Team Work chapter 229
April 17th, 2020
Another week, another series of matches held to no crowd. Stephanie stands in the middle of the ring and takes it all in, trying to imagine how it must feel to be a wrestler dealing with all of this for the last few weeks. She sighs, shaking her head. It can't be helped, she thinks, tapping her forearm. This is safest for everyone. Leaving the ring, she heads backstage and disappears into her office, frowning down at the blinking laptop before her, teasing her. "Yes, yes," she mumbles. "I know. I need a card for the evening." She sits down with a sigh and begins typing aimlessly, trying to sort things into a somewhat interesting show for the night. Sometimes, it comes easily, and other times, it feels like she can't think of anything worthwhile ever.
The show starts off with Lance Archer defeating Fallah Bahh. Dana Brooke claims a win over Tegan Nox, and Austin Theory shocks everyone watching when he sneaks in a schoolboy pin on Sheamus and actually gets a three count off of it, Sheamus writhing in anger until he's upright once more, but by then Theory is far up the ramp and it's impossible to catch him.
Asuka faces off with Xia Li and the two women do not pull anything, striking quickly, efficiently, beautiful and impressive in their brutality. Asuka cries out gutturally after one of Xia's kicks nearly crumbles her to the mat and Xia sinks down into a fighting stance, waiting and watching. But Asuka is faster than she expects, and Xia has little room to adjust when she's getting slapped aside by forearm after forearm, Asuka sending her crashing down to the mat with the ferocity of her attack- and then she has ahold of her arm, tangling her up in the Asuka lock, and Xia has little chance, she feels her arm sending shooting, throbbing pain up deep into her shoulder, and with a frustrated cry, she gives, tapping out desperately until the referee notices and calls for the bell, immediately moving to get Asuka to break, which she does relatively quickly. Once free, Xia rolls away and clings to her arm, gasping in pain as she forces herself back up onto her knees.
Asuka is standing before her, arm outstretched, and Xia looks up at her suspiciously before reaching out and gripping her hand, allowing herself to be tugged to her free. Asuka then nods and bows at her, Xia flushing a little before returning the sign of respect.
Shawn Spears defeats Big E, and Jon Moxley cinches out a win over Finn Balor. Timothy Thatcher wears Hernandez down before ultimately beating him via submission. Lashley makes quick work of Kip Sabian.
TJP heads to the ring, casting wary glances around, the reason for his skittiness proven relatively quickly as Dexter Lumis slowly approaches, slithering into the ring, gaze unwavering from TJ as he gets closer and closer. TJ stands his ground, despite how intently Lumis continues to stare at him even as the bell rings. He gives it his all, he really does- never quite gives Lumis a moment to breathe, just keeps on him with kicks and strikes and every bit of offense he can think of, trying riskier and riskier highflying moves to keep him down long enough for a three count- but it doesn't work, Lumis keeps getting up and keeps getting up, and TJ's desperation grows in time with his fear as Lumis stalks him around the ring, never giving him time enough to formulate a decent gameplan. "OH come on!" TJ cries out eventually, trapped on the top rope where he'd climbed to splash down on Lumis, just for Lumis to sit up before he could fully get into position.
Lumis simply turns to look at him, slowly approaching the ropes, and TJ leaps, just escaping and rolling through the dive before getting to his feet behind Lumis. He dropkicks him, and then tries to twist him to the mat while he's staggered, working to lock in one of the many submissions in his repretroir. He thinks he has it, certain that Lumis will have to tap out now as he twists and pulls at his arm, careful to put just the right amount of torque on it to cause the most pain, but then things shift and he feels off-centered, and... it's hard to breathe, his vision turning spotty... his grip slips and falls away entirely, and Lumis digs in, slowly drawing TJ towards unconsciousness. There's nothing he can do but lay there and slip deeper into darkness, barely registering when the bell rings and the match is called, Lumis declared the victor.
Drew McIntyre partners with Tozawa to defeat Angel Garza and Daniel Bryan. Ace Austin wins over Johnny Swinger. Shayna Baszler and Tenille Dashwood win against Tamina and Nia Jax.
In the main event, Aleister Black stares quietly as Matt Riddle prances down to the ring, obnoxious grin on his face as he leaps in and kicks his flipflops away, landing before Aleister and moving over to his corner to wait for the bell, grin never faltering once. Aleister already feels a headache forming under the bright lights. Once the bell rings, they move right in, neither one eager to go slow with the feeling out process. Both are quick and proficient with kicks and strikes, and Aleister staggers first, his anger rearing up as Riddle's grin only seems to grow. It finally falters when Aleister lands a series of high impact kicks to his chest and sternum, sending him stumbling back into the ropes.
Tilting his head in surprised respect, Riddle approaches again more carefully, but Aleister has no time for care or respect, just wanting this match over with as quickly as he can, trying once more to kick out at him. Riddle, however, is more prepared this time and snags his leg, twisting him around to slam him down to the mat in a dizzying move that Aleister barely registers, it all happens so quickly. He struggles to get upright but before he can, Riddle has his arms trapped, elbowing him over and over again until the referee intercedes, ordering Riddle to break it up. Aleister takes every advantage of this reprieve, pulls himself upright and when Riddle comes again, he's waiting and swipes out with his leg, exhaling in relief at the sound of his boot impacting against Riddle's face, Black Mass doing what it needs to do as Riddle crumples to the mat and Aleister collapses next to him, rolling him over and pinning him.
The bell rings and Aleister exhales, releasing the pin and brushing a hand over his face, surprised to find no blood or anything from those earlier elbows lingering on his skin. He slowly gets to his feet to mark his win with the referee, eyes narrowed and dark as he looks out at the empty arena.
