By: Jay Winger
Note: This is set immediately after "Storm Warning: Force of Nature." To recap: following his victory over Tazz at the Royal Rumble, the Storm was given the following night off by Commissioner Foley. However, when Tazz ambushed him with a 2x4, the Storm joined J.R. and the King at ringside for commentary during Tazz's match with Chris Jericho. The Storm, wielding a baseball bat with the word 'UGLY' on it (his ugly-stick), told Lawler that he didn't like him very much and ignored King's indignant replies. After Tazz won, the Storm clobbered him with the ugly-stick, then left backstage, where he was confronted by Foley. Angry, Foley forced the Storm into a six-man tag team table match with the Dudleys against Lo Down and Raven. The Storm and the Dudleys picked up the win, much to Tazz and Raven's dismay. On Thursday, the Storm bumped into Tazz and told him he didn't want to get a feud going with him. So they promised to stay out of each others' business after their match that night. The Storm once again defeated Tazz, but found Chris Benoit waiting for him backstage. It seems rumormonger Just Joe had tried to spark a feud between the two (after the Storm warned him not to), so the Storm suggested that he and Benoit team up against Joe on Raw to teach him a lesson -- which they did. Just Joe never stood a chance against the two, who sent Joe to a hospital following the match, when the two attacked him with the ugly-stick. The Storm simply blew off Foley when he got angry: "Look, I'll spell it out for you, Foley -- I am the Storm. I am a Force of Nature, and Nature is remorseless. I could have killed Joe, and I still wouldn't give a shit."
THURSDAY: Smackdown!, Feb. 3
About an hour before the show, before Commissioner Foley had booked all the matches, Chris Benoit, who was tying his boots in the locker room, looked up to see the Storm standing in the doorway. The Canadian finished tying his boot and stood up. "What is it, Storm?"
"I know you've got your sights set on top gold," the Storm replied, referring to the Rock's WWF title, "and I respect that. Hell, give me enough time and I'll get that gold around my waist too. But I've got different gold in mind for you and I."
"What's that?" Benoit asked as he got a roll of black tape out of his bag and started to put it on his wrists.
"Tag team gold," the Storm replied. Seeing the look on Benoit's face, he said, "Well, the way I see it, that's another way to elevate our games, and prove to the people in the WWF that we're not a couple guys you want to mess with."
"They already know that aboot me," Benoit pointed out.
"True enough," the Storm said. "But why not cement it? Besides, after we get number-one contendership, we'll take it to those grinning assholes Edge and Christian." He held up his hands. "Hey, I know you guys were business friends when you had that whole thing going with Shane McMahon, but Shane ain't here, and in this business you gotta stomp some people to get to the top."
The Crippler smirked. "All right. So what're you suggesting? We tell Foley to book us in a match for number-one contendership?"
"After Monday," the Force of Nature replied, "I doubt he'll give it to us tonight. So we can let it wait until next Monday. Besides, I've got a shot at Blackman's title tonight." He grinned. "He might be fast with those fighting sticks, but he can't match the Storm."
"Oh?" Benoit asked, amused. "Why's that?"
"Because the Storm's as fast as lightning." He winked behind his sunglasses, causing Benoit to groan a bit at the pun, and then the Force of Nature sobered. "By the way, I saw the lineup. You're taking on Albert. If you want, I'll come to ringside to keep an eye on Trish for you. Maybe even make sure Test doesn't get involved."
"You do that," Benoit said. He went back to taping his wrists as the Storm retrieved his ugly-stick from his duffle and started toward ringside.
* * *
The OvalTron sat black as the fans awaited the next fight. When the Storm Warning siren and symbol flashed on the screen, the fans started to react. About half of them were cheering and half were booing. Still, a good portion of the audience shouted his admonition as it broadcast: "This is your Storm Warning!" Lightning shot from the ceiling and set off pyros, and the Force of Nature walked out of the smoke. "The following match is scheduled for one fall," Tony Chimel announced, "and it is for the World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Championship! Making his way to the ring, from Dallas, Texas, weighing in at 250 pounds...THE STORM!"
The Storm stopped at the bottom of the ramp and gazed out at the audience. Here and there he spotted a few 'Storm' signs ("JUST JOE GOT A STORM WARNING!" "STORM THE CENSORS!" -- evidently that person wanted him to mix it up with Steven Richards and Right to Censor -- amongst others) amidst the crowd. That wasn't too bad for a man who'd only been in the WWF for two weeks. He climbed up on the ring apron, then the corner and twirled the baseball bat in his hands, pointing it out at the audience and sweeping it around to point at the OvalTron, where Steve Blackman's entrance video was playing. He got down off the corner as Chimel proclaimed, "And his opponent, from Annville, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 246 pounds...he is the World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Champion, the Lethal Weapon...STEVE BLACKMAN!"
Blackman stood at the top of the ramp with his beat-up Hardcore title belt, posing and shouting, "This is my house!!" He continued to juice up the fans and then pointed at the Storm, who had removed his sunglasses and passed them to a ringside official. The Storm held his ugly-stick ready and beckoned for Blackman to step into the ring. The martial arts expert charged down to the ring, tossing his belt aside. The Storm waited for Blackman to reach his feet, then swung with the bat. Blackman ducked, as he'd expected, but the Storm side-kicked Blackman in the ribs as the Lethal Weapon closed in.
Blackman staggered, and the Storm swung the bat down at his head. He moved at the last second, causing the bat to strike his shoulder, making him back off. The Storm laughed as Blackman clutched his injured shoulder, then swung up for a powerful baseball swing. Blackman ducked again and hit a martial arts kick to the Storm's kidneys, then another to his knees. The Storm fell to one knee, dropping his baseball bat as he clutched at his back. Blackman scooped it up and swung -- connected to the back of the Force of Nature's head, making him fall over. The Storm grit his teeth as he started to get back up. Blackman tossed the bat out of the ring as he went to retrieve his cache of weapons.
Blackman took out a pair of trashcan lids, which he placed on the ring apron, his infamous Philippino fighting sticks, which he placed in the corner. A kendo stick, which he put on the floor, and finally a garbage can. He held this up for the fans and set it on the ring apron, getting ready to toss it in the ring. At that moment, the Storm did a baseball slide dropkick that drove the can into Blackman's face. The Hardcore Champion was knocked down, giving the Storm time to pick the can up and swing it down into Blackman's ribs once, twice, three times! He looked at the now-dented can, then chucked it aside. He started to reach down to pull Blackman to his feet, but the Lethal Weapon had surreptitiously picked up his kendo stick. He chopped it up between the Storm's legs.
The newcomer's eyes bugged out, and he staggered away as Blackman got to his feet, twirling the kendo stick a few times in his hand before he charged again. The Storm ducked, making Blackman strike the steel stairs. The Storm placed a hand on one of the trashcan lids and slipped it onto the floor, looking a bit disoriented as he walked in a circle, turning back to Blackman. The Hardcore Champ swung the kendo stick again, but the Storm sidestepped and tripped him in a drop-toe hold onto the lid. Blackman lay prone long enough for the Storm to deliver a series of stomps to Blackman's kidneys and spine. He flipped Blackman over and went for a cover. 1...2...Blackman kicked out.
Grimacing, the Storm stood him up as he grabbed the second trashcan lid. He smashed it into Blackman's head and raised it over his head to bring it down on the crown of his head, but Blackman hit a martial arts kick. The force of the kick was enough to drive the Force of Nature back and into the steel stairs. Blackman pulled out a street sign and started toward the Storm, but the newcomer was up and hurled the lid in his hands like a discus. As it struck Blackman, the Storm jumped up on the ring apron and then up on the turnbuckle. He leaned back quickly and launched at Blackman with a Windfall.
The Lethal Weapon, however, had recovered and sidestepped, swinging the street sign into the back of the Storm's head as he fell past him. Blackman picked the Storm back up to his knees and held his hair. He held the sign in his other hand and grinned at the audience, who knew what was coming. All at once, the Hardcore Champion released the Storm's head and pivoted back, driving the sign into the back of the Storm's head. He flipped him over and went for the cover. 1...2...the Storm got a shoulder up.
Annoyed, Blackman whipped him into the security railing and went to go get another trashcan. As the Storm got to his feet, he managed to catch Blackman's downward swing with the can. He laughed, then stepped back and away from Blackman as he went for a dropkick to the can. Blackman missed, allowing the Storm to hit him in the back with the can, then stand him up. Before Blackman could react, the Storm shoved the can down over his head, trapping him inside. He picked the kendo stick back up and raised it in the air. "Whose house is it now?!" he screamed at the audience and swung the kendo stick into the portion of the can right in front of Blackman's face. The Hardcore Champion fell over, allowing the Force of Nature to deliver a series of shots to Blackman's stomach and to the can on top of him. Mercifully, he threw the stick aside and pulled Blackman out of the trashcan. He rolled him into the ring, then stooped to get a fire extinguisher out from under the ring.
The Storm climbed in, startled to see that Blackman had gotten his hands on his Philippino sticks. Blackman laughed and held them up. "Oh, you know what time it is!" he said. "It's party time!" Blackman charged, but the Storm was fast enough to blast him with the fire extinguisher. As Blackman staggered, the Storm tossed away the extinguisher and quickly climbed to the top rope, leaning back. As Blackman emerged, the Storm tackled him with the Windfall. He went for the cover. 1...2...and Blackman, still holding the fighting sticks, clobbered him in the head.
As the Storm staggered back, the Lethal Weapon charged again and this time hit a blinding and furious combo of hits with the sticks, then delivered a hard chop to the head. The Storm fell and Blackman went for the cover. The Storm kicked out after one, so Blackman picked him up, whipped him into the ropes and chopped him in the legs with the sticks. The Storm winced and shouted in pain, allowing the Hardcore Champion to slip a hand (holding one of the sticks) under his groin, then flipped him over for a hard groin shot, folding him over for the pin. 1...2...3!
Blackman stood up and shouted in victory, accepting his belt back and shouting, "This is my house!" again. The Storm grumbled as he got to his feet. He shot Blackman a look, but didn't try to attack him. Instead, the Storm collected his ugly-stick and returned to the back.
* * *
"Hey," Benoit said as the Storm returned to their locker room. "I saw what happened. Blackman beat you."
"Yeah, I noticed," the Storm said. He felt at the back of his head, wincing, then checked his fingers for blood. Nope. So at least Blackman didn't bust him open. "Doesn't matter. Blackman got lucky. `Sides, the Hardcore title doesn't mean much outside the Hardcore division." He looked at the Crippler. "You set for your match against Albert?"
"Good to go," Benoit replied as he slapped his wrists to ascertain the tape's security, then jumped in place, stretching his neck muscles and pumping his arms to get the blood flowing.
"Let's go, then," the Storm said, adjusting his sunglasses.
* * *
The guitar chords of T&A's entrance video played over clips of Test, Albert, and Trish Stratus. The fans reacted, some cheering and some not, as the former fitness model and Albert walked down the ramp. "The following match is scheduled for one fall," Chimel said. "Introducing first, being accompanied by Trish Stratus, from Boston, Mass, weighing in at 380 pounds...he is one half of T&A...ALBERT!" The massive, bald-headed wrestler stood on the ring apron, and separated the ropes so Trish could duck inside. He stepped over the top rope and then stood waiting, arms out at his sides slightly.
The lights flashed blue as Chris Benoit's music played. The fans booed the heel as he emerged, the Storm walking alongside him. "And his opponent, being accompanied by the Storm, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, weighing in at 220 pounds...CHRIS BENOIT!"
The Storm circled the ring, eyes flicking back and forth between Albert and Trish behind his sunglasses. Benoit climbed into the ring and immediately charged at the larger Albert. Albert met him head on, then started trading punches. After a series of this, the Storm abruptly climbed up on the ring apron, shouting at his partner. The referee, Earl Hebner, came over to stop him, allowing Benoit to hit a surreptitious kick to Albert's groin. Albert's eyes bugged out as he groaned, doubling over. The Storm saw this, smirked, and hopped back off the apron. Benoit landed a couple kicks to Albert's stomach, then grabbed him and whipped him toward the corner. Albert, however, recovered, reversed the whip, and roared as he charged into Benoit. Stepping back, Albert grabbed Benoit and whipped him into the opposite corner, then followed it up with another charge. This time, however, Benoit sidestepped, so Albert charged painfully into the turnbuckle.
Benoit kicked to the back of Albert's knee, causing his legs to buckle. As Albert started to get back up, Benoit grabbed his head and shoved it against the ropes. Benoit then straddled Albert's neck and squatted, throttling the bigger man. Hebner counted to four before pulling Benoit away, lecturing him briefly on the rules. Whilst he was thus distracted, the Storm grabbed Albert's head and continued the throttling. Albert, however, recovered, chopped his hands into the Storm's neck, then stood up, turning back to Benoit.
The Crippler saw his opponent back up and charged, but Albert ducked and back body-dropped him over the top rope. The Storm stepped aside as his partner hit the floor beside him, then helped him stand back up. Benoit, mouth open as he breathed heavily, clutched the back of his head as he glared at Albert. The bald-headed man came over and leaned over the ropes to grab him, but Benoit grabbed his head and slingshotted him off the ropes. He slid back in as the Storm shouted encouragement. Albert swung a clothesline, but Benoit's smaller size allowed him to duck under it and grab Albert around the waist. Albert blinked in surprise and tried to elbow Benoit, but he underestimated the location of Benoit's head and missed. Benoit lifted and dropped backwards with a suplex, then got back up, maintaining his grip. He did a second suplex, then got up for a third. Albert shot an elbow again, this time striking the Canadian. Benoit staggered away, then sidestepped Albert's charge.
Albert turned and started to spring off the ropes, but the Storm had grabbed his leg. Albert turned to see him and swung at him, but the Storm backed away. Albert turned back just in time to take a sharp arm chop across the chest. Benoit followed it with a second, then a third, then whipped Albert into the other ropes. Benoit went for a reverse elbow, but Albert leapt off the ropes with a flying clothesline, which took both men down. Trish clapped her hands and tried to rouse Albert, as the Storm pounded on the mat and shouted at Benoit. Groggily, the two men got to their feet, but Benoit was up first. He ran at Albert, grabbed his arm, and managed to get him back on the mat, where he locked in the Crippler Crossface. Hebner was down, asking Albert if he wanted to submit, when Trish got up on the ring apron. Hebner got away from the two to talk her down. The Storm silently circled around the ring toward Trish, who saw him coming and quickly retreated to the opposite side of the ring from the Force of Nature. Hebner turned back to Benoit and Albert, then saw Albert start to tap the mat. Hebner called for the bell.
Benoit kept the Crossface on for another few seconds, then released Albert and left the ring. "And the winner of this match as the result of submission...CHRIS BENOIT!" Benoit smiled sadistically as Trish entered the ring to check on her fallen client as the Storm smirked silently.
MONDAY: RAW is WAR, Feb. 7
Benoit and the Storm were back in their locker room, discussing game strategy for their tag team match later that night when someone knocked on the door. The Storm answered it, then stepped back and sat down boredly as Commissioner Foley entered the room. "I want to make something clear to you two," the commish said. "If you lose it after your match, by which I mean if you start attacking the Hardys after the match is over, I'll make sure you never get number-one contendership for the Tag Team titles again."
"Hey," Benoit said, poking him in the chest, "we do what we have to do to get gold."
"Damn straight," the Storm drawled as he slid his sunglasses on. He smirked as he sat up and gazed at Foley. "Like I told you last week, I am a Force of Nature, and me and Benoit'll tear through the roster like a hurricane to get what we want." He scooped up his ugly-stick and twirled it briefly. "Now if you'll excuse us," he said, stepping up to stare Foley in the face, "we have a match to go win."
* * *
The ring lights flashed blue as Benoit's music played. To the fans' surprise, however, his entrance video had changed. In addition to showing Benoit in all his intense rage and flashing his name and THE CRIPPLER, it now also featured lightning bolts punctuating the beat, with images of the Storm smirking out. The newcomer's name flashed along with THE FORCE OF NATURE as images of Benoit in his swandive headbutt and the Storm in the Windfall flashed. Lillian Garcia introduced them. "The following match is scheduled for one fall, and is to determine number-one contendership for the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship. Making their way to the ring, weighing in at a total of 470 pounds...THE STORM and CHRIS BENOIT!"
The new tag team made their way to the ring and climbed into the ring, where the Storm ascended the post and raised his baseball bat in the air, flashing the fans a cruel smile. A large portion of the audience jeered the heels as the Storm swept his baseball bat in a half-circle before pointing it at Benoit, who had taken up the microphone. An "Ass-hole!" chant had started up, but Benoit ignored it. "So," the Wolverine said, "the Rock holds the WWF title. So what? So Commissioner Mick Foley, in all his infinite wisdom," he said this with dripping sarcasm, "won't let me go after the Rock. So what? Well, the Wolverine is again going to show just how rabid he is." He passed the microphone to the Storm.
The fans' jeering rose again, but the Storm merely pursed his lips as he awaited a lull in the boos. "That said," the Force of Nature spoke, "the Crippler's teamed up with the Storm, and together," he affected a fairly-good imitation of Benoit's accent, "we're going to become the most brutal tag team in the history of the WWF, and we dare the Hardys to prove...us...wrong!"
He tossed the microphone back to Lillian as he removed his sunglasses and set aside his ugly-stick. The Hardy Boyz's entrance music started up, and the brothers appeared, gesticulating to the crowd before flashing their 'guns.' Lita followed behind them, carrying the WWF Women's title belt. "And their opponents, being accompanied by the WWF Women's Champion Lita, from Cameron, North Carolina...Matt and Jeff, THE HARDY BOYZ!"
The duo ran toward the ring, where the Storm and Benoit were awaiting them. The new team took it to the Hardys, forcing them against the ropes with a furious combo of punches and arm chops. The Storm clotheslined Jeff out of the ring, then turned to Benoit as he whipped Matt across the ring. The dark-haired Hardy shot back, and Benoit and the Storm hit him with a double reverse elbow. The Storm hit a leg-drop on him, then stood him up and pinned his arms back so Benoit could hit him with a few arm chops. Benoit got on the apron and watched as the Storm released Matt and started to nail him with kicks to the midsection. He whipped Matt into the corner, charging after him. Matt pushed off the turnbuckle and reverse leap-frogged over the Storm. He turned to face the risk-taker, who hit him with a few punches, then whipped him across the ring, where he collided with the other corner. Jeff slid into the ring behind Matt, who charged and got down on his hands and knees in front of the Storm. Jeff ran and springed off his brother in a Poetry in Motion. The Storm jerked from the impact, then was grabbed by the Hardys, who went to double whip him into the opposite corner again. The Force of Nature, however, grabbed Jeff's arm and whipped him into the corner as he nailed Matt with a middle kick which knocked him into the corner.
As Jeff slumped in the opposite corner, the Storm unleashed a firey combo of punches and kicks to Matt, ignoring the ref. He finally pulled Matt out of the corner and threw him over the top rope. Jeff was back up and charging. The Storm saw him coming and sidestepped, throwing Jeff face-first into the turnbuckle. With that done, he grabbed Jeff's multicolored hair and dragged him over to Benoit, whom he tagged in. The new team set Jeff up for a double suplex, then connected. The Storm left the ring as Benoit started to take it to Jeff, whom he devastated with a series of arm chops before hitting him with another suplex.
Matt, meanwhile, had come up behind the Storm and pulled him off the ring apron. He began to unload punches to him before the Storm fired back with a kick to the gut. Matt fell against the security barrier, where the Storm began to choke him. The referee noticed this and came over to shout for the two to get back to their corners. The Storm turned, spat in the ref's direction, then lifted Matt up and dropped him on the steel stairs. He whipped Matt down the length of the ring, in the general direction of the commentators' table, then started to climb back to the corner when he noticed Lita coming around in his direction. He hopped back off the apron and stood in front of her. Immediately, she backed off and kept her distance.
While this was going on, Benoit had Jeff back in the corner, where he was kicking away. He stood Jeff up and pulled him toward the Storm, who tagged in and hit a fierce jab to Jeff's abused midsection. Benoit left the ring as the Storm bent Jeff over and nailed a couple of clubs to the neck, one part of Jeff's body that took the most damage with his high-flying moves. Jeff flopped to the mat. Disgusted, the Storm stood him up and started to drag him to the center of the ring. He dropped Jeff in a back body drop, then applied the Twister. Matt jumped up on the ropes back in his corner, causing the referee to come over and tell him to stay there. While he was thus distracted, Jeff lunged forward abruptly and grabbed the Storm by the neck. Startled, the Storm released him from the submission hold. Jeff, maintaining his grip, pulled himself up and locked his legs around his head, then hurled the Storm with a huracanrana into the Hardys' corner. Jeff spread his legs and tagged Matt, who was up on the post. They hit him with a tandem leg drop, and Matt pulled him up to hit him with a jab to the face.
By now, they'd made it back to the center of the ring, where Matt swung again. The Storm ducked and hooked Matt's head and dropped him in a DDT. He stood, nodded at Benoit, then suddenly swung around and charged Jeff in the corner, knocking him off the ring apron, then climbing up and leaning back. "Uh, oh, looks like this match is just about over, King," J.R. said. "Storm's going for the Windfall, and Benoit's ready for his flying headbutt."
As Matt got to his feet and turned to face him, the Storm catapulted out just seconds before Jeff was able to grab the ropes. He floored Matt with the cross-body, then looked up to see Lita grab the ropes and crotch Benoit. Enraged, he went after Lita, who retreated. He turned back to Matt, who was still prone. Shrugging, he hooked up a leg. 1...2...and Jeff ran in with a kick to the head. The Storm, still a bit woozy from the tandem leg drop and now from the kick to the head, feinted at Jeff, who was already leaving the ring at the ref's orders.
Benoit was back up by this point and ready for a tag. The Storm obliged, pulling Matt over, and then he set Matt up in the corner, where the new team kicked him in unison before Benoit grabbed him for a German suplex with a bridge. Matt's shoulders were on the mat, so the ref was down to count. Jeff ran over to break it up, but the Storm cut him off with a clothesline. 1...2...3!
Benoit released Matt and breathed heavily as the ref raised his and the Storm's hands. "Here are your winners...CHRIS BENOIT and THE STORM!" The Storm went over and retrieved his ugly-stick, making his way toward Lita, who had slid into the ring to check on her boys. The fans booed as they anticipated his actions, especially when he grabbed Lita by the hair.
"I have just one thing to say to you, Lita," the Storm grated. "And that's if you ever interfere in my or Benoit's matches again, then screw Foley. You'll find out just how deadly the Storm can be." He shoved Lita away as Benoit stood over Matt, looking down at him. The Storm slapped his arm. "Come on, man, let's jet." Benoit nodded, smirking as he looked at the Hardys. The duo left the ring, grinning, the Storm turning back to point his ugly-stick and give his two-fingered salute.
* * *
Edge and Christian, the Brothers Grin, weren't smiling when they saw this on the monitors backstage. They'd been hoping for another shot at the Hardys, so they could humiliate them further. Heck, they were even hoping their opponents at No Way Out would be pushovers -- anything to keep their hands on their precious gold. Instead, they had to face Benoit and this Storm guy -- whom they'd found out had actually been the one behind the trashing of their locker room last month. They were not looking forward to the match now.
"Man, this totally reeks of stinktitude!" Edge muttered.
"Totally," Christian agreed. "How are we supposed to beat those two?"
"Maybe introduce them to the con-chair-to?" Edge suggested.
"That'll just piss 'em off," Christian said. He thought a moment. "I know! Chris is our friend! Remember? When we were working for Shane?"
Edge brightened. "Hey! You're right! We can convince him not to fight us at No Way Out, and then we'll only have to deal with the Storm!"
Christian grinned and slapped a high-five with his brother. "We're so smart, we should be in DENSA!" No one was there to correct them on that one.
THURSDAY: Smackdown!, Feb. 10
Benoit was backstage, pacing around as he waited for the Storm to show up to be at ringside for his match with Test when Edge and Christian came up to him. He folded his arms. "What d'you two want?" he asked.
Edge started. "Chris, listen we--"
"--since you were part of the faction with Shane and all--" Christian continued.
"--maybe you wouldn't face us at No Way Out?" Edge asked.
Benoit raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised at this. "And why should I do that?"
"Because we're friends, dude!" Christian said.
"'Friends?'" Benoit repeated. "I'm not anybody's friend. I don't need Shane McMahon to get me top gold. And I certainly don't need bleach-blond idiots like you as friends!"
Edge and Christian started in surprise. Not exactly the response they were looking for. "What about Storm?"
"The Storm's just a partner so I can get those," Benoit said, pointing at the belts around the duo's waist.
The brothers looked at each other, then started toward Benoit with unkind intentions. At that moment, the Storm emerged from around a corner. He was smiling. "Well, well, if it isn't the posers. Looking for a mirror, boys, or were you just harassing my partner?"
The duo looked at him, considering jumping him as well, but then they saw the ugly-stick in his hand. They looked back and forth at the new tag team, then left. Benoit and the Storm shared a look, then Benoit shook his head. The two headed to the ring.
A few minutes later, Benoit picked up a win after hitting Test with a swandive headbutt. The Storm kept Trish Stratus distracted again, preventing her from interfering on Test's behalf. More signs were in the audience denouncing the Storm ("GIVE THE STORM A WARNING!" was one such) but he ignored them as he threatened Trish with the ugly-stick after the match.
As the new team was leaving, however, Edge and Christian ran out with steel chairs in hand. They blindsided both, knocking down Benoit, then set up the Storm for the con-chair-to. The Storm recovered from the first chair shot just in time to get his head squashed between two. He slumped to the floor as the two smacked their chairs into Benoit before leaving.
MONDAY: RAW is WAR, Feb. 14
Commissioner Foley, as he departed his office in the boiler room and passed by Edge and Christian's locker room. The door had been spraypainted with a stylized blue exclamation point and crashing sounds were emanating from inside. Alarmed, he looked inside to see Benoit and the Storm trashing the room again. "What the hell are you two doing?!" he demanded.
The Storm swung around and glared at Foley. Although his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, Foley could feel the anger boring into him from those eyes. "Those two bottle-blond retards nearly cracked my skull open with a con-chair-to on Thursday! I'm going to bash their heads in when I see them!"
"No you won't!!" Foley shouted back. "You do that and you lose your number-one contendership and I'll suspend you and have you arrested!"
"Oh, this is all fine and good," the Storm snarled. "There's a goddamn double standard in this company. Champions like the Rock and those two idiots get preferential treatment and Benoit and me get screwed. Oh, wonderful, brilliant business strategy."
"Don't you question my decisions!" the commish told him. "What I do I do for the benefit of this company. If that means that you or Benoit lose out, then that's the way it is. Now get out of this room before I call security."
The Storm turned and looked at Benoit, then turned and walked toward Foley. When he was a couple feet away, he raised the ugly-stick and swung it down. Despite himself and his hardcore history, the Commissioner flinched. The bat stopped millimeters away from his head. The Storm withdrew it and leaned forward. "You don't control this. You only think you do." He shoved past Foley and left, Benoit following, giving Foley a look that could kill.
* * *
Later that night, Foley went to the ring. The fans cheered for him, by now having forgiven him for the "wrongs" he'd committed against Stone Cold when the Rattlesnake had run rough-shod over the WWF looking for Rikishi. He took the microphone and gestured for the crowd to quiet. "Thank you," he said. "Now...as some of you may know, I'm a fairly easy-going guy. I can take a lot of abuse and I'm pretty immune to insults. But...as Commissioner of the WWF, there's one thing I cannot abide, and that's somebody disobeying my authority. That's why, four months ago, when Stone Cold Steve Austin--" he broke off as the fans cheered loudly for the Rattlesnake, "--when Austin disobeyed me and gave me a Stone Cold Stunner, I suspended him." There was some minor booing, but it quickly subsided. "Since then, he and I have developed some mutual respect for each other. He and I may not always see eye to eye, but that's fine, as long as it doesn't interfere with business." He looked up. "However, certain other parties have begun to question my authority and have made threats to destroy this company that I've been entrusted with." He paced around a bit. "You see, you do not hit someone with a chair because they happen to be the number-one contender for your title belt, and you do not trash that person's locker room in retaliation!" He turned and faced the Titantron. "So, Storm, Benoit, I want you out here, in this ring, right now!"
There was a pause, and then the music for Benoit and the Storm hit. Faces set like stone, the team appeared and walked toward the ring, the Force of Nature sans ugly-stick. The fans booed, and some of the front-row people threw trash at them. Stoically, they entered the ring and stood in front of Foley. Benoit held a microphone, but Foley spoke first. "Now," the commish said, "I can understand if you two are upset that Edge and Christian hit you with chairs last Thursday on Smackdown!, but that does not mean you have the right to destroy their locker room!"
The Storm took the microphone from Benoit and removed his sunglasses, clipping them on his shirt. "You see?" he said to Foley. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! Those two posers clobber us with chairs, give me a con-chair-to, and you do nothing. Benoit and I trash their locker room for doing that, we get jackshit!" He stepped up so he was looking eye-to-eye with Foley. "I've told you before, Foley, I am an F.N. -- a Force of Nature -- I am an f'n Force of Nature! You can't control me, you can't contain me, you can only get out of my way." He looked at Benoit, who smirked and nodded in agreement. "Benoit's been screwed over by you before, Foley, and I ain't aimin' to start now." He stepped back and pointed at Foley. "Now, either you give us Edge and Christian tonight, or I'll be forced to unleash a little Southern Lightning on your ass."
Foley raised a hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, I can understand if you're upset--"
Benoit grabbed the Storm's mic. "Upset?! Foley, you can't even begin to imagine how upset I am!" He held up a finger. "Fully Loaded, I win the WWF title, you come out and strip it from around my waist! Unforgiven, I win the WWF title, and you again strip it from me! I won that title twice because I am the greatest technical wrestler in the history of the WWF, and you will never prove me wrong!" He scowled. "Now, give us those two blond-haired idiots, or the Storm and I will prove that we are the most brutal tag team in the WWF today, and we'll prove it by destroying you!"
Foley held up his hand again. "Okay, time out, guys. I'd love to give you guys a shot at Edge and Christian tonight, but they've already got singles matches. So I'll tell you what I'm going to do -- you're upset because they hit you with chairs?" When he got nods, he said, "All right, then next week, at No Way Out, you two will face Edge and Christian in a no-disqualification match for the WWF Tag Team titles."
The Storm raised his eyebrows. "No-DQ?" he asked.
Foley nodded. Benoit and the Storm shared a quiet look as they imagined what they could do to the Tag Team Champions with a no-DQ stipulation. The Storm took the microphone back. "All right, Foley, you've pulled your chestnuts out of the fire. We can wait until then. But!" He raised a finger. "You tell Edge and Christian that if they touch us before then, they forfeit the titles. You can figure out how to handle them. We'll keep our end of the bargain. We'll make sure not to lay so much as a finger on those two, so long as they don't touch us. Because if they do touch us, then no amount of political manuevering on your part can stop us from ripping through the roster like a hurricane."
Their music played as they left the ring, leaving Foley staring after them. He was again thinking that perhaps admitting the Storm to the WWF was not the best idea in the world.
-more to come-
Disclaimer: All things WWF are property of Titan Sports. The Storm is a completely fictional character. I do incorporate a few traits from existing WWF wrestlers, but for the most part, he's my idea. Thanks for all of you who gave me ideas, and rest assured, I'll find some way to use some of them. If you have any ideas for who you think the Storm would team up with or go up against, let me know. Drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com
-=Jay 2K Winger=-