Both Shade and Spires have made their entrances and stand in corners opposite of the other. Shade looks completely calm yet determined as he hands his Intercontinental and LionHeart championship titles to the referee who rises the LionHeart belt over his head to insinuate one of the prizes for victory in this match. Caleb looks much angrier than usual, a dead glare on his face at Shade, still irritated of his loss to Logan Wilson the previous week. Fans go wild in anticipation of the King of Xtreme semi-finals/LionHeart Championship match, clutching the weapons that they were allowed to bring to the event. As the referee hands the belts over to the ringside area, he calls for the bell to signal the beginning of the main event.
~Ding! Ding! Ding!~
The Elite One doesn't use his original technique of trying to grapple for an upper hand. He instead catches Shade off guard by quickly lunging into a blast double leg takedown lifting his adversary in the air and slamming his back into the nearest turnbuckles. Shade lets out a gasp of air and Spires grabs the middle ropes, pushing back, and repeatedly slamming his shoulder into the double champion's stomach quickly as he can. On the sixth shoulder attempt, Shade counters by lifting his knee into the chops of Caleb, causing him to stumble backward clenching his jaw. The Ultimate Synner gets his breathing pattern under control and strikes Spires in the jaw yet again with a European uppercut. Spires snaps back, collapsing but quickly scrambling back up to his feet, only to find himself grabbed by the wrist and Irish whipped hard into the turnbuckles he just cornered Shade in. Hell’s Pyromaniac flings the 5x heavyweight champ into the corner at full force, making his knees buckle and causing him to fall forward after. The Elite One falls right into the waiting clutches of the 6’5 Shade who hoists his challenger atop his shoulders in a seated position, throwing him back into the corner courtesy of a nasty turnbuckle powerbomb, getting a few more fans behind him.
Ted Cedar: “These two certainly haven’t held anything back to start off the match, going at each other like rabid dogs.”
David Michaels: “Well Caleb was clearly trying to send an early statement after his loss last week. That statement was received and sent right back to him by the Intercontinental and LionHeart champion.”
After receiving the corner powerbomb, Spires falls to the mat like a little rag doll. Shade pulls him away from the ropes and attempts the first cover of the match.
1-2
Spires kicks out with authority and rolls away from Shade and back up to his feet, scowling at him while keeping a fair distance. Hell’s Pyromaniac doesn’t look too mad though, rather amused that Spires came out guns blazing and got stopped dead in his tracks. Shade begins to chuckle at Caleb and slowly begins circling toward him. The Elite One, revising his earlier strategy, doesn’t dive in and instead circles Shade as well. The Ultimate Synner stops dead in his tracks, smirks at Spires and waves his hands in the “come here, bitch” manner. Caleb complies, but was played, as he receives a big boot for his troubles when he charges forward. Spires crumbles to the mat again as Shade stands over him, chuckling yet again. He nudges his adversary with some soft kicks to the side, more mocking him than trying to hurt him. Shade backs up to give him space to stand. The ever-resourceful Caleb uses the ropes to help stand himself upright in the corner and Shade immediately charges him, attempting a body avalanche. Spires pinpoints this by catching The Ultimate Synner off guard(and in the temple) with a roundhouse kick to send Shade kneeling on one knee, dazed and groggy. The champion begins rubbing his instant headache to ease the pain as the recovering Caleb pulls himself up to sit on the top rope with his feet on the middle. Before Shade has the chance to get back to his feet, Spires jumps off the ropes sticking his right leg out, and damn-near decapitating his foe with a flying leg lariat to a loud fan reaction.
Ted Cedar: “Not much technicality in this one so far. It looks like the two are more intent on jus beating the living tar out of each other.”
David Michaels: “Beating the hell out of each other? In a high-stakes match where fans literally supply them with weapons? I would have never guessed THAT.”
Shade is knocked right off of his feet as Spires lands on his rear. The Terror of Death tries rolling away from Caleb who slightly limps to him and goes for the pin.
1-2
Not much of a close call as Shade pushes his challenger off of him with an authoritative force. As the dual-champion begins rising to his feet, Spires charges the nearest ropes and leaps onto the middle one, turning into his opponent attempting a flying crossbody. Shade quickly ducks the crossbody attempt, leaving Caleb to crash and burn, falling face and rib first into the canvas, resulting in a sounding “Ooooooooh…” from the crowd in regards to the awkward landing. The Elite One bounces up to his knees, eyes clenched in pain as he inspects his ribs to make sure none are cracked. While he does this, Hell’s Pyromaniac recovers quickly and locks his gaze on the weakened veteran. Rather than attack him while he’s down, Shade gives Spires the opportunity to get back to his feet. As Spires gets back to a vertical position, Shade jumps up and dropkicks him in the side/ribs, sending the smaller man launching forward into the ropes, leaning against them to help stay on his feet. This makes no difference though, as Shade scurries right back up and pounces Caleb yet again, risking his own body with a cactus clothesline that sends both tumbling over the top rope and crashing out to the floor, waking some of the fans up in the process as they applaud the daring move by the 6’5 Shade. While slightly hurt by his execution, the Terror of Death shakes it off and stands up with the help of the apron, backing up to the ring steps roughly 10 feet away from Spires who is still trying to get back to his feet. The crowd barrier gives Caleb the strength to stand and turn around to find Shade charging him, head lowered and attempting a spear through the barrier. Knowing how detrimental this could be, The Inspiring manages to duck under the spear that Shade had too much momentum to stop as Spires lowered. Caleb rises up with both hands on Hell’s Pyromaniac, displaying his underestimated strength by back-body dropping his opponent high into the air. Shade flips through the air, flies over the crowd barrier, and lands on his back into the crowd, where he only had cement to catch his fall. This inspires the first “Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” chant from the XWA universe while Shade arches his back, moaning and writhing in pain.
David Michaels: “Aaaaand they have found their way to the crowd. Having no idea what some of these fans have brought along for this match is both intriguing and frightening at the same time.”
Ted Cedar: “You’re completely right, David. With no disqualifications in this match, anything that gets handed off to one of these warriors is completely legal.”
Shade is still in immense pain on the fan-side area while Spires catches a breather on his hands and knees next to the ring. He slowly rises back to his feet with some of his stamina regained and turns his attention to the temporarily immobilized champion. Not one to run away from a fight, Spires steps over the barrier and enters the increasingly roaring crowd. Shade tries using all fours to push himself back up, but is struggling to do so as his back keeps giving out on him. His struggles prompt Spires to turn to the nearest fan wearing Spires merchandise, eye his seat, and simply ask “May I?” The fan complies without any hesitation, folding his steel chair and tossing it to (presumably, by the shirt) his favorite superstar. Caleb grabs both legs of the chair and hoists it above his head as Shade is just now only on one knee, making progress. This progress is quickly put to a halt as the steel chair is quickly put to a back. The thunderous smack of steel hitting flesh gets both applause and cringes from the audience as Shade falls forward, letting out a blood curdling yell as he begins to crawl down an aisle in the opposite direction of the ring. Spires tosses the chair to the ringside, deciding that he doesn’t need it for the current time being. Instead, he marches toward Shade who has reached a nearby rail that helps support him standing without straining his back too much. The Elite One follows him right to this location and gets just a bit too close, falling victim to a headbutt that catches Caleb off his guard and makes him stumble backward before falling down with ringing ears. While the headbutt hurt Shade as well, his planning of the strike affects him remarkably less. Possibly concussed, Spires struggles to get back up, and Shade recovers first, putting him back in the driver’s seat. The Terror of Death looks at the surrounding fans and finds a weapon he can have some fun with; a fire extinguisher. He nears Spires with a crazed look in his eye, that of a murderer, right as The Elite One makes it to his feet once more. The crazed look soon turns into a smirk as he lifts the extinguisher up… And sprays Caleb right in the face with it, momentarily blinding the 5x heavyweight champion. One little spray causes Spires to jerk back, and turn his back to the mad man with the extinguisher. This is, naturally, followed by Shade lifting the extinguisher up again and spraying him right in the back of the head.
Ted Cedar: “Leave it to Shade to take a weapon from a fan and use it just to screw with Caleb rather than actually hurt him.”
David Michaels: “Screwing with him right now or not.... Shade having access to a heavy, metal fire extinguisher is hardly ever going to be a good thing. King of ironic though, considering Shade is normally the one making fires, rather than putting them out.”
Caleb’s vision is impaired from the extinguisher, and he stumbles back to the crowd barrier, trying to make a getaway before he is permanently blinded. As he begins to try and pull himself over the barrier, Shade follows him in hot pursuit with the extinguisher in one hand and uses his free hand to grab Spires by his pants. With Shade pulling him back by the pants, Spires dangles halfway over the barrier, desperately trying to pull himself over but unable to escape Shade’s clutches. Hell’s Pyromaniac continues to contradict his name by putting the hose of the extinguisher down Caleb’s pants and presses down yet again, spraying copious amounts of foam right into his pants(I’d say no homo, but that was intentional). The Elite One immediately begins squirming even harder, kicking with all of his might until he falls back over the barrier to escape the extinguisher.
David Michaels: “Please tell me I didn’t just see that.”
Ted Cedar: “Well, uhh... That… That’s new.”
The fans are absolutely in stitches at Shade’s antics, much at the expense of Caleb who is still trying to wipe the extinguisher foam from his face. The Lionheart champion sets the extinguisher down, having had his fun already and calls for fans to give him a different object. Many fans try to hand him theirs, but ultimately the Terror of Death decides on a ‘weapon’ that may not even be intended to be given to him; that being a man with a cast on his foot getting his crutch ripped out of his hands. The man doesn’t argue and just lets the superstar do whatever he has planned next. Shade finally decides to step over the barrier, crutch in hand, and nears Caleb who is just getting the last of the foam off of his face. Caleb turns around as Shade lifts the crutch up high, only to drop it after getting booted in the stomach. Shade bends over and The Elite One ever-so swiftly drops down, taking his adversary’s head with him, snap DDTing him on the thinly matted outside area, once again bringing the crowd to their feet. While executing the DDT slightly hurt Spires himself, he has much more recovery time as Hell’s Pyromaniac looks lifeless lying on the ground. Caleb’s body is aching badly, but he fights through by finding the strength to stand once more. He hatches an idea as he pulls the champion up by the head and his jeans, dragging the heavier body over to the nearest steel steps. Spires grabs the top set of the steps, pulls them off, and sets them next to the larger base. The Elite One lifts the groggy Shade up and gets him in an STO position as he stands on the top ring step to help even out the height difference. Shade starts coming to and delivers a couple weak elbows to Spires’ temple, but Caleb uses his free arm to hook his adversary’s leg. Using all of his might, Caleb lifts Shade up, throwing him overhead, and turning into him as he jumps of the top set of steps, slamming Shade onto the steel step base courtesy of a t-bone suplex.
Ted Cedar: “My dear Lord! Spires has come alive now, and both of these two have to feel like they have been hit by oncoming traffic.”
David Michaels: “Only if that oncoming traffic is a semi-truck... It’s been an all-out brawl since the beginning with neither managing to gain the upper hand for more than a short period.”
The Despotic lets out a blood-curdling yell as he rolls off the steps he was just slammed on while The Inspiring regains the energy that was drained performing the T-bone. After he has regained enough energy, he heads over to the previously used chair and the crutch and throws both into the ring before tending to Shade. Spires pulls Shade up to his feet and slides him under the bottom rope, following right after him. The referee, noticing that the wrestlers and cameras are back to the ring, quickly finishes his tweet and puts his phone away so he can count Caleb’s pin attempt.
1-2-
Shade won’t give up that easily as he kicks out at 2-and-a-half. The Ultimate Synner rolls into a corner, his back still shot after taking some bad bumps on it. As he lies in the corner, his challenger picks up the chair and props it across Shade’s face and chest. Spires steps back enough to get proper distance, and then starts running to the corner, dropping down and baseball sliding the steel chair right into his opponent’s face, causing yet another uproar from the crowd. ”This is awesome!” This is awesome!” the unoriginal crowd chants to show admiration for the two hardcore warriors. The chair ricochets off Shade’s face but stays in the ring. The camera shows a close-up of Shade’s face, revealing a mixture of pain and anger taking over him more and more by the second. Spires pulls himself back up and slowly backs up from the corner, giving Shade the chance to reach his feet, looking determined to keep the train rolling. It takes a little bit for The Ultimate Synner to get back up, but once he does, Spires tries rushing him yet again. What Caleb may have overlooked is that Shade was also lifting up the chair as he was standing, and throws it right at Caleb’s head before he ever reaches him. The steel chair cracks Caleb in the head hard and loud, causing his fans to abruptly quiet down in concern as he crumbles down to his hands and knees. A drop of blood falls off his forehead, and that drop of blood slowly forms a small puddle beneath him. Shade no longer wants to play games. His adrenaline momentarily makes him forget about his stiff back as he pushes out of the corner and picks up the chair yet again. He opens the chair up and sets it next to the now-bleeding Spires. As Caleb begins to stand, Shade bounces off the ropes to build momentum, returning to Caleb only to bring him right back down. The Ultimate Synner pushes Spires down by the head from behind, executing a one-handed bulldog right into the set up steel chair with such force that Spires dents the chair with his head.
David Michaels: “Caleb’s head has already been cut open and that bulldog couldn’t have made matters better. Just look at how bent that chair is now…”
Ted Cedar: “It appears that Shade is fed up with Caleb managing to keep it competitive. The look in his eyes is something not many men in this company like to see when they look up from the mat.”
Blood continues dripping onto the mat, the gash right above Caleb’s brow opened up slightly more. The chair is so bent up from The Elite One’s noggin that Shade picks it up, examines it, and tosses it out of the ring as it has no more use. Spires is trying to get up slowly but surely, and Shade gets his grasps on the crutch he never got to use earlier. As Spires helps himself up with the ropes, The Ultimate Synner swings the crutch like a bat right into Caleb’s rib cage, causing him to slump his arms over the top rope to keep from falling. This only gives Shad the opportunity to whack his back with it equally as hard, making him fall right back into a corner to stay supported. One last final blow, right to the already-bleeding head, makes Spires start stumbling out of the corner, looking like he may faceplant. Shade drops the crutch and grabs Spires by his head, twisting him around in so they are back to back, followed by Hell’s Pyromaniac sitting out, giving Caleb extreme whiplash at the hands of a hangman neckbreaker. The Elite One takes yet another painful bump as he collapses on the mat, quivering on his side. Shade pulls him closer and hooks one leg.
1-2-
Kick-out from The Inspiring, keeping his KoX finals and LionHeart championship chances alive. Shade doesn’t give Caleb any time to breathe as he pulls him back up to his feet, lashing him around in a front-head position. Relinquishing the front head, he Irish whips Spires right into the corner, and Caleb wilts against the corner, unable to move for a short time. His incapacitation results in having the air driven out of him courtesy of a body avalanche from the remarkably larger Shade. The Ultimate Synner keeps his challenger standing, but pushes him back into the corner. He backs up as Spires stays pressed up against the turnbuckle. Backing up, Shade has intentions of another body avalanche. Right as he rushes Spires to deliver it, He finds a hard elbow clocking him in the side of the head. The elbow rattles Shade, who stumbles back after contact. After slightly tending to his head, the dual champion turns back around and charges the corner again. Instead of an elbow, he catches a boot to the head this time, sending him stumbling down. As The Despotic scrambles back up to his feet, Spires charges from the corner and flies through the air, landing a spinning wheel kick on his foe to knock both down for the time being. The crowd tries to help surge both men back to their feet, this match being as intense as hoped for. Caleb is the first up to his feet, panting heavily as he stands behind Shade who is also beginning to rise. Before Shade is up to his feet, Spires clutches onto both of his wrists, and uses all of his might to twist his adversary around, resting his back on the top of his head. The 5x heavyweight champion drops down, crushing Shade’s face with his signature Facial.
Ted Cedar: “After receiving a one-sided onslaught for the past couple minutes, Spires manages to find some power left in him.”
David Michaels: “As much as Caleb has accomplished in XWA, he has never heald the LionHeart Championship or the King of Xtreme tournament. He’s going to fight as hard as he possibly can to keep both of those accomplishments in the realm of possibility.”
The fans pop at the turn of tides as Spires turns Shade onto his back to try and put him away.
1-2-
In the nick of time, Shade kicks out, causing a bleeding, frustrated Caleb to roll off of his opponent. Spires begins to stand up, while using one of his legs to roll Shade over. As he gets up standing, he pushes The Ultimate Synner under the bottom rope. Shade dumps to the outside area as Caleb stays in the ring momentarily, clutching the top rope and taking a breather. He gives his adversary a chance to get to his feet, and as he does, The Elite One flings himself over the top rope for a slingshot crossbody. He strikes The Despotic, who manages to catch the much smaller man. Spires is in disbelief, and he tries to elbow Shade to get out of his clutches, but the LionHeart champion adjusts and traps him in a bear hug. Shade uses all of his might to stand up and squeeze the living hell out of Caleb, who is sputtering for air more every second. The Ultimate Synner tightens his grip, and Spires is forced to reach over Shade as far as he can, desperate to get something from the fans that can get him out. He manages to get his hands on…… A toaster. Whatever. Caleb bangs Hell’s Pyromaniac in the back of the head, loosening the grip a bit. Spires hits Shade in the back with it, and this just pisses him off more. He musters up the strength to tighten it up, making him drop the toaster, and get an adrenaline boost to take Spires over to the announce table, climbing on top of it not even bothering to remove the monitors. Throwing Spires over his shoulders, Shade sits out and drops Caleb’s back between his legs, giving him a pavement greetings right through the table, making the crowd go nuts.
David Michaels: “That’s fine, I didn’t really want a table for the rest of the match anyway.”
Ted Cedar: “Dear Lord! Shade may have just broken Caleb in half!”
Both lie in the rubble from the commentary table, too battered to move. The crowd is in disbelief that the two have put each other through such hell. After roughly 15 seconds, Shade begins to make some movement. He fights through his pain and picks up Spires by the head, Spires as limp as a rag doll. The Despotic drags the half-alive Caleb back to the ring, and throws him onto the apron before heading to the crowd to find something that could potentially put Spires away for good. What Shade finds is a roughly 10x10 sheet of glass, making the entire crowd gasp as he yanks it out of a front row fan’s hands. He goes back to the groggy Caleb and slides the glass sheet into the ring near Spires’ head and slides in himself. The Elite One leans over the second rope, trying to pull himself back up, and The Despotic is all over him. He pulls Caleb slightly in the ring, so that he is hung up on the ropes with the glass sheet below his head. Fans cover their eyes and cringe as Shade leaps into the air, trying to land his foot on the back of his adversary’s head with his Fucking Blasphemy. The veteran instinct of Caleb kicks in just in time, jerking his head out of harm’s way. This causes Shade to stomp the glass, cracking the glass in multiple pieces and putting some smaller shards into Shade’s boot. Hell’s Pyromaniac limps off of it, not wanting to put his foot on the mat as it has small pieces of glass sticking in it. While his opponent attends to his injured foot, Caleb rolls back into the ring, pulling himself to his feet by the ropes, trying not to fall right back down still aching from being driven right through a table. Shade limps back around right as The Elite One lunges for the corner, superkicking with all of his might, making it Lights Out for the LionHeart Champion bringing the arena to an absolute frenzy.
Ted Cedar: “Spires just avoided a sure loss right there! He was just a second away from permanent disfigurement but against all odds has turned the tides AGAIN.”
David Michaels: “Shade had some ugly intentions there… If Caleb is a praying man, he better be thanking God that he found the strength to keep himself safe.”
Both warriors lie on the mat, fatigued and broken from all the bumps they have been forced to endure. Shade rubs his aching jaw as The Elite One inches his way over to the smashed glass sheet. After using the ropes to get back to his feet and taking a bit of a rest, he ever-so-gently uses his foot to scoot some of the big pieces as close to the center as he can. As he does this, The Ultimate Synner tries to make it back to his feet, struggling to do so. The Inspiring hatches a sinister idea of his own, using all of his might to head over to the half-unconscious Shade, and lifts him up. He pulls Shade atop his shoulders in a torture-rack position. The Despotic tries to elbow Caleb in the head, weak but with effort. Before the smaller Spires’ legs go out from under him, he flips Shade off of his shoulders, spiking him on his head…. Right into the pile of glass shards with a Burning Hammer! The crowd gasps in absolute shock, looking away from Shade who is pulsating in pain, with multiple small, open wounds on the top of his head, as Caleb sits up wincing, some scratches on his arm that dropped with Shade. In pain, Caleb grabs Shad by the arm and rolls him onto his back, hooking his leg and trying to move on with his night.
1-2-3!
David Michaels: “He’s done it… Caleb has actually done it. He not only advances in the King of Xtreme tournament, but he now holds gold for the first time in over 5 years.”
Ted Cedar: “The superkick managed to change the tempo, but that burning hammer into the glass left Shade with no legitimate chance… I didn’t know he could get that sadistic…”
The many Spires fans of the arena applaud their hero who is still on the mat, breathing heavy and wide-eyed. The XWA LionHeart Championship is brought into the ring and Caleb scampers up to his feet, nearly falling back down, as he is handed his new championship belt that he hoists over his head to a sea of clapping for the superstar. He drapes the belt over his shoulder with a grin on his face that can’t be wiped off, despite the scratches on his arm and dry blood on his face. After he has had his time celebrating with the championship, he drops out of the ring and walks back up the ramp, leaving Shade in the ring who still has yet to come to his senses and could need serious attention. As Caleb makes it the top of the ramp, he looks back over his shoulder at the King of Xtreme sign and slowly nods, ready for the task up ahead.
Subject: ME.) Shade © vs. Caleb Spires | KoX Semi-Finals | XWA LionHeart Championship | Fans Bring the Weapon Match 
