Collision Course 2024

The first theme to play isn't from any of tonight's competitors, but rather it's One OK Rock's I Was King, and here comes Takeo Shima! He wants to be up close and personal for our opening bout, an emotionally charged chaos rules match between two of his close friends.

1. Alex Chambers vs Snow Queen VN
The bell rings, but instead of fighting, Snow asks for some answers from Alex. She wants to know what he's playing at with her and Takeo and Myles. She thought he was her friend but he hasn't been acting like it lately at all. Alex isn't interested in answering her, though. He just wants to fight! Snow quickly realises she's not going to get anything from him the nice way, and the match is on. Takeo watches on pensively as his friends smash each other with kicks and punches, chairs and light tubes, and he follows them staying a few feet away as they brawl around ringside. The internal conflict is written all over Takeo's face any time either of them hits the other with either a big move or a weapon, and he winces as Snow and then Alex in turn both get busted open. Thanks to Chambers' greater hardcore experience and his ruthless nature, he takes control more and more over the course of the match, with Snow's fightbacks getting shorter and sparser... which makes it all the more shocking when she ducks a chair swung at her head and finds a Positive Polarity Impulse out of nowhere to drive the steel into Alex's own face - and pick up a surprise three count!
Winner via pinfall: Snow Queen VN

Alex is stunned and more than a little upset as he comes around. Takeo quickly slides into the ring and puts himself between them, telling them both it was a fight to be proud of, and now they need to both get cleaned up and checked over by the doctor. They both sigh and agree - Snow much sooner than Alex, it must be noted. Takeo remains between them as they head to the back, and the commentators observe that while Alex is playing nice again, he has unmistakeable anger in his eyes.

The camera catches Ryan McGrath arriving fashionably(??) late to the venue. Kameron Chase is there waiting for him as he comes through the door. "Where have you been?"

"Busy." He doesn't even look at his father as he shoves past him to carry on his way. He's stopped, like he was a few weeks ago, by Kam grabbing him by the elbow.

"Ryan, stop."

"Get OFF of me!" Ryan snaps, ripping his arm from Kam's grip and then whipping around, stepping up to him.

Kam looks down at his son. "Go ahead," he says calmly. "Hit me if that's what you wanna do."

There's a few seconds of tension before Ryan decides to step back. "Just leave me alone."

"We're trying to help you, Ryan,"

"We?" Ryan scoffs. "Who's this 'we'?"

"Me, for starters," Kam says. "Mark, Cole, Kai..."

The younger McGrath gives a dry laugh and then turns away. "I don't need your help," he says as he heads down the corridor towards the locker room.

Kam shakes his head and then looks up to the ceiling, sighing in frustration. "What did Revvy do?" He calls after his son.

"She knows," Ryan calls back without turning around. "Mark knows."

And with that, he's gone.

As Isabella Thorn makes her entrance with her brother Ivan Grant at her side, Mick Crellin notes that due to her exceptional record in GEW, Isabella has been granted the opportunity to challenge for a title of her choosing.

2. Isabella Thorn vs Shane Tallin
Early on, Isabella seems to be calmer and more collected than she was last time she competed, and she wrestles a surgical match against the Hall of Famer, keeping herself low and attacking his base for rollups or trips into striking combos. But as the minutes tick on Shane once again proves his physical and mental resilience, keeping his wits about him in the face of his smaller, faster opponent's manoeuvring and answering back with strikes of his own or big throws. Isabella's clearly starting to struggle with her emotions, fury rising up in her. Ivan tries his best to calm his sister down again, but she's taking more and more risks as the match goes on. Sometimes this works for her, like when she reverses an Irish whip into a springboard roundhouse, or when she baits in a Renegade Rush only to duck it and roll Shane into a huge two point nine. Other times, it doesn't, like when a Fall From Grace is met with a boot to the head, or when a frustration-driven Tucked In attempt gets reversed into a piledriver of Tallin's own. The longer it goes the more aggressive she gets, pushing five counts and even clawing at Shane's eyes to escape a powerbomb. After Thorn drops behind Tallin he turns around clearing his vision... SWEET DREAMS! She covers, but he gets a foot on the ropes just in time. Isabella growls and punches the canvas, then starts to stalk him for the Oni Drop as he stands - but Shane shoves her off into the ropes, and though she comes back swinging a kick, he gets under her and smoothly hoists her into a spinning sitout powerbomb for a near fall of his own. Thorn immediately tries to go for a pentagram choke, but her opponent manages to block it enough to lift her up for a second powerbomb. A Second Shattering follows, and Shane picks up what was - especially considering the experience difference between them - a very hard fought win.
Winner via pinfall: Shane Tallin

Ivan tries to help his sister to the back, but she shoves him off her and says she's fine, before storming off ahead on her own. Crell wonders if her recent behaviour is connected to being her late father Sah'ta Thor's final opponent, while Stevie's more curious as to what losing here means for the title match she was offered.

3. BiteSize Bros (Asher & Coby) vs Kai O'Hara & Mark Chapman vs Kameron Chase & Lyra Keston vs Napoleon Collins III & Zeke Colton Spence
Once again, the owners of Wildfire Academy are here to coach their students hands-on, and Crell notes early on that Mark and Kam are clearly showing how they're more concerned with that than with the games being played by the likes of Ryan or Serena Raine. This time, Kai's there to help them too, and with two vets on their team, he and Mark seem the favourites for good chunks of the match. Lyra and Kam's closeness (Stevie makes a few innuendos) also serves them surprisingly well, even if Lyra's again a little upset to be in a tag match on the supershow - though she seems less unhappy to be teaming with Kam than she has with Revvy recently. As ever, Asher and Coby fight with heart and enthusiasm. But it's Collins and Spence who are the workhorses of this one, mixing it up the most and both dishing out and recieving the biggest share of the biggest moves. Their hard work is rewarded when they land an assisted inverted DDT on Coby for the pinfall!
Winners via pinfall: Napoleon Collins III & Zeke Colton Spence

Afterwards, Kam, Mark and Kai make sure to shake their trainees' hands, but they don't hang about long, as neither Kam nor Mark are interested in giving Ryan the satisfaction of being ringside for his match.

4. Revvy King vs Ryan McGrath
There's tension right from the off. Ryan seems angry; Revvy confused over what has led them to this point. She's hoping it's just going to be a respectful match to let him get whatever he needs to out of his system, but it's more to him than that. Right out of the gate he's aggressive on the offensive, earning more than a couple of warnings from the referee for use of a closed fist and taking liberties on rope breaks. He employs a very ground-and-pound technique for the most part. He's not necessarily big or strong, but neither is she, and it works for him for long enough. He's in full control for a large majority of the match, with Revvy having little pockets of success with counter strikes here and there. It looks like Ryan may have it won at one point with a Sharpshooter, but Revvy uses everything she has to get to the ropes. Ryan holds on a little too long (again) and the referee forcefully pulls him away. While Ryan is arguing with the official, Revvy finds some strength from the crowd willing her on and by the time he pays attention to her again, she's up and waiting. When he charges in he's met with an armdrag, then another, and then a hiptoss... but just when it looks like she's gathering some momentum, Ryan drags the referee in between them to halt her progress. Ryan is on his final warning now but he doesn't care about that. He shoves the ref aside and flies at Revvy with a back elbow before going back to the tactic that had worked for him earlier, and wearing her down with combinations of strikes.

Revvy manages to fight her way back again, this time to a near fall after hitting him with a springboard slingblade, and manages to mount another decent offence of her own for a hot minute until he levels her with a discus clothesline as she comes at him off the ropes. He's about to drag her back to her feet by her hair when he notices Lyra Keston sprinting down to the ring. He lets go of Revvy, leaving her to drop to the mat and beckons Lyra into the ring. She doesn't hesitate, sliding underneath the bottom rope and squaring straight up to him. The referee tries to get between them as they exchange heated words: Lyra ranting about him ruining her moment last time out; Ryan saying she should be happy they got the win thanks to him. Their back-and-forth has allowed Revvy to get back up to her feet and she tries reasoning with her tag team partner, telling her to leave the ring and take her issues with Ryan up another time. Lyra backs off and turns around, looking as if she's about to leave before she shrugs, spins back around and clocks Revvy in the face with a forearm! The referee immediately calls for the bell as Lyra makes a quick exit from the ring, holds her hands up and yells that it's nothing personal.
Winner via disqualification: Revvy King

Ryan is fuming, clearly not liking the taste of the same medicine he dished out a few weeks ago and he takes it out on the downed Revvy. He drops to a knee, grabbing a fistful of her hair in one hand and throwing repeated punches with the other. He yanks her up to her feet, hauls her over his shoulders and hits her with Mark's Radiant Eclipse, then spits on her when she's lying prone on the mat. He doesn't look like he's done, but before he can do any more damage Lyra sprints back down to the ring, having almost made it up to the stage, and a handful of fellow Wildfire grads aren't far behind her: Takeo Shima, Snow Queen VN, Napoleon Collins III and Zeke Colton Spence file out from backstage to chase Ryan off. Once he notices the cavalry arriving, he bolts out of the ring, hops the guard rail and hightails it up the stairs before anyone can even get close to him.

The awkward feeling in the venue after the last match is broken when Heartsrevolution's Ultraviolence hits and Laurel Anne Hardy steps onstage! She's in sunflower yellow jeans and a white Knower tee with the sleeves torn off, and holding a mic. She reiterates her desire to compete in all the matches she never got the chance to first time around, and wants to know who's helping her accomplish that dream tonight... she grins, and the fans go crazy, as Bad Romance strikes up and out steps SCOTT SIMMONDS! As he walks down the entrance, Scott brings up getting pinned in the main event of the last show, and how he's got some aggression to work out from that. Laurel acknowledges that she, too, needs a little cathartic murder right now. Scott joins her in the ring and says how about a match he was closely associated with in the old GEW... double glass tables! Laurel nods approvingly, and she turns to look at ringside as a few of that very weapon are brought out on trollies - and Scott takes advantage by dinking her in the head with his mic!

5. Laurel Anne Hardy vs Scott Simmonds
Scott throws Laurel to ringside right away and tries to powerslam her through a glass table before it's even set up, but she manages to hang on and choke him enough that he has to throw her aside in a different direction. She flings herself back at him in a headbutt and the brawl is on. They weren't kidding when they talked about both having anger to vent - this is vicious, with them ramming one another's heads into the ringpost, Scott winding Laurel's arm through a guardrail and stomping on it, and Laurel whipping Scott with a loose cable, all inside of the first few minutes. It's Scott who finally sets up the first table properly, seizing the opportunity after dropping Laurel with an apron German suplex. He positions the glass platform nearby, then drags the Professional Wrestler With Several Nicknames over his shoulders. She grabs the ropes and kicks and thrashes enough, however, to come down behind him, and she twists him into a hangman's neckbreaker across the top rope. The stunned Scott sways precariously over the table, and Laurel hits the ropes to come back with a shotgun dropkick - but Simmonds spots it in time and leapfrogs away right over the table to ringside. Laurel kips up and wheels herself over the top with a spinning crossbody instead, also sailing clean over the glass and wiping them both out for a bit, before the fight around ringside resumes.

It's Hardy who sets up the second table, this time inside the ring once they're back in there, having temporarily downed Scott with an impressive rebound cartwheel headscissor driver. She tries to suplex him up and through it, but even with his brainpan scrambled, he's able to sandbag his 75lb weight advantage too much for her to be able to take him over like that. He manages to standing switch, knee to the gut, and then just bashes Laurel's head against the table, leaving her slumped against it. A couple more; it seems he's trying to get the first table break in the most direct way, but be it a property of the glass or of Hardy's head, it doesn't crack. Scott scowls and rolls her onto the table, then runs at the ropes for a Simmondsault - but Hardy's not as dazed as he thought and she staggers after him, clubbing him in the spine. She hauls him down across her shoulders - as noted the weight difference is a lot, but she doesn't need to hold him long... just long enough to teeter back to the table and drive Scott through the glass with a burning hammer! They're both left crumpled up amidst the shards for a long time after that, while the fans chant holy shit. They were both already a little bloodied up from the ringside brawling but now they're both gushing, with crimson pooling beneath their bloodsoaked faces.

Giving up the first fall seems to light a fire under Scott's ass, and somehow, despite taking the brunt of the impact through the glass on his skull, he's actually the first to his feet - though he just sinks back against the ropes trying to regain his bearings, while scraping blood out of his eyes. There's no time for recovery though. He has to push himself up for a drive-by knee to Laurel as she's rising, and then he brings another table into the ring. More stomps to Laurel before he sets it up in the corner, then he pulls her over his shoulders... Scott picks up speed... but Laurel slides off his back and pushes him towards the glass! Scott hits the brakes just in time. He turns around - Gáe Buide from Hardy! NO! Scott sidesteps it! It's Laurel's turn to hit the brakes. Scott comes in with a forearm to knock her flat against the glass, then backs out, ready to drive her through it... but pauses as she slides off it again. She stumbles out to meet him, swinging a punch; he ducks and grabs her and whips her into the opposite corner. If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad will come to the mountain. Or, rather, if Laurel won't go through the glass, the glass will go through Laurel. Which is to say Scott grabs the table and heaves it towards her! She only barely dodges it, and it shatters across the canvas. Scott rushes in - and Laurel catches him with a monkey flip to sent him into the fresh shards! She follows up with a Punctum knee before collapsing next to him for a little bit.

Then, Laurel slides out and starts to set up another table. She gets one set of legs up and is working on the other when Scott, shedding shards and blood all over the place, suddenly flies out of the ring in a tope suicida that catches her totally by surprise and drives her face and chest through the glass! Scott backs up against the guardrail, huffing and holding himself in pain. He ain't no high flyer and that move took a lot out of him, even before you factor in his skin being shredded right now. But again he's not going to allow himself enough recovery time for Laurel to recover too, and he stumbles back upright and throws her into the ring. Before joining her, he grabs a velvet bag from under the apron, and the fans "oooohhh" in anticipation. They know what this always means in wrestling... PSYCHE! It's not tacks at all, it's LEGO! He spreads them out on the canvas and, perhaps surprisingly, gets to make use of them first when he DDTs Laurel into them. But he feels the plastic sting too soon enough as they both hit multiple big moves into the blocks (and the glass, of course, which hasn't magically disappeared). The biggest is a Lights Out Driver from Scott, and if this was a pinfall match it very well might be over right there. But it's not. In the time it takes Scott to lift Laurel and move her to the edge of the ring where that table's still set up beneath the ropes, she recovers enough to fire off wild punches into his gut and kidneys. They battle back around forth on both sides of the ropes, with the deciding fall never far from beneath them. Scott has a back body drop to send Laurel towards it, but she manages to grab the middle rope and save herself. A moment later she snaps Scott's head into the apron with a rope-hung DDT and rolls him onto the glass, but he crawls off it again before she's managed to get herself to the top turnbuckle for a moonsault. He pulls her down... they smash each other with strikes, leaving them both swaying over the glass table at different points... but neither falls through it. Finally it's Scott to block a hadouken and retaliate with a jab to the eyes, and while Laurel's blinded he yanks her upright with a snap brainbuster, smoothly leaping off the apron to drive her headfirst through the glass and into the ground!
Winner via table break: Scott Simmonds

The medical team swarms the scene, checking on both wrestlers, who are pretty much coated from head to thighs in blood. While they check Simmonds and Hardy over and the stage crew clean up the ring, the broadcast fades backstage.

"There you are."

The voice comes from Mark Chapman, who has found Roscoe Lake crouched down by an open back door.

"Not thinking about running away are you?" Mark jokes.

Roscoe stands and shakes his head. "No, of course not." He gives a small smile. "Where's Trin?"

"She's in her seat. Didn't wanna distract you before the big match. She's out there waiting to cheer you on, relax."

Roscoe nods and blows out a long, nervous breath.

"Don't worry, you got this," Mark tells him calmly.

Roscoe raises his eyebrows. "Do I? I'm not so sure. Nobody else thinks I--"

"Forget everybody else," Mark says, cutting him off with a smile. "I know you got this. Trust me."

"I do trust you, but-"

Mark cuts him off again, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Look at me."

The youngster complies and looks into Mark's face.

"I got you, don't worry."

Roscoe nods and then wraps his arms around Mark in a hug. "Okay... I can do this."

Returning the hug, Mark grins. "That's the spirit." He pats the kid on the back. "Now go get warmed up."

Feeling a little more confident now, Roscoe nods again and pulls away from the hug. "I got this."

6. The Bethel (ABEL, DEACON & Oliver Creed) vs 420 B.C. (Ligaya Fontaine & Serenity) & Phreak
As we've seen before, Phreak and Ligaya can't really work on the same page, leaving poor Serenity having to try to coordinate her two partners as much as wrestle herdangself... that is until Creed and his monstrous new warriors get her isolated in their corner. The Preacher wisely banks on Phreak and Fontaine being unable to coordinate a rescue attempt, and the zombie bride pretty much gets murdered (again) until Phreak finally has enough and interferes with a springboard clothesline to DEACON. Straining, he starts to lift Creed's Strongest Soldier over his shoulders, but the ref forces him to let him go... allowing Oliver and ABEL to illicitly double team Serenity! Now it's Ligaya's turn to interfere, using the unwitting Phreak as a springboard to blast Oliver with a flying superkick! Unfortunately for her, ABEL immediately swings her into a brutal tilt-a-whirl powerslam. The referee turns to focus on that now, and DEACON takes the chance to hit a low blow on Phreak, then clothesline him over the ropes while ABEL biels Ligaya out too. When the smoke clears, the two leviathans crush Serenity with a double vertical suplex side slam, which Crell informs us is called the High Cross. Serenity is done after that but nonetheless the pair take a step back to allow Creed to slap on a highly gratuitous Purgatory Lost to choke her out almost instantly.
Winners via submission: The Bethel

Alex Chambers catches up to Myles Taylor backstage, to wish him luck in his challenge against Cassie Crowe later. Alex may not have had the result he wanted, but there's still time for his night to turn around if Myles becomes the Chaos Champion, and he wishes him luck out there. Myles isn't exactly effusive but he thanks Alex.

Now it's time for Roscoe Lake to look for revenge on Serena Raine after she attacked him at Wildfire Academy a few months ago! Crell wonders whether he'll be able to manage it. No, says Stevie bluntly. Cassie Crowe comes out with her tag team partner; as Mark promised Roscoe, Trinity Chapman is in the front row to cheer on her boyfriend, and Trin and Cassie exchange some angry words.

7. Roscoe Lake vs Serena Raine
Roscoe wasn't lying about how nobody expects him to win this, and, well, the opening minutes kinda prove why as Serena weathers his early flurry and firmly grounds him in the middle of the mat with her technical skills, shutting down his comeback attempts and generally outclassing him in pretty much every way. Throughout this, Cassie is cheerleading for Serena, while Trin is calling encouragement to Roscoe. The fans also want to see him turn this around, but like the song says, you can't always get what you want. Raine is... basically steamrolling him for long parts of this. The fans' faith in Roscoe is almost rewarded when he catches Serena with a Spanish fly when she rushes him, picking up a near fall that gets everyone cheering him (except Cassie, obviously), and later on when he manages to fight back from a side headlock with hard elbows, enough to shove Serena away and blast her with a dropsault on the way back. But those are the highlights among what is mostly a very bad time for him. Even so, there's still hope when he manages to kick out after a Violent Serenade! Trinity's on her feet clapping and shouting, and Cassie gets right up in her face, warning her to shut up. The referee gets distracted by this... so suddenly Mark Chapman, appearing out of nowhere, slides into the ring and pulls Raine into a Radiant Eclipse! He quickly bolts to ringside, and even though what he just did would usually be considered heelish, the fans are loving it. Cassie runs around to intercept him and he hops the guardrail, knowing she can't chase him too far as her own title defence is up next. While that's going on, Roscoe crawls on top of Serena and calls the ref over... one, two, THREE!
Winner via pinfall: Roscoe Lake

Cassie hits the ring immediately, but Roscoe's no fool and he's already on his way out. The Daughters of Darkness are unsurprisingly furious, with Cassie pacing around as she waits for her own match to begin. Meanwhile, Serena joins Stevie and Mick at the table. They probe her about the loss she just suffered and she just promises Mark will get what's coming to him.

8. GEW Chaos Championship: Cassie Crowe [c] vs Myles Taylor
Still mad, Cassie jumps on Myles almost immediately. But he slugs her right back and they spend the first couple of minutes just punching and stomping one another, not bothering to get weapons involved. All the while, Serena's praising everything Cassie does while talking mad shit about Mark. Finally, Myles retrives the Chaos title belt which Cassie had left in the corner of the ring and blasts the champion in the head with it, but she kicks out when he tries to pin her. With neither of these wrestlers exactly being fan favourites, the crowd are more just cheering for general carnage than either individual - and what carnage there is, once they finally get the hardware out. They grind each other's faces with barbed wire, drive each other's heads into chairs, crack each other's skulls with light tubes and kendo sticks. Crowe gets suplexed into the ring steps. Taylor gets a light tube bundle superkicked into his jaw. The Southern Born Killer even manages to find a bucket full of bloody broken glass from the Simmonds-Hardy match, and as he pours it out across the canvas the fans inform him that he is, in fact, a sick fuck. Cassie eats a fisherman suplex into it, but she kicks out, leaving bright red trails across the canvas. Serena hypes up her girl's toughness - unlike that coward Chapman, of course. Finally Cassie finds the Throne Breaker, forcing Myles against the glass. He claws at the canvas and bucks to try to throw her off his back, so she snatches a coil of barbed wire, pulls it around her forearm, and bashes him in the head with it until he falls limp. Then she cranks the hold tight again and although Myles tries to hold on, he's eventually left with no option but to tap.
Winner via submission: Cassie Crowe

Serena rejoins Cassie, and the two of them head backstage together. Crowe's title reign remains intact but they're still not in the best mood, and woe betide anyone who crosses their path, especially if they're from Wildfire.

There's no chance of that being either Mark or Roscoe, though. The camera switches to them making their way hastily down the corridor, with Trinity beside them. Roscoe is still in his gear and obviously sore, so his girlfriend is carrying his bag for him. Mark has his own and he reminds them that they have to hurry because he has a flight to catch.

"I can't believe I won," Roscoe says with a beaming smile.

"Fuck yeah, you did," Mark laughs, ushering him out of the door. He's not stupid and he knows Serena and Cassie will likely be gunning for them. "We can celebrate when we get out of here. Let's go."

Trinity is the one driving, pulling the car key from her pocket as they head out into the parking lot. None of them notice the female figure watching them in the darkness from a short distance away, and the camera can't focus enough to make out who it is, either, before she gets into her own car and follows the trio out.

Yet again the ring crew have a load of broken glass to extract from the ring. While they're doing that a video package plays announcing that Extreme Extravaganza will return in June!

9. GEW Global Tag Team Championship: MC Inc (Casey Black & Lance Murphy) [c] vs Shooter Load (Phil Hunter & Shaun Irvine)
The last match started before the bell because Cassie was pissed off and Myles is a dick. This one starts before the bell because these two teams fucking hate each other (and Shooter Load are dicks). It's not booked as a tornado match but all four guys are in there and beating each other up for the first couple of minutes, until the official manages to barely enforce some kind of order, and Casey and Phil retreat to their corners. This ain't a match, it's a fight, as evidenced when Lance his the Triple Double Reverse Jeopardy on Shaun and Phil doesn't just break it up, he punches Lance in the back of the head. Lance repays that disrespect a couple of minutes later when he has Phil up against the buckles, choking him with a high boot, and he completely ignores the five count until the referee has to physically push him away. While they're talking, Hunter leaps in and smashes Murphy across the ear and temple with a forearm! The whole match is like this - constant cheap shots and attempts to cause serious harm on both sides. To the surprise of nobody, it winds up in a big brawl on the outside. The two teams heave each other across the floor and into the guardrails, and Tony Harrison gets involved too. The referee is issuing a count, as slowly as he can justify, but he's still got a job to do here. As he reaches 9, Phil and Lance are fighting in the crowd while Shaun and Casey, the legal men, both dive to make it back inside in time... then suddenly Casey has a realisation and stops in his tracks. He just steps back a few paces, staring at Irvine, who glowers back at him and starts to head back towards him. But Casey raises both his middle fingers and grins a big, cheesy, 'fuck you' grin at Shaun as the ref calls 10!
Winners via countout: Shooter Load

Shaun decks Casey and the fight continues as Carly Mitchell announces that due to Shooter Load winning via countout, MC Inc retain the Tag Team Championship! The commentators note that Shooter Load pulled the same stunt on the Mad Cunts back in the World Tag League, so this is a taste of their own medicine. The match may be over but the fight continues for several minutes more, until security guards finally manage to separate the teams.

10. GEW Phoenix Championship: Evangelista [c] vs Troy Gafgen
In contrast to the other two title matches, the main event starts off a little slowly - although the champion and challenger have faced each other in team matches over the years, this is their first ever singles encounter, so they spend the first few minutes getting a feel for one another's skills. Evangelista is clearly nervous at the combination of Troy's veterancy, his Hall of Fame status, with his size and power - he's maybe a hair shorter than Russ Lehman, the largest full timer in GEW. Russ and Evangelista have wrestled countless times and she knows she can outpace him, but Troy, in addition to his reach and power, has a decent amount of mobility too. Crell notes that throughout her career, Evangelista's biggest weakness as been a tendency to get inside her own head and underestimate herself. There's no such lack of self-confidence from Troy, who's controlling the tempo early on, aggressively using his bodyweight to push down on Evangelista during grappling exchanges and thus limit her options. But, as we saw in his previous match against Leanne's cousin Ligaya Fontaine, Gafgen is dead set on outwrestling her, rather than resorting to power throws and slams. He said he wanted to demonstrate the technical skills he'd developed since the old days of GEW, when he was firmly known as a brawler, and so he's focusing on submissions and takedowns. That's Evangelista's wheelhouse and eventually she gets her head in the game, and uses her physical and mental flexibility to start turning the tide. Once she finally gets rolling, she's consistently able to stymie Troy with her counter-grappling, reversing holds into submissions and twisting out of grapples into escapes and strikes. After she blocks a snapmare she manages, with some effort, to drag Troy into a Fazakerlater, which forces him to use his first rope break! Troy's obviously frustrated as he shakes out his arm once the ref separates them.

As the commentators have already noted, the most dangerous weapon in the champion's arsenal is her Headbreaker - a move which has almost never been kicked out from in the nearly 15 years she's been using it - yet she's been conspicuously avoiding attempts at it tonight. Only now that she finally, tentatively, moves in for it do we see why: she's clearly having doubts about whether she can actually lift Troy up for it. She's right to be concerned, as when she tries to pull Troy off the ground in an uranage, the strain of it gives him time to pop her in the ear with an elbow and reverse into a snap suplex! He covers and she jerks free just in time, but the impact has left her rattled both mentally and physically. It's easy to see from that point forth that she's avoiding the Headbreaker even when she normally would be in prime position for it, and instead she's trying to twist Gafgen into the Lime Street Loop whenever she has the openings. However, Gafgen has it well scouted, as she anticipated he would, and he's consitently able to block it. She manages to roll through on a half nelson suplex into an ankle lock, forcing Troy to use up a second rope break, but he in turn makes her expend one of her own just a couple of minutes later when he traps her in a figure four leglock. This deep into the match, she either can't find the energy to turn it over or doesn't think it's wise to expend that much, so she stretches back and brushes the bottom rope until her fingertips latch onto it.

Both wrestlers are getting kinda heated now, in their respective frustrations - Gafgen that he can't seem to outgrapple Evangelista, Evangelista that she can't find the big move she needs to end it - and liberties start creeping in, first from Troy, then from Leanne. The strikes to soften joints during holds turn from sharp slaps to leaden punches. Troy maintains a Boston crab past the five count even after Evangelista manages to scrape her way to the ropes; she returns the favour minutes later when Troy uses up his final rope break on a bridging Indian deathlock, and then he returns it again a little after that when he keeps ahold of a hanging choke until the ref forcibly prises Evangelista's carcass off his back. With no rope breaks left he's concentrating on avoiding submissions even more than before, but when he runs the ropes for a clothesline she follows him in with a high knee, and manages to turn that into a tarantula! This is legal now and the fans are on their feet, wondering if this is going to be the tapout at last! But with his reach and strength Troy's able to find the leverage to escape, and though Leanne pendulums and comes in with a forearm, he's able to catch her and swing her into a side slam! Cover, kickout, but he twists her right back into that Boston crab and she almost immediately grabs for the bottom rope, exhausting her last break! No more rope breaks in this match for either of them!

That heralds another shift in gears as they both feel desperation seeping in, with them both shifting away from grappling a little and into big strikes - though Leanne in particular is still seeking a submission. Finally she's able to get Troy in the Lime Street Loop! He uses his long legs to work his way to the ropes and he manages to hook a boot over them - but, of course, he has no breaks left, so Evangelista doesn't let go. She tries to pull him back to the middle of the ring, but he's able to hook his knee over the rope and use that to pull himself through onto the apron, and she can't maintain the hold the whole way. As he steps back through she catches him with a knee to the face, rolls him into the ring in a sitting position, and hits the ropes for the Stevie G - but Troy dodges it! He's already up again and he steps past her. Half on instinct, she grabs him for the Headbreaker and actually lifts him off the canvas, but he drops back down and spins her into a forearm shot, then heaves her up in the air... SPINNING POWERBOMB! Troy had wanted to outwrestle her, but clearly he'll still fall back on his strength advantage sooner than lose here. He stays sitting and covering her; she rolls her shoulders - but Troy drags her back up. She rocks him with forearms as he tries to hoist her into another powerbomb, and he's forced to drop her. But as she comes back in he just shoves her with both hands, so hard she flies back into the corner! She bounces out again, coughing, and this time Troy rips her off her feet and into a buckle bomb! He quickly lifts her into a vertical suplex... spins... THE SICKNESS right into the middle of the canvas! He rolls over her hooking the leg... and at last the match is over!
Winner via pinfall and new GEW Phoenix Champion: Troy Gafgen

Troy rises to one knee, finally letting the match catch up to him, and he smiles as he's handed the title belt. Meanwhile, Evangelista slithers to the apron and rolls to ringside. She's clearly in a lot of physical pain, but even more than that, she's showing frustration and disappointment with herself. Troy gives a light nod as she hobbles back up the ramp, one which carries a hint that's a bit disappointed in himself too. The look that passes between them says they both know this match is going to happen again some time. But once Evangelista is gone, the new champ poses on the turnbuckles with his belt. Even if he didn't quite get to show off his technical prowess the way he wanted, the fact remains Troy Gafgen is now the GEW Phoenix Champion!