Team Work 250
September 11th, 2020
Stephanie shakes her head as she listens to how loosely Shane handles Team Work on his designated weeks. "I would never," she mumbles, giving directions to the crew, to the competitors, to everyone within the sound of her voice. Once she thinks things are more to her liking, she heads back to the office and leans against the door, relieved to find it at least is normal as she settles in to book for the evening.
The night kicks off with Nyla Rose defeating Mickie James, and Chris Sabin winning against Gran Metalik. Jake Hager is successful over Raul Mendoza, and Jonathan Gresham beats Roderick Strong.
Asuka makes her way to the ring, laughing and chattering in Japanese to herself as she stands in the ring and vibes to her own music, eyes wide and watchful as Peyton Royce makes her way to the ring, posing on the apron before sliding into the ring, examining Asuka quietly before stepping closer to her, their opponents slowly following- first Ruby Riott, then Taya Valkyrie. Peyton and Ruby start things off, Peyton struggling against Ruby's speed and ring know-how. She eventually fights free after a series of moves that stagger her, scrambling over to Asuka and tagging out. Asuka enters with a small grin, waving her finger at Ruby before meeting her head on with an armbar that sends her down immediately, locking in a submission that is just a few shades shy of the Asuka lock itself. Ruby struggles, kicks out, eventually reaches the ropes to free herself.
Asuka looks pleased with this, and gets to her feet as well, the two of them eyeing each other before meeting in the middle once more, exchanging hits and knees before putting space between each other, and lunging forward to try again- Asuka gets the better of this exchange, kneeing Ruby hard in the face and nearly causing her to sink to her knees on the canvas. She forces herself upright, however, and lunges back into her corner, tagging in Taya. Asuka lights up even more under this new, untested opponent, and Taya quirks an eyebrow at her before they begin to fight, Taya eager to meet every inch of physicality Asuka offers with even more of her own. They seem pretty evenly matched until Taya moves to kick Asuka clear in her head just for Asuka to duck, grab her and send her crashing into the ropes, getting ahold of her on the rebound and slamming her back, twisting her around into the Asuka lock.
Ruby shifts, antsy, on the apron, close to breaking it up, when Taya shifts her body weight, toppling Asuka enough to pin her shoulders down to the mat. It's haphazard at best, however, and Asuka kicks out with plenty of time, immediately gripping Taya and returning to the submission, digging her heels in and putting even more pressure on the move than there had been before. Ruby does move to enter this time, but before she can get all the way in, something tugs at her leg and she looks down, shocked to find Peyton there, a determined glint in her eye as she holds Ruby in place. "Hey!" Ruby yells, kicking out, trying to dislodge her, but it doesn't work in time- Taya feels something give in her arm from the force of Asuka's hold and she immediately taps out, teeth gritted against both the physical pain and the agony of this loss.
Asuka lets go and laughs cheerfully, bouncing over to the referee for her arm to be raised, Peyton joining her a few moments later once she escapes Ruby's anger. Their eyes lock and Asuka nods at her, laughter still pouring from her green lips.
TJP partners with Shelton Benjamin in a handicap match against Cedric Benjamin, a suspicious look on his face that slowly fades as Shelton shows no ill-will towards him or preference towards his new Hurt Business associate, letting TJ lock Cedric up in his usual sorts of submissions, not even blinking an eye when TJ swats Cedric around. But then things turn around, Cedric getting some offense in and Shelton ignores TJ's plight, picking at his fingernails, and, as TJ approaches for a tag after kicking Cedric away, even drops off of the apron and lifting his hands in a shrugging motion before pointing behind TJ, his smirk growing as Cedric lumbar checks TJ down, pinning him immediately. Soon as the bell rings, Shelton rolls back in and swats Cedric lightly, winking at him. "I got you," he says, shooing away the referee and lifting Cedric's arm in victory.
Alex Shelley defeats Angelo Dawkins. Otis finds himself partnering with Joaquin Wilde and their vastly different styles of wrestling gel in a very strange way and cinch a win against Matt Martel and Jey Uso for them. Bronson Reed shocks most of the people watching by beating Lashley, and Montez Ford partners with Jungle Boy, winning against Orange Cassidy and Eric Young. Rhea Ripley succeeds against Liv Morgan. Eight man action follows next and the team of Brodie Lee, Chris Jericho, Finn Balor and Brian Kendrick work well together enough that they walk out victorious against Luchasaurus, Dominik Mysterio, Chase Parker and MVP. In intergender action, Nikki Cross takes advantage of Kalisto's reluctance to fight her properly to defeat him.
In the main event, Velveteen Dream partners with Roman Reigns against Brian Myers and Jay Lethal. Dream watches coolly from the corner he'd settled in after his entrance as Roman makes his way down, flanked by Paul Heyman. Heyman only leaves Roman's side long enough to acknowledge Dream, his oily compliments making Dream smirk before the man scampers back over to the Tribal Chief's side.
The match itself is quick. Jay and Roman start things off and Roman seems content pacing the ring, watching Jay, clearly trying to get a feel for the ROH competitor. It doesn't take long before the smack talk begins, Roman clearly unimpressed with the other man, trying to get under his skin. "Truly, there's nothing special about you," he tells him after getting the upperhand in an exchange of punches in the middle of the ring, grinding him down with a arm digging into his mouth as he applies a sleeperhold. "I thought maybe I was just missing something whenever I'd catch you on TV, but nope, there truly is just nothing there, is there?" He laughs derisively and Jay struggles harder, but there's nothing for it. Roman's grip is unbreakable.
Then Myers is there, Myers kicks Roman off and Roman surges up, eyes blazing, but it was enough- Jay rolls, scrambles forward, and tags himself out. Roman sneers at Myers, frustration and disgust bleeding from his gaze, and he immediately washes his hands of the whole situation, turning and tagging Dream in with no forewarning or consideration. Dream shrugs and gets into the ring, unbothered by the prospect of facing Myers. Gets the upperhand early too, grabs him as soon as he's close enough and slings him down onto the mat, kicking him solidly along the base of his spine, causing Myers to arch away in agony. As soon as he's prone on the mat, Dream tries a pin but only barely gets a two count, immediately hoisting Myers up and sending him into the ropes, intending on ending this early. Boots him down hard once more, then goes to the ropes. One elbow drop later, and he's on top of Myers- but then Lethal is there, kicking Dream away from the pin attempt, and Roman joins the fray, simply punches Lethal brutally and with enough force to send him clean out of the ring.
Dream breathes in deeply, growing frustrated himself, but he thinks perhaps now he can get things done uninterrupted and tries once more, hoisting a mostly unresponsive Myers to his feet, pulling him onto his shoulders before rolling into the Dream Valley Driver. This is enough, he thinks, tangling Myers' limbs up and pinning him. Still, despite his certainty, it is a relief when the bell rings to signal their win. Dream smirks as his arm is raised and he chances a glance at a stoic faced Roman Reigns on the other side of the referee, Paul Heyman hovering nearby. Yeah, he thinks. I could get used to this.