By: Jay Winger
Note: this is set immediately after "Storm Warning: Here Comes the Rain," and shortly before "Viper's Revenge - Rapid Strike" by Boulder.
To recap: following the assistance of the mysterious woman on Smackdown!, she and the Storm face Billy Gunn and Chyna on RAW -- after the Storm's introduced her: "What Storm is complete without a little Rain?" In the match, the Storm and Rain dominated and isolated Chyna, hitting her with several high-impact moves, until finally Rain DDT'd her into the steel stairs while the Storm locked Billy in the Necksnapper to win. After the match, Mick Foley asked the Storm to cease his violent streak for a title shot against Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania. The Storm said he'd take it "under advisement." On Smackdown!, Rain came out during Jericho's match against Perry Saturn and distracted him, causing Jericho to rush her, only to get taken down by both her and the Storm. A furious Foley ordered the Storm to stop his interferences or lose all future title shots of any kind. The Storm seemed to be chipper despite this decree, however, and the reason became clear as Foley returned to his office to find one of his stuffed toy puppies hung from a noose from the ceiling with a threat from the Storm.
MONDAY: RAW is WAR, Mar. 27
The TitanTron lit up with a timer and the legend Y2J 06 - 05 - 04 - 03 - 02 - 01 - 00. The lights around the arena went out, and then pyros exploded on the stage as music started in, a cityscape appearing. The word JERICHO filled the screen as a male singer screamed, "Break the wall down!" The lights came back up on Chris Jericho, who stood with his back to the ring, clad in a Y2J hockey jersey, his Intercontinental Title belt around his waist. He pumped up the audience as he went down to the ring, then took the microphone and looked around at the cheering fans.
"Welcome to...RAW is JERICHO!" he said at last. He paused as the fans cheered and brushed his hair back out of his face. "Everywhere I go I hear 'Jericho, what about the Storm?' 'Are you going to tap out to the Necksnapper?' 'How are you going to kick the Storm's Texan ass?' Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak!" He smirked and looked around. "Well, Storm, you beat my ribs in with that big stick of yours on Smackdown!, and you seem to think you're capable of taking anything. So, junior, you and that greasy-haired, slutty, goth trashbag ho of yours come on down to Wrestlemania, bring whatever stick you wanna bring, and bring a bodybag -- because it's going to be the most brutal match either of us has ever seen. After Wrestlemania, after we've kicked each other's teeth in, after we both wear the crimson mask, and after you receive a Y2J beating that you will never--" "eeeeeeeeeeeever!" "--forget 'agayn,' we will see who is the last...man...standing."
The fans started cheering like crazy at the thought of a Last Man Standing match between these two, and soon they started to react as the Storm Warning sirens started up. Their noise was a mixture of cheers and boos as the lightning pyros went off and the instrumental version of Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" started up. Striding out of the smoke came an unsmiling Storm, with a similarly pissed Rain looking on. Clutched in the Storm's hand was his black pool cue with the white lettering UGLY on the side. In the other was a microphone. The Storm raised this, paused, then said, "Jerkyho...will you please...shut the Hell UP?"
Once again, a mixture of boos and cheers as he mocked Y2J's catchphrase and said, "As I like to tell people, I'm usually a fairly forgiving guy. I put up with assholes worse'n you all the time, and I don't beat their faces into the ground. I let a lot of things slide. But!" He paused, scowling. "There's one thing I don't tolerate, and that's a blond-haired Canucklehead freak like you calling my girl Rain a 'trashbag ho.'" He paused again, glancing over at Rain, who had her hands on her hips as she peered over her round sunglasses at Jericho with cold eyes. "I ain't gonna let it slide, 'jerky,' and since Mick Foley's forbidden you and me from touchin' each other, I'll save your punishment for Wrestlemania."
He paused again, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose, and said, "As for your new little stipulation to our match this Sunday... sure. And I won't just bring a bodybag for you -- no, I'll even bring a specialized headstone for your grave, and it'll read this: Here lies Chris Jerkyho, the fat-headed sissy-boy jackass who got his Canuck ass smeared by the Force of Nature. You've stolen that title from me, Jerkyho, and come Sunday, after lightning's struck twice on your prissy blond head, I'm gonna take it back from your cold, dead fingers -- and that is your Storm Warning."
* * *
Jericho had a rematch with Perry Saturn that night, since his last had been interrupted by Rain and the Storm. Saturn had been accompanied not only by Terri tonight, but also Chris Benoit, who was keeping himself from jumping in the ring and attacking his longtime rival. Jericho was in the midst of setting Saturn up for the Walls of Jericho when two forms appeared at the top of the ramp. It was the Storm and Rain again. The Storm folded his arms over his Seek Shelter t-shirt while Rain stood with arms akimbo. Jericho and Benoit both saw them. Jericho nearly dropped Saturn, but stopped and started to turn him over again into the Walls. Benoit, however, did not hold himself back. He went back around the ring and started up the ring to his nemesis and former tag-team partner.
Benoit got his legs swept out from under him by Rain as the Storm pounded the Crippler's ribs with the ugly-stick. As the Storm tossed the ugly-stick to Rain and started to twist up Benoit's legs into a Figure-Four Leglock, she accosted the other two Radicalz who emerged from the entryway. Eddie Guerrero got a faceful of ugly-stick, but then Dean Malenko grabbed her hair and pulled the stick away from her. He smirked as he examined her face, then pulled her forward for a kiss. She smirked, then snapped one hand between his legs. Malenko's eyes bugged out as she locked on a testicular claw. She pulled him toward the edge of the stage and took him by the head and crotch, lifted him up and dropped him over the side onto a table below.
In the ring, Jericho made Saturn tap out to the Walls, then dropped him and started up the ramp toward the mayhem, but by now other referees had appeared and were pulling Rain away from Guerrero, whom she was starting to stomp, and disentangling the Storm's legs from Benoit's. They held Jericho at bay as the Storm got back up, gave him an Italian arm chop and walked to the back.
* * *
Mick Foley confronted the two in front of the Lone Star dressing room. "Storm..."
"Don't start with me, Foley," the Storm said. "I didn't break your decree. I never interfered with the match. I just removed an unfair element from Jericho's match by taking out Benoit. As for Dean and Eddie, well, if they'd just kept their noses out of it, nothing would have happened."
"And besides," Rain said, "Malenko deserved that after putting his hands on me. Little pervert."
Foley fumed silently for a moment. As much as it angered him to admit it, the Storm was right. He didn't violate the commissioner's no-interference decree, so he couldn't get angry at him. He frowned. "You step out of line one more time..."
"Yeah, yeah, blow it up your fat ass, Foley," the Storm snapped. "I know -- I step out of line, you punish me and that decision is final!" He waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need to worry about Rain or I breaking any of your rules tonight or Thursday, since I'm going to be back home, getting ready for one of the most brutal matches of my career."
Foley was silent, merely glaring at the Storm as he let Rain into the dressing room. The Storm started after her, then paused and turned back to Foley with a smirk. "Who knows? Maybe I'll break the record Rock set when he beat your head in with that steel chair. See just how much punishment Jericho can take before he finally caves in -- or before his head finally caves in." He laughed derisively. "Have a nice day, Mick." He left into the room and shut the door.
SUNDAY: Wrestlemania, Apr. 2
The crown-jewel of sports entertainment once again entertained some very exciting matches this year. In the opener, the Dudley Boyz took on Bull Buchanan and the Goodfather of Right to Censor in a table match, and once again, the censors suffered -- receiving the Dudley Device, the Wazzup! headbutt, and tasted wood with a 3D on Buchanan. (Steven Richards had wisely stayed away from ringside during that match.)
Next, Dean Malenko put his Light-Heavyweight Championship on the line in a Triple Threat match against Essa Rios and X-Pac. The match saw numerous high spots and aerial manuevers (espeically from the high-flying Rios), and it appeared that X-Pac (who almost never jobbed in singles matches) had the match won after X-Factoring Rios, but Malenko put the former DXer in a Texas Cloverleaf and forced him to tap out, so the Radical retained his title.
In the next match, Steven Richards and Ivory took on Crash and Molly Holly in an intergender tag-team match. Despite the intergender rules, Crash refused to fight Ivory and routinely tagged in Molly when she entered the ring. Richards, on the other hand, had no problem attacking the blond-haired woman. In the end, it was Crash and Molly's cousin Bob "Hardcore" Holly who assisted them -- pasting Richards with "the best dropkick in the business" when the referee wasn't looking, thus allowing Crash to make the pin and win the match.
Steve Blackman defended his title in a Hardcore Championship free-for-all which featured both members of Kaientai, Tazz, Raven, Bob Holly, and Perry Saturn. The match lasted for fifteen minutes, during which Holly and Saturn each got their hands on the title at least once, but lost it to someone else. Tazz and Raven possessed the title twice each during the match, but began to fight each other over who would walk out with the title. Neither Funaki or Taka Michinoku got the title in the match, as both were knocked out early with multiple trashcan lid shots from Blackman. In the end, Blackman pulled out the Philippino fighting sticks, and then showed Raven it was "party time" by working him over with the sticks before finally clobbering him with a kendo stick seconds before the time limit expired. Blackman retained.
The Hardy Boyz put their Tag Team Championship on the line against their perennial rivals Edge & Christian in a straight-up match, but as usual, the Canadian duo fought dirty. More than once, either Edge or Christian tried to knock out one of the Hardys with a belt or a chair, but each time, the other Hardy or the accompanying Lita would break up the pin. In the end, Christian hit the Unprettyer (formerly known as the Impaler) on Jeff while Edge took out Matt with an Edge-o-matic. Lita tried to get involved, but of all people, Rain appeared out of the audience and took out Lita with a Downdraft from behind, allowing Christian to finish the pin and pick up the win. Much to the dismay of most of the roster, the cocky Brothers Grin had won the Tag Team titles yet again.
Eddie Guerrero put the European Championship up for grabs in his match against the combined forces of Kurt Angle and William Regal in a Triple Threat. Despite the friendship between the Olympic gold-medalist and the British good-will ambassador, neither Angle nor Regal was willing to let the other win. The match went long, and Angle nearly wiped himself out with the Olympic Slam to Regal. Due to Angle's fatigue, Guerrero was able to hit a frog-splash on Regal and pin him to retain his title.
Still to come were the Intercontinental Championship and World Wrestling Federation Championship matches, between Chris Jericho and the Storm in a Last Man Standing match, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H in a no-DQ Triple Threat for the top gold.
* * *
"The following match is a Last Man Standing match, and is for the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship," Howard Finkel announced.
The legend Y2J appeared, along with the timer: 06 - 05 - 04 - 03 - 02 - 01 - 00. The lights all went out as the fans cheered, and then pyros exploded. A cityscape appeared on the big screen and then the word JERICHO as the male singer screamed, "Break the wall down!" The lights came back up to reveal Chris Jericho himself in one of his loud raver shirts, the Intercontinental title around his waist. He paced back and forth before walking down the aisle to the ring. "Introducing first, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, weighing in at 231 pounds...he is the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion... CHRIS JERICHO!"
Jericho climbed up on the apron, appeared to start into the ring, but planted his foot and looked out at the crowd again before stepping into the ring and removing the belt, which he handed to Tim White. White held the belt in the air, then passed Jericho's shirt to a stagehand as Jericho smoothed his hair back and crouched in wait. Y2J's music faded and the fans hushed as they awaited the arrival of the challenger.
A low musical tone started up, slowly building to a crescendo as the image of a silhouetted man in a downpour raised his head and arms to the sides. At the crescendo, guitar chords started to sound. "Damage, Inc." by Metallica played over flashes of the Storm's face, then clips of the Storm's brutal attacks. Words flashed periodically -- THE STORM -- THE FORCE OF NATURE -- SEEK SHELTER and the like. Walking out of the entrance came the Storm and Rain. The Storm wore a new t-shirt, one which read GeT SeT To GeT WReCKeD on the front with the trademark electric blue lightning bolts arcing down the front from the shoulders, and THE STORM on the back. He wore his sunglasses on his face, and clutched his pool cue ugly-stick in one hand. Rain was beside him, wearing her round sunglasses low enough to peer over them at Jericho with her eerie pale blue eyes. She wore her own I am a Force of Nature t-shirt.
"And the challenger, from Dallas, Texas, being accompanied by Rain, weighing in at 239 pounds... THE STORM!" The Storm glared at Jericho from behind his sunglasses, then turned to gaze out over the crowd. Many signs had been made for the match. The Storm will never eeeeeever be the same again! -- Y2J, this is your Storm Warning! -- One banner had Y2J over the words Shut the Hell up! and the Storm Warning symbol over Seek Shelter! A few signs were made for Rain, too -- Rain on my parade any day! read one amorous fan's sign, while another proclaimed Rain is a Gothic Trashbag Ho!
The Storm removed his sunglasses and handed them to Rain, then headed for the ring. Jericho slid out of the ring to meet him and got a faceful of the heavy end of the ugly-stick. Jericho rolled onto his stomach to get up, but the Storm reversed the ugly-stick and drove the heavy end's point into his spine, once, twice, three -- no, four times. Finally, the Storm stopped and set the ugly-stick down and pulled Jericho to his feet. A few right hands and Y2J staggered off, stopping at the steel stairs. There, the Storm hit a karate kick to the back of Jericho's head, smashing it down into the steel.
The Storm rolled Jericho into the ring as Rain stood a short distance away from the ring. The Force of Nature stood Jericho up and drove him back with a series of right hands, then abruptly jumped and planted his boot in Jericho's jaw with a spinning kick. Jericho slumped, but the Storm pulled him back, hooking him up, then hitting a snap suplex. Jericho writhed on the mat a bit as the Storm shot off the ropes for a leg drop on Jericho's face. He stood Jericho up, hooking up his arms, then lifting him up before dropping his ribs on his knee.
Jericho lay doubled-over on the mat as the Storm backed off. Referee Mike Chioda began the ten-count. "One! ...Two! ...Three!" Jericho was rolling onto his knees and starting to get up. "Four! ...Five!" Jericho was on all-fours at the moment, and the Storm rushed in, delivering a hard kick to Y2J's ribs, rolling him over, then stomping away. He pulled Jericho up and kicked him in the gut, knocking him back into the corner. The Storm rushed in and drove his shoulder into Jericho's ribs, then grabbed the ropes and began to piston his shoulder out and in, out and in, hardly letting Jericho draw breath between thrusts. Chioda at last pulled the Storm away.
The Storm sneered at Chioda, then charged back in, but Jericho managed to brace himself against the post and brought his foot up into the Storm's face. The Storm staggered away, then fell backwards onto the mat as Jericho charged low and clipped the back of his knees. The Storm started to get back up, but Jericho was over and grabbing the Storm's legs, pinning them under his arms. The Storm saw what was coming and tried to wriggle free, but Jericho rolled him over onto one shoulder, trying to finish the move, but the Storm kept twisting back. The Storm reached forward and grabbed Jericho's hair, pulling himself up, forcing Jericho to stand upright, releasing his legs. The Force of Nature brought his feet up and kicked Jericho hard in the chest with both feet as he let go of his hair. Jericho was knocked back as the Storm flew back into the corner, landing against the post.
The Storm winced as he pulled himself to his feet with the ropes as Jericho writhed on the mat, clutching his ribs in pain. "One! ...Two!" Chioda had begun the ten-count again. "Three! ...Four!" Jericho crawled to the ropes and used them as leverage to get back up. The ten-count stopped at six, whereupon the Storm charged Jericho, intending to clothesline him over the top. Jericho caught him and back dropped him over the top, but the Storm adeptly controlled his drop and turned around, landing on the apron behind Jericho. He grabbed Y2J's head and jumped back off the apron, hot-shotting him off the ropes to the mat. The Storm grabbed his legs and dragged him most of the way out of the ring before delivering hard punches and elbows to the back of Jericho's head.
The Storm grabbed Jericho's head, intending to throw it into the steel post, but Jericho halted himself and reversed the movement, driving his opponent's into the post. The Storm gave a shout of pain, but that didn't stop Jericho from doing it three more times. Finally, Jericho stopped, hitting the Storm with a right hand that knocked the groggy man down. Jericho went over to the timekeeper and forced him out of his chair. He picked this up and went toward the Storm, who was back to his knees. With a swing, the chair caromed off the Storm's skull, knocking him flat. Jericho yelled in triumph, throwing the chair down and climbing back in the ring as Chioda began a new ten-count. "One! ...Two! ...Three!" The Storm lay face-down on the floor, slowly picking himself up. "Four! ...Five! ...Six!" The Storm used the ring apron as balance as he got to his knees. The chairshot had opened up a cut on the Storm's forehead. Blood was pouring down one side of his face.
Jericho saw him still moving and hit a baseball-slide dropkick to the Storm's face, catapulting him back into the security barrier. The Storm sprawled against it, trying to pick himself back up. Jericho went and picked up the steel chair, coming back and raising it. Abruptly, Rain ran forward and kicked him in the side, near the ribs. Jericho shouted and dropped the steel chair, turning toward her. He blocked a swing from her and grabbed her hair, about to give her a talking to (and then perhaps a minute or two in the Walls of Jericho), but the Storm saw him confronting his girlfriend/manager. This galvanized something in the Storm, who got back up, running forward and grabbing Jericho's legs. He stooped, then lifted Jericho up on his shoulders. The 'Ayatollah of Rock-and-Rollah' waved his arms and shook his head, shouting for the Storm to put him down. Rain climbed up on the ring apron with the steel chair and wound up. She swung it into Jericho's chest, and the Storm dropped backwards, dropping Jericho down on the floor hard.
Rain hopped off the apron and tossed the steel chair away as she backed away to the ramp again. The Storm slumped against the apron and caught his breath as Chioda began the ten-count again. "One! ...Two! ...Three! ...Four! ...Five!" Jericho was getting back up. The Storm lurched forward, heedless of the blood which was half-blinding one eye, grabbed Jericho by the hair and threw him back into the ring. He followed and knocked Jericho back down with a right hand. He took hold of Jericho's legs and stepped between them, twisting his legs into a Figure-Four Leglock, then dropping to the mat and tensing his legs, putting painful pressure on Y2J's legs.
Jericho shouted in pain, trying to grab the ropes, but the Storm had him in the middle of the ring and wasn't letting him go anywhere. Jericho started pounding the mat with his hand, but Chioda shook his head. It was a Last Man Standing match, so he couldn't tap out. The Storm held the hold as long as he could, before finally disentangling himself. He got up, his eyes a bit cloudy, and went over to the corner, leaning out to pick up the ugly-stick cue. He lifted this into the ring and raised it in the air, then turned to Jericho, who was climbing to his feet. Jericho turned around and the Storm swung the lighter end of the ugly-stick into his forehead. The pool cue snapped, the broken piece spinning out of the ring, landing near the timekeeper's table. Jericho fell back and through the ropes, tumbling to the floor.
The Storm stared at him, then at the broken end of his ugly-stick. He stared for a moment, then dropped it and stepped out of the ring, looking down at Jericho, who now had a cut of his own on his head, blood starting to coat his face as well. The Storm blinked through the blood covering his eyes and tilted his head to the side. Chioda was in the count again. "...Three! ...Four! ...Five!" Jericho was struggling to get up to his knees.
The Storm turned to the Spanish announce table and ripped the cover off of it, then pulled out the monitors. He pulled Jericho up and dragged him up onto the table, then set him up for a Downdraft. He lifted, but Jericho halted himself. The Storm frowned and tried again, but Jericho again stopped himself. Before the Storm could try a third time, Jericho's foot jabbed up between the Storm's legs. The Storm groaned as he doubled over, releasing Jericho. Y2J spun around, grabbed the Storm's legs, and quickly managed to turn him over into the Walls of Jericho. The Storm grunted in pain, grimacing, but steadfastly refusing to shout or scream in pain. Jericho held on tight, throwing his head back and shouting into the air. Rain ran over and climbed up onto the table, walloping Jericho in the face with a punch.
Jericho staggered back and dropped the Storm, at which point Rain hopped off the table and backed away. The Storm started to get up as Jericho started to go after Rain, but before the weakened Y2J could get very far, the Storm grabbed his hair and pulled him back. He dragged Jericho back up onto the announce table and slugged him in the face a few times, then turned him around and got him in a full-nelson. He lifted up, flipping Jericho up a bit and grabbing his shoulders before hurling him in a Downdraft. The table collapsed under them, and the sudden shift of balance caused the Storm to fall to the side, hitting his head against the security barrier.
Chioda began a ten-count again as both men lay on the ground. "One! ...Two! ...Three! ...Four! ...Five!" The Storm was starting to get up, on his knees. Jericho was merely twitching a bit, seeming too weak to get back up. "Six! ...Seven!" The Storm was pulling himself up with the security barrier. "Eight!" The Storm staggered a bit as he got to his feet and turned around. He staggered toward Chioda, then braced himself against the ring apron. "Nine!" Jericho still showed no signs of getting up. "Ten!" Chioda called for the bell, and then took the Intercontinental title belt and handed it to the Storm, who weakly raised a hand in the air.
Howard Finkel announced, "The winner of this match, and the new World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion... THE STORM!" "Damage, Inc." started to play as Rain came over to the Storm and helped him walk back toward the entranceway. The Storm's face was a mask of crimson, his eyes nearly shut, shuddering a little bit from shock and blood loss. EMTs clustered around him as others went past the ring toward the still-sprawled Jericho.
* * *
The Storm sat in the Lone Star dressing room later that night, blood being cleaned off his face by Rain while the EMTs shined lights in his eyes, trying to determine if he had received a concussion. He dimly watched the Triple Threat match between Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H over the WWF Championship. The Storm supposed he had to have a concussion or something, since to his perspective, he blinked and suddenly found Austin walking into the dressing room, covered with sweat and a little blood, the WWF Championship belt in his hands. The Storm smiled weakly.
"Forgive me if I don't get up, Steve," the Storm mumbled, "but I'm kinda outta it right now..."
"No sweat, man," Austin said. "Wanna beer?"
The Storm declined. "Nah. I'll get some later. You can have mine."
"That was the plan, man," Austin laughed as he toasted him. "Congrats on getting the belt back."
"You too," the Storm said. "And that freak Jericho ain't gonna be getting this back any time soon."
-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 part will feature the aftermath of Wrestlemania, as well as how the Storm reacts to the return of an old rival. 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=-