Due by: November 29th, 11:59 PM EST

The bell rings, and instantly Chapman is on Akira like a snake on a mongoose. Eager to avenge his loss to the Cruiser-X champion the previous month, the Intercontinental champion opens the match by rushing Akira and slamming his boot into the side of his face with a high kick. Caught off guard and with no attempt to defend himself, a possibly overly confident Akira is sent stumbling back into the corner. With his opponent trapped Chapman angrily starts driving his elbow down into Akira's skull as though trying to crack it open like an egg, using the arm Akira targeted in their previous match possibly to make a statement. Ryu Sanu steps in to enforce a rope break, but with no intention of giving up his advantage Chapman throws a straight jab into Akira's jaw that makes him crumple to a seated position in the corner. The crowd comes alive as Chapman charges away from Akira, running perpendicular to the ropes to hit the corner. The Spartan starts to move, but before he can escape Chapman starts running back, yelling out "BOOM!" as he does so. Akira grabs the ropes and pulls himself up, although not in time to avoid Chapman's signature Yakuza kick to the side of the head, cuing the crowd to call out "HEADSHOT!" in unison. Blood starts to escape a cut from Akira's cheek as he rolls out of the ring, clearly taken aback by his opponents head on attack. Chapman follows him out of the ring and gets behind Akira, nailing him in the back of the neck with a forearm before grabbing him by the hair and tossing him against the crowd barricade. Despite a small size disadvantage Chapman has no issue with playing the role of a bull, shutting down The Spartan by moving in close and stomping down onto his head as his opponent lies on the ground in a crumpled heap. After a few hefty stomps Chapman grabs Akira, drags him back to his feet, and slides him into the ring. He follows and covers, getting a short one count.

Cedar: Chapman's clearly coming into this with the mindset that he needs to end it quick, but you've got to question engaging Akira Kobayashi in this manner.

Chapman grabs Akira's jet black hair in both hands and pulls him up, where he is met by The Black Heart Warrior throwing a European uppercut into the underside of his jaw. Having been fired up by Chapman's head on assault Akira blasts him with a trio of forearm strikes, knocking him into the ropes. Ryu Sanu quickly steps in, calling for a clean break as Akira presses himself against his opponent. As Sanu starts his count Akira backs up, throwing a vicious open handed slap into Chapman's jaw as he does. Not one to be scared by a slap Chapman rushes Akira once again and throws his arm out, crushing Akira's throat with his bicep to execute the massive lariat the fans know as Cease. Akira rolls through and up to his feet, clearly dazed but still awake, and immediately finds himself on the receiving end of a jumping spinning wheel, or Desist as Chapman calls it. Having laid down the law Chapman dives on Akira once again, gaining a two count this time before Akira powers out. The Osaka native scrambles to get up, but very quickly gets his arms grabbed from behind and hoisted up into a full nelson. With Chapman threatening to plant him on his head with the dragon suplex known as Last Flight Akira stomps down on his opponents foot, powers his arms free, ducks down, and grabs him around the waist. The crowd, who're hanging onto every move of the lightning fast sprint, cheers out as Akira bridges back, hoists Chapman over, and plants him on his head with a big backdrop driver. With the cut on his cheek now bleeding heavily Akira again scrambled to his feet, back peddling into the corner while trying to catch his breath. Chapman starts trying to get up, but having already been hit by one of Akira's biggest moves he's barely aware of where his opponent is, leaving him vulnerable to a huge sliding lariat which Akira clearly meant as a counterpoint to Chapman's own Cease. The sound of Akira's arm cracking off of the side of The Straight Edge Outlaw's neck echoes throughout the arena as Chapman drops to the mat, completely limp. Akira hooks his legs up and over, prompting Sanu to drop to the mat and count a two.

Cedar: Last time these two had a drawn out war, a battle, an epic, but tonight? Tonight they're throwing bombs at each other like every move could be the last!

Miles: We've still got TV time to fill, the fuck do they think they're doing?!

Chapman kicks out and rolls onto his front, prompting Akira again to get to his feet and back peddle to the corner, holding up his arm to signal for a second sliding lariat. He charges in when Chapman hits his knees, but this time the Canadian is able to roll to the side and leave Akira to roll across the mat. The two men recover at the same time, sweat pouring down them as they continue to battle on despite having not rested for a second since the first ring of the bell. On shaky legs the two run at each other, with Akira turning around and throwing out an arm as he does so. At the same time Chapman winds up and launches a roundhouse kick at Akira's head, gritting his teeth as he knows he'll take a hit in doing so. The result is a symphony of pain, as the sound of Akira's elbow hitting Chapman's head and Chapman's boot hitting Akira's jaw both ring out almost as loud as the cheers from the crowd. Despite the high impact strikes neither man falls down, instead managing to remain balanced while staggering backwards. Chapman spins around as he stumbles backwards while Akira crouches slightly and uses his hands on the mat to set himself, giving Akira a split second advantage. He uses it to the best of his ability by taking a few steps forward and launching himself at Chapman skull first like a lawn dart, nailing him in the chest with a big flying headbutt! The impact from the hit makes Chapman fly backwards as though he's been hit by a shotgun, his legs up in the air as he grabs his midsection and writhes on the mat. Akira quickly follows up by getting to his knees and collapsing down onto Chapman with his elbow out, once again hitting him in the head as The Last Warlord of Osaka puts Chapman in a pinning position. At the count of two Chapman kicks out, and for the first time today the two men lie still on the mat to catch their breaths. Dueling chants fill the ears of every man, woman, and child in the arena as the two warriors remain prone side by side and Ryu Sanu starts counting. With the trickle of blood having reached the top of his neck Akira rolls onto his front, while Chapman manages to sit up. The two almost simultaneously pull themselves up in opposite corners, prompting Sanu to break his count as the crowd starts to make even more noise. Answering the fans call for more violence Akira sprints across the ring at Chapman, who instead of throwing a strike of his own dodges to one side, throws out an arm, and schoolboys his opponent. Akira flails his legs up before kicking out almost exactly on three, and just slightly before. The crowd lets out an "ooo" at the near fall as Chapman gets to his knees, yelling threats at Akira.

Cedar: Well, Chapman seems to be coping well. He's stormed into Akira's front yard and sucker punched him, and he seems to be doing well considering!

Chapman grabs Akira by his hair and yanks him up, pushing his head down in position for a piledriver. He wraps his arms around Akira's stomach and starts trying to hoist him up, resulting in Akira crouching down to fight back. The two enter a stalemate as Akira tries to remain on the mat and Chapman aims to pull him up until The Spartan wraps his arms tightly around his opponents legs and pushes him backwards slamming the Canadian back first into the corner. Akira pulls his head up and starts throwing elbows, his face contorted into a look of pure disgust at Chapman for trying to defeat him with a roll-up. The point of Akira's elbow meets Chapman's eye, preventing him fighting his way out. After sufficiently peppering his opponents face with elbows Akira grabs him by the arm, goes to whip him across the ring, then pulls him back. Caught off guard by the short-arm whip, Chapman has no defence when Akira exploder suplexes him overhead into the corner! Despite not clutching the wrist as he normally would Akira decimates his opponent with the throw, leaving him laid on the back of his head in the turnbuckle. He gets up to his feet as the chants for him eclipse the chants for Chapman, and it quickly becomes clear that The Straight Edge Outlaw's gameplan may be coming back to bite him in the ass.

Chapman: DEVASTATING SUPLEX!

Akira runs to the opposite corner, hits it back first, then comes back at full speed to deliver a jumping double stomp onto Chapman's face, busting open his nose and making him writhe around in pain like a wounded animal. Ready to finish his opponent Akira grabs Chapman, drags him up and out of the corner, and tries to hook him up for a brainbuster. With a great heave he tries to lift his opponent but the Intercontinental champ refuses, keeping his legs planted. Akira leans back as far as he can, leaving himself open to a quick trio of closed fist punches to the ribs that force him to break his grip. Akira backs up while holding his midsection, turning as he does. With Akira presenting his back Chapman puts an arm over and around his neck to pull him down into a dragon suplex position ready for Heathen Chemistry, an inverted brainbuster. He lifts Akira up off the mat nut instead of allowing himself to be dropped onto his head The Black Heart Warrior lifts his legs and flips over, landing on his feet as Chapman falls down onto his backside. Realizing his mistake the Straight Edge Outlaw tries to pop up, but ends up getting caught in a sleeper as he sits up. The pace goes from 100MPH to 0 in a second as Akira puts the choke in nice and snug, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain while he pushes a knee into his opponents back for good measure. Chapman's eyes glaze over as Sanu lifts up his arm and drops it for the first time, and quickly Chapman's fans speak up to support their favourite with "PLEASE DON'T TAP!" chants. Ignoring that his fans don't understand how KO victories from sleeper holds work, Chapman manages to stop his hand falling on the third go, causing Akira to release the hold. Chapman's victory proves to be short lived when he is hit with a huge downward elbow in the back of his head, instantly switching the lights off. Before he can collapse over to one side Chapman finds himself locked in a second sleeper by Akira, who is determined to knock his opponent out.

Chapman: Big rabbit elbow! That's the sort of thing that makes you forget anniversaries! Trust me, my wife's still not speaking to me!

Miles: Don't give up, we've still got sponsors to please!

Akira tightens up the hold and wraps his legs around Chapman's body, squeezing him as tight as humanly possible. He roars out while imitating a boa constricter, cutting off blood to his opponents brain while doing his best to keep him locked in one position. Chapman rocks back and forth, trying to put Akira onto his shoulders to get a pinning predicament, but having barely stopped since the opening bell he finds himself too exhausted to do it! Sanu grabs Chapman's hand and lifts it, then drops it. He does it a second time, and again it drops. He does it a third time...and Chapman manages to keep it aloft! The fans explode as Chapman grabs Akira's arm with both hands and yanks at it, tearing it away from his throat with the last of his strength. He manages to wriggle free and roll away, getting onto his hands and knees as Akira clambers up to his feet, his mouth agape with disbelief. The Chapman supporter go wild as the Canadian gets to a vertical base, but are soon silenced by a huge lariat that flips him over and onto the back of his neck. Akira takes a knee to catch his breath as Chapman rolls onto his behind, sitting in the middle of the ring in a daze. His mouth guard is loose, his face is swollen and red, but he still refuses to give up. Akira stretches his arms out as he creeps up behind Chapman and, for the third time, secures a sleeper hold! Chapman is too tired to writhe about, instead choosing to expend his energy by planting his feet and trying to push up. Sanu grabs his arm and goes through the motions again, and again Chapman's arm drops twice. Almost reluctantly Sanu grabs Chapman's arm and goes to lift it again, but this time Akira releases the hold and runs forward at the ropes. Chapman can barely move out of the way in time as Akira runs past both him and Chapman, hits the ropes, and returns with a huge sliding lariat to the back of his opponent head! Now out cold Chapman slumps down to the mat, his eyes closed as Akira instantly falls on him. Sanu drops down to count the fall, giving Akira the win at the end of an all out spring.

Standing opposite one another are two characters with fairly interesting, if not only recent history. Rob Chapman and Akira Kobayashi; both Champions in XWA primed to enter their third meeting. Their first meeting took place in the finals of the Intercontinental Title tournament, where Chapman attained much more than a questionable victory... after Akira was thrown over the barricade by a particularly large associate of Chapman's brief ally, Robert Hope. Two weeks ago, they met in their first one-on-one encounter since the tournament, and Akira came out of that match as the victor. Chapman certaily looks to be a lot more focused tonight- a far cry from the rage he embodied last week in his match with Razor Xtreme. Across the ring, Akira stands tall, looking as focused and dangerous as ever.

*DING DING DING*

As the bell rings, the toughman from Osaka, Japan, and the Canadian combatant begin to circle about the ring. With their eyes locked intently, the initial mental battle begins. Scanning for faults and openings in each other's stance, and movement. Their demeanours are comparable to that of a machine; calculating, cold, and unfeeling as each competitor plans their first move, if they haven't already. When neither can find a fault in the other, they choose not to prolong the evident stalemate and get right to it, meeting in the ring's center with a traditional collar-and-elbow tie-up! The two struggle against one another's might- as they're nearly an even match in the size department. Rob's minor weight advantage and Akira's minor height advantage appear to balance out one another as the remain locked, struggling in this stance for quite some time. Until, that is, Akira drops like a ton of bricks beneath his opponent's grasp; this is completely deliberate on the part of "The Spartan", as it throws his opponent off guard and allows him to snatch Chapman's feet out from beneath him with a quick Double Leg Takedown, planting him on his back. He follows with a quick stomp to the chest, prompting Chapman to sit up, clutching at his pectoral muscles. At the same time, Akira takes off into the ropes behind him, bounding back and throwing a hard, soccer-style kick at his opponent's head! Rob quickly lays back down, allowing Kobayashi's foot to sail overhead. As Akira aims to stop and catch his balance, Chapman powers back up to his feet, getting into a defensive stance. It doesn't take long for Kobayashi to right himself, and he turns on his heel, quickly lunging toward the Intercontinental Champion with a Clothesline! Chapman has it scouted, however; latching onto Akira's bicep, Chapman pivots behind the Cruiser-X Champion, powering his foe up off of the ground and slamming him back down against a bent knee with a stiff Half-Nelson Backbreaker! Chapman covers Akira with a lateral press as he drops down and hits the canvas, but only finds himself getting a one-count before his opponent gets the shoulder up.

|CEDAR|
"Nice Backbreaker by Chapman. It looks like we're not gonna see a technical match between these two tonight!"

|MILES|
"You expected a technical matchup from two people who have made a career out of literally kicking the shit out of everyone and everything in XWA?"

Shaking his head, Rob takes a handful of Akira's jet black hair and forces the Cruiser-X Champion to stand along with him. Super Xero aims to keep the pace of this match fast and hard-hitting, wrapping an arm around Kobayashi's head for a DDT, but before he can drop Kobayashi on his head, The Black Heart Warrior manages to escape Chapman's vice with an athletic pivot, spinning out of his foe's grasp and simultaneously applying a Hammerlock on the Intercontinental Champion! Rob tries to turn his way out of the hold, but Akira expertly wrenches his arm, effectively rooting him in place. He swings his other arm over his shoulder, attempting to clip his adversary with a back elbow, but only hits air as the native of Osaka simply ducks beneath his strike attempts. Furrowing his brow in frustration, Rob throws one final elbow backwards over his shoulder; at the same time, Akira lets go of Chapman's arm, causing him to spin out of control. The Straight Edge superstar manages to stop himself, digging his heel into the ground as he comes face to... back... with a spinning Akira, seconds before getting blasted in the mouth with a sick Rolling Elbow! The strike connects flush- Rob remains standing for a brief moment in time, out on his feet, before he topples over backwards, landing in a seated position on the canvas! Ever-the-opportunist, Akira takes off into the ropes yet again. As he bounds back, he drops low, sliding across the canvas and damn near taking Chapman's head off with a Sliding Lariat! Chapman goes head-over-heels, and Kobayashi hooks his legs out of the air, attempting a quick cover on the Intercontinental Champion! The referee drops to make the count, but Kobayashi is denied his concise victory as Chapman powers out at a count of two. Apparently, you can be knocked back into consciousness as well!

|CEDAR|
"High Impact Lariat from Akira Kobayashi! What impact!"

|MILES|
"This chink scares the living fucking daylights out of me. I bet that the Hiroshima bomb was actually dropped directly on this motherfucker, and he just got up and said Please sir, may I have another?"

Not terribly surprised by his opponent's ring-awareness, a mildly frustrated Kobayashi rises back to his feet, glaring at his prone opponent with spite. How the hell did this punching bag ever capture the Intercontinental Title against him? Oh... yes. That's right. He didn't. As bitter memories come flooding back, they emerge in an explosion of anger as The Last Warlord of Osaka begins to stomp viciously at his opponent's body, crushing Chapman's back and sides beneath his boot soles! Possibly calming down, Kobayashi ceases his ugly assault on his opponent's battered body, watching disdainfully as the Nova Scotian begins to slowly crawl away. Rolling his shoulders powerfully, Akira stomps toward his opponent like a beast on a rampage and reaches down, wrapping his arms around Rob's midsection and lifting the Intercontinental Champion up off of the ground! Suspending Chapman above the ground, the Osaka native begins to toss Chapman around his body with a mighty heave, deadlifting the Straight Edge Outlaw into a Gutwrench Suplex, but at the peak of Akira's lift, Chapman's legs wrap around his opponent's neck, pulling Kobayashi down with him and flipping him onto his back with a Hurricanrana! The Pacific Rim Nightmare is caught off guard by the maneuver, and rolls across the mat as his opponent gets up to a single knee, catching his breath. Akira slaps the mat in frustration as he pushes himself back to his feet and lunges at his seething opponent; Rob vaults to his feet at the same time and throws himself at the oncoming Akira, somersaulting through the air and clotheslining the Osaka native with a savage Spinning Wheel Kick! Sitting up, Chapman casts a glance at Kobayashi, taking a moment to catch his breath before he rises to a vertical base and saunters over to the ascending Cruiser-X Champion.

|CEDAR|
"Both of these men are putting everything they've got into every strike! This is just a pure slug fest!"

|MILES|
"Slug fest? Nah, bruh. I've seen fucking train wreck aftermath that's been less ugly than this match. Seriously. Don't go on that part of the internet."

Akira is up to one knee as Chapman approaches him; his attempt to stand is met with a sharp knee to the face from his Canadian challenger, snapping his head to one side. Gripping his opponent in a tight Front Chancery, Rob hauls Akira to his feet and unloads with a series of hard knees to the body before beginning to back towards the corner of the ring. With Akira's head tightly tucked beneath his arm, Chapman carefully steps up onto the second rope, but is met with hard resistance as Akira begins hammering both sides of his ribcage with fists in desperation! Akira finally manages to free himself as Chapman involuntarily drops from the second rope, landing awkwardly on his feet. Like a cannonball, Kobayashi launches himself right back at his opponent, hammering him repeatedly into the corner of the ring with powerful Shoulder Thrusts! Akira's blows contort Rob's body unnaturally between the turnbuckles, as he batters away at Chapman's body, knocking the breath out of him with each concurrent strike! With Chapman sufficiently winded, Akira variates his assault on the former 2WWF Champion, stepping up to the second rope to begin blasting Chapman's skull with hard elbow strikes! Rob desperately tries to cover up his head, but Kobayashi's elbows hammer straight through his defenses like the advocate of strong style that he is! Desperation sets in as a hard shot breaks through, lacerating the Canadian directly above his right eye. The next two shots that graze Chapman's face lead to the once-Silent Protagonist literally seeing red as his crimson lifeblood begins to ebb across his face, impairing his vision and making him look considerably uglier. The referee looks poised to step in and check on Rob as he sees the blood flow, but Akira isn't backing off of his opponent, continuing to strike away!

|MILES|
"Oh fuck yes, ferret! FIRST BLOOD BITCHES!"

|CEDAR|
"And a nasty cut it is! The referee might have to stop this! Chapman could be at risk of sustaining blindness if he continues to be struck there by Akira!"

One, final, hard downward elbow that should by all rights be the kill shot, somehow seems to be the thing that lights a fire under Chapman's ass; grabbing Akira's hips in both hands, LionHeart gives a mighty heave and powers the Osaka native up onto his shoulders, suspending him above the canvas in a Powerbomb predicament! As he steps out of the corner, a desperate Kobayashi begins throwing follow-up elbows at Chapman's gashed facade, causing Rob to wobble on his feet. His balance wavering, Rob realizes he isn't going to be able to bring Akira down with the Powerbomb, so he does the next best... and quite possibly worst thing, dropping down to his back, and driving Akira face-first into the second turnbuckle with frightening variation of an Alley-Oop Facebuster! As Akira hits the turnbuckle, he stops dead, slouched against the corner with his head propped up against the turnbuckle. Torn between which man he should check on first, the referee decices to inspect Chapman's grevious cut, only to be shoved aside by the rampant Canadian as he rises back to a vertical base and approaches Kobayashi; Grabbing the back of Kobayashi's head, he raises him up just enough to hook an arm around his neck, whilst wrapping the other around his waist. What follows is a tremendous deadlift as Chapman powers the Cruiser-X Champion up off of the ground, before turning towards the ring and dropping backwards, dumping Kobayashi on his head with a sickening Caesura! Akira's entire body folds in on itself as he hits the canvas, and then bounces back to his knees, where he remains, staring blankly and gasping for air. Seeing his opponent in any position other than on his back incenses Chapman even further. Wiping the blood from his eyes, Rob glares at Kobayashi before taking off into the opposite ropes. He rebounds with extreme velocity and slams his foot straight into Akira's face with a disgusting Yakuza Kick that knocks him the rest of the way onto his back and even causes Rob to fall to the ground! As the crowd roars in shock, Chapman crawls to his incapacitated enemy and latches onto his leg with a decisive Lateral Press. The referee drops to count the pin. "One! Two! Three!"

|CEDAR|
"A headshot wraps it up! I was not expecting that at all!"

|MILES|
"That was a short-ass main event... but holy fuck, that was brutal. Rob's face looks like ground beef after you take it out of the package. Fucking Akira!"



|LAURA WATTS|
"Ladies and Gentlemen... the winner of the match is... Rob Chapman!"

"Climbing Up The Walls" begins to play over the P.A. system as Chapman rolls onto his back; the adrenaline slowly wearing off and the pain steadily setting in as this brief, but brutal match comes to a violent end. The camera shows a close-up on his bloody visage... and as it does, we see a scene transition. The same scene is being shown to Vendetta viewers, but from a backstage monitor instead of the usual high definition feed. And as it pans out, we see a disgusted looking Kasabian Stalker, watching his future opponent's performance from backstage.

|KASABIAN STALKER|
"It's even worse than I thought... it's going to be enough of a challenge existing in the same ring with an ugly brute like that, let alone having to wrestle with him. At XtremeMania... we'll just have to grin and bare it. XWA needs the gold around our waists... isn't that right, little Stalker? Yes they do~"

Kasabian looks down, wearing an impish grin as the show logo appears in the corner to end Vendetta on a... particularly unsettling image.