Welcome back. Don't really have anything to say so let's jump straight to it.
Chapter 1
Gabriel found himself sitting across from Paul Heyman. A mahogany table was placed between them and the room they resided in was, over all, very well decorated. "I can't believe that they did that!" Paul's spoke loudly, his voice laced with both elation and disbelief. "I mean, just how stupid can you be." Paul's chair and the man's back was turned away from Gabriel. Both of their eyes were glued to a television set located at the front of the room.
"It definitely wasn't smart of them." Gabriel returned evenly. The television was paused on the image of New Japan unveiling a new IWGP Intercontinental Championship, identical to the one in Gabriel's possession. "Instead of giving back my deposit and having me return the strap, effectively taking it from being presented in a rival promotion, they decided to just go buy a new one. I'm going to milk this for all its worth." Paul swiveled around in his chair and placed his hands on the table before him with interlaced fingers.
"Emotions are running high for them. When emotions run high irrational decisions are made. When irrational decisions are made you seize the opportunity." Paul used the table as leverage to stand up before he began walking around the room. "You did good last week. You went out there and you shocked the world. Then you pinned Curtis Axel, someone who was once a Paul Heyman Guy. Someone who was under my wing at one point in his career. And then, then you made an even bigger impact at the end of Raw. That being said, I don't think I need to tell you but you've caught the attention of upper management."
Gabriel ran his hand through the air, as if performing a bow without actually bowing. "It's almost like you should have never doubted that I would deliver." Heyman chuckled as he turned his body to completely face the younger man.
"You know, you're right. I'm sorry that I doubted you would do what needed to be done. That being said, last week was only the beginning. From here you need to figure out how you can push it further, how you can bring more spotlights onto you, how you can make even more people buy into you. You should go and start getting ready for tonight, but keep that in mind. I have to go make a call to Brock."
"Appearance of his coming up?"
"Possibly. He's... less than pleased that one night after defending his Championship against two men he still has two men trying to challenge for it." Gabriel nodded as he stood to his feet and began walking to the door.
"I can understand that gripe. I'll talk to you later Paul." Heyman waved to the wrestler over his shoulder as the man closed the door. Walking off down the hall he rolled his right shoulder with a loud pop. "Push it further?" He questioned himself as he bit the inside of his cheek. He noted that the halls were noticeably more busy with people this week than it had been the week prior. He looked around and picked a few people out of the crowds.
Braun Strowman marched past everybody towards the direction of catering. Elias sat on a crate strumming a guitar while writing lyrics onto a piece of paper everyone once in a while. Seth Rollins seemed to be in a heated conversation with Jason Jordan. Curtis Axel ran down a hallway followed closely behind by an irate looking Roman Reigns. Alexa Bliss was talking to a man wearing an NXT shirt. If he wasn't mistaken it was Alexa's fiance, Blake Murphy. Across the hall was Asuka, who already looked ready to fight as she looked towards Alexa.
Gabriel shook his head as he continued on his path. Reaching the men's locker room relatively quickly he pushed the door open. Seeing who was inside he spoke up, "Heard you angered the Beast, mate." Joshua, wearing an UpUpDownDown tee shirt, joggers and tennis shoes, looked over his shoulder at Gabriel before shrugging.
"Good. That means he'll come to me quicker. I mean what I say and I'm not scared of Brock Lesnar. I saw the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on New Japan. You send it back." Gabriel shook his head as he dropped his duffel bag onto the floor and unzipped it before producing his title.
"No. They just went ahead and purchased a new one. So this one here belongs to me." Joshua stared at him for a moment before chuckling.
"Really? See, now I have to outshine you every week because you have that here. Which, I mean, isn't that much of a problem because I did it last week."
"Woah, Woah, Woah." Gabriel returned as he stopped pulling items from his duffel bag. "I think we both know that you didn't 'one up' me last week. I completely outshined you."
"In your dreams." Joshua returned as he lifted his head up from stating at his phone. "In mean think about it. You go for a 360 Senton and you miss. I go for a 360 Senton and I land it on the mark. Plus, mine looked better than yours."
"That was one move. The crowd was chanting 'Holy Shit' before my entrance was even over. And, unless I'm going a little deaf, I didn't hear any during your match. Strange if you were the one that outshined me." Gabriel crossed his arms across his chest and scratched the side of his face with a sarcastically confused expression. Joshua smirked as he placed his phone down.
"You only got that chant because of the championship you took out there. Not because of your name or anything that you did." Before anymore words could be spoken the door to the locker room swung open and Balor Club walked in while laughing. Gabriel's entire demeanor instantly changed as he turned and began changing out of his clothes and into his ring gear.
"What are you doing? I'm pretty sure neither of us are supposed to go out for a while."
"Yeah, but it never hurts to go explore until then." Gabriel glanced over his shoulder and grimaced as Balor Club had noticed the two of them, or Joshua at the least, and were heading in their direction.
"Look what we have boys." Finn Balor spoke as they reached the two men's bench, stretching both of his arms out to indicate to Joshua. "I think that's the God of Thunder! How sweet is that?"
"I think that's... Too Sweet!" Luke Gallows crowed as the three leaned forward, placing their hands together with the Too Sweet hand sign while leaving their arms low enough so Joshua could join.
"Come on." Karl Anderson bobbed his head as his voice filtered through the locker room. "Don't leave us hanging." Joshua rolled his eyes with a smile and a chuckle before he joined their handshake.
"Alright, Too Sweet. What are you guys up to?"
"What are we up to?" Karl questioned as if he couldn't believe what Joshua had just asked him. "What are we up to? We've been roaming around everywhere backstage looking for our good ol' Good Brother, Raiden Mercer."
"Yeah, I mean, come on man." Karl added as he stretched his arms out. "You get signed to WWE, don't tell us and you think we're not going to sniff you out?"
"AJ sends his regards by the way." Finn's accented voice stated. "He wants you to call him sometime since he won't be able to stop by Raw for a while." Joshua nodded a thanks to Finn for relaying the message. Gabriel finished lacing his boots and placed his duffel bag in his locker, strapping his belt around his waist before leaving the room silently. Karl looked over his shoulder as he did so with a raised eyebrow.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Gabriel just has problems with Bullet Club." Joshua responded as he waved his hand through the air. "Apparently they're throwing their weight around backstage at New Japan or something."
"Well we're not Bullet Club. We're Balor Club." Finn returned as he gestured between himself and his two teammates. "But since we're all here and all four of us were members of Bullet Club at some point..." The first ever WWE Universal Champion trailed off as Joshua stood up from his place on the bench.
"Are you asking me to join Balor Club, Finn?"
"I'm just saying that the few of us... the four of us have made history in Japan. There's nothing stopping is from doing that again here in WWE. Besides, it's nice having someone watch your back. Braun Strowman is a big man." Joshua nodded in response to the last statement.
"Yeah, he is. I love you guys, I do. And maybe down the road I will he ready for a Club reunion. But right now? Right now I'm setting my sites on the top prize. I have something to prove. Finn I know you'll have your sights set on the Universal Championship. I mean, your name is in the title of the group. And I don't mind facing you for the title but not if we're in the same group together. It'll just make us fight and tear apart our friendship. I don't want that." Finn placed his hands on his hips with a deep sigh before smiling.
"It's alright. I get it. I wouldn't want that to get in the way of our friendship either. But if you ever need anything, anything at all, come find us. We got your back brother." Finn lifted his hand in the air for a Too Sweet that was joined by the other three.
"I appreciate it guys. So... you know, you three are, I'm here, my game console is in my bag, there's a TV right there... you guys want to have a good old Mortal Kombat tournament?"
"Why? So you can cheat us again?"
"Hey, I don't cheat. You guys just suck."
Gabriel walked through the corridors of Raw's venue slowly. He didn't really know where he was heading and he still had a little while until he would be needed at the gorilla position. As he continued walking Blake Murphy was suddenly shoved out of a door into his path causing him to stop. "Geez Nia, easy with that. I don't even know what I said." He spoke angrily as he walked away rubbing his shoulder.
Gabriel looked backwards with a raised eyebrow as he watched the man disappear around a corner. When he turned around he found Nia Jax staring down at him. Pointing his thumb over his shoulder he opened his mouth, "I don't know what that's about, I had nothing to do with it, I'm just making my way around town." Nia furrowed her eyebrows at him as she looked him over.
"Alexa told me about you. You're the one that beat Axel last week because he almost ran her over."
"No. I'm the one who beat Axel last week because that's who my opponent was." Nia crossed her arms across her chest as she continued to stare daggers into the man who was shorter than her.
"Alexa has a way of making people do things for her even when they don't realize it. Trust me, if she says you beat him because of that then you did." After another once over Nia began walking back into the room she and Murphy had come from. "She's right too. You could be more aggressive." The door swung shut. Gabriel stood there looking perplexed for a moment.
"What the hell does that even mean!?" Taking a deep breath the man ran a hand through his hair. Moving away from the door he began walking once again, letting his mind wander. Who was he facing tonight? Jason Jordan, the general manager's son. That wasn't much of a step up from Curtis Axel in Gabriel's eyes. However, Jordan would be a good way to test himself as he was, primarily, a grappler. With Gabriel been a fast Paced competitor he would have to make sure that he was the one setting the pace for the match or Jordan would begin wearing him down.
"You have to get tougher Heath." A man's deep voice spoke loudly. Turning a sharp corner Gabriel found a group of WWE performers. Heath Slater and Rhyno stood just a few feet in front of one another. Behind Rhyno stood the team of Titus World Wide talking animatedly with one another.
"Don't give me that man. I haven't forgotten you pushed me in the ring to get put through a table with those two bozos." Heath pointed over Rhyno's shoulder towards Titus O'Neil and Apolo Crews as Dana Brooks scribbled something onto her clipboard.
"Hey, don't get mad because you got caught cheating and got punked." Titus returned heatedly as he pointed back at the other man.
"You did cheat." Rhyno spoke again with quick nods while shrugging. "I'm just trying to help. We need to light a fire under you. You need to be tougher. You need to go out there and destroy the opponent. You need to be..." Rhyno trailed off as Gabriel felt a sense of Deja Vu.
"... More agressive?" The IWGP Intercontinental Championship carrier offered as he stopped near the group.
"Yes!" Rhyno exclaimed loudly as his eyes widened, his finger shaking in the air. "That's exactly what you need Heath! Aggression! Ruthless Aggression! That's great advice." Gabriel shook his head. First Alexa Bliss, then Nia Jax and now Rhyno. What was with these people's obsession with 'more aggression'?
"Hey, you're one of those guys that debut last week." Titus spoke with a smile as Dana took a deep breath and began scribbling statistics. "We've been looking for the two of you. Since we found you we may as well do this here." Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
"Do what?"
"I saw how talented you were in the ring." Titus responded as he gave a small laugh and began straightening out his suit top. "You can go a long way by yourself. But you can go even further with the right person behind you. How would you like to become a part of Titus World Wide!" Dana and Apolo called the last few words with Titus as they made their signature motions with their arms.
"Uh... right. Well, I appreciate your offer. Really, I do. But I already have a confidant that is helping me with my career here in the WWE. And, as impressive as 'Titus World Wide' is it would just be... disloyal of me to just drop him all of a sudden." Gabriel could tell by the look on Titus' face that his words were appeasing him. Now all he had to do was get away from the talent seeker. "But the other guy you're looking for he's in the locker room. Hell he's talking to Balor Club. You might get four for the price of one!"
"Can't pass that opportunity up!" Titus spoke, slapping Apolo's chest before the three members of the Titus Brand rushed off down the hall. Gabriel watched them go.
"You didn't mean a word you just said, did you?" Rhyno questioned as he came to stand by the high flyer.
"I was being honest about the confidant and the four in the locker room." He responded with a slight shrug causing the veteran wrestler to laugh before he resumed arguing with his tag team partner. Gabriel thought it better to leave than to wait around and have Titus World Wide come back. The former New Japan wrestler wondered around the backstage area aimlessly as he waited for the time to pass until he was needed at the gorilla position.
He stumbled onto the backstage interview area that was fairly empty at the point in time. Gabriel looked around before his blue eyes rested on the monitor that displayed the match occurring out in the ring in front of the live crowd. It was Alexa Bliss facing off against Bayley. The tired hugger had the champion in a headlock. Alexa was eventually able to wiggle put if the hold grabbing Bayley by her ponytail before yanking at her hair.
Gabriel almost winced as Bayley's head bounced off of the canvas. Alex then stomped down on her opponent's ponytail, grabbing her wrists, before pulling her body upwards. Bayley screamed in pain as the referee began a count for the Raw Women's Champion to break her hold. At the country of four she let go before mocking a booing child at ringside by rubbing her eyes as if she was crying while making a very fake sad expression. Dropping her arms down Alexa laughed before pulling Bayley up, again targeting her hair. Placing her arm on Bayley's shoulder and her foot behind the other woman's leg, Alexa shoved the hugger down onto the mat.
Scaling the turnbuckles, Alexa leaped off of the top ropes with her signature Twisted Bliss. That was all it took for the Raw Women's Champion to leave the ring with the win and a proud expression on her face. Gabriel watched the monitor for a few more seconds before turning away. "Gabriel do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Gabriel actually jumped slightly as Renee Young seemingly materialized out of thin air.
"Bloody hell. I should've known it was a bad idea to hang out in the interview area. Ok, but just a few." Renee nodded her head before turning to a camera man and motioning for him to begin filming.
"I'm joined here backstage by Gabriel Degray who is fresh off of his debut on Monday Night Raw last week. Gabriel, how does it feel to be here in the WWE?" Gabriel rolled his shoulder as he looked at Renee.
"It's a dream come true. I've worked pretty much my whole life to be here and be able to go out there and entertain the fans. So it feels pretty good to be here." Renee nodded in response.
"Last week, after you had made your debut and as Raw was closing, you walked onto the stage and basically had a stare down with the Miz. Can you give us any insight into that?" The man who was being interviewed chuckled slightly.
"I'm an Intercontinental Champion. He's an Intercontinental Champion. Does there need to be any other reason?"
"I guess not. But speaking of Intercontinental Championships, the one you have around your waist comes from New Japan. However, just last week they began a tournament to crown a new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Any thoughts on this?" Anytime semblance of a smile on Gabriel's face was lost as he frowned deeply.
"New Japan can create as many Intercontinental Championships as they want. They can crown as many champions with them as they want. The fact of the matter is I am the true IWGP Intercontinental Champion. I never lost the title. I never relinquished the title. That's why it's here with me." With those words Gabriel walked out from in front of the camera and away from the interview area.
Joshua laughed as he exited the men's locker room flanked by Balor Club. "Man you guys suck!' He exclaimed as the other three looked at him obviously disgruntled.
"There is no way you weren't cheating." Finn shot at him.
"Yeah, I mean come on. Mortal Kombat, Mario, Street Fighter, all the other games... there's no way that you're just 'that good'."
"That's the way it works my man." Joshua chuckled.
"Hold on." Finn spoke up as his phone rang from his pocket. Pulling it out he stared at the caller ID for a second before stepping away from the other three men while answering the call. "Hello? Well, I'm at Raw but I'm not watching Raw. I saw it last week. I can't really hold that against him." Finn went quiet for a moment before sighing. "Ok. I'll see you soon."
The Balor Club leader looked back to his friends before walking over with a smile. "It was just an old friend. The boys and I need to go take care of some stuff, but it was great hanging out with you Joshua." The African-Samoan nodded his head in response.
"Same here. Hit me up any time and I'll be more than happy to whip your guys asses in some more games." The men all laughed together as they parted ways. Joshua looked up to a clock located on one of the walls before stretching his arms. "Looks like it's about that time... Time to bring the Thunder." Turning around he made his way back into the locker room to change into his ring gear.
Gabriel moved his arms back and forth as Next Generation of Great by CFO$ faded from the arena's speakers. It was quickly replaced by All I Want by A Day to Remember. Gabriel walked out backwards onto the stage dressed in the same gear as the prior week. Spinning around he came into a three point superhero landing pose and looked around at the crowd. As the crowd cheered the man smirked before standing up and making his way down the ramp. Stopping at the end he looked over the ring and made his way to the stairs before turning around. Rushing forward he slid onto the apron and sat there for a moment. Using the ropes to pull himself up Gabriel then walked along the apron and climbed the side of the turnbuckles where he lifted his arm and extended both his index finger and thumb. "His opponent, from Birmingham, United Kingdom, Gabriel Degray!"
After posing he dropped down into the ring and threw back the hood of his vest. Moving towards the ropes Gabriel unstrapped the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from around his waist and held it up for the crowd and camera, just like he had the week before. Slowly lowering the championship he made his way to the side of the ring near the bell keeper where he handed the title, and his vest, off. Turning around and looking across the ring at Jason Jordan he leaned back in his corner and waited for the bell.
"Here we go folks." Cole announced in his headset. "We're about to see Kurt Angle's son versus IWGP Intercontinental Champion Gabriel Degray. And this will be interesting because it's essentially Grappling versus high risk."
"Oh yeah, this is about to be off the hook." Booker T responded quickly. The referee initiated the match as the bell rang, both mean bolting forward out of their corner. Jason Jordan came into a crouch to circle his opponent while Gabriel bound from spot to spot. The two slowly closed in on one another and made to lock up before Gabriel dodged away from Jason who seemed dumbfounded as his opponent smiled.
"I wasn't ready." Gabriel called across the ring with a shrug as Jason placed his hands on his hips. The son of Kurt Angle shook his head before they moved forward once again in the same manner they had before. Once again they almost locked up before Gabriel danced out of his opponent's reach. Jason stomped his foot on the ground and walked towards the referee, talking to him angrily while gesturing to Gabriel with his hand. The fast Paced wrestler in the ring looked around and laughed as the crowd began chanting 'Daddy's Boy'.
Jason waved the crowd off and moved towards his opponent angrily as he tried to lock up. Gabriel simply ducked underneath his arms and bounced a few feet away. Jason Jordan released an enraged scream as he slapped the top turnbuckle before spinning around and rushing the other competitor. Seeing this Gabriel rushed forward as well before sliding across the mat past Jason. When the son of the general manager turned around he was caught with a back kick to the abdomen followed by a Pele kick that caused him to stumble backwards into the corner. Gabriel ran forward and leaped through the air with a corner back elbow that allowed him to slide through the top and middle ropes to the apron. As Jordan leaned forward put of the corner Gabriel slipped back through the top and middle ropes to take his opponent down with an overhead knee drop.
Jason held the back of his head as Gabriel rolled to his feet. "How smart is the strategy Gabriel Degray has used to kick this match off? Knowing that if Jordan can keep him grounded he'll be at a disadvantage he used his speed to keep from locking up, purposely angering his opponent. Now he's in control of the match and can set his own pace."
"Yeah, but if Jason can fight back and ground him, like you said, he's at a disadvantage and that might be the end of it for him." Gabriel pulled Jason up to his feet before delivering a back kick to his stomach. As he bent over the newer Raw talent kicked him in his head twice before delivering a round house kick. Jason fell backwards into the ropes which gave his body just enough momentum to fall forward into a discuss Lariat.
"He just took his head off with that!" Jason laid motionless in the ring as Gabriel leaned forward on the ropes with his forearms and looked around at the crowd for a few seconds. Pushing off of the ropes Gabriel slowly picked his opponent back up before wrapping his arm around the man's head and flipping him into a seated position. After sliding across the mat past Jordan Gabriel leaped to his feet, spun around and delivered a quick one legged basement dropkick. After a kip up Gabriel rushed forward with a running shooting star press.
"So far this match has been all Gabriel. You have to wonder what's going through the mind of Jason's tag team partner, Seth Rollins, while he's watching this." Jason rolled over onto his shoulder holding his stomach as the crowd cheered for Gabriel. Reaching down he once again began pulling his opponent up. Halfway through the process Jordan planted his feet into the mat and slammed his shoulder into Gabriel's gut before lifting him up and rushing him across the ring into a corner.
In this position Jason rammed his shoulder into the other man multiple times. When the referee's count to break contact came close to five Jordan quickly jerked his opponent out of the corner and delivered an overhead belly to belly suplex. "Oh my! Alpha Plex! It looks like Jason Jordan may have just turned this whole thing around."
"I think Gabriel spent a little too much time gloating down there." Booker T responded. Gabriel held his back as he stood back up only to be lifted off the ground and slammed down onto the mat with a double leg take down from the taller wrestler. Maneuvering his way around Gabriel's body Jordan then turned this into a Gator roll.
"Now that Jordan had control in this contest he looks like he's going to do his best to wear down his opponent so that his fast Paced style isn't so fast Paced anymore." Gabriel grit his teeth as he tried to break Jordan's hold on him. Jordan slowly dragged him up to his feet, holding him in a headlock as the referee continuously asked Gabriel if he wanted to give up. Using this new position to his advantage Gabriel delivered a few shots to the side of his opponent's body before Jason quickly shifted around behind him and launched him through the air with a German Suplex. Gabriel's face scrunched up in pain as he held his now throbbing neck.
Jason looked around with a frown as the crowd rained 'You Suck' chants down upon him. "No! You're the ones that suck!" Jordan looked down at his opponent and began stomping away at him as he tried to work his way back to his feet. Gabriel tried Rolling away from his opponent but it was to no avail as he continued to be worked away at. The crowd booed Jordan as he brought Gabriel back to his feet by his head. Wrapping his arms around the shorter man he threw him with another overhead belly to belly suplex. However, Gabriel's body flipped fully as he shifted his weight allowing him to land on his feet as Jason smiled out to the crowd with his back to him.
When Jason turned around he was caught by a Shotgun Dropkick that threw him backwards and sent him spilling out to ringside. "How impressive was that? Gabriel Degray landing on his feet from Jason's suplex." Gabriel moved forward and exited the ropes to the apron despite the referee's objection to him doing so. As Jason made his way back to his feet Gabriel ran towards the corner of the ring. Using the turnbuckles as foot holds he used the side of them to perform a Moonsault out to ringside and onto a standing Jason Jordan. Gabriel stumbled backwards before regaining his balance and posing with his hands on his hips as the crowd began a chant of 'That was Awesome'.
Reaching down Gabriel pulled Jason up and shoved him back into the ring before climbing onto the apron. Jason stood and rushed forward, swinging at the other man. Gabriel ducked down underneath the punch before grabbing Jordan's head and bringing his neck down onto the ropes. The son of Kurt Angle fell onto his back before Gabriel jumped onto the top rope with a delayed hilo. Rolling forward off of Jason's abdomen Gabriel pretended to dust his hands off. He paused and looked around at the crowd before turning to stare at his downed opponent.
Jason had found his way to his hands and knees and was beginning to reach out for the ropes for leverage. Rushing forward Gabriel launched himself through the air before hitting his opponent in the back of his head with a corkscrew Enzuigiri. "Wow! What do you even call that?" Reaching down Gabriel picked his opponent up before spinning him around and setting him up for a german suplex. Jason flipped over his head and landed on his feet before going for his own which Gabriel performed the same motion he did. Jordan was again able to flip out Gabriel's second German Suplex attempt he smashed his forearm into the back of the shorter man's neck. Gabriel stumbled forward before he finally became the one to be the victim of Jordan's second German Suplex.
"I'd be careful. So many German Suplex attempts Brock Lesnar might want to join in!"
"Cole do you ever cease to annoy me?" Jordan picked Gabriel up before spiking his face down into the mat with a ddt. Gabriel rolled over onto his back with his hands covering his face. Gabriel quickly found himself standing once again before Jordan Irish whipped him towards the corner before following after him. Gabriel leaped through the air, planted his feet into the second ropes and performed a back flip over the other competitor's head. When Jordan spun around he was caught with a Rolling Thunder DDT that laid him out in the center of the ring.
Gabriel forced his opponent up before lifting him up onto his shoulder in a Fireman's carry. From the Fireman's carry Jordan was dropped into an overhead kick. "Oh, Overdrive!" Corey Graves commentated. "Is that it? It is!"
"Gabriel Degray with another impressive victory here tonight." Gabriel pushed up onto his knees as All I Want blared throughout the arena and looked around at the crowd. With a smile he stood up, lifting his arm and extending his index finger and thumb. Then, he slammed into the mat as a forearm smashed into his neck. The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas circles the downed wrestler while stomping away at his body.
"What are they doing out here!?" Cole's voice rose in pitch.
"You think you're better than me!?" Miz screamed in Gabriel's face as he was forced to his knees by the Miztourage who each held one of his arms. "Huh!? You think you're a better Intercontinental Champion!?"
"I think he's out here to make a statement Cole." Corey returned matter of factly. The Miztourage forced Gabriel up and spun him around while still holding his arms. Miz wrapped his own arms underneath them before sending the man crashing down with a Skull Crushing Finale. Miz sat on one knee and observed his handy work as I Came to Play started up. "I think this is wonderful. The Miz is proving a point here: No one is a better Intercontinental Champion than he is!" With a smile Miz stood to his feet, lifted his arm and extended both his index finger and thumb just like Gabriel had as Raw went to commercial.
Joshua adjusted his jacket as he stood just outside the gorilla position. The African-Samoan shook his head as Gabriel, holding his Intercontinental Championship, was helped backstage by officals. "Looks like forgot an important rule. Always have eyes in the back of your head." Gabriel winced as the officials forced him to keep walking towards the medical room.
"I don't know if you heard but 'that was awesome'." Joshua smirked.
"Which part? The match or the beatdown?" Gabriel didn't respond as he was made to move forward. With another shake of his head the Siaki family member turned and entered into the gorilla position. Glancing down at a small monitor placed inside he found that Raw had come back from commercial and Elias was in the ring playing his guitar and singing. Joshua chuckled as the crowd booed while Rolling his shoulder.
Before Elias could finish his song the lights went out as This War is Ours by Escape the Fate began playing and Joshua's spotlights began searching the arena before landing on the stage. Raiden walked out backwards before turning around, slapping the ground and bringing his arms out to his sides. Pyro went off behind him as the lights rose once again. He slowly made his way down the ramp, stopping at the end to take a breath and remove his hood. "And his opponent, from Fagaloa Bay, Samoa, Raiden Mercer!" Climbing the apron Raiden Springboarded over the ropes before landing on his feet in the ring. He turned around slowly, looking around at the crowd, before forming a gun with his hand and pointing it at Elias while pulling the trigger. Taking his jacket off and dropping it out if the ring his music faded away. Tapping the top turnbuckle Raiden clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth.
"Now how am I going to top 'that was awesome'?" He silently asked himself before the bell rang. The two competitors moved forward and met in the middle of the ring. Raiden made to grab Elias who ducked underneath his grasp before spinning around and kicking Raiden in the back of the knee. Raiden's leg buckled and he stumbled forward before he was clotheslined from behind. Quickly dragging Raiden back up Elias shoved him backwards causing the man to stumble. As he regained his balance a high knee caused his head to snap back. Raiden's body hit the ropes before Elias clotheslined him over them.
Raiden's body landed on the apron instead of completely falling to ringside and he shook his head quickly to regain his bearings. Elias reached over the ropes and grabbed the African-Samoan's long hair to force him to stand. Once on his feet Raiden lashed out backwards with a kick through the ropes to Elias' knee. Raiden spun around and launched himself into the ring with a Springboard DDT to his opponent. Elias rolled across the mat as Raiden quickly stood. As Elias came to one knee he was caught with a running forearm that quickly knocked him back down.
Joshua pulled Elias up before throwing him through the air with a monkey flip. "Raiden in control of this match up right now and I think that he's just playing with Elias right now." Moving to the side of the drifter's body Raiden quickly followed up with a standing moonsault. Elias held his abdomen and rolled away as Raiden dropped to his knees and pray. After a few seconds he nodded his hand and slapped the canvas before shouting.
"Fear the God of Thunder!" Raiden went for a dropkick but Elias shoved his feet away in the air. Raiden hit the mat and stood where he was hit with a dropkick from Elias. Raiden fell down where his opponent dropped a knee onto his chest. The African-Samoan held his chest as he stood up. Elias grabbed him and lifted him off the mat before delivering a body slam toss. Raiden writhed across the mat and quickly used the ropes to come back up. Turning he was lifted on the ground again with a vertical suplex. This time the man wasn't as quick to his feet as he arched his back in pain.
Elias smirked as he looked around at a booing crowd before dragging the opposing competitor up. Joshua smashed his forearm into the man's face causing him to step back before retaliation with a vicious big boot. "Oh! Did you see the way Raiden's head bounced off of the mat?" Looking over his shoulder Elias bounced off of the ropes and made to drop a knee down onto Raiden's face. The downed competitor rolled out of the way as Elias came down. Hopping to his feet Raiden hit the drifter with an Enzuigiri to send both men to the mat.
Raiden crawled across the canvas before pushing up. The two came to their full heights at the same time. Elias made to hit his opponent with a Lariat. However, Raiden ducked down and spun before kicking the other man's legs out from underneath him f rom behind. As soon as Elias' back connected with the mat Raiden launched himself high into the air before bringing his knee down to smash into his head. Rolling back to his feet Raiden rushed towards the ropes and Springboarded off with a Moonsault. Elias held his abdomen in pain before the previous maneuver was followed up with a jumping elbow drop.
Wrapping his arm around Elias head, Raiden pick him up in a headlock. Changing their position Raiden then brought his opponent down with a neckbreaker. Raiden stood up and looked around with a raised eyebrow. He had to beat that 'that was awesome' chant. "What's Raiden doing here?" Raiden exited to the apron through the ropes. There he launched himself through the air with a Springboard Moonsault. Elias rolled away and the man who had attempted the high risk move slammed into the mat as the crowd chanted 'Holy Shit!'.
Elias grit his teeth as he looked around, Raiden holding his chest on the ground out of breath. "Shut up!" The guitar player screamed at the crowd before turning and dropping an elbow down onto the back of the other competitor's skull. Elias nodded his head as he pushed himself back up. Moving to the corner he climbed the turnbuckles as Raiden pushed himself over onto his back. All of the air he had gotten back into his body was instantly driven out of him as the drifter hit him with a diving double stomp. Elias stood and delivered a couple of quick, sharp kicks to his down opponent. He stood there and watched as Raiden used his pants to pull himself up.
Grabbing the man's arm Elias Irish whipped him into the ropes. Raiden wrapped his arms around the upper rope to stop his moment. Elias rushed forward and Raiden made to him with a discuss forearm. Elias ducked underneath and bounced off of the ropes. Raiden swung around into a running leaping shoulder block. Raiden rolled across the mat before he was quickly forced up where Elias then lifted him up and dropped him down with a powerbomb. "Elias going for the cover! One, two- Raiden kicks out at the last second!" Elias shook his head with a grimace as he stood up while dragging Raiden with him. Elias then did another Irish whip, this time into the turnbuckles.
He walked after his opponent as the man that in the corner. When he reached him Elias kicked Raiden with a corner mule kick. Raiden bent over and stumbled out of the corner. Elias reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Who wants to walk... with Elias!?" The man shouted. He then climbed the turnbuckles and began walking on the top rope, all the while still holding Raiden's wrist in his hand. Before he could jump off of the ropes, Raiden leaped onto them with him. Raiden then used the moment of that to jump higher and catch Elias with a Hurricanrana.
Elias held his back in pain as he skid across the canvas. The crowd came alive with a 'One more time!' Chant. Raiden nodded his head as he pushed himself back to his feet. "That and 'Holy Shit' are enough for me." He spoke quietly to himself as he moved forward. Lifting Elias off of the mat Raiden pulled him into an inverted facelock. From there he lifted the man into the air and dropped him into a sitout scoop piledriver.
"And there's Raiden's KIRIN! That's all she wrote for Elias!" This War is Ours signaled that Raiden had won the match as he rolled over onto his back. After staring up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds he pushed off of the mat, raising his hands as he celebrated with the crowd. After a few moments of that celebration the African-Samoan was joined in the ring by Renee Young. Raiden wiped sweat out of his face and placed his hands on his hips as she came to stand near him.
"Raiden, tonight was your second victory here in the WWE. What kind of mindset are you in and how does that affect you going forward?"
"Like I said last week, it just gets better for us from here on out. I'm here to give the fans exactly what they want to see. The way that I see it, these two victories are the foundation that I need to move forward and accomplish my goals."
"Last week you said that one of those goals is to win the WWE Universal Championship. Braun Strowman took exception to that and came out to confront you. What was running through your mind?" Raiden gave a half shrug in response.
"Honestly? I was thinking that if he wanted to come down to the ring and fight that he would just go ahead and do it. Everyone's so scared of Braun Strowman. I'm not. Not Braun, not Brock. I heard Braun left the arena after attacking his opponent in catering earlier tonight. If he were here I would invite him down to the ring and we could settle it right now. So, Braun, if you're watching this from wherever you went, and I know you are, why don't you meet me in this ring next week?" This War is Ours picked back up and Raw went to commercial as Raiden exited the ring.
Gabriel winced as he stepped out of the medical room wearing a white hoodie, blaxk joggers and his black and white tennis shoes. He held an ice pack held to his neck due to the fact that it was stiff and hurt to turn in either direction. He paused in his tracks as he found Alexa Bliss, dressed in a black muscle shirt, a black leather vest, black leggings and black and white sneakers, leaned against the wall opposite the door he had just exited from. "I'm the only one in there." Gabriel's British accented voice stated as he pointed at the door behind him.
"I know." Alexa responded evenly as she eyed the ice pack he held. "You realize why you're having to hold that, right?"
"Are you going to say because I need to be more aggressive? Why are you keeping on with this? We don't know each other and we're not friend." Alexa crossed her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just trying to give you advice." The woman shot back. "I get that you've probably never been a 'bad guy' but this nice guy thing you have going on just isn't going to get you anywhere. Especially against the Miz and his goons."
"... You're doing this because you still want me to hurt Curtis Axel for what he said to you, aren't you." The Raw Women's Champion stared at the man with a blank. Then she heaved an angry sigh as she uncrossed her arms.
"So what if I am? I get what I want and you'll be better off in your career. I'm not the worst person to take advice from you know? I am-"
"Alexa!" A male's voice echoed through the halls though there wasn't anyone in sight.
"Ugh, I can't deal with that right now. Look, this isn't over. Curtis Axel needs to get what's coming to him and you're going to make sure that happens for me." With her peace spoken Alexa turned and walked off down the hall rather briskly.
"Bloody hell." Gabriel spoke to himself as he head in the opposite direction towards the locker room to gather his things.
End
That chapter's down. I'll have chapters where we get away from just ring stuff but for now I'm tired and I just want to get this chapter out. Till next time guys.