Team Work chapter 227

April 3rd, 2020

Even with everything going on, Wrestlemania season feels special. There's an underlying sense of trepidation under it, of course, but all in all, they're doing the best they can to prepare for the annual spectacle and Stephanie feels proud of the crew working their hardest to put things together in such a limited space and on such a time crunch. It also means a new cycle is imminent for Team Work, as well, and she looks forward to a clean slate, a new list of people who could possibly move on to claim a cycle just for themselves. She smiles and taps a nail against the laptop screen, mulling over how there's already been fifteen cycles so far. And hopefully many more to come, she thinks, staring down at the bright glow of her monitor.

The first match of the night is a gauntlet match, Edge still eager to prove himself after Wrestlemania's iffy result. He starts off against Angelo Dawkins and defeats him within a couple of minutes after spearing him down brutally. Cesaro lasts a little longer, puts up more of a fight and even gets a two count off of a brutal uppercut that really rocks Edge for a few moments, but eventually loses in a very similar way. Moose almost defeats Edge, has him very close to the brink, but Edge takes him out with the Edgeucation and that's all it takes for Moose to fall as well. Edge's luck holds out a little bit longer and he defeats Lance Archer next, only just holding on against the man's rough offense. But then his final opponent- Shawn Spears- comes out, and Edge is still trying to catch his breath when the man enters the ring. Edge tries to finish it quickly with another spear, but Shawn dodges and gets ahold of Edge, flowing with the momentum into a C4. The pin that follows almost feels unnecessary as Edge doesn't move throughout, the referee quickly moving to check on him once Spears moves to celebrate his win.

Undertaker defeats Kevin Owens. Tessa Blanchard wins over Bayley, Dustin Rhodes loses to Cody Deaner, and Nikki Cross takes advantage of Becky Lynch's post-Wrestlemania exhaustion to claim a victory on her. Sammy Guevara beats Keith Lee, and Josh Alexander succeeds against Montez Ford.

Aleister Black faces off against Drew McIntyre. It's a hard hitting match, both men going for broke, headbutts and knees to the face, kicks to the sternum and legs, anything to try to incapacitate their opponents long enough to claim that win. Drew goes for a second Glasgow Kiss but Aleister avoids, and lands a solid knee right to Drew's temple, staggering the man. He bares his teeth, trying to re-acclimate to this setting, this match, everything, but Aleister isn't willing to give up the ground he's gained and lands another knee-buckling kick to Drew's chest, leaving him struggling to keep standing. Aleister sneers back and places his foot on Drew's jaw, drawing him up slowly, before swinging out for the Black Mass. He smirks when he feels that familiar, welcome impact shudder through his boot, and then Drew is down and he's pinning him, and the bell rings, and... Aleister laughs, softly, as he's declared the victor.

Dakota Kai defeats Charlotte to the amazement of herself, and the horror of Charlotte, and The Fiend makes quick work of Sami Callihan, getting him down in the first few minutes of the match and ruthlessly digging his gloved fingers into his mouth as he cackles viciously over his prone body, holding on until the referee has no choice but to call it, Callihan passed out from the pain and lack of oxygen.

In tag tem action, Tamina and Hikaru Shida work together, somewhat reluctantly, against Alexa Bliss and Asuka. Asuka seems to take Hikaru as a challenge, working hard, working fast against her, but then Alexa leans in and tags herself in and Asuka glowers at her, obliging to the rules and stepping back to watch as Hikaru tags in Tamina. There's a sudden flash of uncertainty in Alexa's eyes and the next thing she knows, she's down on the mat, Tamina covering her- but Alexa only just kicks out, Tamina making her way to her feet and glowering down at her. She kicks her and stomps her a couple of times before grabbing her arm and dragging her closer to the ropes, ignoring Alexa's pleas and begs. Tamina hoists her up once more, slamming her down once more. Turning her back on her, she climbs to the top, Tamina careful to check her balance before she dives down in a splash. But Alexa moves, and Tamina hits hard, and chokes for air. She scrambles up and over as Alexa struggles to do the same, but Hikaru gets in and grabs her, pulling her back. It seems to be over in a blink of an eye, one Falcon Arrow later and Alexa is down for the count, literally, as the ref calls for the bell and Hikaru grins brightly, bowing towards Tamina before their hands are raised in victory.

In tag action, Elias partners with Kenny Omega in a winning attempt against Jack Gallagher and Dexter Lumis. Sami Zayn defeats Otis, QT Marshall holds his own and ultimately, to the shock of no one more than himself, gets the win over Braun Strowman, and Kylie Rae defeats Liv Morgan.

In the triple threat main event, Velveteen Dream, Kushida and John Morrison all stand in opposing corners of the ring, eyeing each other until the bell rings. Dream and Morrison exchange glances before immediately going after Kushida and sending him out of the ring, checking to see that he's sprawled out on the outside, not going to be a problem for awhile, before facing each other. Dream's lips twist into a smirk as he eyes the man up and down, and John holds his own for a few moments against this scrutiny before tiring of it and moving in to fight. It starts off as the two clearly feel each other, swipes of their fists, John attempting a spin kick that Dream dodges, and then they get more serious, John landing a dropkick that leaves Dream gasping against the mat, and Dream responding in kind with a flurry of punches that backs John into the corner and leaves him unable to defend before he's pulled back out and caught in a swinging neckbreaker that leaves him writhing on the mat.

It looks like Dream's going to finish this relatively quickly when Kushida reappears, and knees Dream hard, sending him gasping off of Morrison's prone body. As those two begin to brawl, John recovers slowly, crawling over to the side and forcing himself upright on shaky legs. Dream and Kushida are still exchanging blows when Morrison dives off of the top and sends them both crashing back down, Kushida taking the most of his weight. Dream rolls away from the tangle of his opponents and gasps for air, shaking his head. Getting upright himself, he surveys the two men and ultimately plants his boot against Kushida's side, forcing him out of the ring yet again. Once that's done, he turns his focus onto Morrison and gets ahold of his jaw, dragging him to his feet. John blinks a few times before some of the fog clears and he swipes Dream's hand off of him, just for Dream to strike him hard across the face, staggering him anew. "You may call yourself the Shaman of Sexy," he tells him coolly, reclaiming his grip on John's jaw with more force than before, "but you will never be Velveteen Dream."

He then sends the man running into the ropes and uses the momentum to snag him, hoist him up into the Dream Valley Driver, and spike him viciously into the mat. As John struggles for air, Dream rolls over and pins him, pressing all of his body weight down on top of him until the referee lunges up and calls for the bell, Dream smirking as he rolls off of John's prone body and stands to pose in the middle of the ring, caring very little that there's no physical crowd to see his victory. The spotlight is on him, warm and bright against his glistening skin, and that's all that matters.