MMP Apocalypse

MMP APOCALYPSE
Wednesday, August 23, 2000
Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO

MMP Apocalypse is on the air! More than 30, 000 fans are jammed into Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO for tonight’s huge event. Commentators Jerry Wood and Ray Brewer are at ringside.

Wood: Welcome, everyone, to MMP Apocalypse! I’m Jerry Wood alongside Ray Brewer here outdoors in St. Louis, MO at Busch Stadium. This is the very stadium where, a little under two years ago, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals made history by hitting seventy home runs in one season. Then, in 1999, he did it again with sixty five big blasts. This summer Mark McGwire is on the disabled list, so if any history is going to be made here at Busch Stadium in St. Louis it’s up to the MMP to pull it off. Tonight that opportunity falls to The Ryno, who gets his first chance to win the MMP world championship since he lost the belt last spring as he goes one on one with The Cult Master in tonight’s main event.

Brewer: And just before we came on the air tonight I received some great news regarding that title match. When the card for Apocalypse was announced we heard that Psychotic Sam was going to be the special guest referee, which undoubtedly would have let to a farce of a main event that probably wouldn’t have even produced a decided winner. However, I have learned that Psychotic Sam is not here at Busch Stadium tonight, and as a result he will not be officiating the world title match. Instead, a replacement referee has been named, and if what I’m hearing is correct we might just see the proper officiating that a world title match warrants.

Wood: Care to let us in on who this new referee is?

Brewer: No, like I said, nothing is confirmed. All I have is a rumor, but if the rumor is true, I trust everything will work out in the main event later on tonight.

Wood: Alright then, aside from the world title match we have two other title matches on tap as well. The Joker’s Child defends the universal title against the undefeated Glycerine, and Twisted Steel puts the TV belt on the line against Aries. We will determine the number one contenders to the tag team championship as the former champions Hades and Baital take on Falcon and The Punisher, and we kick things off here in St. Louis with an unadvertised match as this mysterious man known as “The Shadow” steps into the ring to take on the MMP’s resident rap star, Guru. Let’s go to the ring for our opening bout!

”THE SHADOW” vs. GURU

With Guru already waiting in the ring “Man in the Box” started to play over the loudspeaker and the hooded figure known only as “The Shadow” strode down the aisle wearing a full length robe. Guru was all over him as he stepped through the ropes, hammering “Shadow” with a series of forearms across the back as he was entering the ring, and once “Shadow” was standing upright Guru shifted to straight right hands, backing “Shadow” into the corner. Once back against the buckle “Shadow” was the recipient of a series of hard chops across the chest before Guru went to whip him across the ring into the far corner, but “Shadow” was able to reverse it and it was Guru that hit hard against the turnbuckle. Guru stumbled out and walked right into “Shadow”, who picked his opponent up as if he was going to backdrop the man, but instead he held Guru up in mid-move and dropped him down face first to the canvas. Guru hit hard and was slow in getting to his feet. Once he was up “Shadow” caught him with a hard knee to the midsection, and while Guru was doubled over “Shadow” jumped up and nailed Guru with a big legdrop across the back of the head, driving Guru face first down into the canvas. With Guru down “Shadow” delivered another legdrop, this time down across the throat, but rather than going for a cover he pulled Guru back to his feet. “Shadow” hooked Guru around the neck and prepared to deliver an inverted leg sweep, but Guru managed to fight back, nailing “Shadow” with a series of elbows to the side of the head. After the third elbow “Shadow” let go and stumbled away. When he turned to face Guru again he was met with a standing dropkick from the rapper that sent “Shadow” stumbling back into the ropes. Guru was starting to get his second wind and he stayed right on “Shadow”, whipping him off the ropes and catching him on the rebound with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. “Shadow” reached back and grabbed his back in pain, but Guru didn’t slow down. He dropped a pair of elbows down across “Shadow”’s chest, and when it appeared as though “Shadow” was ready to be finished off he stepped through the ropes and climbed up to the top rope. He came flying off the top with a big legdrop, but at the last minute “Shadow” rolled out of the way, causing Guru to hit nothing but canvas. “Shadow” suddenly shot to his feet, showing that he was playing possum all along, and delivered a big elbowdrop before taking the match to the air himself. “Shadow” climbed to the top rope and came off with a flying elbow, and this time the high flying move connected as the elbow came right down across Guru’s throat. From there “Shadow” yanked Guru up to his feet and connected with the End of Days modified neckbreaker before making the cover to score the three count and the victory. Once the match was over “Shadow” walked over and started to leave the ring, but before stepping through the ropes he whipped off his robe, revealing the man under the robe as former MMP tag team, television, and midwestern champion Wolverine!!

Wood: Wolverine is back in the MMP!! The former multiple time champion has made his official return here at Apocalypse with a win over Guru, and with Wolverine and Hassan Abu Saada both returning to the MMP after extended layoffs, things really seem to be heating up in the MMP as we head into the fall.

Brewer: Yeah, great, Wolverine is back. This is just what we need, another mediocre wrestling thug who wants to come out here and punch and kick, showing all the wrestling technique of a wild boar. Add to that the mediocre intelligence that one would expect from a graduate of a sub-par school like Michigan and you get little more than a common street hooligan. I can see the wrestling quality of the MMP going down the drain as we speak.

Wood: Well, it’s hardly a secret that you haven’t liked Wolverine from the first day he walked into the MMP, and I guess it would be naļve of me to expect that to change now. Either way, Wolverine is back, and I can’t imagine it will be very long before he gets himself back in the championship picture in the MMP. We continue now with a match that each and every member of The Cult will be watching very closely. One of the newest Cult recruits and one half of the new tag team champions, Benjamin Childs, takes on the Cult turncoat Harbinger.

BENJAMIN CHILDS vs. HARBINGER

Harbinger came down to the ring first, wearing his “Mayor of Arkansas” crown, but this time his two female companions weren’t with him. Instead Harbinger was followed out by Virus Richards, who was giving Harbinger very stern orders as he came down the aisle. Even after the duo arrived at ringside and Harbinger stepped through the ropes Virus continued to shout instructions at the Cult defector, paying no attention as Benjamin Childs, flanked by two Cult minions and wearing a full length white cloak, made his way out. Childs and Virus exchanged a brief hostile glance as Childs entered the ring, and it was Childs who got the early upper hand on Harbinger, jumping the man from behind with punches to the back of the head while Harbinger was asking Virus if everything was OK. Virus slammed his hands down on the apron in frustration as Childs took over the early going, slamming Harbinger down to the canvas, and then waiting for him to get up so that he could knock him down again with a clothesline. After delivering a few stomps to Harbinger’s chest Childs pulled his opponent up off the canvas and hooked him in an abdominal stretch, glaring at Virus on the outside and almost daring him to get in the ring as he wore Harbinger down. Seeing that Harbinger needed some kind of intervention on his behalf Virus climbed up on the ring apron, causing Childs to become distracted and loosen his grip on the abdominal stretch. When that happened Harbinger broke the hold by hiptossing Childs over, and Virus hopped back down to the floor. Childs moved over towards the ropes and Harbinger ran off the far side to build momentum before coming at Childs with a flying bodypress, but Childs ducked out of the way and Harbinger sailed over the top rope, landing right on top of Virus! The crowd cheered loudly as Virus hit the ground, but Virus was not pleased with Harbinger’s mistake. He shot up to his feet and began yelling at Harbinger, who he immediately grabbed and shoved back into the ring. Harbinger looked out at Virus, but before he could say or do anything he was hit from behind by Childs, who pulled him out towards the center of the ring and delivered the Cleansing pumphandle slam. From there Childs made the cover and hooked the leg for the 1…2…3.

Wood: Benjamin Childs picks up the win here at Apocalypse, making short work of the former Cult member Harbinger in doing so. The bigger story here, though, is that Virus Richards and Harbinger don’t seem to be on the same page tonight, which could have a major impact on Virus’ upcoming match with The Destroyer later on here in St. Louis.

Brewer: I spoke to Virus Richards earlier today, and he was quite confident that Harbinger’s knowledge of Destroyer’s tendencies was going to be all he needed to get past, and I quote “that pisspoor working lumbering buffoon”. I assume he’ll still have Harbinger at ringside, but will the frustration and tension that has built up as a result of Childs’ decided victory over Harbinger already tonight alter the gameplan? I guess only time will tell.

Wood: So with one victory already in the bag for The Cult tonight, we take you to our first of three championship matches here at Apocalypse. The Joker’s Child makes his defense of the universal title since winning the belt from Death at BattleGround 3, and he does so against a man who is still undefeated here in the MMP, the mysterious Glycerine, who gets his first chance to capture a championship here tonight on pay per view.

MMP Universal Championship Match
THE JOKER’S CHILD (C) vs. GLYCERINE

With Glycerine already waiting in the ring Joker made his way down the runway accompanied as always by Ponch and smoking his usual cigar. The universal title belt was latched firmly around his waist as he came towards the ring, still finding time to insult the fans seated along the aisle. When Joker got to the ring and started to step through the ropes, though, the challenger was all over him, not even giving Joker a chance to take the belt off before poking the champion in the eyes and delivering a DDT. Joker was in trouble right from the start as Glycerine hardly gave him a chance to catch his breath, yanking the champion up off the canvas and whipping him off the ropes. The champion ducked out of the way of a Glycerine clothesline but before he could turn around the challenger locked on a sleeperhold, and with the two men in the middle of the ring Joker had little chance of reaching the ropes. Glycerine kept the hold locked in and rode Joker down to the canvas, but before the referee could move in and check whether Joker was able to continue, Glycerine released the hold and went to an STF. Joker was barely conscious by this point and the ref got down to see if there was any chance the champion could come back, but as he did so the stadium lights abruptly cut out, leaving only the stars of the night sky lighting the field. Some loud thunder-like crashes could be heard off in the distance, and when the lights came back on moments later both combatants were laid out on the canvas, leaving the referee with a confused look on his face, not quite sure of what to do next. He started to administer his ten count, but by the time he reached four Joker managed to roll over and drape an arm across Glycerine for the 1…2…Glycerine’s shoulder shot up off the canvas just before 3, and he slowly started pulling himself to his feet. Glycerine stumbled over towards the ropes to maintain his balance as Joker got up, and once the champ was back to a vertical base Glycerine charged in with a clothesline. Again Joker ducked out of the way, but this time Glycerine didn’t go for a sleeperhold. Instead he spun Joker around, delivered a hard kick to the midsection, and nailed the champion with the Ignition!! From there Glycerine made the cover and scored the three count to become the new MMP universal champion!! Glycerine’s celebration was short lived, though. As he was presented with the title belt, a disturbing image of a disguised man standing in the backstage corridor popped up on the giant video wall above the Busch Stadium scoreboard. The man began to speak.

"Thunder": Glycerine, I have something you want, and I also know that you want me, well, here we are...

The figure stepped to the side, showing Glycerine’s valet Vanessa gagged and tied to a chair.

”Thunder”: ...You want us, come and get us!

Enraged by what he had just seen, the new universal champion took off in a full sprint up the aisle towards the dressing room looking for Vanessa. The cameras followed him backstage where he kicked open several doors in search of his valet. He finally came upon what looked to be the spot where the dark figure had been standing, but found only a note which he read aloud.

Glycerine: Death Is Creeping Towards You, I Am Coming!

Glycerine tore up the note and headed for the parking lot, presumably to search for his lost woman.

Wood: The search continues as Glycerine continues to try and find Vanessa, who as we know was kidnapped from the Hardcore Saturday Night event a few weeks ago. It looks to me as if this cloaked figure, whoever it is, is taunting Glycerine and clearly believes that there is no way he will be found until he chooses to reveal himself.

Brewer: This is quite the mind game this masked man is playing on Glycerine, and I’m surprised it hasn’t taken more of a toll on Glycerine in the ring. In spite of all these outside distractions, the strange thunder clashes, and even the kidnapping of his valet, he remains undefeated and is now the MMP universal champion. That’s quite an accomplishment given the short amount of time that he has been here.

Wood: Indeed. Becoming the universal champion is something that only an exclusive few people have been able to do in the MMP. In fact, it is the championship that has changed hands the fewest number of times out of all six MMP titles, proving that it is one of the most coveted prizes in the entire wrestling world. Coming up next is a match that was originally scheduled to be a tag team championship contest, but after The Destroyer and Benjamin Childs defeated Hades and Baital on Hardcore Saturday Night for those belts, this match became a contest to determine the number one contenders to the title currently held by the new team of Destroyer and Childs. The former champions, Hades and Baital, take on two members of Kamp Kogler teaming up for the first time in the MMP, Falcon and The Punisher.

HADES & BAITAL vs. FALCON & THE PUNISHER

Falcon and Punisher came out to the ring first, both riding motorcycles down the aisle with their respective valets in tow and Snake riding behind them on a third bike. The three men parked their bikes side by side before H2K got in the ring to await their opponents, who soon made their way down the runway accompanied by Aries and Nashira. The official warned everyone on the outside to stay in their corners, saying he didn’t want a repeat of Saturday Night Slams. As Hades and Baital stepped through the ropes Falcon and Punisher were all over them, obviously remember the severe beatings they both received at the hands of High Society only a few days earlier. Punisher tossed Baital through the ropes and out to the floor before joining Falcon in a double team on Hades. The two men hammered Hades with hard right hands to either side of the head, dazing him back against the ropes. Falcon then backed away, leaving Punisher alone to work over the man he defeated on the previous Saturday Night Slams, but before long Punisher whipped Hades across the ring, right into Falcon who nearly took Hades out of his boots with a spear. The referee finally managed to gain control of the match as he ushered Punisher out to the apron, leaving Falcon and Hades in the ring. Falcon pulled his winded opponent up, delivered a vertical suplex, and dropped an elbow down across the sternum before dragging Hades over to the corner and tagging in The Punisher. By this time Baital was up in his team’s corner on the other side of the ring, but with the referee keeping a close eye on him he was powerless to do anything to help his partner. As Punisher came into the ring he shoved Hades back against the buckle and used his boot to choke the man against the buckle. While this was going on Aries jumped up onto the apron and grabbed the referee, demanding that the official force Punisher to release the choke. Aries’ presence was enough to pull Punisher off, as the biker voluntarily let go of the hold to confront his opponent for the upcoming Saturday Night Slams card. As the two men were exchanging words the referee came over quickly to separate them, and while this was going on Snake went over to the timekeeper’s table and grabbed a steel chair. He held the chair high in the air and came up on Baital from behind, but before he could deliver a blow with the chair Nashira shouted a warning to Baital, who turned and came off the apron with a double axhandle, dropping Snake to the floor. When Aries saw what was going on he turned away from his confrontation with Punisher and walked over to Snake. He pulled the man up and slammed him hard into the post, while in the ring all the distractions gave Hades the opening he needed. When Punisher walked back over towards him in the corner Hades took him over with a hiptoss and started working on the shoulder that High Society had injured on SNS the previous week, driving repeated knees down into the shoulderblade. Once Baital got back up on the apron Hades reached out and made the tag, bringing Baital into the ring for the first time in the match. He didn’t waste any time in going after Punisher, immediately nailing the biker with a big legdrop before going for a quick pin. Punisher kicked out after only two, but that didn’t slow Baital down. Baital pulled Punisher to his feet and applied a simple standing armwringer before making another exchange with Hades, who climbed to the top rope and came down with a double axhandle blow on Punisher’s arm and shoulder as he re-entered the ring. Instead of going right out to the apron, Baital hurried over to the H2K corner and slapped Falcon right across the face, prompting the referee to come over and hold the two men apart. While the official was tied up with Baital Falcon ran along the apron to the adjacent corner and climbed to the top where he dove off onto both Hades and Punisher with a moonsault, breaking Hades’ momentum and taking both men down to the canvas. When Baital saw what had happened he shoved past the referee and nailed Falcon with a boot to the face, sending the Mexican all the way to the outside. He then went to work on Punisher, double teaming him with Hades, who was slow in getting to his feet after the moonsault. As Falcon hit the floor Aries went right over to him and pulled him up, sending him head first into the ring post before pulling out a pair of brass knuckles and climbing into the ring where he joined Hades and Baital in a three-on-one assault on Punisher. The referee quickly called for the bell, awarding the match by disqualification to Falcon and Punisher. Aries and Hades held Punisher up for Baital, who nailed the biker with the Blood Drive before allowing Hades to put him in the Tortured Souls. A swarm of referees ran out from the back to pull High Society off, but before they left the ring Nashira grabbed a mic.

Nashira: "Kolger. Listen up. These two ass you sent out to fight Hades and Baital, were pathetic. These two suffered saverely. But not twice as much as Steel will suffer tonight. Cause tonight His winning steak will end in a bloody wreck. If i were you Kogler i wouldsn't attend Steels funeral.The brother hood has spoken."

Wood: Falcon and The Punisher are once again the number one contenders for the MMP tag team championship, but after the beatings they have taken over the past two events I can’t help but wonder if they’ll be in any position to take that match, even if Vindication is over a month away.

Brewer: Heh heh heh, and they may not have as much time to prepare as they think. You didn’t hear this from me, Wood, but there’s an excellent chance that Falcon and Punisher might be getting that title shot well before Vindication. The details should be finalized within the week, and when they are I’ll have all the details on Saturday Night Slams.

Wood: I must say you have my interest piqued. I can’t wait to find out what it is you’re talking about, and why exactly this tag title match wouldn’t happen at Vindication as scheduled. Of course, I’m sure the current tag team champions Destroyer and Childs are also very much interested in what’s going down around their title belts, and we are about to see those very men out here in our next match. Childs, as we saw earlier tonight, has already picked up a victory over Harbinger here in St. Louis, now it’s time to see if his tag team partner can repeat the performance as he takes on Virus Richards in singles competition.

VIRUS RICHARDS vs. THE DESTROYER

”Ode” blared over the loudspeaker as Virus Richards made his way towards the ring, followed closely by Harbinger. Virus was screaming at Harbinger, still angry over Harbinger’s loss earlier against Childs and warning him not to mess up during this match against Harbinger’s former tag team partner. As the bickering pair arrived at the ring Destroyer made his way out from the dressing room, accompanied by his tag team championship partner Benjamin Childs and two hooded Cult minions. Once Destroyer was in the ring the two combatants locked up, but it was clear right from the start that Destroyer’s huge size advantage was going to play a big role in the match. He easily shoved Virus down to the canvas from the lock up, bringing a mixed look of shock and uncertainty to the face of Richards. Virus slowly pulled himself to his feet and cautiously locked up with Destroyer again, but the same result occurred with Richards getting shoved down hard to the canvas. The former world champion slammed his hands down against the mat out of frustration as he got up again. This time he bounced off the ropes to gain some momentum as he charged towards Destroyer, but the big man caught Virus around the throat coming in and lifted him high in the air. Out of desperation Virus reached down and raked Destroyer’s eyes, causing him to drop Virus down to the mat. Virus landed on his feet behind Destroyer and quickly delivered a chop block to the back of the legs, dropping Destroyer down to one knee. With the big man dazed Virus walked around in front of Destroyer and delivered a big roundhouse kick, catching Destroyer square in the face and knocking the big man flat on his back. With Destroyer finally down Virus went to work on the tag champ’s legs, draping Destroyer’s left leg on the ropes and jumping high in the air to deliver a vertical splash down across the knee. After delivering a second splash Virus called out to Harbinger to help him drag Destroyer over to the post. Harbinger slowly made his way over to where Virus was and helped him pull Destroyer to the corner, but the delay in Harbinger coming around to help gave Destroyer a chance to recover. By the time they got to the corner Destroyer was able to kick Virus off, sending the Hall of Famer hard into the corner. Virus had the wind knocked out of him by the impact against the turnbuckle, and thus stayed slouched in the corner as Destroyer got to his feet. Once he was up the big man charged in with a big avalanche, but Virus moved out of the way at the last minute. Virus immediately started pointing to his forehead implying that he was smarter than Destroyer, but his gesture was abruptly stopped when Destroyer, who had caught himself after Virus moved away from the splash, grabbed him by the throat, tossed him back into the corner, and proceeded to nail the avalanche on his second attempt. Richards was crushed against the buckle and he stumbled out towards the center of the ring as Destroyer stood back and looked down on his opponent with contempt. Before Virus could get very far Destroyer grabbed him and positioned him for a powerbomb, but as he lifted his opponent up Virus slid down the back into position for a sunset flip. Rather than trying to take the big man down in a pinning predicament, though, Virus simply wound up and delivered a hard right hand to the groin, doubling Destroyer over and causing him to fall to one knee for the second time in the match. The referee admonished Richards, but Virus didn’t pay him any mind instead went over to Destroyer’s corner and started taunting Benjamin Childs, telling Childs that if he got down and kissed his feet he could have his old coffee fetching job back. Childs shot up on the apron and got right in Virus’ face, which caused the referee to come running over to keep the two longtime rivals apart. While the referee was tied up with Childs Virus turned back to Destroyer, who was still feeling the effects of the low blow, and nailed him with a superkick to the jaw. The big man, though, didn’t go down. He simply wobbled back and forth, frustrating Virus who delivered a second superkick but still couldn’t put Destroyer down. Virus jumped up and down out of frustration and finally walked over to his corner and shouted at Harbinger to toss him a chair. Harbinger slowly walked over the timekeeper’s table and grabbed a chair, but by the time he was ready to throw it in to Virus Destroyer had shaken off the kicks and was standing behind his opponent. He grabbed Virus from behind, spun him around, and knocked him to the mat with a thunderous clothesline. Destroyer then grabbed Virus’ legs and catapulted him into the corner, where Virus struck his head against the top of the ringpost before stumbling backwards into Destroyer who delivered an inverted chokeslam, driving Virus down hard face first into the mat. When he saw Destroyer taking over the match again Childs got down from the apron and the referee turned around just in time to see Destroyer slap on the Will Breaker!! The ref hurried over to see if Virus wanted to give up, and when he didn’t get a response he quickly called for the bell, awarding the match to The Destroyer, who actually received a mild round of applause from the crowd as he walked out.

Wood: The Destroyer picks up another victory here at Apocalypse, adding to the bizarre losing streak that Virus Richards has been on at this event. While Richards has been one of the most successful wrestlers in the history of the MMP, he is now 0-3 at our annual August spectacular, adding tonight’s defeat to losses against Aries in 1998 and with The Bootlegger against Captain Patrick O’Conner and The Ryno in the first ever dangerous game match last summer. I’m quite sure, however, that this loss won’t be his fault. I’m sure he’ll have a scapegoat of some kind as he tries to explain away this loss.

Brewer: Well Wood, you know I’m not one to take sides, but Harbinger seemed a little slow in following his instructions out here during that match. Virus is, after all, the one who broke Harbinger away from the Cult Master’s brainwashing nonsense, but he really didn’t seem to be in any hurry to help the man out tonight. But like I say, I’m not one to take sides.

Wood: No, of course not, who could ever accuse you of being a biased announcer? And you know, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear that The Destroyer was getting a few cheers as he left the ring tonight. Ever since his unbelievable performance at WrestleFest the fans have started to take to him, no so much because of any change in his personality but just out of respect for the man’s dominance in the ring. I can only assume that Destroyer’s path will now lead to a showdown with Twisted Steel somewhere in the near future. Ever since Steel ended Destroyer’s TV title reign the big man has wanted another shot at Steel and Adam Kogler and while I’m certain it’s only a matter of time before that showdown takes place, whether or not the TV title will be at stake when they do finally meet depends upon the outcome of our next match. Aries looks to add the TV belt to his long list of accomplishments as he takes on Twisted Steel here in St. Louis.

MMP Television Championship Match
TWISTED STEEL (C) vs. ARIES

Aries’ music played over the loudspeaker as the introductions began, but the challenger for the TV title was nowhere to be found. After a few moments passed and no one came out the cameras cut backstage, where a large brawl had broken out between High Society, The Punisher, Snake, and Falcon. A group of referees ran in quickly to put a stop to it, and to ensure that this feud between High Society and Kamp Kogler wouldn’t interfere with the upcoming title match, Hades, Baital, Punisher, Snake, and Falcon were all ordered to leave the arena. All five men protested the ruling but MMP security was on hand to make sure they all left the stadium. Once everything had been calmed down Aries and Nashira made their way towards the ring, and as Aries stepped over the top rope the television champion, Twisted Steel, made his way out with Adam Kogler, who as always had a microphone.

Kogler: "You know Aries, out of all the unworthy opponents we've faced over the past few months, you have to be near the top of the heap. While you may be on the same level of intelligence as all of these fans, the fact remains that you still constantly manage to bore them to tears. Well after tonight we won't have to worry about that anymore, because Twisted Steel is gonna kick your ass all the way to Greece and back! And Nashira, if you decide to get involved, I'll take it upon MYSELF to make you my own personal bitch! Now let's get it on!"

The crowd was booing loudly by the time Kogler tossed the mic aside, but the controversial journalist actually seemed to enjoy the wrath of the 30, 000-plus fans on hand in St. Louis. Steel calmly stepped through the ropes and went right for Aries, and the two men traded punches back and forth in the middle of the ring as the opening bell sounded. Aries eventually gained the upper hand as he raked Steel’s eyes, and with the champion blinded Aries slammed a knee hard into Steel’s midsection before dropping him to the canvas with a double-axhandle blow across the back of the head. With things not going his way early on Steel quickly rolled out to the floor to discuss a new approach with Kogler. After a brief delay Steel cautiously crawled back into the ring and charged Aries with a clothesline, but Aries ducked out of the way and turned to catch Steel with a hard kick to the ribs. That kick was followed by a second kick and then a third, backing Steel all the way into the far corner where Aries continued to kick away at Steel’s midsection until the champion fell to the mat, slumped against the bottom turnbuckle. The referee warned Aries to let Steel out of the corner but the “Beast from Greece” responded instead by pressing his foot against the champion’s throat, choking the life out of Steel while the referee stood back and started a five count. After the count of four Aries released the hold and turned towards the referee, allowing Steel to escape out of the ring under the bottom rope. He went over to confer with Kogler again, but this time Aries wasn’t going to allow Steel the time he wanted. The challenger soon followed Steel out to the floor and chased him half way around the ring before Steel slid back in under the bottom rope. Aries followed, but by the time he got back in Steel was already to his feet, giving the champion the perfect opening to begin stomping away on the challenger. The crowd began to boo loudly as Steel took over the match, pulling Aries up to his feet and whipping him across the ring into the far corner. Aries hit hard and Steel came charging in with the Crazy Train running dropkick, but Aries moved out of the way and Steel’s feet caught nothing but turnbuckle. The champ fell awkwardly to the canvas and Aries was all over him once again, pounding Steel with hard right hands as he lay flat on his back on the canvas. Again the referee started a count on Aries, who again let up at the last possible second before a disqualification. As Aries to got to his feet he grabbed Steel by the hair and also pulled him to his feet, tossing the champ through the ropes to the outside despite the referee’s pleas to keep the match in the ring. Aries stepped over the top rope and out to the floor as Steel pulled himself up, and once the champion was back to his feet Aries grabbed him from behind and whipped him head first into the steel ring post, nearly knocking the champion out in the process. The challenger then tossed Steel back into the ring where he went for a cover, but Steel managed to get a shoulder up at the count of two. With Steel’s TV title in serious trouble Adam Kogler hopped up on the apron and started berating Aries, insulting not only the giant challenger but also his valet Nashira, who was standing on the other side of the ring. The sight of Kogler up on the apron was enough to turn Aries’ attention away from Steel for a moment as he walked over to the scrawny reporter from Long Island and nailed him with a hard right hand, dropping Kogler to the floor and drawing the loudest cheer of the night from the St. Louis crowd. The distraction ended up working to Steel’s advantage, though, as when Aries turned to go after his opponent again Steel dropped low and took Aries down with a drop toehold which led into the Dirty Deed half crab submission hold. Unfortunately for Steel Aries’ seven-foot-plus frame made it easy for the challenger to reach the ropes. Steel kept the hold applied as long as he could, releasing only when the referee threatened to disqualify him, and after he let go he turned and started stomping Aries across the back as the big man struggled to try and get to his feet. As the action continued in the ring, something was happening in the aisle that turned Steel’s attention away from the match. When the cameras panned over it showed that the brawl that had broken out backstage prior to the match was still going on, and it was spilling out towards the ring. Hades, Baital, Punisher, Snake, and Falcon were not only still in the building, they were slowly making their way down the aisle as they fought with one another. Steel started to snicker as he saw Kamp Kogler getting the upper hand on High Society, but while his attention was focused outside the ring Aries was getting back to his feet. Steel eventually turned around and Aries charged in with a clothesline. The champ ducked out of the way, but when he turned to go after Aries again the challenger reached out and grabbed Steel by the throat before picking him up in the air and delivering a devastating chokeslam!! Aries then pulled Steel up to his feet and lifted him in position for the Godly Drop but soon let Steel go when he looked over and saw Kogler over in his corner, grabbing Nashira by the wrist and trying to drag her away. Aries shouted out at Kogler, who was distracted long enough for Nashira to deliver a hard slap across the face and get away from her accoster. While Aries’ attention was occupied with the happenings on the floor, Steel slowly started to crawl over to where the big man stood, and before Aries could turn around the champion reached up and delivered an uppercut to the groin, doubling Aries over in tremendous pain. With the challenger winded Steel managed to get to his feet and, with every last ounce of strength in his body, hook Aries in a full nelson and deliver the Living End!! He then made a quick cover and scored the 1…2…3 to retain the title as a large number of St. Louis policemen were sent out to put a stop to the brawl in the aisle and keep the peace around the ring as the two factions left the area.

Wood: What chaos we have out here around ringside!! Hades, Baital, and H2K continue to battle on the floor, Adam Kogler and Nashira are screaming at each other from across the ring, Aries is down inside the ring, Twisted Steel is still the television champion, and several of St. Louis’ finest are left with the daunting task of trying to sort everything out. I can’t recall ever seeing such a wild scene.

Brewer: I hear ya, Wood. I haven’t seen so many people going at each other like this since ICW held a battle royal where the winner got a twenty dollar bonus on his paycheque. This really is a wild scene, and in spite of the fact that Twisted Steel is still the TV champion I thoroughly enjoyed that match. Did you see Aries lay into Kogler there when that little weasel was up on the apron? I thought his head was going to land out in the left field bleachers with McGwire’s 62 home run ball. You know, as long as Kogler’s role is limited to the “punching bag for the stars” duty that he’s seen lately, I think I could get used to having him around.

Wood: And I know you’re not the only one who feels that way, Ray. When Aries’ right hand caught Kogler’s jaw this place erupted like we haven’t heard all night. But hey, they say this business is for the fans, right? I’d say the fans got exactly what they wanted out of that matchup. Well, it looks like the police have got things under control out here at ringside, and that means it’s time for the final match of the evening, the main event for the MMP world championship belt. The Cult Master defends the title against The Ryno, and we will have a special guest referee. We know it will not be the originally scheduled guest official Psychotic Sam, but just exactly who will it be? It’s about time to find out as we send you back to the ring.

MMP World Championship Match
THE CULT MASTER (C) vs. THE RYNO

Before either the champion or the challenger could be introduced, the ring announcer called out the replacement guest referee. “Thunder Kiss ‘65” blared over the loudspeaker and down to the ring came the reigning MMP midwestern champion, “Amazing” Andrew Peters. Peters was wearing a referee’s shirt, and drew a loud round of jeers from the fans as he entered the ring with a microphone in hand.

Peters: Thank you for that warm recpetion peon fans of the MMP. I want it known that for one thing, the MMP must begin buying quality referee shirts, the material on this one is just pathetic. Regardless, I plan on calling this match straight down the middle. I will show no favortism toward either opponent.

The Ryno was the first of the two participants to be introduced, and he came to the ring with a baseball bat in hand. He didn’t look too pleased with the identity of the new referee, but he didn’t say anything to the official as he entered the ring. “Carmina Burana” then played over the loudspeaker and The Cult Master’s long entrance procession began with Benjamin Childs leading the way out for the reigning world champion. Ryno, though, quickly lost patience with his opponent’s extended introduction and he ran out into the runway, bat in hand, to interrupt the proceedings. He wound up and swung the bat right for Cult Master’s head, and if not for Childs throwing himself in front and taking the shot in the shoulder, The Cult Master’s world title reign might have ended with that one shot. Childs’ intervention also gave Cult Master a chance to react to what was happening and get the first blow in on Ryno. He nailed Ryno with a hard forearm to the back of the head, causing Ryno to slump against the railing and drop the bat to the ground. The champion whipped Ryno across the runway into the other rail before taking him down to the ring and sending him in under the bottom rope, where Andrew Peters waved for the bell to open the match and sternly warned both wrestlers to keep the match in the ring. Ryno stumbled to his feet and ran towards Cult Master, but the champ ducked out of the way and used Ryno’s own momentum to take him over with a simple hiptoss. He then applied an armbar on the champion, trying to wear the Toledo native down and bring the match down to a much slower pace. After using the armbar to wrestle Ryno down to a face-down horizontal position Cult Master let go of the hold and went to work on Ryno’s shoulder, driving a series of knees down into the shoulderblade before pulling Ryno back up to his feet by the hair. He screamed at Ryno for having the “audacity to challenge God himself” as he backed the challenger into the ropes. The champ prepared to whip Ryno off the far side, but the challenger managed to reverse the whip and hold onto Cult Master’s arm, causing a wrenching effect on the champ’s shoulder and dropping him to the mat. Cult Master reached up with his one free arm and grabbed his opposite shoulder in pain, trying to protect it from further onslaught. He cautiously pulled himself to his feet, but while he was still doubled over Ryno jumped high in the air and caught Cult Master with a legdrop across the back of the head, driving him down face first into the canvas. Ryno went for the win right there, hooking Cult Master in a double-armbar submission hold while he was down on the mat. Peters got down very slowly to see if Cult Master wanted to give up, and as expected the champion ordered Peters away and struggled to try and reach the ropes. He finally reached out and hooked the bottom rope with his feet, and once the champ was in the ropes Peters grabbed Ryno and pulled him off Cult Master, breaking the hold. Ryno shot to his feet and got right in the face of Peters, warning him not to screw him out of the title. While the two men were arguing Cult Master pulled himself up and approached Ryno from behind, nailing him with a dropkick aimed right at the shoulderblade. Peters hurried away from Ryno as the challenger fell forward to the canvas, and Cult Master went right back to work on his opponent. He pulled Ryno up to his feet and delivered a DDT before making the cover, which received a very fast count from Peters. Ryno was lucky to get a shoulder up before the three count. He got to his feet quickly, ducked a clothesline attempt from Cult Master, and floored the champion with a clothesline of his own before getting back in the face of the referee. Peters warned Ryno that if he didn’t get out of his face he would disqualify him, so Ryno went back after Cult Master, kicking him in the midsection as he got back to his feet and sending him back into the ropes near the corner. With Cult Master dazed Ryno nailed him with a savate kick to the chest, sending the champion up and over the top rope to the floor. He started out after Cult Master, but Peters grabbed Ryno from behind and warned him that if he went outside and used any foreign objects he would disqualify him immediately. This was the third time Ryno and Peters had come nose-to-nose during the match, and Ryno was fed up. He shoved Peters back into the corner, which infuriated the midwestern champion. Peters gestured towards his striped referee’s shirt and dared Ryno to touch him again, saying it would result in an immediate disqualification if he did it. Ryno seemed to be considering if it would be worth giving up the title shot just to have the satisfaction of taking out Peters, but before he could make a decision Peters reached out and jabbed his thumb into Ryno’s eye, blinding the challenger as Cult Master got back in the ring. Peters escaped from the corner, and as Ryno turned around to try and find him he was slammed back against the buckle by a big running clothesline from Cult Master, who then hoisted Ryno up onto the top rope and positioned him for the Final Prayer. The champion then jumped down and delivered the devastating brainbuster, driving Ryno’s head and neck down into the canvas. He made the cover and hooked the leg, and Peters got down and made a very fast 1…2…3, giving the victory to The Cult Master. Peters then left the ring right away, walking out amidst a loud chorus of boos, not sticking around long enough to award the belt to the victory. Instead it was Benjamin Childs who took the title belt from the timekeeper and presented it to the champion as the scene fades to black.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page