By: Jay Winger
Note: This is set during the time after "Storm Warning: Summerslam." To recap: after capturing the Intercontinental Championship from Billy Gunn, Chris Benoit was told to put his title on the line in his Cage Match against the Storm. At Summerslam, Jackie also defeated Lita for the Women's Championship, and was then inducted into Lone Star, as well. The Acolytes defeated their new rivals, the Black Masks (Test and Just Joe), thus giving Lone Star another victory. In the steel cage, the Storm and Benoit both tried to beat the other into submission with various holds and manuevers. The Storm nearly lost when his head collided with the cage when he got a suplex, but Benoit missed with a top-cage swandive headbutt, allowing the Storm to climb up and hit a top-cage Windfall. Eventually, the two both got to the top of the cage, where the Storm put Benoit in the Hammerlock Necksnapper, then threw him back into the cage as he climbed out, winning the match and the Intercontinental title.
September
Following Lone Star's victories at Summerslam, the feud between the Texan team and the Triple H/Radicalz/Black Masks Alliance heated up. Triple H began to stalk Lone Star with his trusty sledgehammer while the Radicalz did everything they could to try and screw Lone Star in their matches. This led the Storm to cut a promo on the alliance, needling Benoit about his technical wrestling ability:
"Quite frankly, Benoit, you're not the best damn technical wrestler in the company anymore." He tapped his belt. "I proved that twice, Benoit -- at Fully Loaded, when I made you pass out to the Hammerlock Necksnapper, and then again at Summerslam, when I defeated you in that steel cage and captured the Intercontinental title." He chuckled. "So let's see, Benoit, you lost rights to 'best technical wrestler,' so now you're trying to become a criminal mastermind or something. Boyo, leave stuff like that to Triple H, `cuz, Benoit, you don't have the balls, the brains, or the teeth to be a criminal mastermind. Benoit," the Storm said, "if you want to prove to me that you are the best damn technical wrestler in this company, then stop hiding behind your Radicalz buddies and your alliance and face me in a straight-up fight."
Chris Benoit obliged on RAW is WAR by meeting the Storm in a match which each had sworn nobody would intervene. The Storm barely pulled out a victory in the lengthly match, but finally he was able to make a cover and get the pinfall, retaining his title. Still desiring the Intercontinental title, however, Benoit got himself put in a number-one contender's match for the title with his longtime nemesis Chris Jericho. Jericho won that match, but due to Benoit's interference in the title match, Jericho didn't get the belt. Commissioner Mick Foley responded to that by booking a Triple Threat Match at the WWF's September PPV, Descension.
At Descension, the three men battled back and forth, though Jericho and the Storm often double-teamed their mutual enemy, Benoit. That didn't stop Jericho from pummeling the Storm when the time was convenient, of course. Each man was able to get their trademark submission hold on the others at least once -- Benoit's Cripper Crossface was actually more violent for Jericho than for the Storm (who held the title), and Jericho was able to get both men in the Walls of Jericho for a short time. The Storm also got both men in the Hammerlock Necksnapper, but no one was able to tap out before the hold was broken. Finally, it was when the Storm had been knocked outside, off the top of the post when setting up for the Windfall by Jericho, that Y2J hit a bulldog and Lionsault on Benoit to pick up the win and the title belt.
October
Lone Star, which had been targeted by multiple attacks from the Alliance, began to fight back, using vintage Stone Cold tactics to harrass the Alliance. Pearl Harbor attacks were the order of the day, as the Storm borrowed a page from Austin and disguised himself as a cook to attack the Radicalz in the Alliance dressing room after Dean Malenko again ordered some meatballs. After demolishing them all, the Storm looked at the battered Radicalz and shook his head. "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice...man, that's just plain dumb. Enjoy the meatballs, yahoos."
The Acolytes were happy to go after the Black Masks, and they did so by pursuing the two backstage and cornering them. Just Joe, despite having become more hardcore, still cowered in fear while Test did the majority of the work. That led to the Black Masks getting their asses kicked more than once.
Meanwhile, the Storm coveted Jericho's Intercontinental title and was going to great lengths to get it. Benoit had moved himself out of the Intercontinental Division and was going after Austin's WWF Championship again. Jericho and the Storm continued to battle back and forth, leading to an Intercontinental Title Match at the October PPV, Beseiged. The two were fairly evenly matched, but before the Storm could capitalize on a neckbreaker uranage with a Windfall, the Alliance ran out and attacked both men in the ring, disqualifying Jericho and throwing out the match.
November
The Alliance continued to target Lone Star with their run-in tactics, as well as backstage ambushes. Things got worse when the Right to Censor got involved. Steven Richards' group disapproved of Lone Star's drinking escapades and the Alliance's violent behavior, so RTC "censored" both groups liberally. Commissioner Foley was apparently helpless to stop the Alliance's tactics or RTC's run-ins, so he responded by booking a big three-way tag match at Survivor Series. All four male members of Right to Censor, all four male members of Lone Star, and Triple H, Benoit, and the Black Masks of the Alliance would face off in a sort of three-way Survivor Series match.
The match had different rules, however -- as tagging in wasn't an option. Instead, one man from each team would be in the ring, and when one was eliminated, the next would enter. Test, Bradshaw, and Steven Richards started off in the ring in the match. Richards got pinned first, as both Test and Bradshaw held him down for the three-count. With Richards eliminated, the Goodfather came to the ring next. Test hit a gutwrench powerbomb on Bradshaw to eliminate him, bringing out Faarooq. Faarooq got revenge on Test by powerbombing him, but was then knocked down by the Goodfather, who pinned Test. Just Joe was in next. He lasted all of five seconds before Faarooq pasted him with a big boot and pinned him. That brought in Benoit. The Goodfather went after him, but Faarooq grabbed him from behind and hit a jackhammer. Benoit capitalized with a legdrop from the second rope, and he was pinned, bringing in Bull Buchanan.
Buchanan and Benoit eliminated Faarooq with some fast moves, then a scissors kick, bringing in the Storm. Buchanan wisely let Benoit and the Storm duke it out, the Force of Nature nailing Benoit with a Lou Thesz press and some devastating punches to the face. The two rivals battled back and forth until the Storm hit the Southern Lightning piledriver and pinned Benoit. That brought in Triple H. Buchanan hit the Storm with a scissors kick as he got up from the pin, and with Triple H's help quickly pinned him. That left Stone Cold Steve Austin to represent Lone Star. Austin attacked Helmsley and threw him out of the ring, then turned to Buchanan, who tried to use his larger size and strength to his advantage. Austin would have none of that, however, as he hit a Stunner out of nowhere and pinned Buchanan, leaving Right to Censor with Val Venis. Triple H was back in the ring by now and the three men started brawling around. Austin hit a big DDT on Helmsley and then Val hit a Censorbomb to eliminate the Alliance from the match. Unfortunately, then Austin hit another Stunner out of nowhere and pinned Val, thus surviving the match and picking up the win for Lone Star.
Also at Survivor Series, Billy Gunn had re-entered the Intercontinental title race, and defeated Jericho to reclaim the belt.
December
In-fighting amongst the Alliance, coupled with its defeat at Survivor Series, led to the break-up of the group, as the Radicalz also went their separate ways in their thirst for title gold. The Storm and Jericho got in another rivalry over number-one contendership for Billy Gunn's title, but then Eddie Guerrero entered the equation when he won the title. With the Radicalz broken up, Benoit also had no problem entering the picture, leading to another three-way rivalry.
In the midst of all this, a new wrestler debuted early in the month and ran into trouble with X-Pac, Essa Rios and Perry Saturn. That wrestler, Viper, teamed up with the Hardy Boyz for that feud.
At the PPV, Payback, there was another Triple Threat Match between the Storm, Benoit, and Jericho, this time to determine who would be number-one contender for Guerrero's Intercontinental title. Again, Jericho won the match, this time capitalizing on Benoit's swandive headbutt to the Storm by throwing out Benoit and hitting the Lionsault. Meanwhile, Viper and the Hardys won over Saturn, X-Pac, and Rios in a six-man street fight tag.
January
The top of the new year was not much new for the Storm. He continued to pursue Jericho, who was still gunning for Guerrero's title, but both of them also entered the main event at Royal Rumble. Unfortunately, however, neither man survived, as they eliminated each other as they brawled out of the ring. The rest of Lone Star, however, was not faring so well either. Jackie lost her Women's Championship to Ivory and Stone Cold had lost his WWF title to Kurt Angle -- much to everyone's annoyance.
February
The Alliance started to show signs of reforming, as were the Radicalz, but by Valentine's Day and the PPV, Poisoned Heart, they were still apart. The Storm was not booked in any matches at the PPV, since he'd lost a shot in the Intercontinental Battle Royal to Jericho. Instead, he was forced to watch as Y2J picked up the win and the title.
Meanwhile, enemies of Viper had joined the WWF, a group of skilled and tough wrestlers called Venom -- Cobra, Python, and Rattler. They attacked Viper and his allies, seemingly unstoppable. Venom even went so far as to have Lita kidnapped by Right to Censor, though the reluctant Rattler left the group shortly thereafter. Lita was rescued after a few days, and fortunately before she was brainwashed by Steven Richards. Viper -- who had been dating Lita -- had a breakup with her just before the PPV, where he had a victory over William Regal in a hardcore match for the European title.
Unfortunately, the very next RAW is WAR, Eddie Guerrero and his reunited Radicalz buddies hired the T&APA (who were willing to reunite for the right price) to attack Molly Holly and pin the blame on Viper and Rattler, which led to Bob "Hardcore" Holly and Crash attacking Viper in his title defense against Guerrero, costing him the title.
That same show, the Storm sat brooding in the Lone Star dressing room as he watched Benoit lose his match against Jericho for the Intercontinental title. That made the Storm smile briefly, but not by much. He was almost hoping Benoit would get the title so the Storm could win it from him on Smackdown! The Storm's thoughts returned to Viper and Venom as he observed the night's events. He'd fought Viper twice while he wrestled in Japan, and their score was even as they'd each gotten a win over the other. He didn't like the man due to (what the Storm saw as) his nonchalant attitude...and it didn't help that Viper had gotten the win in their last match.
And this set the stage for Smackdown!...
-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. The next fic you'll see from me is going to be the collaboration between myself and Boulder as we combine our fic-series, with a Storm/Viper crossover.
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=-