Disclaimer: You've heard it before.
Allo! We're entering the home stretch people, the end is in sight for one of the Cena brothers, a loser leaves WWE ladder match is set for Judgement Day, but before then we have three weeks worth of pick your poison, will either Cena make it to Judgement Day? Who will their first choices be? Let's find out!
Here We Go!
Brotherly Hate-Chapter Sixty Nine-Who Got Spirit?
'My Time Is Now' hit before the pyro's even did to kick off Smackdown in St. Louis as John Cena made his way to the ring, the look on his face reflected his pissed off mood following the worm incident, he entered the ring and grabbed a mic.
"Having a good laugh? Having a good laugh at me? C'mon, let's hear a worm joke, I've been taking them all week c'mon! I hope you enjoy this while it lasts because the fun is gonna end at Judgement Day when I beat the holy hell out of my brother, climb that ladder, snag the briefcase and permanently remove Jason from my life! He thinks that by making it a ladder match he got the drop on me? Jason, all that means is that you won't be pinned in your last match, in sixteen days, you will be gone from Smackdown, from WWE, from my life! And I will enjoy every second of it! Now as far as tonight…"
The DX music hit and Jason came down to the ring, the teen was fighting to hide the smirk on his face, he walked round the ring and took a mic but stopped on the apron.
"No offence bro', but I heard you got worms and I don't wanna catch them".
"Very funny".
"Isn't it?" Replied Jason getting in. "Anyway, I just wanted to come out here and find out who you've chosen to be my 'poison' tonight, and to tell all the fans in St. Louis to savour tonight, because it will be the last time they see you here again!"
"Confident Jason?"
"Well, I do have a record of beating the odds".
"Yeah? Let's see how confident you are after tonight, you see, I told you I was allowed to choose any opponent I wanted for you no matter what show they were on, so I made a call to RAW and brought in the guys who will put you down and out tonight".
"Guys?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm not just allowed to choose your opponent, I'm allowed to choose how many opponents you have, so here is your dose of poison for tonight… the Spirit Squad!"
The Squad's music hit and all five of them came down to the ring and surrounded Jason, the teen looked round at them, then looked back at John and burst out laughing.
"This is the best you could do? John, I knew you had a thing for cheerleaders, but I always thought that they were a little more… feminine, but I'm not one to judge, I mean, if you're into five-on-one then I ain't gonna say anything, but I am glad you decided to come out of the closet in public like this, that took guts".
John just stared at Jason in confusion, the teen was surrounded by six guys yet here he was laughing at him, the fact that the teen was supposed to be pissed off about being cost the title just made it more surreal to him.
"Maybe you don't realise how serious this is…"
"Oh I do John, you turned your back on me after I spent eighteen years of my life looking up to you! You put your hands on my girlfriend and now you're trying to take my career, I'm taking this, and you, very seriously, and if I'm going down then I'm going down swinging…"
With that the teen dropped the mic and decked John! The Squad jumped in but Jason knocked them all down only for John to jump him from behind, the Squad recovered and joined John in stomping the teen down, they each grabbed a limb and hit the teen with the high spirits, Kenny then went to the top-rope but before he could do anything the DX music hit again and Shawn led the Smackdown locker room to the ring! John and the cheerleaders bailed as Shawn helped Jason back to his feet, the teen then picked his mic back up.
"Leaving so soon? John what you have to realise is that you're not the only one with friends, so tonight I think it's only fair for me to pick four partners to take on your boyfriends there, firstly, my partner in crime Shawn Michaels, then our US champion Mr. Kennedy… Kennedy, the fighting Irish bastard Finlay, and finally…" He trailed off sizing up his two options. "… two words, Matt freakin' Hardy!"
The Squad seemed uneasy about this turn of events but John started to give them a pep talk to calm them down.
"Oh John, don't think I forgot about you, your opponent tonight is… Bobby Lashley! And if you ain't down with that, we got two words for ya!"
"Look, just calm down!"
John's night wasn't going too well, not only had Jason one-upped him again on his plan, but now the Spirit Squad were on his case.
"Calm down?" Yelled Mitch. "Calm Down? You told us when we came here we were facing your brother, not your brother and four other guys!"
"What? Can't you guys handle a fair fight?"
"Of course we can" said Kenny, standing up. "We can take anyone!"
"So why are you worried? All you gotta do is beat a ring announcer, an Irishman, a has-been, a choke artist and a teenager, how hard could it be? Besides, if you're that worried about it, maybe you should get yourself an advantage".
"And how would we do that?" Asked Mitch.
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear, I said maybe you should get yourself an advantage" he put extra emphasis on advantage, the Squad smiled.
"Oh yeah, we can do that".
"So what are you waiting for? Go do it!"
The Squad filed out of the locker room and John went back to preparing for Lashley.
Meanwhile Lashley was doing the same thing when Jason came up to him.
"Ready big man?"
"Yeah, I'm ready".
"Look, I don't want you to destroy him out there OK? Just go out, get yourself a win and leave it at that, I want him to be healthy when I beat him".
Lashley nodded and walked off, Jason went to leave but Matt came up to him.
"Jason..."
"Wassup Matt?"
"I just wanted to ask, you sure you're doing the right thing with this ladder match?"
"Of course Matt, why?"
"Well, I had one with Edge remember? Loser leaves RAW? You saw what happened to me..."
"Matt, relax, I know what I'm doing, John ain't Edge remember? And he doesn't have anyone in his corner to help him out, so yes I do think I'm doing the right thing".
"OK, see ya out there".
"See ya Matt".
Lashley's music hit in the arena and the big man marched out through the curtain, he surveyed the crowd then set off his pyro, he went to walk towards the ring but John burst through the curtain and jumped him from behind! The older Cena stomped Lashley down then threw him into the wall of the entranceway and clotheslined him back down. He turned to taunt the crowd then turned back to Lashley only to be met with a big punch to knock him down, Lashley picked him up and began beating him all the way down to ringside before whipping him into the ringpost and clotheslining him down, he then went to whip John into the steel steps but the older Cena reversed it causing him to hit them hard instead, John quickly began opening up on Lashley before rolling him into the ring to start the match.
John began stomping away on Lashley before whipping him and hitting a hiptoss, he then hit the ropes and hit a flying shouldertackle followed by a suplex for a two-count, he whipped Lashley again and backdropped him then followed up with the throwback for another two-count, he continued to hammer away on Lashley and hit a DDT for yet another two-count before whipping him into a corner and hammering away at him, he whipped Lashley into the opposite corner and hit a running clothesline and a bulldog for another two. Lashley retreated to the corner and John charged him again but ran into Lashley's boot, he reeled away and Lashley tried to clothesline him but John ducked and hit his spinout powerbomb, he stood over Lashley, then hit the Five-Knuckle-Shuffle and called for the F-U, he lifted Lashley up but the big man slipped off his shoulders and pushed him away, he charged but John took him down with a drop-toehold and put on the STF-U!
Lashley tried to power out of the hold but John clamped it down and put it on in the middle of the ring, Lashley seemed like he was going to tap but then used his free arm to drag himself over to the ropes and break the hold, he pulled himself back up in a corner and John charged him but he kicked him away again, he tried to follow but John pulled the referee in front of him, he stopped then John shoved the ref away and kicked him below the belt before taking him down and putting on a sleeper, Lashley seemed to fade then tried to fight out of it but John dragged him back down and put his feet on the ropes to increase the pressure, Lashley seemed to give up at this point then suddenly stood up and began fighting out of the hold, John tried to put him back down again but Lashley elbowed his way free and tried a whip but John reversed it only for the big man to come back with a running belly-to-belly suplex!
Both men climbed back to their feet and John tried and right hand but Lashley blocked it and knocked him down, he then hit John with two big clotheslines then ran forward and and threw him over his shoulders then hit another belly-to-belly suplex for a two-count, he whipped John into a corner and gave him a backdrop as he staggered out then pressed John over his head before dropping him across the top-rope, John rebounded back and Lashley picked him up for a suplex, he held the older Cena up for several seconds, even using only one hand for a while! He then hit the suplex and covered but only got a two-count, he walked over to a corner and took point, preparing to hit the spear, he ran forward but John suddenly spun round and kicked him in the head! Lashley went down and John covered, but only got a two-count.
John sighed as he stood up, he looked back at Lashley and noticed the referee was checking on him as he got up, he took advantage of this and wrapped his chain around his fist, he started forward but Lashley suddenly exploded with the spear! He made the cover, but John kicked out! Lashley looked surprised then picked John up on his shoulders for the running powerslam, he started to move but John slipped off and pushed him towards the ref, Lashley stopped short of hitting him but John clocked him with the chain! The referee never noticed so he made the cover, hiding the evidence behind his back as he did, the referee counted and John got the three!
The older Cena didn't hang about after earning the win, he rolled out of the ring and headed for the locker room, smirking at the camera and turning to do the same at Lashley as he did.
Backstage, Jason had watched all this take place.
"Damnit!" He muttered to himself, he'd forgot about the chain and John's tendancy to use it, at least whoever he chose next week would know to watch out, he headed out of the locker room into the corridor, almost crashing into Finlay as he did.
"Just the lad I was looking for" said Finlay with his heavy Irish accent.
"Wassup?"
"Well seeing as Lashley just choked out there, how about putting me with your brother next week?"
"You wanna face John next week?"
"I don't want to face him, I want to fight him!"
Jason laughed. "I'll think about it".
"Alright, listen lad, you sure you know what you're setting yourself up for?"
"Not you too!"
"Sorry son, I'm just wondering if you really know what you're putting at risk, everyone knows what you went through to get here and, if you lose, it's all for nothing".
"I know that Finlay, but I'm willing to risk it if it means putting John out".
Finlay nodded. "So where are the others?"
"Shawn and Kennedy are getting ready and I don't know where Matt is".
"Well you better find him, we're going out there soon, we need to start planni... what the?"
The corridor suddenly echoed with yells and the sound of someone getting the crap kicked out of them, Jason and Finlay exchanged a look then went in search of the noise, they rounded a corner to see the Spirit Squad all beating down on someone, it took a few seconds for them to realise it was Matt!
"HEY!"
The Squad looked up then took off as Jason and Finlay sprinted towards them, Finlay went to keep chasing them but Jason stopped him as they both tended to Matt, he was out cold and his leg was lying in a doorway that the Squad had slammed on it at least once, he slowly came to and immediately began holding his leg, screaming in pain.
"Shit, go get an EMT".
Finlay complied and returned with a group of them, just as Shawn and Kennedy turned up.
"What the hell happened?"
"Have a guess".
"Spirit Squad?"
"Got it in one".
Matt was loaded on a stretcher and put in the back of an ambulance, as it headed off Shawn turned to Jason.
"Now what?"
"We find someone else".
"Who?"
"I dunno, let me... waitaminute, I got it!"
Before Shawn could ask what it was he had Jason turned and ran back to the locker room, he rummaged through his bag and pulled out his phone then dialled the number he wanted.
"C'mon please be home... hey! How you doing? Are you home right now? OK... remember when you said I could call you if I ever needed help? Yeah, well I need a little help now... uh huh... how fast can you get here?"
The Spirit Squad were already in the ring preparing for their match, complete with trampoline and megaphone, John was at ringside with Cole and JBL, the Squad all had huge grins on their faces, they had a one man advantage over their opponents, two if you counted John, and were already planning their victory cheer, Finlay's music hit and he made his way out to the ring, Kennedy followed him then Shawn and Jason came out together with Mara, they rushed the ring causing the Squad to bail and Jason grabbed a mic.
"I suppose you guys think you got one over on us when you took out Matt huh? Well I got news for you, all you guys managed to do back there was piss us off! John, you guys ain't the only one's with tricks up your sleeves, now, allow me to introduce our partner for tonight, he is a former World champion and he comes from right here in St. Louis, ladies and gentlemen... and Spirit Squad, the 'Legend Killer' Randy Orton!"
Randy's music hit and he walked down to the ring, the Squad were going nuts on the outside, they turned to yell at John but he wasn't paying attention, he was just staring at Randy in shock, Randy noticed and smirked at him before turning and shaking hands with Jason, the Squad slowly came into the ring and discussed who would start, Jason's team just hopped out leaving Finlay to start, the Squad eventually decided Johnny would start, the two circled each other and Johnny suddenly struck a karate pose, Finlay just stared at him for a second then slapped the taste out of his mouth! When Johnny return to his feet he ran to the corner and tagged Nicky in.
Nicky locked up with Finlay and the Irishman quickly put on a headlock, Nicky used the ropes to fight him off but Finlay ran through him with a shoulderblock, he hit the ropes but Nicky went under and went for a leapfrog but Finlay put on the brakes and hit an uppercut to knock him down, he then whipped Nicky and hit a stiff elbow before throwing him into a corner and knocking him down with a clothesline, he then ran to the Squad's corner and knocked Kenny down, the others went to help him and Nicky charged Finlay but the Irishman sidestepped and threw him over the top onto his teammates! He walked back to his corner and tagged in Jason, the teen waited until all the Squad were standing then dived over the top-rope onto them! He climbed back to his feet then spun round and decked John! The older Cena fell out of his chair as Jason rolled Nicky back into the ring.
Jason stomped Nicky down before whipping him into a corner and meeting him with a backdrop, he then dragged him to his corner and tagged Finlay in, the two hit a double suplex then Finlay jumped in the air and drove all his weight down onto Nicky before covering for a two-count, he picked Nicky back up and slammed him before tagging in Kennedy. The two hit a double hiptoss then Kennedy hit a DDT for a two-count, he then hit Nicky with a sidewalk slam and a gutbuster before dragging him back to the corner and tagging in Randy, he whipped Nicky then dropped down allowing Randy to hit a big dropkick for a two-count, he then slammed him and followed up with a fistdrop and tagged in Shawn, he came in and hit an atomic drop which Randy followed up with another dropkick, Shawn made the cover but got a two-count. Nicky staggered to his feet and retreated to a corner, Shawn followed him and hit a few chops before trying a whip but it was reversed, as he came staggering out of the corner Nicky tried a slam but he slipped out and hit a reverse DDT, he covered but the Squad came in and broke it up, they tried to get a quick beatdwn on Shawn but the rest of his team came in, the Squad bailed to the outside and huddled up to try and talk strategy.
When the Squad finally rolled back in Shawn had tagged Kennedy in, Nicky tagged Mikey and the two circled each other, they went to lock up but Mikey suddenly kicked Kennedy in the gut and began punching away at him, he whipped him but Kennedy ducked an elbow and hit a neckbreaker for a two-count, he then whipped Mikey and hit a powerslam for another two then tagged in Finlay, the Irishman slammed Mikey then drove his weight onto him, he stomped him down before throwing him into the corner and hitting an uppercut followed by a suplex for a two-count, he dragged Mikey to the corner and tagged in Shawn, he slammed Mikey then lifted Shawn up and slammed him onto Mikey, Shawn covered but only got a two-count, Kenny came running in but Shawn knocked him down before slamming Mikey again and climbing the ropes, Mikey was already up so he came down with a cross-body, he got the pin but the Squad broke it up again, the rest of Shawn's team came in and a brawl broke out between them, Mikey rolled to the outside while the rest of the Squad were thrown out, Shawn was standing near the ropes so he ran forward, hit the trampoline, cleared the top-rope and hit a bulldog! He covered but Shawn kicked out at two.
The Spirit Squad were finally in the match as Mikey stomped Shawn down, he then went to Jason's corner and slapped Finlay in the face, he tried to come in but the refeee stopped him allowing the rest of the Squad to come in and stomp Shawn down, they dragged Shawn back to the corner and Mikey tagged in Mitch, he stomped down on Shawn before hitting the ropes and dropping him with a clothesline, he covered but got a two-count then picked Shawn up and slammed him before tagging in Nicky, he came over and Mitch flipped him over onto Shawn for another two-count, he stomped Shawn down then whipped him and hit a hiptoss followed by an elbow drop for another two-count, he reached up and tagged in Johnny then the two dropped Shawn with a double suplex, Johnny then hit Shawn with a DDT for a two-count, he ran over to the opposite corner and knocked Jason off the apron, the rest of his team came in but the referee stopped them allowing the Squad to come in and hit the high spirits! Johnny made the cover but Jason came in and broke it up.
Johnny picked Shawn up and dragged him to the corner before tagging in Kenny, the youngest member of the Squad came in and hit Shawn with a neckbreaker for a two-count, he quickly hopped up to the middle-rope then came down and hit a clothesline for another two-count before tagging Johnny back in, he stomped Shawn down then picked him up and hit a suplex for a two-count, he whipped Shawn and tried an elbow but HBK ducked it and hit a flying forarm! He was down for a few seconds then nipped up! He beat Johnny to the punch and hit some right hands before knocking him down, he hit an atomic followed by some clotheslines and a slam, Mitch came in but Shawn decked him then threw him to the outside, he did the same to Mikey and knocked Kenny off the apron, Nicky managed to get in the ring only to receive an atomic drop, Shawn then spun round and clotheslined Johnny to the outside before slamming Nicky and climbing the the top-rope, he came down looking for an elbow and got it before tuning up the band, he went for Sweet Chin Music but at the last second Kenny and Mitch pulled Nicky out of the ring, Shawn then turned round only for Johnny to hit the Johnny-Go-Round! He covered but Jason broke it up at two.
While the referee was trying to get Jason out of the ring Mikey came in with Johnny and they tried to hit a double back suplex but Shawn flipped out of it, ducked a double clothesline then dived across the ring to tag in Jason! The teen came in and imediately ran through Johnny and Mikey with a double clothesline, Kenny came in but ran right into a backdrop with Mitch following to recieve a dropkick! Nicky was the last one to come in and ran into a superkick! Jason knocked Mikey back down then whipped Johnny and caught him with a powerslam for a two-count, he followed up straight away with a shining wizard but Kenny, Mitch and Mikey broke up the pin, Jason's team came in to even the odds and threw all of the Squad members into a corner where Jason hit a stinger splash on all five of them! His teammates threw out all of the Squad members bar Johnny and he walked into a neckbreaker for a two-count, Jason then went up top and came down with a cross-body for another two, he whipped Johnny but Kenny tagged himself in, Jason backdropped Johnny then caught dodged Kenny's charge and hit a dragon suplex! The referee counted but Kenny kicked out at two.
Jason picked Kenny up and threw him into a corner, he charged but Kenny got his boot up, he tried to follow it up but walked right into an impaler! Jason covered but at two Mitch put Kenny's foot on the ropes, Jason went over to the Squad's corner and knocked down the other three Squad members before returning to Kenny, he tried a whip, Kenny reversed it and went for a backdrop but Jason dropped down and punched him in the face then hit an X-Factor! he then stood over Kenny and called for the Five-Knuckle-Shuffle but as he hit the ropes the Squad low-bridged him causing him to fall to the outside, they all gang attacked him and Johnny hit the Johnny-Go-Round! Before they could add any more punishment Shawn, Kennedy and Finlay all came round and kicked off a huge brawl, they took Mikey, Nicky and Johnny into the crowd leaving just Jason and Randy for their team and Kenny and Mitch for the Squad, Mitch took advantage of Jason being down from the Johnny-Go-Round and rolled the teen in to Kenny, he pulled the teen out to the middle of the ring then went up top, he came down looking for his legdrop but Jason moved! Kenny crashed into the mat and both were down.
As soon as he could find it in him Jason began crawling to his corner to tag Randy but Kenny had already tagged Mitch and he stopped the teen just before he could makeit to his partner, he whipped Jason but the teen ducked an elbow and blind-tagged Randy before charging past Mitch and taking both himself and Kenny over the top-rope! Randy took advantage of Mitch's distraction and came down from the top with a huge cross-body for a two-count before starting to hammer away on him. On the outside Jason was staring to get up, he went to get Kenny up but John clocked him from behind! He began taunting his younger brother, not noticing Mara climb to the top-rope behind him, he turned round just in time for Mara to come flying down on him with a moonsault! The referee was distracted by this allowing Mitch to hit Randy with a low-blow followed by a DDT for a two-count, he then looked at Kenny and called for the megaphone, Kenny slipped it in then started distracting the referee, Mitch swung for Randy's head but he ducked the hit an RKO out of nowhere! He made the cover as Jason pulled Kenny down and decked him as the referee counted... and got the three!
Jason first checked on whether Mara was OK before rolling into the ring with Randy, the two stared each other down before shaking hands, Jason raised Randy's arm then the 'Legend Killer' exited the ring, he had a staredown with John before hopping the barrier and leaving through his hometown crowd, John grabbed a mic.
"OK, if one things just been proven it's that quantity is no match for quality, the Squad flopped, but I got just the thing waiting behind that curtain. Jason, your poison for next week, I guess we could could call him the worlds srongest mecenary, I give you... MARK HENRY!"
Three-6-Mafia blared throughout the arena as 'The World's Strongest Man' walked down to the ring, Mara tried to get Jason to run but he stood firm, Henry climbed up on the apron but Jason ran forward and knocked him off, he landed on his feet then Jason came flying over the ropes but he caught the teen and gave him the world strongest slam on the concrete floor! John laughed as he picked the teen up and stood him against the ringpost, he then backed away before charging forward and splashing the teen against it! He dragged the teen back up and did it again! He went to pick him back up again but Shawn, Kennedy and Finlay all charged in from the crowd and put themselves between Henry and Jason. Henry seemed to want to fight them too but John pulled him away.
"Relax, leave some for next week".
Henry nodded then yelled past the three superstars to the fallen teen.
"You're mine boy! I'm gonna eat you alive!"
With that he and John turned their back on the ring and walked away.
End of Chapter
Well there ya go, just when Jason overcomes one obstacle he runs into another in the form of 'The World's Strongest Mercenary' Mark Henry, how will he defeat big Mark? Who will he pick to face John? And as we near Judgement Day how much more personal can it get? Find out next time!
R&R
HOO-RAH!