Disclaimer: This is unassociated with any of my other stories, and I do not own any of the members of this story. I simply write this story due to my interest in Raw, especially with the superstars who have major roles in my dialogue.
Pairings: Edge/Lita (developing), shades of Christian/Trish, and one of the great surprise pairings I should have been working on since Intergender Survivor Series.
UPDATE! The Orton/Candace pairing has taken a cut. I'm not that far interested in it. It will be reduced to a friendship.
Rating Info: This story is rated PG-13, as all of them are, for safety purposes.
The Stones of Raw by Prime Time, Legend Champion
Chapter 3: The Elimination Chamber
Following 12/27/2004 episode of Raw
Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, MS
Last week, Raw had taken a week off to celebrate the Best of Raw 2004, and Smackdown went to Iraq to give the soldiers a piece of Americana. Mick Foley and Lilian Garcia represented Raw on the trip, and the last live Raw, two weeks ago, was great, but onto tonight's show.
Eric Bischoff announced a "Beat the Clock" event which would feature the Elimination Chamber Superstars and six other men. The basic explanation would be that we have ourselves a clean slate, and six matches would fill it up. In each match would be one of the initial competitors in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, and one of another six men from the Raw roster. The winner in each match would earn the final decision of having that spot in the Chamber match. And not only that, the timer would be important as well, because the amount of time it takes for the winner to be decided will determine the order in which they get released from their individual chambers.
To start the festivities, Chris Jericho took on his former best friend, Christian. After a hard-fought match in which Tyson Tomko wore the first Captain Charisma T-shirt and interfered on the behalf of the Show Stealer, Christian still tapped out to the Walls of Jericho, meaning that the King of the World was still the man in the match. He won in 10 minutes and 47 seconds, which turned out to be the slowest time. Following the match was Evolution. Ric Flair was getting Triple H and Batista's confidence levels up, and Batista was already up. Trips was concerned because he had no clue who his opponent was going to be. Flair concluded by saying that they knew that Trips was going to get the fastest time, and that he was going to be the World Champion at the end of the night. (yeah, like Big Dave's gonna stand for this… )
Next, Randy Orton had an interview with backstage interview diva, Maria Kanellis. He spoke of making the new year's resolution that at New Year's Revolution, he was walking out of that match a second-time World Heavyweight Champion. Then came his match. The competitor he was facing was a friend of his in the past, the much disgruntled Maven. Randy seemed to be getting controlled at first, but came away with the RKO and the win at 6:14.
The next match finished in about a minute. It was between the Queen of Extreme (Lita) and the Wholesome Diva (Molly Holly). Molly barely got on the offensive when Lita gave her that Raven Effect-like DDT and won the match. Suddenly, Gene Snitsky showed up and played a personal game of tag with Lita. When she locked herself in a door to hide from Snitsky, Eric Bischoff appeared and asked him if he was having fun. He said he was having a blast, and Eric said that at New Year's Revolution, he would be facing Kane.
Simon Dean and Rosey, one of the superheavyweights of Raw, had a match next. When Simon came out, he disrespected Rosey and the Mississippi fans, calling them oinking pigs and disgusting hogs. This match wasn't very long either. Simon once put on a heavyweight belt to try lifting up Rosey, and got splattered down for his efforts. Rosey then took the belt, planning to use it as a weapon, and - like a good referee - Mike Chioda didn't let him. Simon Dean suddenly came up with the school boy cradle and pinned Rosey's weight, 1, 2, 3.
The next match was the Arch of Awesomeness, Edge, taking on the Man Child, Eugene, in another Elimination Chamber spot match. Within this match, we saw Eugene toy around with Edge by going out to the outside and saying hi to the fans. This was with 4½ minutes already gone by in this match, meaning only 1¼ left for Edge to beat Orton's then-record time. Eugene may have just been too giddy and happy and 'good time guy', or he may have been working a strategy by purposely prolonging the match so Edge can suffer from frustration. Though he got caught by Edge when he went into stationary hiding, got two of his favorite special moves countered, and received a Spear for his efforts, the plan worked. However, the frustration didn't take Edge out of the game. It intensified him, and both guys got to serious business. However, when Edge applied his submission move, the Edgecator, it was only a matter of time before Eugene tapped out. The move is a sort of Sharpshooter-Ankle Lock variation that he probably created when beefing with Kurt Angle back in his Smackdown days. I calculated that the total match time was 8:46, more than three minutes behind the next winner.
That winner was Chris Benoit, who had a tough match against Viscera. Well, it was tough for a 5:43 victory. The Mohawk Knight dominated most of the match and displayed a little bit of athleticism and smart wrestling with which he used his size. However, when Benoit got a German suplex on him, he finally did the near-impossible and got in the Crippler Crossface. Viscera held on for over 40 seconds before his lack of ability to get out of the move caused him to tap out to the Rabid Wolverine. At this point, 4/4 men successfully kept their Chamber spots, and Benoit had the fastest time. Now, it was up to Evolution's two men to finish the determination of the balance.
The latter-neighboring moment saw Stacy Keibler show out in a hot outfit (as usual) and thank the WWE fans for making Raw rock in 2004, and for voting her in to be the first Babe of the Year outside of Trish Stratus. (but she didn't mention it that far) Now, she was vocally and visually claiming to bend over forwards and backwards to help Raw 2005 be an even better year. Then, out came Muhammad Hassan and Khozrow Daivari, who ejected Stacy from the area and spoke their self-promoting rubbish about Arab American mistreatment. Now, it was true to an extent, but the way they exaggerated it, it was just as ridiculous. Those two fools even went as far as to blame Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross, the announcers. This led to a confrontation.
Next, we saw Eric Bischoff talking to Candace about her Christmas holiday when Jonathan Coachman (who had earlier come to Eric Bischoff's office about what I'm about to say) showed up, claiming that the special guest referee for the Elimination Chamber match was here, and things just got a lot more interesting. Then came Muhammad and Daivari, bringing their complatint against Lawler and Ross to the office and demanding a match against them. With the proper claim that JR isn't even a wrestler, Bischoff didn't sanction that match. Rather, he allowed a debate to come next week.
Lawler and Ross had their words to say about it, and then came Batista. His opponent was Rhyno, who proceeded to piss him off with a slap. Batista proceeded to kick out of a Gore, and obliterate Rhyno with two Batista Bombs. The match ended in three minutes and two seconds, which turned out to be the fastest time even after Triple H's own.
Speaking of Triple H, upon entry to the locker room, Batista was immediately chastised by the Game over beating the clock. Batista told Trips that Rhyno pissed him off, and he did what he did. He apologized, but Trips kept yelling in his face, proving that he was not about to let Batista off the hook. Then, Dave said he was being pissed off by Trips now. Flair tried to calm them down with that "Evolution comes first" talk, although these days, I doubt that's gonna help anybody. Then out they came for the match. As Triple H came out, all the competitors had their seats at ringside. Batista and Flair accompanied Trips to the ring, and it was after Batista took his seat that Trips looked down everyone. And it was when Shelton Benjamin's music came up that everyone, Batista included, had at least a small grin on their face, proving indeed that E.I.D. theory. When Trips got a submission maneuver in and won the match due to Shelton's lifelessness, Benjamin put a foot on the rope. This led to the immediate cancelling of the decision by senior referee Earl Hebner, and Trips and Hebner argued, leading to Benjamin nearly bringing his vs. Triple H record to 4-0. However, thanks to Ric Flair and only Ric Flair, Trips managed to come away with the victory, and three seconds behind Benoit's time, meaning he lost two order places instead of one! (he probably doesn't know yet) But the real trouble came when Eric Bischoff announced that Shawn Michaels would be the guest referee in the Elimination Chamber on January 9th. Michaels' deep history with many members of the Raw locker room included that nobody in that match was liking this announcement. The entire event saw the Raw Diva Search winner, Christy Hemme, as the beautiful timekeeper and bellringer who knows how to leave, change outfits, and get back between short intermissions.
-
Anyway, since I'm running a little low on time today, this chapter has to be cut a little short. Unless I feel this a little much, this expects to be the shortest chapter. With that out of the way, Shawn Michaels ends up having a problem with Christian in the back shortly after the end of the show.
"Hey, Michaels. What the hell are you doing back here?" Christian asked him in a disapproving tone.
"First of all, I'm gonna call this match right down the middle with the Elimination Chamber. The World Heavyweight Champion will be determined by my honorable hand with an absolute promise of fairness to the Raw locker room. And if you want me to cheat for Edge to win or for Jericho to lose or something, all of them have some kinda problem with me, and you can take your fake charisma in another direction," Michaels told him. "Second of all, when all that is said and done, I'm gonna do what I've gotta do in order to get to challenge for that World Title. If you wanna jump on the bandwagon when I become the king in this ring, then be my guest. All I know, you're not gonna be happy when I'm finished with ya."
"Of course I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon. I'm the Show Stealer, the Peep Man! I'm Captain Charisma! I hope to one day represent my Peeps as the World Heavyweight Champion here on Raw, and if I have to go through you to do it, that'll be just perfect!" Christian said.
"I've beaten you before, greenhorn," Michaels retorted.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I have, too!" Christian answered back.
"I've beaten you in singles action. You won in a tag team match!" Michaels pointed out.
"So?" Christian asked.
"I'm a better singles competitor than you!" Michaels responded, concluding his earlier statement.
"Well, I know one thing. You're not better than Edge. And I know him like the back of his book, so if you decide you're gonna declare yourself the Champion when he pins Triple H last, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, Steve Austin did that once to Undertaker and Kane, and you screwed Bret Hart!" Christian yelled in the face of the Heart Break Kid.
"W-w-wait a minute, did I hear this right?" Chris Jericho suddenly came up, causing both Michaels and Christian to turn around towards him. "Captain Charisma, did I just hear you kiss Edge's ass?"
"What are you talking about? The fact that I said he's gonna beat Triple H to become the World Champ? That is my honest opinion! I know all of Edge's moves, despite the fact that there's still one we haven't seen in a long time. I know his talent, because I've tag teamed with it, and I've felt it myself when I was against him. I know his drive, because of the exact same reason as his talent. I know he wants this, and he can get it. And honestly, I think he will, if you two don't screw this up!"
"Hey, he's got a point. They've been best friends for over twenty years," Jericho mentioned.
"But wouldn't that be more reason to kiss his ass?" Michaels asked, putting an insight question into the Highlight of the Night.
"Have you no respect for this friendship that I share with Christian here? We've known each other before both of your careers were born, so how can you tell me he's kissing my ass? Christian is absolutely right! Haven't I stressed it ten million times how much I've been getting overlooked in the World Heavyweight Championship picture?" the Arch of Awesomeness suddenly interrupted the picture. The others didn't even say a word. "Exactly. I can get the title, I want the title, and at New Year's Revolution, I'm gonna get it. And I don't care what anybody says. Oh, by the way; where's Trish?"
"Her room," Christian bluntly said. "Why?"
"We're just gonna have a little fun," Edge said. "It's no big deal." Then, he smirked to Christian, giving him the feeling of the worst, and walked off.
"Hey, get the hell back here, you show stealer! I'm gonna kick your ass into your grandfather life!" Christian yelled, threatening and prepared to attack. The only problem was that he was restrained by Randy Orton and Matt Hardy, who just showed up.
"Hey, Christian! Lighten up, man! Isn't 'Show Stealer' your nickname?" Edge called to him from seemingly miles ahead.
"Hey, idiots! Let go of me!" Christian ordered Matt and Randy. This only made them hold on tighter as he struggled to break free after Edge.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I can't believe it! Trish and I agreed to discuss a little bet about getting our titles at New Year's Revolution! What, did you think we were gonna do the nasty radishing?" Edge called. Christian looked completely dazed and confused at that point. How the hell did he think...
Then, everyone laughed.
"Shut up!" Christian ordered them all, running towards Edge, who was simply walking away.
"Hey, Edge. You better mark my words, man. I'm gonna get you for this," Christian said.
"I'd like to see you try," Edge dared him.
"Unfortunately, I don't have anything right now. But when I do, you better watch out," Christian warned his best friend. As Edge walked off, Christian smirked much in the evil-looking way that the other Awesomeness Dynasty member has done a lot lately.
"Christian, what's going on around here?" Lita suddenly asked him from behind. With that, his smirk grew even larger.
"Lita, have I ever told you about the day Edge tricked me into thinking he and Trish were gonna go into hydraulics hyperdrive with each other?" Christian asked the Queen of Extreme, leading her down the hall.
"No, when did that happen?" Lita answered with a question.
"Just now," Christian said.
Speaking of these friendships from old times, Viscera, the man who Chris Benoit just recently beat to retain his Elimination Chamber spot and eventually reach second place as far as fastest time, was in his locker room, packing his bags in order to get on a plane somewhere, when there was suddenly a knock on the door. Vis invited the person in, and it was his friend, the Vampire Warrior, Gangrel.
"Gangrel, what are you doing here?"
"Heard from one of Bischoff's friends you were wrestling a match," Gangrel answered the quite obvious question. "Turns out you failed to get in the chamber. But not too many people can put Benoit in such a bad spot."
"What are you talking about? His time was second fastest," Viscera pointed out.
"Hey, I was watching the match from backstage, and I saw everything. You basically dominated the entire match, really. And on that one play he managed to get, the one with which he won the match?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Vis asked him.
"You tapped out after forty seconds. I know a lot of people back here who can get out of it but wouldn't have taken that much time to tap," Gang pointed out, brightening his friend's probably already light spirits about the match.
"I see you're impressed," Viscera said. "Well, I'm glad for you. You're a good pal, considering your evil persona."
"Hey, you have one, too. It clicks, man," Gangrel pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right," Viscera agreed. "But, uh…"
"What?"
"I have no clue what to say next."
"Ha. Ha ha ha ha."
Now, Randy and Candace having a "final" discussion.
"Hey, Candace," Randy started. "I just got to thinking. Maybe we're moving a little too fast. Considering that we've barely started talking for two weeks and I'm already starting to like you as more than a friend, this is dangerous."
"Yeah, I get ya," Candace understood. "So, it's friends?"
"Yup. Just the way I have to like it," Randy said.
"Did the relationship receive a frenzied dash and rush itself to death?" Trips suddenly said from behind them.
"Triple H, you wouldn't know the half of it. You were using Stephanie McMahon as a power grip when you married her. If it wasn't for Vince and Stephie propelling you to the top, how far would you have gotten? You would probably be the guy behind Shawn Michaels competing only for the Intercontinental Title. And you know it!" Randy immediately countered the taunt from the Game.
"You see this, Candace? This is what you call a man?" Trips questioned the girl.
"Hey, don't put Candace in the middle of this mess. You're the one whose manhood has a right to be questioned," Randy immediately stopped the mind games.
"You know what?" Trips started.
"What?" Randy demanded.
"Go handle your business. I have enough troubles without this crap," the Cerebeal Assassin excused himself from the area. Randy and Candace looked at each other, "speaking" a message about the Game's incredulous interruption to their discussion.
"Are you done yet?" Christy suddenly asked, having come behind Candace from out of nowhere.
"Yeah, we're done. She can go," Randy said. As he watched Candace and Christy leave, having nothing else to do…
"Yup. It's hard," Matt said from behind him.
"This is the second time, Matt."
