Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2019 17:07:14 GMT
The following show took place at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, ON.
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Our show opens backstage of the arena. Various Northern Pro officials can be found getting themselves prepared for their various duties tonight. There is a buzz, as most of them can be overheard talking to someone within ear shot. All of that comes to a sudden halt, and as we pan across the hallway, we now know why.
[Eric Dane Jr.]
Every single employee stops what they’re doing, and look on. The young second generation wrestler pushes through a large steel door, and the swagger in his step is completely unmatched. Once EDJ realizes that he’s the center of attention, he starts to lay it on thick. The swagger nearly becomes a strut, as we watch him hit a few of the employees with the ‘wink and gun.’ The young lad even goes as far as to shout out the janitor, whom he must’ve gotten to know over the past few months as he sat on the sidelines – waiting for his break.
The employees are both stunned, and a little irritated with EDJ’s moxie, and they quickly dismiss him and go back to doing whatever it is they need to do. EDJ is completely oblivious, and continues to ‘big time’ everyone as he passes them.
[CLICK CLICK.]
One of the locker room door’s unlatches, and two arms reachout from inside, and yank Eric Dane Jr. inside with force. Our scene shifts to follow the action.
EDJ: “Hey Hey… What’s with the…”
[SMACK!]
A forceful overhand slap that takes EDJ down to one knee with authority. The mood that EDJ was in a mere minute ago has fallen by the wayside. His eyes show a mixture of fear and confusion. He attempts to get back to his feet, but he’s met with a forceful back hand across the other cheek that wipes him out completely. We look as EDJ seems to bite down on his lip, trying to keep his composure, while not showing how emotional he is in this moment.
[Sato Watanabe.]
The Japanese Ace who stood alongside EDJ and Marcus Smith at the last show, and had their hands raised in victory continues to stalk his prey. Once EDJ realizes who has blindsided him, he does his best to reason with him.
EDJ: “But… I thought.. You and I… We… ?”
Sato: “Silence!”
EDJ is frozen in fear. He looks up at Sato, his eyes asking him to reconsider this. Sato raises his hand again, ready to strike.
EDJ: “Please, NO!”
Sato decides to slow down a bit. He speaks through broken English.
Sato: “Who put you up to it? Who got to you?”
EDJ is utterly confused, and unsure that to make of this line of questioning.
EDJ: “P-P-P Pardon?”
Through Broken English, Watanabe comes clean.
Sato: “You left the locker room door open on purpose. Those men, they attack my guys, send them to hospital.”
EDJ: “Wait.. No No… I swear. It was an honest mistake.”
Sato: “Honest? You, and your family… Honest?”
Sato spits right beside EDJ’s leg. His gesture demonstrates how much he believes EDJ’s response. Before Dane Jr. can utter another spoken word, Sato reaches down and picks him up by the collar. Sato snatches EDJ’s neck, and holds him in a cobra clutch position.
Sato: “Your friend, Jon Smith’s Boy. Where is he?”
EDJ: “Uh, I’m not really sure if we’re friends… But..”
Sato tightens up the choke, as the semantics around their relationship isn’t important. EDJ face starts to get red, and through the pressure, he utters enough assurance to get Sato to loosen up.
EDJ: “Yes Yes.. My friend.. Got it. I’ll take you to him.”
This assurance is enough for Sato to ease up. He spins EDJ around, and with the coldest of looks in his eyes, speaks.
Sato: “You better do that right now if you want to make it out of here tonight.”
We watch as the two men exit the empty locker room, and head down the initial hallway to which EDJ was strutting his stuff five minutes ago. The employees must’ve overheard the commotion, as they refuse to look up and make eye contact with either man. We watch as the two of them disappear around the corner.
[Ringside.]
Jackson Evans is standing in the middle of the ring. He has a mic in hand, and starts to speak his mind.
Evans: “As we inch closer to the Canadian Heritage Championship tournament getting underway. I couldn’t help put see the seedings and shake my head in disgust. How is it, that Gentry McCray is seeded higher than me? I’ve been working hard for months to elevate myself to the top of the pecking order here in Northern Pro Wrestling. I might’ve fallen just short in my quest to become champion, but I’ve certainly earned the credence to be seeded above someone who hasn’t even had a single match here.”
[Point taken.]
Evans: “You know Gentry, I’ve heard all of the whispers about you, and your successes in this industry… But that doesn’t impress me one bit. The fact that Gus seemed to be catering to you make me sick. The fact that you had the nerve to speak my name in one of your interviews goes to show that you have absolutely no idea who you’re dealing with. So since you’re unaware, let me remind you.”
Jackson motions to the back as if to invite someone to the ring. He starts to stretch, and he is wearing his wrestling gear. A few minutes pass, and Les Rois Francais walk to the ring. Marcel Desjardins and Raymond Ouimet walk out together. The two of them haven’t exactly enjoyed much success here in NPW – but nonetheless – 2 on 1 is still a disadvantage to Evans, and he seems primed to prove a point.
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Handicap Match
Jackson Evans vs. Les Rois Français
20 Minute Time Limit
The referee called for the bell, and Evans ran at his two opponents and nailed them with a double running clothesline. Evans picked Ouimet up, and powerbombed him. As Desjardins was getting to his feet, he took a wild swing at Evans, who Ducked and nailed him with a release german suplex. The fans clapped. Like it or not, this was an impressive display.
Evans picked Ouimet up and put him over his shoulder with ease. He ran towards the fallen Desjardins, and executed a running powerslam that whipped Ouimet’s body on top of the prone Desjardins. Evans told the referee to count… he did, and just like that, Jackson Evans had defeated two men.
Winner: Jackson Evans via Running Powerslam (:56)
As Evans was getting his hand raised, the crowd popped, as Gentry McCray slowly walked out from the backstage area. Gentry slow clapped for Evans, mocking his attempt at intimidation. Evans called Gentry to the ring, looking to continue his dominance. Gentry looked into the crowd, and in unison they encouraged him to go and settle this confrontation.
Gentry started to run towards the ring, only to pull up just shy of the bottom rope. Instead, he looked up at Evans who seemed like he was itching to scrap – and wagged his index finger, communicating that he wasn’t interested in fighting on Evans’ terms.
Gentry could be heard saying – “Not today.”
As Evans continued to do everything within his power to get under Gentry’s skin, McCray seemed to dismiss those advances. Instead, he responded with a little cheek.
“Stop pretending, Jackson. We will prove who the better man is one of these days.”
With that, Gentry smiled, and started to wave to the crowd. The crowd responded by chanting for him. GENTRY! GENTRY! GENTRY!
~_~
[Backstage.]
Watanabe and Dane Jr. stand outside of a locker room door. EDJ knocks, and Marcus Smith answers. Smith steps outside to continue this conversation in the hallway. He looks at EDJ, who can’t hide the fact that he’s scared, but also relieved to have found him.
Smith: “What’s going on here?”
EDJ starts to babble 100 miles a minute, and isn’t making the slightest bit of sense. Sato interjects.
Sato: “Your friend, he set us up.”
Marcus looks at Eric, puzzled. Smith responds.
Smith: “What do you mean, us?”
Sato: “He pretend to be with us, but he let Shooters Club into my locker room. My guys are now in recovery. All of this, because of him.
As the words leave his lips, Sato becomes enraged again, it’s was as if the more he talked about it, the more angry he became. Marcus looked at Eric, who shook his head ‘no’, as if to say he didn’t do the things he was being accused of. While Marcus and Eric aligned themselves out of pure fluke, and Marcus knows that a ‘Dane’ isn’t to be trusted – he bluffs, and backs EDJ.
Smith: “Look, Sato. As I said to you last week, my family and I respect you. With that being said, I can vouch for Eric. Last week… your guys… that was merely happenstance. Completely unintentional.”
Sato: “So you say… But I need proof.”
Smith: “And how would you like for us to do that?”
Sato: “You go to Gus, you tell him you and your friend Eric want a match tonight against The Shooters Club. 2 on 2, and I’ll be watching.”
Sato shoves Dane into the concrete fall, before walking off. Smith checks on Dane to see if he’s alright. The levity of the situation isn’t lost on Marcus. He now realizes that it would be in his best interest to comply with Sato’s demands. However, he could potentially be putting himself in a compromising position, if Sato’s theory were true. Marcus would then be looking at a 3 on 1, possibly a 4 on 1 situation with the three members of the Shooters Club, and EDJ all in cahoots.
Smith: “Listen, I’m not one to take orders from someone who doesn’t sign my cheques… but I think you and I need to clear the air.”
EDJ rolls his neck, trying to stretch it out after being choked earlier. He manages to say a few words.
EDJ: “I don’t care about that clown… he’s lucky I didn’t hit him with a 1-2, and drop him. Yeah, that’s right. Next time I see Sato, it’s going to be a different story.”
Marcus again feels the need to bring EDJ back to the topic at hand.
Smith: “Let’s go speak with Gus.”
~_~
[Backstage.]
We watch as Malek Fredericks, Lance Romance and KUMA stand together looking very proud of themselves for what they did to Kano Ito and Tetsu Kondo last week.
Malek: “Hey guys, rumour swirling around here that our attack sent those two from the far east to the hospital.”
All three men let out a belly laugh.
Romance: “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, we injuired the Shining Stars, What should we do?”
Another group laugh follows Lance’s poem.
KUMA: “We’ve moved ahead of them now. Once they’re ready to return, the Imperial Crown Tag Team Championships will be ours.”
Before the party can continue, NPW Owner Gus Arnold walks into the shot, and speaks.
Gus: “I just got finished speaking to Eric Dane Jr and Marcus Smith. Those two second generation wrestlers have called you guys out tonight. I’m here to let you know, that I’ve made that match official, for tonight.”
As quickly as he came, Gus exits stage right.
The laughter comes to a stop, and the strategy talk begins.
~_~
[Backstage.]
Eric Dane Jr. and Marcus Smith are walking down the hall, conversing. They look up to see The Canadian Commonwealth Champion; Ralph Erickson, his tag team partner Allan Algar and Marcus’ former tag team partner – Eric Carlson. Tensions between Smith and Carlson started when Erickson and Algar recruited Carlson for their 6 man tag team match against Oxford Osland and I-69. Based on the body language being exchanged, the fence hasn’t been mended as of yet.
Algar: “Well, look who it is.”
EDJ doesn’t miss a beat.
EDJ: “It’s the two guys who did what you three couldn’t do. We’re the ones who beat Osland and his cronies last week.”
Smith looks at EDJ with a half-smile. The young man is nothing, if not confident.
Smith: “Right. You know, the same group that you three failed to defeat a few weeks back. All of this talk about the Eagles’ Nest and the way you three were brought up…”
Smith sneers.
Smith: “I was able to recruit two men from opposite ends of the spectrum, and we got the job done.”
Smith’s last comment was made with his eyes locked directly on Eric Carlson. The man who he once considered a friend and ally.
Carlson: “I would watch it if I were you. This prideful agenda that you seem to have won’t serve you well long term. Sure, you two were fortunate to convince Watanabe to team with you, but from what I hear… those days are LONG GONE!”
Carlson, Erickson and Algar all smile. Word sure does get around the locker room quickly. With the color around his eyes starting to bruise from the overhand slaps, EDJ still takes a step forward and fakes it until he makes it.
EDJ: “If we didn’t have plans tonight, we would’ve been glad to take you three on tonight. As luck would have it for you, we’re a little busy.”
Smith: “See you around.”
With that, Dane Jr. and Smith brush past the three men. If Erickson, Algar and Carlson had chosen to, they could’ve taken the two of them completely out of action right then and there. Instead, cooler heads prevailed – but for how long. What was once a harmonic respect, had turned into a competitive rivalry.
~_~
Main Event
The Shooters Club [KUMA & Lance Romance]
Vs.
Eric Dane Jr. & Marcus Smith
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The Shooters Club were accompanied by Malek Fredericks for this match, so they did enjoy a 3 on 2 advantage which they would look to exploit where possible. As the bell sounded, Marcus Smith agreed to start things off against KUMA. KUMA enjoyed a big size and strength advantage, and he put it good use. Marcus would show great tenacity and fought hard, but it seemed like he was cut off as soon as he would gain an edge.
The crowd saw the confrontation as KUMA being the school yard bully, and forcing his will on the smaller man. But within the realm of the squared circle, this behavior is often encouraged. KUMA would make frequent tags with Lance, who would blow kisses in the direction of EDJ who stood on the apron on the other side of the ring.
The fans kept trying to piece together whether or not Sato’s instincts were true, and that EDJ purposely left their locker room door unlocked last time, to allow the Shooters Club to execute the perfect blindside attack on the Shining Stars. EDJ would feign that he wanted to get into the ring, but when KUMA and Lance were executing double team moves on Smith, he didn’t seem to like the prospects of getting involved and having that happen to him.
Maybe Sato was right in his assumptions. As the match carried forward, The Shooters Club enjoyed the cat and mouse game with the referee. Malek would do his best to distract the official anytime Marcus seemed to be fighting his way out of a precarious position. When the referee would turn his back, The double team would start, bringing Smith right back to square one. The crowd started to grow agitated, and shouted obscenities in the referees direction.
Around the ten minute mark it was clear that the divide and conquer strategy put forth by the Shooters club was tremendously effective. Marcus had been in the ring the entire time, absorbing the best shots that KUMA and Lance could deliver. After they executed a double power bomb, KUMA went for the pin, but much to everyone’s surprise, Smith was able to kick out. After a ten minute beating, the young lad was still able to push through the pain and find a way to stay alive in the match.
As Smith tried to get back to his feet KUMA would trip him. The humiliation tactics started to take effect. KUMA looked over at EDJ and could be seen conversing with him. Was this a sign that the two of them knew eachother more than they had been letting on. EDJ remained frozen, perhaps fearful, but could be just as easily playing another part in a scheme to wipe out another wrestler who would be deemed as competition.
Then, it finally happened. During a tag exchange between KUMA and Romance, Smith was able to find a split second where he could execute a step up high kick, using KUMA’s size and position to catapult himself upward and strike Romance dead in the chops with the strike. The crowd erupted. Smith started crawling to his corner and put his hand out for a tag. After a moment, EDJ reached down and accepted it!
EDJ entered the ring, and ran straight at Lance, nailing him with a running spinning heel kick. KUMA came into the ring, and EDJ hit him with three hard shots to the gut, before running the ropes and using a stiff dropkick to stagger the big man. As KUMA stood prone, EDJ climbed to the rope and brought the big man down with a top rope bulldog! The crowd was into it. It appeared as though Sato had been mistaken, and there wasn’t an allegiance between EDJ and The Shooters club.
Lance got back to his feet, and went after Dane – but was unsuccessful. EDJ dropped down and executed a leg sweep, before running the ropes and hitting lance with a rolling senton splash. EDJ went to his corner to check on Marcus, who was started to clear the cob webs enough to be effective.
Marcus entered the ring, and he dropped Lance with a double arm DDT. In the process, EDJ was perching himself on the top rope – he came off with a 450 splash! 1…. 2….NO!!
KUMA was able to break up the pin. Fredericks jumped on the apron to distract the referee and EDJ ran the ropes and speared Fredericks through the middle rope, and the two men went crashing to the floor. Without missing a beat, EDJ showed great athleticism by jumping from the floor to the apron, before slingshotting himself over the rope and delivering a diving leg drop across the chest of Lance Romance.
During the confusion, the referee must’ve thought that EDJ wasn’t the legal man In the match, and because he had re-entered from the outside, forced him back into the corner. While EDJ reasoned with the referee, this left Marcus Smith Prone to another attack. This time it would be KUMA who reached into his tights and pulled out a pair of brass knuckles. He blistered Smith right between the eyes. The crowd sighed in disbelief, as KUMA then rolled the unconscious Lance Romance on top of Smith. When the referee turned around, he made the count, and awarded the match to the Shooters Club.
Winners: The Shooters Club via Brass Knuckles (18:14)
--
Eric Dane Jr. entered the ring to check on Marcus, and he was ambushed by Fredericks and KUMA. The two men tied EDJ up in the ropes and took turns blistering him with shots. While Smith laid prone, Lance locked him in a crossface submission, and forced his head up to watch as his two teammates were laying waste to his partner.
The crowd popped briefly as Sato Watanabe emerged at the top of the ramp. He stood there with his arms folded, watching the chaos in the ring. He had essentially sent Dane and Smith into the lion’s den, and when they could’ve used some assistance, he stood back and watched it all unfold.
Gus Arnold emerged from the back, and told Sato to do something about what was happening. Sato looked at Gus, scoffed. Once Gus realized that nobody from the locker room was going to lend a hand, he started to wave various referees and staff members to come to the ring to break it up. Gus gave Sato one last chance to rectify this, but the Japanese Ace walked back to the locker room instead.
Gus was finally able to get his men to break up the chaos. Smith was bloody from the brass knuckles shot, and Dane was still tied up in the ring ropes, completely helpless. The Shooters Club faked like they were going to starting take out the referees from breaking up their party. Gus warned them that they would be fined and suspended if they put their hands on the officials. It was here that they finally relented.
As the show came to a close, we watched as various NPW officials, including Gus Arnold checked on the two second generation wrestlers.