Welcome to an in incredibly awesome edition of “In The Zone.” It’s the second week of November, 2119.
The reason this week is incredibly awesome is because we are coming to you LIVE from The Warrior Village Coliseum in Aethra. And, as everyone knows, any time the GWF hits Aethra it’s a special event. Mainly because Aethrans are insane.
They naturally wear their face-paint and armor to the arena. But they also spend the entire night starting fights in the crowd, throw things constantly into the ring, routinely brawl with security personnel, and on more than one occasion have been known to trash the ring set-up if shows don’t go to their liking. They once tossed a production tuck into null-gravity space when Spike lost a title match during a War Zone taping.
They make English soccer hooligans look like Jehovah’s witnesses.
THIS IS MADNESS!
THIS….IS….AETHRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
And tonight’s main storyline is centered around the leader of the Gladiators and whether or not he will be released from his imprisonment at the hands of GWF Owner, Tom Filsinger.
Should be interesting….
Main StorylineThe night started with a contingent of armed Aethran guards flooding the main arena. The crowd marked the F out for that. Then out came Spike, in full Minister of War regalia. At this point the live gate went ape-sh*t!
Spike explained that the owner of the GWF had promised to return the kidnapped Disaster by the end of the night, but that the guards were there to
make sure he kept his word!At this point, Tom Filsinger appeared on the Holo-Tron to a thunderous chorus of boos. Mr. Filsinger announced that Disaster definitely
would return tonight….but since they were here tonight he felt like he owed it to the GREAT FANS ON AETHRA (more boos for the sarcasm) to showcase all the Gladiators. So Thrash would be getting a shot at the Women’s Title and in the main event, Rush & Havoc would face off against The Inner Circle: Anarchy & Switchblade.
Throughout the night, we get shots backstage of Aethran guards securing all the entrances to the Coliseum and physically manhandling the GWF Security team when they try to interfere.
The main event match itself was vurrrrrrrry entertaining. The crowd was, of course, red hot. And after a slow beginning, things really got rolling when Switchblade and Havoc went at it. Both men pulled out all the stops, with Switchblade getting a near fall after his “Made You Look” spot which is quickly becoming one of my favorites in the company. Switchblade went for the pin again after hitting a curb stomp but Rush made the save.
That turned into a wild brawl, during which Bloodline rushed down to the ring and attacked Switchblade. GWF security moved to make the save, but the Aethran guards stopped that toot-sweet and Bloodline kicked SB up the entrance ramp and into the locker-room. This distraction allowed The Gladiators to get the upper hand. Rush nailed Anarchy with WHAT A RUSH! for a two-count. Anarchy staggered to his feet ad Havoc tagged in. Havoc hit FALLEN DREAMS for another near-fall.
Finally, the Gladiators teamed up to deliver AETHRAN ATROCITY to get the win. Good match. Good pace. The interference came at the perfect time. And even though he was pinned, Anarchy was kept looking strong because he had to be double-teamed and still had to get hit with the kitchen sink to get pinned.
Immediately after the match, we go to the back, where a jet black starcruiser has landed in the loading bay. The side doors open, and a large, muscular prisoner is led down the ramp and into the arena by armed guards. He is covered with a black hood, heavily chained, and kept walking with long stun rods.
The crowd erupts.
Disaster is here!
Disaster, still hooded, is led to the top of the ramp. Paralyze joins Rush and Havoc as they run up the ramp to meet him. The Aethran soldiers inch forward, but Disaster’s guards (perhaps sensing the danger) quickly remove the chains and scuttle to the back. Disaster reaches up slowly to remove his hood. The Gladiators face him in silence, wondering how he will react to having been imprisoned.
Suddenly Disaster lifts both of his arms to the audience and roars!!!
I HAAAAAAVE REEETUUUURRRNEDDDDD!!!!!!Paralyze walks up to greet his leader, but Disaster spins Paralyze around, grabs him around the back of the neck,
AND DRIVES PARALYZE TO THE STEEL RAMP WITH A VICIOUS LOOKING RAMPAGE!!!Rush and Havoc dive forward to tend to Paralyze. Disaster looks down on them menacingly, then tosses his head back and laughs. Long and hard. Disaster, still laughing, heads to the back.
And the show ends with a sound that is rarely, if ever, heard in Aethra. Silence. Stunned silence.
Disaster is back. But what the hell just happened?
In Other Action--The Aethran fans got an earlier taste of disappointment when Shann-Ra beat Thrash in a hard fought bout to retain the GWF Women’s Title. Thrash actually busted open the champion during the match by delivering a blackjack on the guard-rail. Shann-Ra appeared to have a broken nose as she wrapped things up with MACHETE a few minutes later. The Aethran crowd, always appreciative of toughness and bloodshed, gave both women a standing ovation.
--Backstage, The Colonizers had a meeting to discuss their options. Last week, it was clear that they couldn’t handle Anivar in a singles match. Tauran insisted he could beat Anivar, even in his “oldified” state.
Epoch: “You grey-headed old goat! Last night we had to spend an hour looking for you because you’d wandered off and gotten lost. We found you in a Comso-Quik-E looking for pudding..”
Taura: “Oooh..I’d love some pudding…you have some?”
Epoch nearly loses his temper again, but reiterates that maybe it was time to call in some outside help to deal with Anivar.
--Swarm pinned Sly Drury to open the show. The match was mostly uneventful, but seconds after Swarm was declared the winner, he was speared from behind by Overtime and beaten unmercifully. OT repeatedly delivered THE CLINCHER until Swarm was writhing around on the ground grasping his knee. EMTs came out to carry Swarm to the back. Overtime waited until Swarm was strapped down, then rushed over, grabbed the gurney, and shoved Swarm off the ramp and CRASHING into the nearby electrical equipment. Overtime played to the crowd and left the EMTs to deal with Swarm. The crowd actually cheered the attack. THIS IS MADNESS! THIS….IS…..AETHRAAAAAAA!!!!!
--Despite his injuries, Bloodline was able to pin a previously red-hot Tanck. Maybe my least favorite segment of the night. Tanck was ON A ROLL. Bloodline beats him cleanly. That will probably kill off all his heat and makes him out to be another midcard brawler. Terrible booking.
--After the match, Switchblade is seen backstage mocking Bloodline when he is approached by his mother, Lorelei. Lorelei is wearing a neck brace as a sign of her injuries from when Switchblade DDT’d her into the ring floor a few weeks back. Lorelei confronts her son again about his actions.
Lorelei: “You’re my son…I will always love you…but you cannot begin to think you can behave this way without repercussion. PLEASE, stop this…”
In response, Switchblade strikes her again….this time slapping her with an open hand and sending her crashing to the floor. Lorelei crawls off as her son laughs with his teammate Anarchy.
Lorelei is later seen in a great deal of pain the FDF locker-room. Bloodline goes out looking for revenge and ends up attacking Switchblade during the main event
--Amazing Mann makes another Contortion Challenge, this time specifically for Encubus. With Strutter egging on the crowd, Encubus stands still and allows Mann to lock in CONTORTION. Thantos watches on form outside the ring. Encubus struggles for a few minutes. The crowd really goes nuts. Encubus fights back….even rising to his feet with Mann still wrapped around him holding on the head-scissor lock…the crowd erupts…but Encubus can’t maintain his struggle and slowly sinks to the mat eventually succumbing to the CONTORTION.
Strutter raises Mann’s arm and again begins to brag when Thantos cuts him short.
Thantos: “Laugh while you can, you third-rate hack! You obviously didn’t read the fine print in that contract we signed….we agreed not to attack you during this little demonstration…but you agreed to our own demonstration. So we’ll see you next week..for the first ever…MASTERLOCK CHALLENGE!!!”
Thantos laughs and leads his son up the ramp while Strutter and Mann throw a hissy-fit in the ring.
--The other big match of the night was Endgame facing off against Kill Prey. Commissioner Massif said he wanted KP to “soften up the champion” for his title defense against Anarchy at UPRISING. Endgame and Kill Prey had a great match, and KP genuinely slowed the champion down, several time using the Venatic Knee Breaker to slow down Endgame’s momentum. But late in the match he missed with a dive off the top rope and Endgame followed up with a ROLLING FIGURE FOUR out of nowhere to seal the win!!!
Over-All: 7.5/10 The show had some good matches, but for the first time in a while the storylines weren’t as sharp. I can’t tell you how unhappy I was to see Tanck lose after his big win last week. And after month of build up, Disaster’s kidnapping should’ve ended with more than just...um…ambivalence w\would be best word. The Switchblade/Bloodline story continues to deliver. As does Mann/Encubus. But THIS …IS…AETHRAAAAAA!!! The Disaster story needed a bigger pay-off.
Quick ResultsSwarm pinned Sly Drury **
Bloodline pinned Tanck ***
Endgame beat Kill Prey ***
Shann-Ra beat Thrash **1/2
The Gladiators (Rush & Havoc) beat The Inner Circle (Switchblade & Anarchy) **1/2