Due: Saturday, Februrary 22nd

Good luck, Kani. I enjoy how this fairly short match came out.

DING! DING! DING!

The much smaller Robert Hope eyes Maddox Paine with an angry look of undeserved self righteousness. The Titan looks back at his opposition with a look of nonchalance. Hope gets closer to the big man as Paine looks back at him, not caring at all. Robert quickly tries to sneak attack him with a big right hand, but Paine counters his blow and hits him with a quick left to the ribs. “The Prophet” doubles down and Paine raises a big right arm before driving the point of his elbow to the back of Hope's neck. Not letting him rest it off any further, Maddox quickly wraps his right arm around Rob's neck and locks him in for a headlock! Robert tries to wriggle out of it, but the really powerful large man has his grip, and he is not going to let it go. Hope uses his technical prowess to extend his right leg to the side and get the tip on the bottom rope. The ref begins to count. “1!” “2!” “3!” - Maddox loosens up the hold. This is enough for Robert to get out of it. As soon as he has his opening, he swings a quick right handed slap to the face of The Titan! The crowd goes “Oooooh!” as Robert looks back with a nasty chuckle. Paine launches forward at him, but the sneaky Prophet slides out of the ring quickly. An angry 260 pound man slides out of the ring, following close behind. Hope charges around and Paine follows. All of a sudden, Paine is stopped in his tracks by... “The Hound of Hell,” Cerberus! The cold and nasty 'manager' of the equally cold Robert Hope. Maddox and Cerberus stare off right in front of the announcers table.

Ted Cedar: “Two large, dominant men staring each other in the eyes. I don't think it can get more intense than this.”

Joey Miles: “How do you know Cerberus is looking him in the eyes? Fucker's got a mask on!”

Maddox begins to talk a bit of smack to Cerberus. Paine may actually see the Hound of Hell as a threat! However, in the distraction, the sneaky Robert Hope manages to get inside the ring. He quickly bounces on the ropes on the opposite side of the ring. He runs back towards the area near Maddox and Cerberus, leaps through the ropes, and hits Maddox with an in-between-the-ropes dropkick, holding himself inside the ring by holding on to the middle rope. Paine shoots towards the announcers table as The Prophet follows him out. The Prophet quickly grabs a hold of the back of Paine's groggy head and he smashes him into the table. Cerberus backs off a bit, not wanting to lose his insane temper and attack, costing his master the match. Robert turns Maddox around and begins to swing hard right hands, catching him on the side of the cheek with each one. Robert throws a big back-knee right to the gut, then he drags The Titan back towards the ring before sliding him in. Hope climbs up onto the apron before ascending up the ropes. As soon as Maddox gets up to his feet, The Prophet leaps off the top rope, both feet forward, and catches him right on the jaw with a nice diving dropkick! Maddox hits the mat back-first and Robert quickly covers him. “1!” “2!” - Paine throws Robert over his head at 1 and ½.

Ted Cedar: “As much as I find Maddox to be a bit disturbing to watch, I can't help but root for him in this match.”

Joey Miles: “That's because you're biased as fuck, Ted. I go for both of these men! They're both great!”

Robert quickly keeps the big man down by locking in a grounded headlock. The crowd begins to boo. As much as move is a classic, it's also known for its infamous shift of the match to a slower pace. Robert begins to wriggle his arm up and down nastily, laughing and smirking as he does. The crowd responds with a large amount of boos for the conceited competitor. Maddox struggles a bit, but he begins to try and power out. He works his way to his hips and shifts his weight all the way up. He begins to crawl to his feet, and once he is there, he quickly pries Robert's hands off to the sides, and he then pulls Hope forward before driving a big back-elbow to the forehead of The Prophet. Robert release the hold. As he turns towards the smaller man, Paine quickly swings a big right fist directly to Hope's face. The Prophet whines as the punch rocked his lights for a bit. Maddox quickly scoops Rob up onto his shoulder before running to the middle of the ring. He releases his hold with authority, driving him to the mat with an Oklahoma Slam! Maddox goes for the pin. “1!” “2!” - Kickout at 2! Paine grabs Hope's scraggly long hair and pulls him up to his feet. He brings him back up onto his shoulder, except that time Hope is prepared. He quickly wiggles himself out of it and lands behind Paine. Robert quickly waits for Paine to turn around. As soon as he does, Rob kicks him in the gut before driving him directly to the mat with a hard DDT. Paine's hair flies all over the place off the impact.

Joey Miles: “Nice counter by The Prophet! Made Paine go back down to square one!”

Ted Cedar: “Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree, Joey.”

Robert Hope bends down and pins him. “1!” “2!” - Despite it being a regular move, a DDT is more than enough to end a match. Hope quickly grabs a hold of Paine's hair and pulls the large man up to his feet slowly. Hope drives a big back knee to the ribs of Paine before hitting another, and another. Robert quickly throws a big right hand right to the back of the monstrous man. The Prophet then jumps up and catches his legs around the head of Maddox Paine. He uses whatever he can to try and lift Paine, which he does. He hoists Paine up before sitting down and driving him down with a nasty Piledriver! The fans go “ooooh” as they didn't expect this type of move from Hope. Robert quickly goes for the cover! “1!” “2!” - Kickout! Hope pounds the mat sadistically to try and keep his otherwise uncanny composure. Robert wonders what he can do next. He stands up before he throws a big right foot, stomping directly on a limb, more specifically, the right arm of the big man. So far, Hope has kept the match in his favor, but things can turn in an instant, and based off what we've seen from Paine, that's never a good thing for his opponents. Hope works around and stomp his left arm. Then he scrolls down and stomps on his left leg, then right. Paine looks up angrily after each stomp. Hope works up to his face, looks down at him, and then leaps up and drops a big right knee directly to the face of Maddox! Maddox wiggles around a bit before Hope goes for the pin. “1!” “2!” - Kickout!

Ted Cedar: “Robert Hope has had this match in his back pocket ever since Cerberus interfered in the beginning!”

Joey Miles: “SHHHH! Quiet fucker, It's RIGHT in front of us, It can hear what we're saying!”

Robert knows that there is something he has yet to try, a signature move. And what better one than an aerial move on a powerhouse? Hope steps out onto the ring apron. He climbs up to the top rope and raises a single hand. The crowd instantly begins to boo, much to the indifference of “The Prophet.” Maddox slowly works his way up to his feet. Once he gets up, he turns around. Right into a flying Robert, who catches him in mid air with a DDT! Or... would have, but Maddox catches him in mid air, and instead of falling for the DDT, he keeps him hoisted on his shoulder. Robert begins to shake his head to the sides, yelling “No!” Maddox quickly throws him up and then slams him down with a devastating Standing Spinebuster! Maddox hits him down with such intensity, that the entire crowd goes “Oooooh!” Paine looks down at the broken “Prophet” and goes for the pin. “1!” “2!” - Kickout! Maddox looks down with a look that says “You shoulda let that beat you, now you're in for it.” - but the fans are just getting started. Whether or not they like Maddox is irrelevant, they hate Robert more. The self-proclaimed “God Amongst Men” goes back into a corner before extending both arms to the side and giving a big roar-like yell. He knows what he's signaling... that sick Striking Spear!

Joey Miles: “Damn. Maddox is about to end this match with his devastating Spear!”

Joey Miles: “Awesome! His spears are always neat!”

Robert holds his back but begins to get up to his feet. Maddox is ready to strike. However, he is going to have to wait. Cerberus gets up onto the ring apron and stares back at the Titan. Paine notices and he knows it's a distraction, yet his inner warrior continues to allow him to be a target of challenges. Paine walks over to the ring apron from inside the ring and once again, both him and Cerberus are meeting eye-to-eye. Behind him, Robert Hope has taken advantage if the interference! He leaps forward, attempting to club Paine. The Titan saw it coming and he dodges to the side! The Prophet headbutts the much large Cerberus, causing Cerberus to stumble off the ring apron and Robert to stumble around the ring! Maddox leaps to the ropes behind Robert. He bounces off them, and soon as he does, he is hit with a Striking Spear, courtesy of Maddox Paine! Maddox pretty much flew right into his ribs off that beautiful move! Robert hits the mat like a sack of potatoes, and Maddox goes for the pin! “1!” “2!” “3!”

DING! DING! DING!

DING DING!

The bell rings, and Hope darts across the ring to the waiting Maddox Paine. Hope flings arms and legs at his larger opponent, hoping to beat him down in to a vulnerable position in the corner and seize the early advantage in the match here tonight. Even though he has his beast, the giant, intimidating monster that is Cerberus, Hope still flies by the seat of his pants and scrambles to turn the fight in to a scrappy war of attrition. The Prophet rains down on Maddox with clubbing blows and swift kicks, causing the larger man to cover his head with his thick arms. Soon, Maddox begins to push forward, with his forearms in Hope's chest, like his arms were a riot shield. After getting out from the corner, Maddox drops to a knee and scoops Hope up over his shoulder and then tosses him off, sending him back first to the mat. The Prophet lands with a dull thud, managing to displace most of the impact and get back up on to his feet. He throws himself at Paine yet again, looking to execute the same strategy he tried at the PPV. This time, though, Maddox stops him in his track with a big, stiff shoulder block, knocking Hope flat on his back, but barely phasing The Titan.

The Prophet gets back to his feet, enraged with the ease that Paine knocked him down. In his haste, he manages to wander in to a belly to belly suplex, launching him about 6 feet away from Maddox and causing him to land with a thud on the mat. Hope sits up immediately and lets out a pained groan from the impact, holding his back as he tries to stop his lungs falling out of his mouth. The thud winds him slightly, but he does not have chance to recover, as Paine returns to the offensive. Without letting Hope get to his feet, Maddox drapes one of his opponent's arms around his neck, and lifts him up off the mat with amazing strength! Maddox holds Hope up in the belly to back suplex for a few moments, then drops him back, dishing out even more punishment to his smaller adversary. Hope grits his teeth and balls his fists through the lightning bolt pain that he has been subjected to, then coughs a couple of times, still feeling winded. Maddox looks down at his prey, and instead of revelling in his handy work, he hoists him up yet again. The Prophet now looks a little bit like a ragdoll at this stage, easily being manipulated by Maddox. The Titan scoops Robert Hope up in a side slam position, but instead of dropping him to the mat, drops him across his knee in a pendulum backbreaker, causing yet more pain for the spine of Hope. After the initial connection, Maddox picks his opponent up again, this time hitting a side slam on to the mat, sending a thunderous crash through the arena, and another lightning bolt of pain up Hope's spine.

The Titan then goes for the cover, perhaps looking to end this one quickly.

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2

Hope kicks out by throwing an arm up.

The hardcore and bloodthirsty Maddox takes a moment to pull back his long, black hair and take a little breather from the exertion he has put himself through. The 265 pounder seems to be doing a better job of wearing himself out than Hope is at this moment. After a little while, Robert Hope begins to crawl away from Maddox, his back still hurting from the few moves he has taken so far in the match, but doesn't get far before Maddox pulls him back by his foot, like a large cat toying with a small mouse. Hope pushes himself up slowly to a knee, looking at Maddox with pleading eyes and a pained expression on his face. The Titan doesn't want to hear any of it, though, as he shoves a boot in to the face of Robert Hope, knocking him to the mat. Maddox then methodically walks to the head of The Prophet and tugs on it by his hair, prompting Hope to tug at the wrists and claw at the hands of The Titan. Maddox then pulls him up to his feet, almost tearing his scalp off in the process, as evident from The Prophet's loud screams of pain. He doesn't remain on his feet for long, though, as Maddox lifts him up in to the air and catches him in his arms, so his body lies horizontal (as if Maddox is about to perform a fallaway slam). Maddox parades around the ring with his prize, as Hope helplessly kicks his legs and waves his arms in a vain attempt to escape from the clutches of Maddox. Soon, he gets his wish. But unfortunately, it is from Maddox tossing him across the ring with a fallaway slam, once again only giving Hope the soft, cushony protection of his own body on the hard mat.

Hope scrambles on the mat while holding his back, then elects to roll out of the ring to the side of Cerberus. As he falls to his knees and holds his back, he calls over to Cerberus, who just stands there stoic, piercing Maddox Paine with his cold, black eyes. Robert Hope begins to talk to Cerberus, saying something that is inaudible to the camera, but quickly becomes obvious when The Hound of Hell pulls himself up on to the ring ropes. The Titan fixes his eyes on the monster who is now about to enter the ring. Cerberus steps over the ropes, only to be met by a referee, who is stopping him from approaching Paine. The Hound of Hades does very little to resist, which is odd for the monster. Suddenly, though, the reason becomes very clear. Hope pops up on the other side of the ring and slides in behind his opponent and blasts him with a forearm strike to the back of the head. The Titan stumbles forward, and Hope takes the opportunity to kick away at his legs, targeting the knees and ankles of the God Amongst Men. Like Paris killed Achilles with an arrow to his heel, it looks like The Prophet is trying to fell The Titan by attacking the Achilles tendon.

As Maddox falls to the mat, The Prophet continues to mercilessly kick and stomp at his ankles and knees, trying his very best to hinder his larger opponent. Cerberus calmly returns to the place where he was standing, and the referee turns back to see Hope unleashing his vicious assault. After telling Hope to let up a little bit, The Prophet glares at him and tells him to mind his own business, which doesn't really have the desired effect because the ref simply fires back with another admonishment. Hope simply scowls and grabs Maddox Paine by the hair and lifts him to his feet, feeling confident that his spot of dirty work has put a considerable dent in the armour of his opponent. The Prophet then grabs Paine's leg and drops him with a dragon screw, torquing the knee and, to a lesser extent, ankle. Paine pulls himself away in an attempt to escape the flurry, but can't get enough space between himself and Hope, who is still delivering stomp after stomp.

After his attack, Hope takes a moment to reassess his strategy, which has served him well in these very early stages. He measures Maddox up, carefully watching him move around on the mat. As Maddox starts to rise to his feet, Hope rushes in after him and connects with a chop block to the injured leg of his opponent, felling him like a tree. The mighty Maddox falls to one knee, grunting in pain, allowing Hope to follow up on his attack by dropkicking Maddox in the back to get him to his belly. The Titan flops on to his belly, but quickly manages to push himself up to his hands and knees, only to have Hope deliver a hard kick to his ribs, dropping him to the mat yet again. Hope looks like he intends to stick and move, picking spots and taking advantage of any weaknesses of his larger and far more powerful opponent, and take away his powerhouse abilities. Up until now, his plan seems to be working perfectly (with some help from Cerberus).

Feeling confident (and somewhat cocky) Hope elects to take a moment to spout some hateful words at the fans in attendance, who respond in kind. The Prophet gets in to a heated exchange with a man in the front row, both men spitting venom and bile at the other. Hope stands on the second rope and demands the man gets in to the ring with him, but as the man stands up, his vision of Hope is obscured by a brick wall of a man named Cerberus, who just stares him back to his seat, as if by mind control. But most likely due to the fear of having his internal organs ripped out. Robert Hope cackles to himself, clearly amused by the fact that he can get his companion to bully those at ringside without fear of reprisal. Hope turns back to Paine, who at this point is on his feet. Just as he locks eyes with his opponent, he falls again, this time because of a low dropkick to the knee from a startled Hope. The Prophet obviously didn't count on Paine being on his feet while he was busy conversing with a fan, but his cocky demeanour returns as Maddox falls to the ground. Hope runs to the ropes and rebounds off them to deliver a boot to the face of Maddox, who falls on his back in pain. The fans boo Hope loudly, unhappy that he has so cheaply gained the advantage in this match. Hope doesn't care, though. He doesn't care about showing off moves to the fans. He only cares about getting his shots in and not getting his face smacked off his skull. The cocky Prophet goes to the ropes again, this time a little slower than before. He looks like he's more than happy to gloat about how clever and deceptive he is rather than follow up his attack. This turns out to be his downfall, however, because as he runs back to Maddox, he finds that he is already on his feet. The glee on Hope's face quickly turns to fear, and then pain as Maddox drops him with a vicious running back elbow, almost taking Hope's damn head off! Hope crashes to the floor like a drunk, intoxicated by a mix of pain and delirium from the hellacious shot he just took to the face. He staggers up to his feet, shaky and unsteady, then turns around in to a wicked running flying clothesline, dumping him on his head and folding him over like he'd just had a truck thrown at him.

The fans actually start cheering for the wounded Maddox, who winces with pain from the running he just did. He takes a moment to rub his knee, but then goes straight back to Hope, running on adrenaline. He pulls the disorientated Hope on to his feet and snaps off a vicious European uppercut, almost taking the head of his opponent clean off like it was the head of a daisy. Hope snaps his head back and drops to the floor like a ragdoll, his legs betraying him and crumbling. If he didn't look so dazed, you have to think that Hope was crying with pain from the rough housing that he's just been subjected to. The enraged Maddox has had enough, though. He brutally hoists Hope up by his arm and scoops him up in a standing spinebuster, almost driving Hope in to oblivion. Maddox then lets out a loud, long roar, like a lion in human form. Cerberus advances towards the ring slowly, looking at his fallen companion, then to Paine. It looks like Cerberus is considering stepping in the ring, but before he can, the referee tells him to stay back. The clearly frustrated Cerberus steps down and looks to Hope, as if waiting for an order. Like an obedient dog looks to a master before hunting for a rabbit. Paine simply glares at Cerberus, not showing any signs of being intimidated at all. Hope slowly moves on the mat, trying to shuffle himself to the ropes and pull himself up. Cerberus obediently approaches him to see a pained expression, with a busted nose from the assault he's just received. The referee tells Cerberus to get back from Hope, but he is too entranced by his handler. Maddox quickly works out what Hope is trying to do and pulls him aggresively away from the ropes by his tights and hooks him between his legs for a powerbomb attempt! The monster Cerberus shows more agility than his large frame should be able to manage by getting on to the apron quickly and reaching out for Hope. The referee stands in front of him, but only gets pulled out and over the ropes for his efforts.

The monster quickly steps over the ropes, as Maddox throws Hope to the side, and both monstrous men begin to lay in to each other with massive strikes. The fresher Cerberus looks to be fairing slightly better than Maddox, but Maddox is still throwing hard shots to the face of the big monster. Eventually, Cerberus gets the upper hand on Paine, and grabs him around the throat, then throws him across the ring as if he was a cruiserweight! The Titan sails through the air, clearing the mat by a couple of feet at least. He lands in a heap near the corner of the ring, and the big monster closes in on him, unleashing massive right hands to the face of Paine, a scene which is almost too uncomfortable to watch. After a while, Cerberus turns back to look at Hope, who has managed to get to his feet and is using the ropes to hold himself up. Cerberus makes his way over to Hope and drops to a knee, as a sign of submission of sorts.

Hope smiles and pats his head with a great deal of effort, then moves close as if to give Cerberus instructions. Cerberus nods once, and then turns back to Paine, who is still in the corner.

Or, at least he thought he was. Instead, Paine is darting across to Cerberus, and before the Hound of Hades can react, he is dropped by a vicious looking spear from The Titan! The crowd erupts as the monster falls to the mat from the sick impact. Maddox looks like he has almost thrown his shoulder out, as he sits beside his fallen target and holds it in pain. Happy that Cerberus is out of the equation for now, Paine gets to his feet, grimacing in pain from the attacks to his legs, and looks at Hope, who is now all alone. The Titan hobbles over to The Prophet, who is now kneeling in the corner, pleading with Paine.

Hope cries out as Paine grabs his throat and yanks him up again. Hoe can only kick his legs and claw at the grip of Maddox as he stands at his mercy. Or lack thereof, as is more accurate. Maddox scoops Hope up on to his shoulder for an Oklahoma slam...just as Cerberus sits bolt upright. Cerberus, enraged from being hit with the spear, gets to his feet and spins Maddox around, who is holding Hope. Cerberus wraps his hand around Paine's throat and pushes Hope off his shoulder. The monster squeezes Paine's throat firmly, causing Paine to drop to his knee and his face to turn red slightly. The Prophet groggily gets to his feet and Cerberus snaps his head towards him.

Hope holds up a thumb, still shaking from the altercation with Paine, and then puts it down, prompting Cerberus to pull Paine back to his feet and lift him up for a devastating chokeslam! Paine thuds against the mat with great ferocity, but does not stay on there for long, as Cerberus grabs his throat again and hoists him off the floor. This time, Cerberus lifts him from the mat straight to the air, showing freakish strength and even amazing Hope a little bit. Paine is dropped again with another devastating chokeslam, which shakes the ring. Cerberus looks back over to Hope, who takes a moment to hold his back, remembering the pain that has been inflicted on him by The Titan. The Prophet shakes his head as if to say that it's not time to stop. Cerberus reaches down to pick Paine up again and awaits orders from Hope.

Hope simply draws his thumb across his throat, signalling for the tombstone piledriver. His monster obliges, scooping Maddox up on to his shoulder, and then dropping him with a brutal tombstone piledriver, just like he did to EG Deal at the PPV. Cerberus kneels in front of Paine, looking down at him with a cold, emotionless stare from behind his mask. He looks almost entranced, until Hope slaps his back and points to the outside. Without hesitation, Cerberus rolls out of the ring as Hope covers Paine. Cerberus lifts the referee by his belt and throws him back in to make the count.

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3

DING DING DING!

Hope steals another win with the help of Cerberus! The maniacal Hope pushes himself up to his knees and smiles a sick, twisted smile, obviously pleased with himself. Cerberus simply looks on, emotionless. The crowd boo relentlessly, angry that Hope has once again used his demon to get him a win, and destroy the impressive Maddox Paine. Hope looks over to Cerberus and gives an uncomfortably friendly smile, before rolling out of the ring to his side.