RAW Opener; "A Resounding Ovation"
The show opens up and as soon as commentary gets done with their intros, Austin Michael Pieper's music hits, and the #1 contender and TJ Ivers walk down to the ring. Commentary speculates on the idea that there are still problems between Jerry Haynes and Austin, since Jerry isn't with them and Austin looks like he has a fire inside trying to get down to the ring as quickly as possible, not slapping hands or even acknowledging the crowd on the sides. Austin gets into the ring with TJ and snatches the microphone out of the ring announcer's hand. Finally, Austin starts to take the crowd reaction in and all the chants for Jerry. Austin stands in the ring visibily determined with a fire in his eyes, just looking back and forth at the crowd who continue to chant "WE WANT JERRY". Austin with contained frustration yanks his head the other way,
“Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight is the LAST NIGHT you will EVER see me in the ring without my Undisputed Championship! Spoiler alert for all you internet marks who live on the dirt sheets, This Sunday...I WILL beat Matt Charles, and WILL regain my title with my brothers TJ & Jerry by my side!” - Austin Michael Pieper
Austin is pacing back and forth in the ring slowly getting more and more intense with each word.
“Now you may all be wondering, where is Jerry?” - Austin MIchael Pieper
The crowd pops at the mentioning of Jerry Haynes and starts chanting “JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!"
Austin looks to be growing more and more frustrated with the crowd of their complete disregard to anything he is saying.
“Jerry is backstage preparing for his match with Matt later tonight, I TOLD...." - Austin Michael Pieper
Austin pauses for a few seconds to let the word "told" set in with the crowd that he is still in charge.
"I TOLD him to focus on that match, and that he didn’t need to come out to the ring with me for this...” - Austin Michael Pieper
Crowd starts chanting “WE WANT JERRY” again, even louder than before.
“Ohhhhhh you’ll get Jerry later tonight don't you guys worry. NOW I know people in the back are thinking, ‘Oh Austin aren’t you worried Jerry is trying to steal your Thunder by facing the world champion tonight?’” - Austin Michael Pieper
He starts to laugh with TJ standing there like a killing machine, not showing any emotion.
“Of course not! Jerry is just...softening Matt up for me, AND IN FACT, afterwards...afterwards he gets to be my first challenger! Look, brothers or not...we’re all in this company to win the big one, it’s just business. Why wou-“ - Austin Michael Pieper
The crowd has grown restless at this point drowning out Austin with chants of “JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!” Austin visibly frustrated throws the mic down and storms out of the ring with TJ behind him as commentary speculates once again of the discension between Austin and Jerry at this point, and that they have never seen Austin as unhinged as he is at this point!
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"WE'RE THE ONES"
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Normal Singles Match; Darren Cox Jr (w/Darren Cox Sr) versus Steve Steigerwald (w/The Bard)
Before the match even begins, Steve Steigerwald struts around the ring trying to intimidate Darren, while "The Phenom" just stands there leaning against the ropes with his piercing eyes staring a hole right into Steve. Steve puffs out his chest and looks down on Cox. Steve flexes to some good heat. Darren has had enough at this point and hits a big forearm strike to Steve's face starting the match!!
"Well that is a shot that can be heard round the world! And here we go!" - Coty Coleman
Cox is aggressive early on landing some leg kicks, with his dad outside the ring pounding on the canvas and cheering him on. With Steve down to a knee, Cox pounds his back with more strikes until Steve rips Darren’s leg out from underneath him. Steigerwald stomps on the downed Darren's ribs.
From here, Steigerwald takes control for a few moments. Pounding Darren's ribs with some knees against the turnbuckle. Steve shows his strength by picking Darren up and dropping him gut first over his knee. Steve toys with Cox laughing, as he kicks him in the stomach and pushes his body around the ring..much to the excited pleasure of The Bard who is also standing outside the ring. As Cox crawls around the mat, Steigerwald hops on his back and locks in a CAMEL CLUTCH!!
"Oh man, Big Steve is gonna try to end this right now in the early going! Get em Steve!" - Ben Davis
He locks it in hard in the center of the ring as Darren desperately fights to get to the ropes for a rope break, but The Big Man like the cold hearted son of a bitch that he is, maintains his grip and taunts Darren. “Come on Darren, I don’t get paid by the hour. Tap out bitch!” The shit talking does more to motivate Cox though. Cox fights for his life, inch-by-inch. Eventually Cox gets to the bottom rope to break the hold!! Steigerwald immediately drops him and kicks his body one more time. "The Phenom" rolls out of the ring to collect his composure. Coleman calls this a smart move as Steigerwald had Cox on the brink.
Steve distracts the referee in the ring long enough for The Bard to come darting in with a running boot the face of Cox Jr behind the referee's back! Darren Sr goes completely off and charges to The Bard to attack him, but The Bard quickly hightails it behind commentary for a shield. Cox Sr stops himself, just clinching his fists for a couple seconds and then over to assist his son. The referee starts to make a ring out count, but Steve with a devious smile on his face, pushes the referee to the side and gets out of the ring as well. Big Steve follows Cox Jr outside of the ring and gets control of him once again. Steve lifts Darren up and drops him rib first over the guard rail!!
“My god! Right to the ribs over that steel guardrail!" - Mike Tenay
"That's why he's in the hall of fame, Tenay! People want to ask why he's in the hall of fame and someone like Darren isn't, THIS IS IT RIGHT THERE! He's ruthless and a bad bad son of a bitch!" - Ben Davis
Steve comes back behind Darren to administer more offense, but Darren springs up and hits a PELE KICK out of nowhere! Both men sell on the floor as the ref’s count reaches 4………5………6….both men get to their knees……7……..8…..both men are UP!! Cox Jr and Steve both climb into the ring at the same time breaking the count.
"That is NOT how either man wants this match to end!" - Mike Tenay
"I believe they are just giving us all a small taste of what's in store for them in 6 days at Backlash!" - Coty Coleman
From here the action picks up as the two men exchange strikes to the face back and forth. Darren surprises Steve with some strength of his own and lands a jumping forearm that drops the hall of famer to his back. As Steve gets up, Cox hits him with a drop kick. Steigerwald is delirious now, struggling around the ring. His positions gets made even worse when Darren whips him into the corner. The Phenom goes to the high rent district now, climbing to the top rope. Darren looks to hit a tornado DDT, but Steve blocks it. He keeps hold of Darren and hits a huge belly to belly from off the top rope!!
Steigerwald grabs Cox, who is selling the impact, and plants him with another big sidewalk slam. He quickly covers for the 1……………..2……COX KICKS OUT AT THE COUNT OF TWO!
Steigerwald holds Darren down and drills a knee to the previously injured over the guard rail ribs. As Cox wrenches in pain, Steigerwald switches things up and goes for another CAMEL CLUTCH! The Phenom groans in pain again as Steigerwald yells at the ref to “ask him” hoping for the tap. But this time, Darren fights and fights and fights, eventually escaping Steigerwald from underneath!! Darren quickly grabs Steve from behind and plants him with a reverse DDT!! Darren covers 1…………….2………..STEVE KICKS OUT!! We finally see some frustration on the face of the "face that runs the place" as he goes to the apron, and looks at the downed challenger.
Darren goes up and looks for the SPRINGBOARD 450. The crowd awes at his rotations but Steigerwald GETS HIS KNEES UP!! The Phenom staggers to his feet grabbing his ribs. The original big bad daddy grabs Cox and hits with a series of three belly-to-belly to suplexes!! Big Steve taunts Darren by doing pushes over his body before making a cover for a pretty weak two count. Tenay wonders if Steve's taunting gave Darren too much time to recover.
Steve lifts Darren up and sets him up for his vertical suplex. As Steve lifts Darren in the air, Darren fights free by kneeing Steve in the head. He falls on top of Steve and puts him between his legs for a Cox Clash (Styles Clash)!! Big Steve looks like he could be out! But as Darren covers him for a pinfall, The Bard on the same side of the ring picks Steve's leg up and places it on the bottom rope. The referee doesn't see The Bard, but does see the rope break and stops the count at a very decisive two.
"How in the hell did the referee not see that?!" - Coty Coleman
"Ha ha! If the ref didn't see, it didn't happen!" - Ben Davis
Darren Sr has had enough and runs at The Bard spearing him on the outside of the ring! The crowd pops with excitement as Darren Sr just unloads shot after shot on The Bard, finally giving him exactly what he deserves!
"The big man has had enough! Go get him, Daddy!" - Mike Tenay
The referee immediately jumps out of the ring and tries to break up the ruckus happening outside the ring. But as the referee has his sights set on The Bard and Darren Sr outside the ring, this gives Steve enough time to grab a pair of brass knuckles out of his tights and lay into a distracted Darren Jr over the top of the head!
"Was that just a pair of brass knuckles?!" - Coty Coleman
"Ha ha! Big Steve always has another trick up his sleeve! Take lessons, boys!" - Ben Davis
Darren is laid out in the center of the ring, selling that vicious blow to the head from Steve's brass knuckled fist. Steve covers Darren and screams for the referee to jump back into the ring. The referee after having Darren Sr restrained away from The Bard, jumps back into the ring and makes the count, 1...2....3!! Big Steve has won it! Big Steve has picked up the victory, but not without the help of his son and the use of a pair of brass knuckles!
Darren Sr immediately jumps into the ring to check on his boy, but on the other side of the ring, Steve quickly slides out of from under the ring with a smug smirk, just surveying the damage in the ring. Steve picks up his own son Brady off the ground and the two struggle back up the ramp, clearly very pleased with themselves. Darren Sr looks down at his unconscious son and looks back up at Steve on the ramp with an irate look on his face.
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"THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIRROR"
The scene slowly opens up backstage to show the WWEP Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror, bouncing up and down and warming up for his huge main event match against Jerry Haynes later tonight. Matt punches the air, watching himself in the mirror for a few seconds and then stops, just leaning over the sink and staring with an intense look in the mirror. Matt starts to look uncomfortable holding his head in pain and shaking his head.
"Just let it go. Let it go..." - Matt Charles
Matt looks back into the mirror and all of a sudden one of the bulbs on the light panel completely just blow out and shatter!
"SON OF A BITCH!" - Matt Charles
The lights in the room flicker on and off several times as Matt staggers back and forth holding his face in pain. Matt leans back over the sink with blood trickling from his cheek looking back into the mirror. But this time a huge X is written in the mirror with one red line and one black line!! The lights are still flickering on and off as Matt's eyes grow wide and he looks around the room completely in shock of what just happened and the X on the mirror now. The mirror starts to shake aggressively for a few seconds and then just completely shatters with glass exploding everywhere! Matt falls onto his ass and eagerly crawls out of the bathroom with pieces of glass still stuck in his neck.
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"NORMAL TAG TEAM MATCH; Ryan Lucas & Robbie Casey versus TJ Ivers & George Amuah-Niamkey
Before the match even begins, there is clear dissolution of the teams with no man really wanting to work together or fight with one another. The two teams argue back and forth about who is starting the match, but the match abruptly begins when Robbie smacks Lucas across the face and leaps on top of TJ Ivers just pounding him to the mat as hard as he can!
After the initial dominance by Casey on TJ in the early going, both teams stand and trade shot after shot with one another with the intention to do harm as the match pace is frantic from the start. The action quickly spills out to ringside where TJ and George both aligned by The Brotherhood family line are beating down Robbie Casey with punches and kicks as Lucas just stands there watching it all happen, clearly not caring to get involved to help his "partner". George and TJ drag up Casey before swinging him into the steel steps on the outside of the ring! Even though TJ and George are opponents at Backlash this Sunday, it looks like they very well could be on the same page tonight and a real force to be reckon with if they align this Sunday at Backlash. Casey's body crashing into the steel ring steps echoes out a boom that can be heard across the entire arena! The pain for Casey would continue with George and TJ staying on top of him, putting him in and out of the ring several times to break the count out for the referee.
TJ and George pick up Casey and double power bomb him back first onto the side of the ring! Casey screams out in pain, holding his back as Lucas just remains standing there on the apron in his corner surveying the damage. TJ gets Casey back into the ring though and goes for a quick cover on him, but this time Ryan Lucas is right there to break up a pinfall count...clearly not wanting to lose a match, even if his partner is getting dismantled.
TJ gets up and starts chirping at Lucas to get back, but as the referee's back is turned trying to get in between them two...George Amuah-Niamkey sneaks into the ring and comes down with several elbow drops to the back of Robbie's neck! The referee turns his attention back around and sees George in the ring attacking Robbie's neck. The referee runs over to George and pushes him out of the ring as TJ goes back to working on a clearly very injured Robbie Casey at this point. TJ looks to waste too much time though and goes to pick him up, but Robbie starts throwing haymakers at TJ Ivers with everything in him! Robbie finally staggers TJ back giving him enough time to knee him in the gut and drop him down to canvas with a hard unforgiving facebuster on the Steele!!! Robbie falls back in exhaustion and slowly starts to creep over to his corner, but Ryan Lucas tags himself in and charges into the ring as soon as TJ tags George in. The two start to exchange punches, Lucas even wrapping his arms around George's abdomen and dropping him with a side to side suplex!
Lucas jumps back up and starts kicking George in the face as hard as he can and just as it looks like he is about to pick up some steam, Robbie who is now back on his feet and ready to go tags himself in. Robbie pushes Lucas out of the way and starts kicking at George too, but this time Robbie grabs George by the back of the head and starts driving him head first into the turnbuckle, finishing him off with a running punt to the head! Robbie goes for the cover on George, but it isn't TJ who breaks up the count, but Lucas who pulls Robbie's body off George. The two get face to face and start mouthing off at each other for a few seconds until an all out brawl starts and the two start fighting around the ring! Lucas goes for a Stunner on Robbie, but Robbie instead hits his own RKO out of nowhere on the King of the Mountain Champion!!!!
Robbie jumps back up to his feet screaming down at Lucas and kicking him a few times to push him out from underneath the ropes. But as Robbie's back is turned distracted by his own partner, The Steele now the legal man, comes barreling in with a clothesline from hell! BOOM!!!
"A clothesline from hell completely knocking Robbie Casey out!!" - Mike Tenay
"Don't you ever ever ever turn your back on The Steele! That's the message that he is sending loud and clear!" - Ben Davis
TJ motions that he is about to end it for Robbie Casey setting him up for his signature CROSSFACE. But when he locks his crossface on, Ryan Lucas is able to tag himself in by slapping the shoulder of Casey. Lucas jumps in the ring and hits a running knee into the face of TJ on his knees. Lucas picks TJ up, flips him off, and then hits a stunner on him causing TJ to fly back completely across the ring! But George quickly tags himself in and the MASTER OF THE YEET COMES BARRELING IN WITH HIS YEET KICK OUT OF NOWHERE ON THE CHAMPION!!! Lucas is laid out completely in the ring as George taunts at the crowd in attendance. TJ is struggling back up to his feet and George darts at him like a predator hitting the YEET KICK ON HIM AS WELL, KNOCKING HIM OFF THE APRON! George throws his arms back and screams before coming in one more time with a YEET Kick again on the King of the Mountain Champion, this time wiping him out and covering him for the decisive pinfall!
"YEET YEET YEEEEET!!! GEORGE HAS JUST PINNED THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN CHAMPION!!" - Mike Tenay
"What????? Is this an omen for this Sunday night at Backlash?!" - Coty Coleman
"I don't know but George is firing away on anything he sees!" - Ben Davis
George celebrates in the ring as commentary continues to hype up the moment that George was able to pin the champion and speculates about how he could very well do the same thing in six days for the title in the steel cage. Robbie pulls himself up with the middle rope and as soon as he gets onto his knees, George runs at him and hits him with a YEET as well, knocking him clear across back first into steel guard rail! George laughs and grabs the King of the Mountain Championship belt just staring at it and then staring down at the champion and the rest of the carnage he inflicted on all 3 of his opponents. George drops the title over top of Ryan's motionless body and staggers up the ramp with 3 of his signature "hoes" by his side as cameras fade to a commercial.
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MAIN EVENT Non-Title Match; Matt Charles versus Jerry Haynes
Before the match starts, the two nod at each other with a sign of respect and commentary builds up how big of a match this is for the WWEP Intercontinental Champion, Jerry Haynes.
"Jerry asked for this match against the Undisputed Champion to soften him up for Austin Pieper this Sunday night at Backlash." - Mike Tenay
"Psh! This is all about Jerry trying to come in and show the world and show AUSTIN that he can beat the champion! I know exactly what he is doing!" - Ben Davis
"Well that could be true, Ben. And honestly, it would be a huge coup if he did, don't ya think?" - Coty Coleman
"Oh shut up Coleman! I don't know why all these people love Jerry so much. The guy is a fraud!" - Ben Davis
A test of strength to start out that Matt utilizes his size and strength gaining the advantage early. The Panama City Playboy presses Haynes into the turnbuckles and lands a few big chops to chest before Jerry blocks one and lands a big chop of his own. Charles goes for a punch but Jerry realizes it would be foolish to play the power game in this match and ducks under. Jerry runs the ropes and staggers Charles with a drop kick. Jerry follows up with a swinging neckbreaker that drops Charles on his already injured neck from the glass earlier and covers for a quick one count.
"Well look at that! And these fans as much as they love the Panama City Playboy, they love to see Jerry do what he does!" - Mike Tenay
Charles looks at Jerry a little bit shocked and impressed by the ring prowless of the Intercontinental Champion. Matt uses his power to throw Jerry off and roll out of the ring quickly to sell his injured neck. But Jerry wastes no time following him onto the apron and hitting a springboard moonsault press to the outside of the ring on the Undisputed Champion from the apron! Both Jerry and the crowd are electrified as we head to break!!
Commercial Break
We return in the ring where Haynes is fighting for his life to keep Charles down with a chin lock. Tenay notes that Jerry has been working the injured neck throughout the break. Charles fights like his life depends to get back to his feet. The crowd rallies behind this as dual chants break out (“Let’s Go Jerry”,”PLAY-BOY”). The Undisputed Champion gets to his feet and hits some elbows to the gut of Haynes. Once he’s free Matt hits a shoulder block to start some liquid wrestling where Matt wins the rope runs with a couple of shoulder blocks, lariat and eventually a jumping shoulder tackle. But Playboy gets a little greedy and instead of covering goes for his running splash to the downed Living Legend, but Haynes gets the knees up!!
"That might not have been the best thing to do there, Playboy!" - Coty Coleman
Matt staggers towards the turnbuckles where Jerry rushes over and runs up the ropes to the second turnbuckle and hits a running tornado DDT to the big man!! You can feel the urgency as Jerry continues to work the injury with a series of big forearm shots to the back of his opponent’s neck. Jerry sets Matt up for the Brainbuster but he can’t match his opponents power. Playboy powers up and gets Jerry on his shoulders in a death valley driver type position. Charles uses his power to throw his opponent face first into the top turnbuckle!! Jerry bounces back, staggers, and eats a diving shoulder tackle. The crowd is going back and forth between support for Jerry and support for the Undisputed Champion!
"This crowd is absolutely electric! Austin needs to be sitting back there taking notice of every single moment and move of this match!" - Mike Tenay
"He said earlier that he would give Jerry his first title defense, he might be wanting to rethink that now...but that's assuming he can get through Matt on Sunday! Because Matt is on fire!" - Coty Coleman
Charles then smashes Jerry with a big lariat!! Matt grabs Jerry and places him between his legs and lifts him up (and down) for A SIT DOWN POWER BOMB near the ropes. Charles covers for the 1……………………2…………..JERRY GETS HIS FOOT ON THE BOTTOM ROPE!!
"And Jerry gets his foot on the bottom rope!" - Mike Tenay
"See that right there! That is smart! That's how you know that you have a real pro in that ring right there!" - Coty Coleman
As Charles gets off, Jerry rolls out of the ring to catch his breath from a very brutal match so far against the Undisputed Champion. Matt rubs his neck then runs the ropes to hit his BIG OVER THE TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE TO JERRY HAYNES!! Both men hit the floor with Matt grabbing his neck in excruciating pain as the refs count begins. Coleman on commentary says that moves like that are what it takes to be a world champion. The Panama City Playboy makes it to his feet first and gets Jerry up so he can drive him back first into the ring apron. Coleman reminds us that the apron is the hardest part of the ring. After a standing back drop on the floor, Matt rolls Jerry into the ring and sets him up for the Sidewalk Slam. Playboy gets Jerry elevated but Jerry out of nowhere reverses it into a split legged face buster!!
"DID YOU JUST SEE THAT?! AND THIS CROWD IS ON THEIR FEET!" - Mike Tenay
"THIS IS AWESOME! THIS IS AWESOME!" - Crowd
Both men lay on the mat selling the damage for a bit but Jerry gets to his feet first, struggling back and forth and staggering. He drags Matt very slowly to the area in front of a turnbuckle and looks for the frog splash. But Charles gets the knees up! Charles charges at the Living Legend for another big clothesline, but Jerry counters with a reverse STO and transitions straight into the KOJI CLUTCH in the CENTER OF THE RING!!
Coleman on commentary notes that Jerry is putting an incredible amount of torque on the injured neck of Matt, and it's really a matter of time before he can't go on any longer. Jerry tries to put as much pressure as he can on Matt who is slowly inching towards the ropes. Jerry re-applies and Matt looks to be in even more pain than he was before! A quick shot of Austin Michael Pieper standing backstage in front of the TV watching the screen intensely with a disgusted look on his face, even though Matt is getting softened up. Tenay commends his fighting spirit. Jerry holds on for dear life as Matt teases a ap before using his last gasp of energy to push up and grab Jerry. In an incredible feet of strength, Matt picks up Jerry and HITS HIM WITH A PILEDRIVER OUT OF NO WHERE!!!!!!!
Both men are beaten down at this point and Matt doesn't even have the energy to crawl over and make the cover, as he lays on the mat flat back holding his own neck in pain. Jerry rolls under the bottom rope to the apron. Eventually both men get to their feet and exchange some slow chops to each other's chests. “This is Awesome” chants fill the arena. Coleman and Tenay commend both men for their heart and desire to be a champion, while Davis like the heel commentator drives home how he would've ended this way before now. Matt gets the advantage because he is big and strong. Playboy whips Jerry across the ring into the turnbuckle. Matt follows him and hits a big jumping splash crushing a defenseless Jerry into the hard steel of the ring post!! Jerry folds like an accordion but Matt quickly stays on top of him and starts motioning for his PCB (Tazmission) on the Intercontinental Champion! Before Playboy though can get the Living Legend up, Jerry sneaks out the back and grabs Matt for a HUGE German Suplex!!
Tenay and the crowd marvel at the show of strength from the smaller Jerry Haynes. Matt dazed gets to his knees as Jerry rallies around to the turnbuckle. He hits a middle rope swinging neck breaker on the Undisputed Champion!
"Swinging neckbreaker off the turnbuckle on Matt Charles! Go get em Jerry! You've got this!" - Mike Tenay
Jerry keeps the pressure on by spamming more moves including a spike DDT. Jerry finally kicks Matt over the top of the head and leaps onto the top rope. Jerry pounds his chest and holds up his finger to the crowd like Terry Funk and then proceeds to leap off in dramatic fashion with his FLYING ELBOW DROP TO THE DOWNED UNDISPUTED CHMAPION!!! Jerry makes the cover as the ref counts…….1……………………….2…………………..3!! Jerry has won! Jerry has just pinned the WWEP Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion! moves on!
As soon as the bell rings, Jerry Haynes sits up onto his knees in complete exhaustion and just surveys the entire crowd who is going absolutely insane for their living legend. Austin is shown backstage watching the tv screen with a resentful look on his face just nodding his head "yes". Matt slowly makes it back up to his feet and claps for Jerry before getting out of the ring and walking up the ramp with his Undisputed Championship belt and Jerry continues to celebrate in the ring with the crowd rallying behind him.
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