A Show Without A Name

1. Daughters of Darkness (Cassie Crowe & Serena Raine) vs Alex Chambers & Myles Taylor
It's a continuation of Cassie and Myles' fight from Collision Course, this time with tag team partners involved, and it's just as nasty; at one point after stomping Alex's face through a light tube, Serena tells him to pass that along to Mark Chapman for her. Crell and Stevie bring up this being Alex's turn to try to get revenge on the Daughters for their invasion of Wildfire Academy, though to be honest, Alex doesn't really seem to care about that at all. He seems a lot more concerned with pinning Cassie, presumably hoping for a shot at her Chaos Championship. He actually manages it too, catching her with a fisherman DDT through a light tube bundle for what would be at least a three count... if the ref wasn't too busy dealing with Serena and Myles on the other side of the ring, where she's choking him off the apron with a chain! Alex storms up to the ref and slaps him in both shoulders angrily, gesturing to Cassie, then drags him over to count as he pins again - Crowe with the reversal, rolling Chambers up in an inside cradle, and he only powers out just in time! He's tilted now, and though he and Myles continue to fight brutally, they're getting more and more reckless. That's fitting for Myles, at least, but ultimately the Daughters catch Alex with a tandem suplex lift into an assisted Warthorn into a chair, and double stack the pin before Myles can break it up.
Winners via pinfall: Daughters of Darkness

Afterwards, Alex gets in Cassie's face telling her he had her beaten, but she just smugly raises the Chaos title belt up in his face. In repsonse he gets right up in hers, and it looks like we're about to have round 2 right now, when suddenly things are interrupted by Mortemia's What Else Is There? and Isabella Thorn steps onto the stage! She reminds everyone that she was granted #1 contendership to the title of her choosing... and she's choosing the Chaos Championship! Cassie turns and gestures the belt in her direction now, telling her to bring it on. Alex and Myles look like they might jump the champion from behind right now, but Serena's hovering with a chair in her hand and they back off, watching and plotting as Thorn and Crowe stare down across the entrance way.

While the ring crew clean up, the screen shows a humble suburban retail lot with a navy and gold sign proclaiming this to be CLASSIC ACADEMY. Standing in front of it is the man it's presumably named after.

"Hi, I'm GEW superstar Joey Classic. Do you ever watch your favourite rasslers and say to yourself, man, I want to fight people all over the world for money? Well, it's in your reach, friend. All you need is someone to teach you how to grapple like a pro, and that somebody is yours truly, Joey Classic."

Cut to indoors, with Joey standing in front of some mats where young students are practicing bearhugs on each other.

"Most wrestling schools these days are scams ran by doofuses who can teach you how to flip around like a damn ballet dancin' fish, but they can't teach you the fundamentals. Only at Classic Academy can YOU learn the moves that made ME a champion from Akron to Akbarabad."

A list of moves, with the ones Joey calls out by name being highlighted, scrolls up the screen like some four-disc music compilation advert.

"Armdrag! Hiptoss! Japanese armdrag! Knife-edged chop! Mongolian chop! Chop block! Irish Whip! German suplex! And the dreaded Polish hammer! If it's named after a country, I can teach you it. And if it ain't named after a country, hell, you probably don't need to know it."

As Joey talks now, students run in to try to grapple him and and he suplexes them all over the place, keeping speaking the whole time. "So come on down to Classic Academy, and learn how to rassle like the best TODAY!"

2. Blaine Knox vs Shane Tallin
Blaine couldn't be more eager to impress against the Hall of Famer and he flies at Shane right away with a high kick, and he stays on him, peppering him with drive-by strikes for a couple of minutes. But the veteran doesn't let the physical punishment break him mentally, instead staying aware of his openings, and when Blaine whips him at the ropes he hooks his arms over the top to kill his own momentum. Blaine's already jumping up for a dropkick, and with no opponent coming back to meet him, he crashes and burns! Shane sprints over with a sliding elbow to the back of the head, follows with stomps and knees, and then finally a deadlift sitout powerbomb for a two point nine! Blaine's mental game is broken and he has real trouble coming back into this. Knox does manage a slight comeback with a snap German that sends Tallin rolling into the corner, and he flies in after him with a leg lariat, but when he makes the mistake of backing out and trying it again, Shane catches him with an elbow instead and then plants him with a huge uranage. Pin, and Blaine kicks out, but between the powerbomb and the uranage his spine is clearly hurting him badly now. He tries his best to hang on but a couple of minutes later Shane finds a single-knee backbreaker and this time there's no kickout.
Winner via pinfall: Shane Tallin

As Blaine rolls onto the apron and sits up, grimacing, he's clearly angry with his loss. He beckons the camera over and demands another veteran on the next show, promising that the result will be different.

3. The Bethel (ABEL & DEACON) vs BiteSize Bros (Asher & Coby)
This is... basically a murder. A murder in the name of god. The poor kids do their best to fight back, but this is almost entirely ABEL and DEACON from bell to bell, with Oliver Creed watching on from ringside, silently but approvingly. The fans cheer on the Bros' sparse comebacks, but really this is academic even before DEACON and ABEL plant Coby and Asher with The Rapture and the Eye of the World respectively.
Winners via pinfall: The Bethel

Creed enters the ring after the bell, just watching as Asher and Coby help one another roll to ringside. He kneels, and his disciples each place a hand on his shoulders, while the commentators muse that this group might be unstoppable.

4. Ivan Grant vs Ligaya Fontaine
Serenity's out to cheer Ligaya on as usual, but there's no Isabella - Ivan's flying solo here. He starts off hot, tackling Ligaya down to the mat and wrenching her through a sequence of holds, forcing her to expend a rope break inside of the first couple of minutes. But he struggles to maintain his control. He seems to be off his game, making some silly mistakes and failing to capitalise when he should at times, and Ligaya gradually takes over. With his broad shoulders he's able to block both the Tentacle Monster and the Deathcuddle, but an octopus stretch finally forces him to tap out.
Winner via submission: Ligaya Fontaine

Backstage, Alex Chambers has his hands on the shoulders of Takeo Shima, ready to give him another pep talk.

"If ever there was a chance to get your first win, it's this one, right?" Alex prompts, and Takeo nods his agreement. "All you gotta do is go out there and beat the hell out of Wildfire's golden boy and all eyes will be on you, Takeo-san!"

A small frown creases Takeo's brow. "I don't wanna hurt him. I like Ros--"

He's cut off as Alex shakes his shoulders aggressively. "Why are you wrestling if you don't wanna hurt people?!" He doesn't give him a chance to respond. "That's what this sport is about! You need to stop showing so much respect to everybody and just go out there and kick some ass."

Takeo stares at him silently.

"You go out there, and you show him why children don't belong in a wrestling ring, OK?" He shakes him by the shoulders again. "No more Mr. Nice Guy, Takeo. You need to go out there and win!"

Takeo sighs, but nods his head again and Alex finally releases the grip on his shoulders. "Good." He smirks as he walks away, leaving his would-be protégé standing in the middle of the corridor.

5. MC Inc (Casey Black, Lance Murphy & Tony Harrison) vs Scott Simmonds & Shooter Load (Phil Hunter & Shaun Irvine)
Pure commotion from the jump here as the teams point and yell at each other while they wait for the bell, and then go straight into a wild brawl as soon as it rings, completely dispensing with any notion of rules. Eventually, after a big three-on-three clusterfuck, Shooter Load send Tony over the ropes, only for Casey to dump them both out too and leap out with a diving Mongolian chop to Phil. In case you didn't think this feud was serious, Casey isn't even fanboying over Scott - he's just totally focused on beating the shit out of Shooter Load. Speaking of Scott, now that he and Lance are left alone in the ring, their forever rivalry picks up right where it left off a few weeks ago. The beleaguered referee attempts to enforce some order but goes completely unheard, as Scott claws at Lance's face and Lance retaliates with a fishhook, while down at ringside, Shooter Load crotch Casey across one guardrail then send Tony spine-fist into another with a double suplex. At this point, the official really has no choice but to throw the match out.
No contest

Not that that stops the sides from fighting. After another minute or so of chaos, Shaun dodges a big boot from Tony and kicks him in his balancing ankle to drop him, and he and Phil ram Uncle Tone's head into the ringpost, busting him open. Casey sees red and assaults both of them, but he's outnumbered, and eventually they turn things around on him, leading to a back suplex/neckbreaker combo on the bare floor. After that they join Scott in the ring and help him turn the tide against Lance once and for all, subjecting Murphy to a three-on-one beatdown. Casey, slowly and holding his agonised back, climbs up onto the apron to try to save his friend, but gets bumped off again hard enough to send him crashing into the railings. Phil with a big gutwrench powerbomb to Lance, and then he and Scott hold him down while Shaun comes off the top with an Irvine Intervention.

Security are here now to try to break this up, but Shooter Load don't care. While Scott drags Lance to ringside to beat him up some more, they bring Tony into the ring and start working him over, opening up the wound on his head even more. By the time security guards tackle Shaun and Phil to the mat to shut this brawl down, he's a crimson mess. Medics gently slide him out of the ring and walk him backstage; more try to help Casey and Lance, but they shove them aside and stumble to their manager's side, bruised and swaying as they both are, determined to stay by his side as he's helped to the back.

6. Roscoe Lake vs Takeo Shima
The two Wildfire students shake hands before the bell rings. If Alex's words meant anything to Takeo earlier it doesn't show, as the match is contested fairly and respectfully with each man getting in a good amount of offence. There's a decent amount of chain wrestling sandwiched between a lot of fast-paced, high velocity action and Shima comes close to getting his first win at one point, when he catches the teenager around the waist as he springboards off the ropes and throws him across the ring with a release German suplex. Roscoe manages to lift a shoulder up on two, though, much to the frustration of Takeo. The pace of the match is more suited to the younger Lake the longer it goes on, and after dropping Shima with a springboard bulldog, he climbs to the top rope and leaps off with a 630 corkscrew senton to the delight of the fans in attendance. He hooks the leg and it's over.
Winner via pinfall: Roscoe Lake

Roscoe celebrates as the referee checks on Takeo, who is visibly upset with himself when he comes around. Roscoe notices this and walks over to him, offers a hand, and pulls him up to his feet. There's a respectful applause from the audience and after overcoming his initial disappointment, Shima raises the hand of the victorious youngster. There isn't much time for either of them to take it in, though, as Alex Chambers storms down the ramp. A wide-eyed Roscoe bails quickly as Alex slides into the ring and demands a microphone. Takeo looks concerned, but stands his ground as the bigger man looms over him.

"Week after week after week I try to teach you, try to guide you, try to help you, but you just don't listen, do you?" Shima looks away from him, averting his gaze to the canvas and Alex continues. "See, you can't even look at me, can you? Pathetic." He shoves Takeo, who stumbles back but still doesn't react. "You're a loser, Takeo. You've wasted my time. You've wasted everyone's time. You're too weak to be here. You're a loser and that's all you'll ever be. Why don't you just do everyone a favour and go back to Japa--"

Before Alex can say anything else, Shima puts a stop to it. He lets out a roar and tackles him, running him into the corner with his shoulder. He buries several hard shoulder charges into his abdomen, and when Chambers drops down onto the mat, he continues the assault with stomps. He backs away, breathing heavily, watching as Alex slides down from a seated position to now lying on his side. He turns around and picks up the microphone that had dropped from Alex's hand.

"Everybody knows the saying... DTA... DTA... Don't trust anybody," he says, his shoulders heaving as he speaks. "In my world DTA means... Don't. Trust. Alex!" The crowd roars as Shima dives back into the corner and starts pounding on Alex's head with the microphone. The referee, who had been as stunned as everybody else at what was happening, finally snaps back to life and tries to pull Takeo away from Alex. He resists for a few moments, screaming at Alex and asking if this was what he wanted before standing up and throwing the microphone to the outside.

As Takeo leaves the ring, heated and angry, the camera pans to Alex, bleeding on the canvas... and he's smiling. This was indeed what he had wanted.

The Natural Ones are supposed to be taking on Mark Chapman and Revvy King next up, but after Mark has made his entrance, Nobody by his own band plays as he waits for his tag team partner. The song almost reaches the chorus before sounds of "HELP! SOMEBODY GET SOME HELP!" can be heard as the music stops abruptly and the screen shows Revvy lying face down on the floor backstage, with two security guys crouching next to her. Dr Cortez races onto the scene, asking what happened, but she can't get an answer from the men with Revvy because they didn't see anything; they just found her there. Mark climbs out of the ring and starts to race backstage but the feed fades and Natural High by The Union Underground takes over. Kameron Chase steps out, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a tank top, as Mark reaches the stage. Mark stops, looking at him bemused for a second. The music cuts and the camera just about picks up the conversation between them. Kam tells Mark that going back there isn't going to help anything; Revvy is with the doctor and will get whatever help she needs, but Mark has a match right now and Kam is willing to fill in since he doesn't have one himself tonight. Mark looks at him suspiciously, asking his cousin if he had anything to do with the attack. Kam tells him of course he didn't and when Mark then asks if it was Lyra, he shakes his head, tells him no, and says they'll figure it out later. He puts a hand on Mark's shoulder and points back down to the ring; they have business to take care of. Mark seems reluctant, but ultimately is convinced and they make their way down the ramp together.

7. Mark Chapman & Revvy King Kameron Chase vs The Natural Ones (Anson Orlandelli & Russ Lehman)
Anson's a little shaken with the change to the match he prepared for, but Russ takes it in stride, confident in his own strategic abilities. Mark's more shaken, naturally, and Kam takes the heavy lifting in the early minutes. He and Russ have a hell of an exchange, Kam coming out on top but Russ holding his own - however once Russ tags Anson in the Game Knights quickly establish control, using their years of team experience over the two singles stars to wear them down, cut off tags and connect impactful combos. Gradually, though, the cousins find their groove, and they start to equalise, especially once Mark starts to concentrate more on the fight than on whatever happened to Revvy. It's intensely back-and-forth for a good spell, but once again Russ's tactical prowess proves key. He identifies the holes in Mark and Kam's synergy and manoeuvres himself and Anson to take advantage, and they again take the dominant position in the match. Anson's cheating somewhat too, because of course he is, he's Anson. Turnabout is fair play to Kameron though and he sneakily jabs Anson in the eyes, and pulls him into a schoolboy to steal the win!
Winners via pinfall: Kameron Chase & Mark Chapman

Anson is stunned and protests, but the ref stands firm; this was a three count. Kameron grins at Mark and asks him whether he thinks Revvy would have won that match for them, but Mark's not really paying attention as he quickly heads backstage to check on her. Kam shakes his head, and then shakes Russ and Anson's hands - though Anson's pouting and seems reluctant to show Kameron respect for a couple of seconds.

8. Isabella Thorn vs Serenity
Much like earlier, Serenity has Ligaya with her for moral support, but Isabella's on her own with Ivan nowhere to be seen. As we've increasingly seen from Izzy since the death of her father, she's kinda wild here, pouncing on Serenity from the bell and unloading mounted punches. Little Miss Phreakish is caught off guard by Thorn's viciousness but once she manages to regroup she fights back in kind, leading to an aggressive match which takes full advantage of the Chaos ruleset with chokes, rakes, and weapons aplenty from both sides. After only just kicking out from a Painkiller onto a chair, Isabella seems to almost lose it, practically frenzying at times, and eventually overwhelms Serenity, catching her with the Oni Drop to force the tap.
Winner via submission: Isabella Thorn

Isabella doesn't seem to hear the bell at first, but once Ligaya slides into the ring and starts to pull her away from Serenity she gets a look of sudden self-awareness and quickly rolls aside. Izzy glances uncertainly at Serenity, who's still sitting on the canvas holding her arm, but says nothing and just exits the ring looking mightily conflicted.

9. Lyra Keston vs Ryan McGrath
There's no love lost here following events over the last couple of months and there's a lot of jaw-jacking before any action takes place. They each accuse the other of attacking Revvy earlier in the night, but it's a comment from Lyra about whatever Ryan is doing not being fair to Kam that finally stops the talking as Ryan floors her with a lariat. He yells at her to stay out of his family's business and in true "you're not my mom" fashion, reminds her that she's nothing but his dad's, uh, little whore. Much like he did a few weeks ago against Revvy, Ryan opts for a ground-and-pound strategy, but it doesn't take too long for Lyra to remind him that she's not Revvy and, showing him just why they call her a Firecracker, she brawls right back. Ryan clearly wasn't prepared for a slugfest and after exchanging a few blows, he slides underneath the ropes to catch a breather. Lyra goads him back in, and even backs away from the ropes to let him. He does, and without wasting a second Lyra runs off the ropes behind her and flies at the youngster with a crossbody that takes them both over the top rope. They brawl at ringside, ignoring the referee's insistence on them getting back into the ring. Lyra gets the upper hand, throwing Ryan into the steps and then the guardrail, but he's alert enough to move out of the way when she tries to follow up with a running knee strike. Her knee crashes into the metal and Ryan rolls back into the ring without hesitation to put some distance between them again. Lyra manages to get back into the ring before she can be counted out and once she does, the two actually start wrestling. They're almost equally matched for speed, with Lyra maybe having a slight advantage, so the exchanges come thick and fast. She almost puts him away with a running neckbreaker, and he also comes close to finishing the match after a sitout jawbreaker. Frustration gets the best of both of them before too long and they go back to punching, kicking and elbowing each other. Lyra backs him into a corner and climbs to the middle ropes; the crowd prepare themselves to count along with the punches she's readying but Ryan drops down onto his ass and makes a T with his hand. Lyra shakes her head, telling him there's no time outs as she hops down but Ryan shakes his head, holding his hand and saying he thinks he's broken it. The referee backs Lyra up as he goes to check on Ryan to ask him if he can continue. He's hunched over now with his forehead on the mat and his hands pulled in tightly to his body. The ref is about to stop the match but Ryan suddenly yells for him not to and struggles up to his feet. Lyra is more than frustrated and charges in at him, but she's met with a solid punch to the head! She hits the mat hard and it looks like she's out. Ryan smirks, takes his time and then covers her without bothering to hook a leg.
Winner via pinfall: Ryan McGrath

The referee lifts Ryan's arm to declare him the winner, but he yanks it away before the official can notice the weapon on his finger. He turns his attention back to Lyra, who still hasn't moved. He drops to a knee, grabs a fistful of her hair in his left hand and starts raining down punches with his right, angling his fist so that the ring on his little finger splits the skin above her eye. The referee grabs hold of him and pulls him up, but Ryan spins, clocks him in the jaw and then shoves him to the ground. A throng of security guards emerge from the back, but they're split down the middle as Kameron Chase cuts through them and sprints down to the ring. He slides in and storms over to Ryan who, surprisingly, doesn't budge. Kam warns him to back off as he crouches down to check on Lyra. Ryan holds his hands up as he takes a couple of steps back, then slides the ring off his finger and tosses it at his father's feet. The camera zooms in on the jewellery; it's a class ring from somewhere, with the year 2001 across the middle of it. Kam manages to get Lyra to sit up, then picks up the ring and stares at it as she rests against his knee. He looks from the ring in his hand, to his son, who just laughs as he exits.

10. Evangelista, Matt Kail & Nikki Song vs Troy Gafgen, Velvet Grey & Zanatos
As we've seen before since their brutal battle back at Winter Bash, Troy and Zanatos have a little more coordination and mutual respect now, though it's not without moments of conflict, leading Velvet to take on the team captain role and keep the peace between them. No problems with chemistry on the other side; Nikki, Matt and Evangelista all know each other very well, as shown by their extremely smooth triple team sequences. That means nobody's their captain, as they don't really need one, a state which seems to help boost the confidence of Evangelista in particular - she's happy to let Kail and Song take the lead in calling team moves, but otherwise she gets on with her business on her own, safe in the knowledge that her friends will be ready to slide in as and when they need to. Early on, the new Phoenix Champion and the woman he beat for it go into an intense grappling exchange which shows they both still feel they have something to prove against the other. But Matt and Nikki also have title aspirations and they're both particularly eager to get involved with the champion, knowing a pin over him could be huge. That leads to their team ignoring Velvet and Zanatos a little bit, and the latter pair are very quick to capitalise; a Striking Bullet from Zanatos to Matt and a double arm DDT from Vel to Evangelista both get incredibly close falls, as does a spinebuster/neckbreaker combo to Nikki which Matt and Leanne only barely break up in time.

Troy nearly pins Evangelista on back to back shows when he squashes her with a Down And Out combo, with Nikki breaking the pin up. The Lilac Thorn's left with a bloody nose from the part of the combo where she got thrown face first into the turnbuckle, but she sucks up the pain and forces Gafgen to desperately tag out a minute or two later when she almost traps him in the Lime Street Loop! Velvet's straight in with a cradle and Evangelista only just kicks out in time. For a few minutes it's all fast tags and big double and triple teams, ending with Song and Evangelista trying to lift Zanatos in a double brainbuster, only for him to sandbag and take them both over with a double suplex instead! As they stand back up Zanatos clocks Leanne with a lariat then swings for Nikki, but she ducks it and comes back on the rebound with a flying roundhouse! It doesn't drop him fully, but with Zanatos off balance, Evangelista catches him on instinct with the Headbreaker! It takes a lot out of her to lift the heavyweight and she rolls to the apron, but it doesn't escape the commentators that that's the exact same move she was so unsure of when defending the Phoenix title against Troy, who's a few pounds lighter than Zanatos. Even though Evangelista isn't able to capitalise on her feat, Matt is right in there with the blind tag and the Tumultous Fall to pick up the victory!
Winners via pinfall: Evangelista, Matt Kail & Nikki Song

As Troy backs up the entrance he holds his Phoenix title aloft and stares across at the trio in the ring. Matt, Nikki and Evangelista all stare after him... and then at one another, as they realise that the first step in dethroning him is very likely each other.