Immortal

The show opens with a memorial package video for Sah'ta Thor, recapping highlights of his GEW career, from his many title wins and his Hall of Fame induction, his tournament wins and back-to-back Extreme Extravaganza main events, to his feuds with the likes of James Magnum, Shane Tallin, Scott Simmonds, Wilde Tanke, Savannah, and of course his most iconic frenemy, Troy Gafgen. We see too shots of him with his allies in the Empire of Blood; Baby Dogg, Oliver Creed, Matt Hughes, Devin Rhys, Amy Ngoudje, Scott "Reaper" Walker, Cammy Carnage, Zanatos. We see his bloodiest deathmatch moments, but also the love in his eyes in backstage footage of him with his children.

Finally, accompanying a slow motion shot of him celebrating as GEW World Champion, the legend flashes up:

When the lights come up, most of the GEW roster are assembled on the stage, and in the ring are Thor's family and closest associates; his children, of course, Isabella Thorn and Ivan Grant, their aunt Velvet Grey, along with Troy Gafgen, Oliver Creed and Zanatos, all of whom will be in tonight's main event. So too are many of his other children - Astryd and Sujir, Loren, and holding the hands of their mother, GEW Hall of Famer Baby Dogg, his two youngest Soren and Kayla. Even Nathaniel's father Santara, formerly an authority figure in GEW, is sitting in a wheelchair outside the ring, attended by Lu Chen and Miles Yamato and Lu Chen's husband Aaron Frederick Hudson. Also outside the ring are more friends; Kail Ethenial, James Jefferson, Blood Red. All present bow their heads as a solemn ten bells sound.

Even Stevie Howard is subdued at the loss of one of the GEW family, but he and Mick Crellin thank everyone for watching this show and talk up the main event celebrating the life of Sah'ta Thor. They also reveal that Troy Gafgen has been named #1 contender to the Chaos Championship following his big win over Zanatos, as the Grant family and their friends exit the ring.

1. BlakJak, Cassie Crowe, Evangelista, Serena Raine & Spades vs Casey Black, Kameron Chase, Lance Murphy, Lyra Keston & Revvy King
Several of the wrestlers in this match are wearing black armbands, as are many others throughout the show. MC Inc have added their own touch; they're wearing matching lightning print trunks tonight. Inevitably, they and the Jokers Wild have yet another classic tag team exchange early on, but their Wildfire partners are more interested in the Daughters of Darkness, and getting some revenge for their shocking assault on Roscoe Lake. Cassie and Serena know this and taunt Kam, Lyra and Revvy over it. The latter two and the Daughters have their own excellent tag sequence, which the veterans Raine and Crowe ultimately come out on top of - but Kam gets the last laugh there when he plants Cassie with the Parasite Eve! However, Spades breaks up the ensuing pin. There's some amount of cheating from the Daughters and Jokers throughout, and Evangelista does her best not to participate in that, yet ironically she's inadvertently responsible for the match's low blow moment. Casey has her down and he climbs the ropes for the flying teabag, but when Evangelista starts to come around again, Lyra rushes in and knocks her down... so hard she falls into the ropes, crotching Casey! Still woozy, the Lilac Thorn doesn't really register it as she climbs up after Black and takes him down to the canvas with a thudding avalanche half-hatch suplex for a near fall. Team Wildfire Inc rally and get some near falls of their own, but in the end it's Cassie who has the real last laugh when she catches Revvy with the Warthorn for the pin, with Serena and the Jokers protecting it.
Winners: BlakJak, Cassie Crowe, Evangelista, Serena Raine & Spades

Mark Chapman is at ringside for the next match, to give his trainees better feedback.

2. Blaine Knox vs Heart Boy Hugo vs Roscoe Lake vs Ryan McGrath
All four are determined to impress and start climbing the ranks, especially Hugo and Roscoe who are sharing their pro debut, so this is a rapid fire match with almost zero downtime. Ryan's relative experience edge over the others is clear as he's much pickier and more patient, letting the other three wear themselves out more and looking to capitalise. Mark's murmuring short words of advice to everyone at different points; maybe this focus is why, when Serena walks back out onstage, he totally blanks her - or maybe he's well aware she's there but choosing to no-sell her. She starts to stride down towards him, but Lyra and Revvy jump her from behind to put a stop to that! Cassie sprints out shortly after, now barefoot and minus her wrist tape, knee pads and elbow pads, to even the odds, and the two teams fight to the back. Hugo and Roscoe are both somewhat distracted by this, which leads to Blaine catching Roscoe with a low-angle Knoxing On Heaven's Door which smashes him on the back of his head. Ryan dispenses with the need for a finisher, though, simply dragging Hugo into a roll-up to get the pin!
Winner via pinfall: Ryan McGrath

Mark slides straight into the ring. Ryan assumes he's coming to raise his arm and gets ready, but instead Mark heads straight for Roscoe to check that he's okay! Ryan is left standing there with his mouth open and arms spread in disbelief, before waving off everyone and storming away.

3. Joey Classic vs RADBOT
Joey loudly complains about having to face some durn clankin' tin man. They had nothing like this when he was starting out. "Big Hoss" Large Bill Blinkerspoon never had to fight no damn robo-droid! Just what kind of two-bit operation has he wound up with!? Augusta D'Antagoné is most put out, snootily informing Joey that RADBOT is the future of combat sports, and Joey's just a relic of the past. Even though he's still from the future, relative to her. At first it really does seem like the bot has Joey's number, controlling him for the first couple of minutes. But the Throwback uses his old school rasslin' wiles to give RADBOT the slip and takes over the match, culminating in him telling Augusta he'll show her and her Tonka toy something truly bionic - a bionic elbow, which is enough to put RADBOT down for the count!
Winner via pinfall: Joey Classic

Walk hits the speakers between matches and out comes Troy Gafgen! He's here to address his status as Chaos #1 contender. He admits that part of him would love to take that title away from Cassie Crowe and avenge Sah'ta Thor's loss to her. But while Troy is just as dangerous in a deathmatch as ever, he also came back to GEW to prove that in the years since the original promotion, he's become an elite technician too. That's why he wants to use his contendership to challenge for not the Chaos but the Phoenix Championship! A moment later No Good Advice plays and the champion herself, Evangelista, steps onstage. She's changed back into her regular clothes now, but has the belt around her waist. She keeps her eyes on Troy warily as she walks down to the ring and enters. She doesn't have much to say; she doesn't make the matches around here, but if the booking committee are down with him using his contendership this way, she'll put the title on the line against him. Cautiously, she extends a hand... he takes it and they shake, but before letting go, he leans in over her - looms, in fact, with over a foot on her - and says he'll see her soon. She's visibly intimidated but to her credit, she doesn't let her voice show it as she tells him she'll be waiting.

4. Ligaya Fontaine vs Nikki Song
This is a competitive pure rules match between two excellent technicians. Ligaya has some difficulty focusing, but she has Serenity at ringside to help her through it, and she impresses with her ability to tie Nikki in knots and control her positioning with throws. However, not only is Nikki a world-travelled technical master, she helped train Ligaya in the first place! As such she's able to read many of Ligaya's moves, leading to the Lightning Wizard and then a bridging armtrap chokehold to force the victory.
Winner via submission: Nikki Song

5. Alex Chambers & Myles Taylor vs BiteSize Bros (Asher & Coby)
It's painfully clear that Myles still doesn't really trust Alex from the way he keeps one eye on him. Alex is all smiles though, and throughout the match is happy to let Myles be the team captain. It's a wild, violent brawl which sees the teams fighting all over ringside with chairs, tables and light tubes all coming into play, as well as Coby getting suplexed on the ring steps by Alex. The Bros show tons of heart and almost get the win with a lungblower/spinning heel kick combo on Myles, but Alex breaks it up, and just a couple of minutes later Myles connects with the Reckless Rhetoric on Asher for the fall.
Winners via pinfall: Alex Chambers & Myles Taylor

Afterwards, Alex calls for a mic. With Troy forfeiting #1 contendership to the Chaos Championship, the booking committee need a new contender for Collision Course, and Alex thinks his good friend Myles here has earned the right. Myles is suspicious of Chambers' motives, but he does like the idea of being given a title shot. Alex then tells Myles he'll catch him in the back later; he wants to stay out to watch the next match up close (even though he's bleeding and should probably see a medic).

Snow Queen VN comes out with Takeo Shima, and she doesn't seem too pleased to see Alex still hovering about, but she's cordial. She takes her place in Takeo's corner, while Alex just paces around ringside.

6. Matt Kail vs Takeo Shima
You know this is a high speed jam, with the two men whipping around each other laying in fast strikes and heaving one another across the canvas with suplexes. Matt's relentless, but Takeo holds his own here and actually gets a good two and a half off a bridging fisherman! Alex and Snow have both been calling words of encouragement to him all match, but now Alex slides a chair under the bottom rope, encouraging Takeo to use it. Snow is the angel to Alex's devil, telling Takeo not to do it. He looks from one friend to the other, conflicted... and Matt catches him with Boom Goes The Dynamite! Takeo kicks out of the subsequent pin just in time. They keep on fighting, but inevitably the veteran is more and more in control as it goes on, and when he catches Takeo with the Kaileidoscope, there's no kickout.
Winner via pinfall: Matt Kail

Afterwards, both Snow and Alex move to help Takeo backstage. He glances between them uncertainly, then assures them he's fine and can get to the back on his own. Alex and Snow now look at each other, both seeming a little annoyed, but follow a few paces behind him without any further fuss.

7. Napoleon Collins III & Zeke Colton Spence vs Shooter Load (Phil Hunter & Shaun Irvine)
There's a bit of bad blood to this one, thanks to Shooter Load stealing the fall away from Zeke and NC3 back at Winter Bash. The two teams go hard on each other with brutal double teams, and the young Wildfire graduates come within milliseconds of victory so many times. However, it's not to be in the end, as Shooter Load keep their heads and are able to find a side slam/frog splash combo to get the win.
Winners via pinfall: Shooter Load

Before Carly Mitchell can even finish announcing them as the winners, Shaun snatches the mic out of her hand. Since every fucker around here seems to be declaring title intentions, here's theirs. They're undefeated since the tournament to crown Tag Team Champions. He lays out the challenge to MC Inc - put the Global Tag Team Championship on the line. Then he chucks the mic back at Carly so hard she almost fumbles it, and he and Phil stomp back up the ramp.

8. Kai O'Hara vs Shane Tallin
Kai still hasn't been able to get in the W column in GEW despite a string of impressive performances. What a statement it would be if his first was over a former World Champion and Hall of Famer! He's obviously thinking the same thing as he comes out hot, taking Shane rather by surprise, very nearly upsetting the vet in the opening minutes. But Shane rallies and takes over. Kai is resilient, refusing to stay down. He tries to mount a comeback, but Shane cuts him off every time, until at last he finds a huge leg wheel throw straight into an armbar! Shane is clearly considering tapping out, but instead he just barely manages to hook a foot over the bottom rope. Kai stays targeting the arm here, and he succeeds in putting Tallin on the back foot. But the multi-time world champ knows a few things about fighting through pain, and he switches to leg-based offence, focusing on using kicks, leg drops and ranas. A Calamity Combo sets up a triangle choke, and though Kai valiantly refuses to tap, he passes out before he can escape.
Winner via submission: Shane Tallin

9. Phreak vs Scott Simmonds
Both men are eager to climb back up the Chaos Championship rankings, especially Scott who recently failed in a challenge. They get the plunder involved almost immediately, busting out light tubes, barbed wire wrapped two-by-fours, and a couple of polystyrene sheets with rows and rows of metal forks jammed into them, pointy side up. Phreak coats the canvas in tacks inside of the first three minutes, and by the five mark, both he and Scott are dotted all over with silver studs. Scott ups the ante with Lego, and naturally with all those violent toys in play they're both leaking the claret before long. Both hit huge bombs; Scott takes a sitout driver on the apron and a swinging neckbreaker through a fork board, while Phreak eats an inverted falcon arrow into barbed wire and a brainbuster through a light tube log cabin. When none of that works, they resort to biting each other's faces (Scott pausing to spit out a bunch of Phreak's greasepaint) and using a staple gun on one another's flesh. Finally, Scott's able to find the Lights Out Driver into a bundle of lights tubes balanced over a barbed wire beam to pick up the well-earned win.
Winner via pinfall: Scott Simmonds

Ahead of the main event, Oliver, Zanatos and Velvet enter the ring to the sounds of Type O Negative's Blood & Fire, while Troy, Isabella and Ivan enter to Neuroticfish's Prostitute. Baby Dogg, Astryd Thorn, Sujir Thorn and Santara are all among those sitting in the front row, and are visibly emotional.

10. Isabella Thorn, Ivan Grant & Troy Gafgen vs Oliver Creed, Velvet Grey & Zanatos
Heavy feelings hang over the match. Isabella and Ivan are both dressed in homage to their father's attire, and everyone shakes hands before the bell. But once it sounds, they go into high gear pretty much right away, as they all know that the best way to honour Sah'ta Thor is not to mope around but to fight with the same fervour he always showed. Many of his signature moves from across his career get used, from Isabella biting Zanatos's forehead, to Velvet catching Isabella shortly thereafter with the Sah'ta Combo; from Troy trapping Oliver in the Heretic's Curse, to Zanatos hitting Ivan with the Seraphim's Shadow - he almost gets the three count there, but Troy breaks it up. Zanatos and Troy are still putting mustard on their strikes whenever they're face to face, but they do seem to have a little more respect for one another now following their bloody battle back at Winter Bash. However, Troy also seems to be going out of his way to chain wrestle here, out-grappling opponents whenever possible rather than out-brawling them - no doubt to send the message that he deserves a Phoenix Championship opportunity. He puts his technical skills to good use when Velvet and Zanatos are double teaming Isabella with rapid tags, grabbing Zanatos, twisting through under the counter-grapple into a hammerlock, and shoving him into Velvet then grabbing them both in combined German suplex to Zanatos and belly-to-belly to Grey! Zanatos rallies, but after a brief brawl Troy clotheslines them both over to ringside, not far from where Oliver and Ivan are already tussling on the outside. That leaves Velvet and Isabella both slowly getting back to their feet. Velvet's first up and she goes for the Shooting Star - but Isabella dodges it and snaps her aunt up in a tombstone clutch! PARASITE EVE! One, two, three!
Winners via pinfall: Isabella Thorn, Ivan Grant & Troy Gafgen

The six wrestlers come together in the ring again for more handshakes, and then the four veterans leave to let Ivan and Isabella have the final moment to themselves. The siblings thank the fans for supporting Sah'ta Thor's career, whether they cheered or booed him, and the show closes on Sabaton's Ruina Imperii one final time.