A king will be crowned this Sunday, but first, the participants have to be decided. The first has already earned his way in, but this man's opponent has yet to be determined...

...but will be, within the next ten minutes or so.

Shade's music fades out as he stands in the ring, a wooden baseball bat in one hand, a steel chair in the other. Both had been basically thrown at him on his way down the ramp, so why not? His opponent stares at him from across the ring. Tyler Lawson had promised a victory, after much prodding, earlier tonight, so he has to back it up. He softly taps a Kendo Stick off the the mat repeatedly, a 'seemingly' clean toilet plunger resting on his left shoulder. Sitting next to him is a metal trash can that was actually put on his head by a fan as he walked down to the ring. The two men stare, unmoving, into each other's eyes, knowing that in a few short seconds, they will be going to war. It's almost eerie, how they are motionless, their staredown from two weeks ago recreated here. The referee figures they're ready to go, so he points to the timekeeper, signaling for the match to start.

The Bell Rings

After a few seconds, which seem like forever, both men turn their heads to the side, the ringing of the bell just now breaking their focus. After they look back at each other, Lawson swings the plunger down to his side and places it on its business end, before reaching forward and waving back toward himself, as if saying 'bring it on', or in his case, 'bring it, bitch'. Shade drops the chair without so much as twitching, and as it clangs to the mat, points his baseball bat straight at Lawson. Tyler swings his Singapore Cane up into his other hand; Shade pulls his bat back. They lunge at each other...WHACK! The weapons connect. Lawson tries to take the advantage, pulling his stick around and swinging from below...WHACK! Shade parries the attempt, leaving Lawson wide open. Shade goes for his head, but Lawson ducks just in time, pulling his cane back and swinging forward at his opponent...WHACK! Blocked again! The swordfight continues, both competitors rearing their weapons back above their head and slashing down vertically. KLACK! They lock blades (sort of), both trying to push each other back, and gain the upper hand. Lawson's size and power advantage seems to be offset by the fact that Shade has a sturdier weapon. They are deadlocked, neither man giving an inch. This doesn't please shade. At a moment's notice, he begins to yell, his voice building higher before he delivers a sharp kick to Lawson's midsection, doubling him over. He then goes heavily on the offensive, rapidly swinging from the left and the right in blind fury, while Lawson is only barely able to block each shot at the last second. Shade drives him backwards, and as they hit the ropes, his opponent raises his bat and swings down as hard as he can. Tyler throws the Kendo Stick up horizontally in an attempt to block it, and the pieces of wood connect, making the loudest crack heard so far. This, sadly for Lawson, is due to the fact that this impact snapped his weapon in two. His eyes get wide as he looks up at it, broken, and Shade rearing back to hit him again.

Shade swings back down at Lawson, who quickly drops his broken stick and ducks out of the way to his left. The bat strikes the top rope as Tyler picks the plunger back up from off the ring mat. Another weapon in hand, he goes right back for his opponent, who wastes no time in swinging at him again. WHACK! WHACK...WHACK! WHACK! The crowd finds this highly amusing, while still fairly epic, as their cheer in support of the continuing swordfight. The exchange continues until a fifth meeting of the wood, which sends Shade off balance, stumbling back a few steps. He twitches a little and jerks his head to the right, only coming back to when he sees Lawson coming at him once again. This time, he counters strikingly differently than his previous approach. With nearly surgical precision, he uses the bat and his free hand to catch the plunger, turning to the left to pull Lawson in. Now holding both weapons, he is in perfect position to jerk his right arm back into Tyler's face, catching him with a hard Elbow. Lawson releases his weapon and staggers back, grabbing at his nose, allowing Shade to step forward and crack him overhand in the ribs with the bat. As Shade released on impact, the bat goes flying out of the ring, making the impact look even more painful. The Instant Classic doubles over again, nearly dropping to one knee, but Shade wastes no time in grabbing him by the head, swinging him sharply around, and dumping him through the ropes. After Lawson lands, rolling over on his side, grabbing his ribs as he tries to stand back up, Shade immediately runs off back to the ropes. He leans into them hard and comes sprinting back off across the ring before diving through the ropes himself, taking Lawson clear out with a Suicide Dive. The two crash to the floor in a heap, but Shade half-lands on his feet after being caught by Lawson, and manages to catch himself on all fours.

Shade pulls himself back up and reaches down to grab Lawson. Keeping the pace up, he pulls his opponent up and drags him over to the barricade. Lawson, although a little groggy, still manages to see where this going, and when Shade pulls his head back, Tyler sticks his hands out to catch himself. Thinking on his feet, Shade just pushes forward instead of down and shoves Lawson over the barricade. Tyler goes sprawling into the aisle, and Shade follows him as fans eagerly (a little worryingly so) hold out their weapons for him to use. Without looking, he takes a plastic replica title belt from a young fan and immediately swings down, whipping Lawson in the back with it. Tyler cringes and arches his back after the thwack, and Shade wastes no time in continuing the assault. He pulls the belt back and sizes up his opponent with it. As Lawson gets up, he runs forward and smashes it over the side of his head. Only problem, it's plastic. Plastic doesn't hurt quite as much as a real belt. Tyler's head jerks back and his holds his hand to the side of his face, but he shoots a confused look at his opponent. Shade is puzzled too; he raps on the belt with his knuckles, and, finding he's been fooled, tosses the belt back over his shoulder before grabbing a chair out of the hand of the guy next to him.

Shade swings the chair down hard, only to have it caught by Lawson. After trying to wrench it out of his opponent's hands, Shade quickly switches tactics. Thinking on his feet, he releases the chair, letting Tyler have it, and immediately leaps up, Dropkicking it right into his face. Lawson takes the steel right to the temple and his head snaps back as he tumbles backwards, landing in a seated position right against the barricade. Meanwhile, Shade lands hard on the concrete floor. While it seems he made another mental error, that's just a part of the high-risk, high-reward strategy. He's just hoping he did more damage to Lawson than to himself. An arm across his ribs, Shade slowly stands back up, nearly crawling back over toward his opponent. He gets to the seemingly loopy Lawson and slowly reaches down to grab him. However, Lawson sees him and snaps back to, wrapping his opponent up and pulling back on his knees, hanging him with a Stun Gun on the metal barricade. Shade crosses his arms over his neck and backs off slowly, grimacing in pain. Lawson takes the opportunity to grab his opponent by the hair and rock him with a hard right hand. Shade goes stumbling backward as Lawson puts a hand to his head and starts to push himself up. A fan holds something out to him, and after staring at it for a second, he takes it. It's a lock...like a Master Lock, and no, not the wrestling move. After examining it for a second, he slides it onto his right middle finger, mechanism on the outside, then makes a fist, a grin crossing his face. As Shade steps back toward him, WHAM! Right to the side of the head with the lock!

Shade spins around in a circle, staggering, trying to keep his balance. He's been knocked loopy. Tyler steps in to the next one. WHAM! Another huge impact. Shade falls into the crowd, brushing by several fans before he hits the ground. Tyler raises his lock-encrusted fist in the air as the fans go nuts for him. He pulls it down and tries to take the lock off...it's stuck...He pulls a little harder...it won't come off. His eyes get wide and he looks up, only to stick his hand out and conveniently catch the keys, which had just been thrown to him by the same fan that gave it to him. A bit surprised, he looks over at the fan, who starts to laugh their ass off. Tyler points and winks before unlocking the lock and dropping it to the ground. This delay is enough for Shade to start getting up, although he probably doesn't know where he is at this point. He grabs at chairs and arms, struggling to get his bearings. His mind was swimming before, at this point, he's just drowning. He thinks he sees Lawson, he swings, nope, just a security guard, who no-sells the flailing arm like a boss, only to look up at Shade like "WTF?" Still groggy, Shade turns off to the side, swinging at air again, only for the Instant Classic to come over, carrying a large tin can that another fan had given him. The guards struggle to keep the fans away as Lawson lifts the can above his head...and brings it down hard on the upper back of Shade. He jerks forward a tad, wincing, but instinct tells him to swing his arm back. Lawson ducks it, however, and as Shade overshoots the move, Lawson comes back up and quickly hooks him under the other arm. Leading his opponent through the crowd back to the barricade, Lawson sets him up, then lifts sharply, flipping Shade forward and right onto the rail, planting him back-first with a Hip Toss. The crowd almost unanimously "OOOOOOOOOO"s as Shade's back bends backward, contorted as he grimaces from the impact. He falls forward, back inside the barricade, while Lawson slowly follows, now clearly in control of the match.

Lawson throws his leg over the barricade, hopping over and back to the inside. He really wants to take advantage here, and quickly drags Shade back over to the ring. He heaves his opponent up and slides him in, before rolling in after him. He quickly shoots the half and makes the pin as the referee slides in behind him. [.....1.....2...] No! Shade kicks out, just barely. Lawson rolls his eyes. He didn't expect it to be this easy, but still a little sad to be getting a 2-count. However, seeing as Shade has been taking all this punishment to the back so far, Tyler knows just what to do next. He pushes himself up to his feet and slowly circles around to Shade's feet, wiping a bead of sweat off of his own face. He reaches down and grabs Shade's ankles, holding them by his sides for dramatic effect, letting the crowd swell to a roar before stepping through to initiate the Sharpshooter. At that VERY MOMENT, however, Shade twitches violently again, enough for his legs to drop out of Lawson's hands. Like a flash, his eyes shoot open, and he grabs Lawson's ankles, sharply pulling back and tripping up the Instant Classic. Lawson hits the ground and rolls away, and immediately Shade rolls up onto his shoulders and Kips Up...you read that right, all the pain in his back seemingly gone...or not. As soon as he reaches his feet, he drops to one knee and places a hand on his spine. After seething for a second or two, he snaps back to, popping back up to his feet, spreading his arms out, fists tilted a little bit upward, and roaring loudly. The crowd boos him, but do you think he gives a shit? Not a chance. By this point, Lawson had gotten up, and Shade slides over to him and nails a hard shot to the forehead. Lawson recoils a lot more than before, as Shade is hitting him much harder now. Another hard right hand hits and Lawson backs into the corner. Shade immediately grabs him by the right hand and pulls sharply back, angling him to the right as he Irish Whips the Instant Classic across the ring and into the ropes. As Lawson rebounds off and heads back toward his opponent, Shade plants his feet and effortlessly floors Tyler with a Shoulder Block.

Tyler lands flat on his back, shaken, but not hurt too bad, although Shade doesn't want to give him any room to breathe. As Lawson is sitting up, Shade grams him by the shoulders and pulls him right back up to his feet before scooping him right up into his arms. Showing uncharacteristic power, Shade spins his larger opponent around to a more suitable position, then bends forward and launches him back, hitting a Fallaway Slam. Lawson lands with a loud thud and nearly rolls out of the ring. Shade rolls onto his side and pushes on his back again, clearly in discomfort. However, momentum is on his side, and he fights through it to crawl over to the trash can already in the ring. He grabs it, turns it on its side, and slides it over, right in the middle of the ring, then uses it to stand himself up once again. Lawson is over on the side of the ring, one hand on the ropes, trying to stretch out his shoulders after being thrown. Shade gets to him and grabs him, pulling him back up to his feet to provide some more pain. He puts Tyler in a Front Facelock, then quickly lifts him up vertically. Eyes focused upward, he slowly, steadily steps back into a better position...then falls back, twisting around to drive Lawson through the can with a Suplex Powerslam. Goldberg would be proud...but then again, Goldberg screwed this move up more often than he did it right. Anyway, the crowd groans in sympathy for Lawson as the aluminum crunches under his weight. Shade stays right on top of him for the pin attempt. [.....1.....2....] And Tyler just barely kicks out of that one.

Adam thinks that, but it's certainly not the case, as we'll see later in the match. Keeping up his offensive, Shade hops off of Lawson and rolls out of the ring, going over to ringside to get another weapon from a fan. Tyler, grunting, slowly rolls off the can, placing both hands gingerly on his lower back. As he gets to his knees, Shade rolls back into the ring with a...a...Wii U Gamepad? Who the hell would bring one of those to this kind of match? I mean, it might be broken, but seriously! Shade gets Lawson by the hair and pulls him to his feet, dragging him over to the corner. He puts the side of the controller on the top turnbuckle, pointed at Lawson, and as the fans watch in horror, drives the Instant Classic's forehead right into the other side. Tyler snaps back, woozy, wobbly, leaving him wide open for Shade to swing around and nail him with the controller again. Lawson gets slashed with the edge of it right across the forehead, and as he falls to the ground, flat on his back, it opens a cut on his forehead, a few drops of blood leaking out. Shade drops the device and ponders his next move, standing over Lawson's fallen body. He's got it. Reaching over, he grabs the chair he had at the beginning of the match and puts it right on top of Lawson, who, despite being barely coherent at this point, instinctively grabs it around the sides. After that, Shade heads off and steps through the ropes, before climbing up the turnbuckles to the top. Once he steps to the top rope, he takes a while to steady himself, a while to get perfectly balanced, and raises an arm to either side. After a while, he jumps, going through the Frogsplash motion as he tried to take Lawson out...but Tyler rolls out of the way! Shade belly flops on the mat, the force of the splat bringing him back up to his knees, where he wraps his arms around his ribs, grunting and groaning as the crowd breathes a collective sigh of relief.

Tyler tries to take advantage of the match here, holding an elbow to his head with one hand, grasping the chair with the other, struggling to his feet. Shade isn't making any progress, so Lawson has time, and he eventually gets up, stumbling over to his opponent. Just as Shade takes his hands off the ground, Tyler rears back and swings down, cracking his opponent on the back with the chair. Shade falls back to his knees as Lawson drops the chair to the mat, but it doesn't last long, as the Instant Classic grabs him around the midsection and pulls him right back up. After a little wrangling, Tyler has no problem in picking Shade up and throwing him back with a Gutwrench Suplex. Shade arches his back as it smacks off the canvas, but not for long, as Lawson is immediately back on top of him, hooking the leg for the pin. [.....1.....2.] Not enough, as Shade shoots the far shoulder up at two. Lawson rolls off of him and sits up, coming up with a gameplan on the fly. Figuring out what he's going to try to do next, he grabs Shade's arm and pushes himself up, pulling his opponent with him as he goes. He wipes some blood from his forehead with his free hand before yanking Shade all the way up, then locks in the Front Facelock. Simply looking for a standard Suplex here, he hooks the arm and tries to lift, but Shade plants his feet; he just won't go. Lawson tries again...again Shade refuses to go up, After that, Shade throws a knee into the Instant Classic's midsection, making him release the hold. As they separate, Shade grabs Lawson's right hand with his left, and quickly yanks him back forward, flooring him again with a Short-Arm Clothesline. He stumbles forward into the ropes to catch himself, while Lawson smacks back on the mat, surprisingly putting his hand back to his head after that.

Shade just hangs there on the ropes, catching his breath, getting his nerves, what have you. Lawson slowly sits back up, slumping over onto his elbow to regain his own bearings. Shade quickly turns around. He might not be fully ready to do this yet, but he's got it in his mind, there's no changing it; he wants to end it here. He reaches down and grabs Tyler by the head, cringing a little as he has to bend his back. Lawson offers little resistance as Shade shoves the head between his own legs (why does that sound so weird?) and gets ready to lift him. The crowd begins to boo as he pulls his opponent up, over his shoulder, and dangles him down his back, holding under his arms in the Crucifix position. He's going for Holy Damnation, and is aiming for the chair, no less. It doesn't look like anything is going to stop him...until once again, he gets that twitch. The subsequent spasm causes him to release Lawson's right arm, and the veteran's instinctual move is to quickly spin around, hook his right arm under Shade's right arm, and beautifully Arm Drag him right onto the intended target, the steel chair. The crowd roars back to life as Tyler starts to struggle back up again. Shade starts writhing around the mat in pain, the tide seems to be turning.

Lawson shakes the cobwebs out. He wipes blood from his eyes. He cracks his neck. It's go time. At a bit of a brisker pace, he stands up and turns toward his fallen opponent. Shade has gotten to the ropes, and is on one knee, a hand seemingly glued to his back at this point. Lawson grabs him and pulls him away, then in one fluid motion, connects with an STO. He slides around to the side for a Lateral Press, and the ref counts the pin. [.....1.....2....] Kickout at 2 and a half! The match has just passed ten minutes. How much longer can they keep this up? We'll just have to wait and see. Lawson, a lot of the adrenaline from the last stand gone, takes a lot longer to  get up this time. It's not so much damage to a body part, as it is to Shade's back, but just fatigue that is troubling Lawson. Eventually, he gets back to his feet, and then reaches down to pull Shade up too. Trying to scoop Shade up for a Body Slam, it just doesn't work the first time, and he has to put him down. This give Shade time to counter, as quick as he can, he pops his free leg up violently, catching Lawson square in the nether regions. The lack of footing for Shade then brings the two straight down to the mat, where Shade then connects with a DDT. Lawson crumples like a ragdoll, and in a fit of rage, Shade all of a sudden rolls out of the ring in a huff. Down on one knee on the outside, he holds his back for a few seconds, oblivious to the booing crowd, as Lawson lays motionless on the mat, his hands buried in his crotch. After making sure his footing is steady, Shade then steps over to the railing, where he questions fans for a particular item. As he has a bit of trouble acquiring this, it give Lawson some time to inch over toward the corner, but he's still flat on his face, nursing his nuts.

Indeed he has, and he holds it up for everyone to see...it's a lighter. As Lawson slowly pulls himself up in the corner, he has no idea what's coming his way. Shade rolls back into the ring and makes a beeline for his opponent. He takes Lawson's arm and holds it off to the side, opening the lighter with the other hand. He's gonna burn Tyler's face off! Oh, the humanity! It takes a couple flips, but the light comes on. Shade's eyes light up with malice upon seeing the fire. He inches it closer and closer to Lawson's face...SMACK. Lawson has swung his free hand across and connected with Shade's cheek. He drops the lighter in shock, and it rolls out of the ring. Shade stands there, dumbstruck, as Lawson just pauses to gauge his reaction. Shade's eyes get wide...they fill with pure rage. In the blink of an eye, he turns back toward Lawson, raises his foot, and connects with some sort of Standing Yakuza Kick, which knocks Lawson for a loop. He starts breathing heavily, while Lawson lays slumped over the top rope. As Shade takes his foot down, Lawson just falls into his arms, allowing him to effortlessly lock in the Eternal Rest V2. He squeezes it tight, and with Lawson out of it, this seems like a lost cause. Lawson's arms just seem slumped to his sides, but as the ref goes to see if he's still conscious, he begins to flail them wildly around, desperately trying to find a way out of this. At this stage in the match, it's not wise to stay in submissions for very long. It looks like Lawson's running out of gad, and Shade's got the hold cinched in tight. Tyler puts his foot in the air, and it lands on the bottom turnbuckle...there's an idea! As Shade isn't letting up on the Sleeper, Lawson is able to step up, rope by rope, up to the top, and then jump off, holding himself vertically. However, Shade has a brilliant counter for this, as he simply keeps the hold on Lawson and swings him backwards, sitting himself down and catching the Instant Classic with the Guaranteed Agony. Lawson flies off across the ring after that impact, like he's been shot out of a cannon, and rolls near the ropes on the other side, coming to rest right underneath them.

Indeed, Shade, still seated, has a pained grimace on his face, both hands clutching his tailbone. He tries to lean to one side, a wince, but eventually turns to face his opponent. Upon seeing Lawson, the anger returns, and Shade is able to push himself to his knees. From there, it's a struggle, but he slowly staggers to his feet, definitely off-balance, but able to stand. Lawson is barely conscious, his face a crimson mask, on all fours out on the apron. Slowly, Shade takes a few steps over to him, allowing Tyler to at least attempt to get up. He just doesn't have the wherewithal to do so though, and Shade reaches him first, pulling the Instant Classic up to his feet himself. After that, he turns around and wraps up a 3/4 Facelock. The jeers come back in full force as he sets up his finisher. Shakily, he takes a step forward, pulling Lawson with him. Another step...another...Lawson is nearly fully extended on the ropes. The SYN Drive is coming....except it never does. Once he gets all of Lawson's weight on his shoulder, Shade's back just gives out. He drops to one knee, releasing Lawson, and puts his hand on his back again in sheer agony. Lawson flips over and lands on his ass, jolting him awake. He sees Shade vulnerable; it's his time to pounce. As quick as he can after such a brutal match (which isn't very quick at all, mind you), he re-positions his legs underneath him so that he is on his feet, and sizes up his opponent as he slowly pushes himself up. After a few seconds, Shade gets back up to his feet and slowly turns around. He never sees it coming. Huge Spear! Shade crumples to the mat, but this one isn't over yet. Lawson ended the move on his knees, and he still has enough energy to get up one more time. It takes a bit, but he is eventually back to his feet, pulling Shade along with him. As his opponent it a bit slow to follow his prodding, Lawson reaches over with his foot and slides the Wii U Gamepad into position. Shade's up. Time to end this. Lawson hooks him up in the Front Facelock. Running on fumes, with a little adrenaline helping him along, and after wiping a bit more blood out of his face, Lawson pops the hips, pulls Shade high above him, and wastes no time in dropping him right on his head, shattering the screen on the game controller with a Toxic Spike. The leg is hooked; the count is made. The crowd chants along. [.....1.....2.....3] Game, set, and match.

The Bell Ends The Contest

The crowd goes nuts. The music comes on as Lawson rolls off of his opponent into a seated position, and the referee helps him to his feet so that he can raise his arm in victory. Tyler looks out through his crimson mask into the crowd, which showers him with praise.

As the commentators continue to discuss the finals, Lawson gets on the ropes and continues to celebrate, as Shade lays motionless in the center of the ring. The tournament is almost complete. Only one more match and the new #1 Contender will be set. But that will be this Sunday; now is time to rest. Vendetta fades out to commercial as Lawson catches his breath in the ring.

The end...is near...

There’s a looming intensity in the air as the two competitors who are about to go head-to-head stare each other down. Both men beat Dante Cross to be where they are right now in the tournament. Tyler Lawson beat Dante two weeks ago and received a bye in the King of Xtreme Tournament whereas Shade beat Dante last week in an actual tournament match. Everyone in attendance knows that both men are better than Dante, but who is the better man between these two current wrestlers? The bell rings and the two wrestlers waste no time. Tyler knows how unstable and unpredictable his adversary is, so he chooses to go on the offensive right away. He charges at the New York-native and delivers a quick clothesline that Shade is unable to defend. Shade hits the mat with a thump and Tyler looks confused; he was expecting more of a response, even a reversal perhaps. Tyler had every right to be suspicious too, for Shade let himself get hit. The bipolar maniac grabs Tyler’s ankle and pulls him down to his level. Shade gets up, keeping his grip on Tyler’s ankle and lifting his leg up in the process. Shade begins twisting the ankle of “The Instant Classic” with the well-known ankle lock maneuver! Tyler is showing no signs of fatigue though and starts squirming his way to fight out of the hold. Giving up the hold completely, “The Ultimate Synner” extracts himself from the squared circle as Tyler returns to a vertical stance. He motions for Tyler to exit the ring.

Ted Cedar: “It seems as if Shade is toying with Tyler.”

Adam Dennis: “Shade has that ability, Teddy. Remember: no one here knows who Shade is unless they were in 2WWF. No one knows what he’s capable of. That makes him even more dangerous.”

Ted Cedar: “Brilliantly said, partner.”

Adam Dennis: “Titties.”

Tyler lets out a smirk, realizing that his opponent is clever. He instructs Shade to get a weapon from one of the fans to implement the stipulation of the match, as he exits the ring on the other side, going to the barricade himself. Both wrestlers, on opposite sides, reach over to the fans, eagerly waiting to see what the crowd is going to encourage them to use. Each man receives something and hides it from his foe and the camera, as they meet up in the ring. Tyler reveals the weapon given to him: an eight-inch wooden paddle. Shade responds with a metallic frying pan. The two men clash in the middle of the ring, both swinging their weapons at each other and colliding. The metallic frying man seems to be too much for the wooden paddle, despite it being shorter. With Shade having the advantage, he whacks Tyler’s countenance with the pan, causing the former XWA International Champion to drop his weapon. Shade doesn’t have the upper hand for long however as Tyler counters with a swift kick to Shade’s gut, causing him to bend over in pain. Grabbing ahold of his head, Tyler executes a DDT to his opponent against the mat and goes for an early cover. ONE… T – KICKOUT!

Adam Dennis: “Did he really think he could win with that? Nothing hard-hitting so far has happened.”

Ted Cedar: “You never know. It is possible.”

Adam Dennis: “Highly impossible, dickwad.”

“The Instant Classic” isn’t fazed by Shade kicking out. In fact, he predicted he would. Now it was Tyler’s turn to get into Shade’s head. Going for an early win was his way of doing that. Tyler follows up the pin attempt by dragging Shade by his legs to the outside of the ring. With Shade flopping to the ground, Tyler goes towards the barricade to receive another weapon. A little boy wearing a Tyler Lawson shirt is seen on camera giving one of his wrestling heroes a replica XWA World Heavyweight Championship belt. Tyler cannot help but smile and gladly accepts the belt to use a weapon. As he’s turning around though, Shade responds with a dropkick! “The Lawless One” drops the replica belt and collides against the barricade. A sheer look of horror is seen in the little boy’s eyes as the demented wrestler grabs the replica belt and begins smashing it against Tyler’s skull right in front of him. Tears stream down his cheeks and he hides his face into his father’s chest. Shade takes notices of this and begins to laugh at the kid’s torment. With a sudden burst of energy, Tyler kicks Shade’s knee, causing him to hit the barricade jaw-first. He stands tall as the father gives Tyler a weapon of his own: a lead pipe. Tyler winds up and… SMACK! “The Terror of Death” hits the floor hard as blood begins to trickle down the side of his face.

Ted Cedar: “Shade’s going to be feeling that in the morning. This is turning brutal quick.”

Adam Dennis: “That’s if he’s alive. Someone might need to call the cops on Tyler.”

Feeling a possible victory, Tyler drops the lead pipe and hoists Shade to his feet. He Irish whips Shade towards the ring, causing him to bump into it and making it easier to roll him into the ring. Tyler does just that and follows him immediately after, pinning him instantaneously. ONE… TWO… THR – KICKOUT! Shade brutally raises his shoulder with a loud scream, indicating he’s pissed off. It appears as if Tyler has now woken Shade’s inner beast. “The Eclipse” sits up and wraps his hands around Tyler’s throat, beginning to choke him out. Seeing the wooden paddle nearby, he grabs it and starts smacking Tyler all over with it. As blood oozes down his face, a look of pure rage can be seen in Shade’s eyes. With both wrestlers standing, Shade uses the wooden paddle to ram it into Tyler’s gut, bending him over. He then hooks Tyler’s arms and lifts him up high into the air, but then throws him straight up and leaves, performing a release powerbomb onto the unfortunate superstar! Not done with his onslaught, Shade sits Tyler up and snatches up both the frying pan and wooden paddle. With a weapon in each hand, he winds up and slams them both at the same time against Tyler’s ears.

Adam Dennis: “NOW WE’RE TALKING!”

Ted Cedar: “Is he trying to make Tyler deaf?! This is insane.”

Adam Dennis: “He’s an insane-fucking-man, Teddy. What did you expect? For him to shit gumballs out of his ass and feed them to orphans?”

Ted Cedar: “That was needlessly graphic.”

Tyler drops to the mat with a thud and Shade goes for the pin this time. ONE… TWO… T – KICKOUT! Tyler proves that he’s in the tournament for a reason, giving Shade the classic push off. Although it’s safe to say that Shade – or rather, Samael – isn’t worried in the slightest for it just means more agony for his foe. He grasps Tyler’s head from both sides, getting some blood on his hands in the process and he once again wraps his hands around his neck once Tyler is fully standing. “The Behemoth of Destruction” hoists Tyler into the air and throws Tyler down while falling to a seated position, executing a vicious chokebomb! He goes for another pin. ONE… TWO… T – KICKOUT! Still no luck for the frantic superstar. Shade’s eyes widen in now minor disbelief. He chooses to pick Tyler up again, expect this time Tyler retaliates with a stern punch to Shade’s countenance. “The Instant Classic” feels a bit of momentum and applies a front face lock, lifting him up into the air afterwards and performs a swift vertical suplex. The maneuver takes the life out of Tyler though and the official is left with no choice but to begin a ten-count. ONE… TWO… THREE - Still no movement from either man. FOUR… FIVE – Tyler begins to stir to life with Shade simply laying down on the mat. SIX – Tyler is back up to his feet and he immediately goes towards Shade. The psychotic wrestler seemed to be playing possum though as he greets Tyler by wrapping his arm around his neck, pressing his forearm against Tyler’s throat. Pulling Tyler down, Shade wraps his legs around Tyler’s midsection with a body scissors while pulling Tyler’s head forward, carrying out a guillotine choke!

Ted Cedar: “If I remember correctly, that move is done by Leon. So Shade seems to be going back-and-forth with his personas tonight.”

Adam Dennis: “It keeps his opponent on his feet. The unpredictable fucker is going to go far in this company, whether he wins this tournament or not. Just when you think you know who you’re fighting – BOOM! You don’t. Fucking fantastic.”

With the hold in place, Tyler tries squirming his way out of this submission but to no avail. It’s Shade who is the one who decides to break it. Even the referee seems slightly confused at Shade’s action, considering he could have possibly won. Sensing this, Shade wags his finger back-and-forth at the official while mouthing “Too simple; not my style.” Spotting the frying pan in the ring still, a wicked smirk appears on the face of “The Glooming Masterpiece”. He returns Tyler to a vertical stance, just to place him in a full nelson submission. The smirk never leaves his face however, as he follows right after by applying a leg-hook and then slamming Tyler’s face against the frying pan with his signature “Nexus Shot” full nelson facebuster! An audible *DING* can be heard to those in the nearby audience. Shade exits the ring after the move, not wanting to pin his adversary just yet. He goes over to the barricade to procure a weapon of some sort, but no fans want to give him any. Shade does what any rightfully minded person would do in this situation: violently take them from the fans. He pulls a candlestick from one fan and throws it aside. He yanks a whip off another fan, this time a weapon and most likely a 50 Shades of Grey fanatic. He takes a sign that says “RAZOR SUCKS” and can’t help but chuckle at it, just to rip it in half after. Remaining audience members begin hiding their weapons. That is until Tyler sneaks up behind Shade, wrapping the whip around his neck. Every single audience member begins offering their weapons to Tyler and he spots one that even he himself is surprised was allowed to be brought into the arena: a Taser. He grasps the weapon and plugs it into Shade’s neck, shocking the superstar to the floor!

Adam Dennis: “YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! THAT IS SO CHEAP.”

Ted Cedar: “No, it’s… allowed. Barbarically allowed.”

Tyler believes that this is the opening he needs. He picks Shade up over his shoulder and pushes him back into the ring. He goes for the cover. ONE… TWO… THRE – KICKOUT!!! Somehow, Shade is able to lift his shoulder up. Tyler cannot believe this; in fact, he believes it’s a slight seizure caused by the Taser. He goes for the cover again. ONE… TWO… THR – KICKOUT! Now with an earlier kickout, Tyler realizes that this isn’t a seizure and it is indeed Shade fighting it. With a loud grunt, Tyler picks Shade up off the mat and Irish whips him. Shade having no life in him, falls to his knees before reaching the ropes. “The Lawless One” marches over and lifts Shade up again, however Shade spits out a stream of crimson liquid into Tyler’s eyes, blinding him momentarily. With a powerful kick to Tyler’s groin, Shade towers over his foe and drags him towards the turnbuckle. He places Tyler’s feet on the top rope and looks out into the crowd with a dead look in his eyes. No hesitation whatsoever, he performs his finishing “SYN Drive” rope hung stunner onto his unfortunate adversary. ONE… TWO… THREE!

DING DING DING!

Laura Watts: “Your winner of this match… SHADE!”

Ted Cedar: “How did he kickout of a Taser?!”

Adam Dennis: “You’ve gotta remember, only one persona was shocked.”