! Behind me you can see my 7 other 'competitors' for Wrestlemania. I put emphasis on the word competitors because, well, when I look at each and every one of you" he said while walking up to each and everyone of our faces "I don't see how you could possibly say that with a straight face. I mean look at you all. First off, we got Shelton Benjamin." Benjamin received a pretty decent pop from the crowd. "Hey man, you got your momma around to help you out anymore? Or are you back with your sister Charlie Haas?" The crowd booed MVP as Benjamin had a dirty look on his face signaling that it would be best for him to move on.
"And next we have, the bad boy, the man who wrestles full throttle, Chuck Palumbo!" The fans cheered Chuck greatly as he responded by holding his fist up. "So you're the one who's gonna beat me huh? You're gonna put it into Full Throttle at Wrestlemania? How many singles titles have you had in your career? An impressive and whopping zero. Hey dog, your looking at the current United States Champ and this is my, what, first year? I'm done with you." He said moving down the line coming up to Finlay.
"Oh, here he is guys. His name is Finlay…and he loves to fight. Man, how old are you anyway, 40? You love to fight, huh? I could ask you the same question as Chucky, but I got something else." MVP looked down at the shillelagh in his hand. "You gonna use that? Cause good luck hitting my cat-like reflexes." I got a kick out of his humor as he next went down to Jeff Hardy. I knew this was going to take a while.
"Jeff Hardy? You know, I've seen you in these types of matches and I gotta ask you. Do you even want that championship match? Because, every time you're right there, in arm's length of the chance and opportunity. But what do you do? You look down and see someone below you. And, you want the big moment, the exciting moment? For what though? Nothing!" Jeff seemed to be getting more and more frustrated as MVP went on before turning to Mr. Kennedy.
Before Kennedy was introduced, a respectful amount of people were cheering him on. Sarcastically MVP started, "What's your name again? I feel like I've heard it before. Oh, I got it Mr. Kennedy! You think you're gonna repeat last year's performance? Go back to back and maybe this time; actually keep it instead of losing it to someone else? Well you know what the difference between last years Money in the Bank and this year's? I wasn't in it last year! So you can put your crazy dream of winning again away as long as I'm in it because nobody can stop me!" He ordered turning to the next man who happened to be Kane. He regretted saying his last words as the two men stared at each other, MVP showing more fear and intimidation. He said nothing to The Big Red Machine and came face to face with me, his last evaluation.
"Well, well, well it's the rookie sensation Derek Russo." The crowd applauded me as I responded holding out both fists high. "How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen? Shouldn't you be in bed by now? Hey, I'll admit that you've been impressive. I mean Intercontinental Champ at the age of twenty two. Let me tell you though, when you step into the ring with MVP you're gonna want out ASAP."
"Wow, come on MVP is that the best catchphrase you have? Damn, I sure hope you wrestle better that talk because if that's not the case…well looks like I'm going to be facing a first class bitch!" The crowd erupted at my insults that cause MVP to attack as the two of us exchanged punches back and forth. Around us we saw Finlay and Jeff duke it out along with Kane and Benjamin, and Kennedy and Palumbo.
Vickie Guerrero then made her way onto the stage yelling out for our attention causing us all to look out at her. "That's enough! You guys can't wait until Wrestlemania? Well in that case, next week, here on Smackdown, It will be Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Derek Russo, and Mr. Kennedy vs. Chuck Palumbo, Finlay, Kane, and MVP. And since you RAW boys are the fighting mood, you'll all be in single's action tonight! Shelton Benjamin, you'll be facing Mark Henry tonight, Jeff Hardy will be going against The Undertaker. Mr. Kennedy you'll have to deal with The Great Khali and finally Mr. Russo, our main event will be you against…the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista!" The crowd erupted at Vickie's decision of the main event.
Later that night…
Before my match, we all saw Mr. Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin lose their matches while Jeff was able to give RAW some dignity over the Undertaker. I paced back and forth in the ring getting adrenaline running before I heard a guitar play out into the arena with Batista at the top of the stage. The World Heavyweight Champ received a very respectful reaction from the crowd as I watched him stand up on all four turnbuckles showing his belt to the crowd. He graciously handed the ref his title and the match started with a lockup.
His strength was colossal compared to mine as he powered me back into the corner. He used a variety of chops and backhands before Irish whipping me across to the adjacent corner. My turn around showed Batista spear my gut into the turnbuckle. The Animal kept me packed into the corner throwing right hooks and jabs. He then lifted me up into the sitting position and followed me up. My arm was over the back of his neck as he prepared to vertical suplex me from up top. I was able to put the maneuver to an end as I threw jabs to his gut and pushed him down slamming his back on the canvas. The Smackdown crowd got excited when they would see my back flip for the first time. Launching backwards, my eyes met nobody under me as my ribs and stomach hit the ground hard.
"Oh my God! Batista probably saved the match for himself early on by avoiding that amazing back flip!" Michael Cole said.
JBL replied, "And that's why he is our champion. The presence and awareness that he has can change that match in his favor in an instance."
Batista took advantage of the situation by applying a camel clutch submission that wore down my upper body. After an extended period of time, Batista broke the hold and brought me up to a vertical base. He bounced me off the ropes and kneed me in the gut. He then lifted me up onto his shoulders ready for the Batista Bomb until I wiggled off from behind and ran into the ropes missing a clothesline. I turned back around again and received another kick to the groin followed by being hoisted up for the second time onto his shoulders. The World Heavyweight Champion presented me to everyone standing in the arena before Batista Bombing me down hard. He crawled over for the cover only to have me barely kick out before Nick Patrick's hand tapped for the third time.
There was a stunned silence throughout the arena as the crowd rarely saw somebody have enough life in them to kick out after a Batista Bomb. My opponent showed signs of disbelief as he stood up looking down at me with his hands on his hips. Slowly I started to rise to my feet as I could see Batista run into the ropes. In one motion I jumped back up and landed The Wicked End onto The Animal.
The amazement continued as in one moment, momentum completely changed hands. However I was certain that The Wicked End was not nearly enough so I headed up onto the ring post. Before I was able to initiate my back flip, Kennedy snuck into the ring and gave me the unfortunate pain via a low blow. I was then prompted up onto Kennedy's shoulders, but quickly released as Shelton Benjamin and Jeff Hardy rushed the ring saving me and attacking Kennedy in the process. Moments later, all four Smackdown superstars joined us as a brawl broke out in the ring. Shelton fighting Palumbo, Jeff Hardy fighting Kennedy, Kane throwing punches with Finlay, and I met up with MVP as all of us continued to assault each other like a bar fight as Smackdown went off the air.
A/N: Two weeks away from the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania, and all hell has broken loose. It's everyman for themselves as we can see from the eruptions of fighting. How will Derek favor in his biggest match in his young career? Please review this chapter! Thanks.