MAINSTREAM 43 - SEATTLE - 06/28/2020

[Robert Daniels]

BACKSTAGE...
The camera cuts to Children of the Moon who are now walking to the back with their arms wrapped around each other for support. They’re dressed in their ring gear with matching sour expressions on their face in regards to what happened in the ring during their match against Glow in the Dark. They stop walking, taking the time to turn so that they are facing each other, while holding on to each other’s faces as if inspecting all over their best friend for any bruising.

It’s at that moment when what appears to be an interviewer is timidly approaching closer towards our Children of the Moon, who more than likely have answering questions near the bottom of their list of priorities. This is made evident when Rebecca holds up one hand in a most dismissive manner without even bothering to turn her head in that direction.

REBECCA THOREAU: We are not going to be answering any ridiculous questions.

This blunt statement is followed by Rebecca finally turning in the direction of where the poor interviewer was standing in order to snatch the microphone right out of their hands.

REBECCA THOREAU: What are you dying to ask us? Hmm? How do we feel about what happened here tonight against Glow in the dark? How do we want to respond to the fact we were robbed from our rightful shot at the tag team championship belts? Maybe you want us commenting about how disgusted we are to watch two women parading around with those championship belts knowing that they think what makes a great tag team is having some big fake tits? It’s insulting to tag teams everywhere in this business.

Rebecca is all but spitting into the microphone as she is speaking, prompting for Julie to now reach out in order to place one hand over the microphone while she places her other hand in a comforting manner on the shoulder of her best friend.

JULIE MIRI: We could go on a full tirade about what happened here tonight, but we think that a better use of our time now, is to look towards the future. The way we see it? We deserve to have a fair rematch against Glow in the Dark. Hell, all of the fans deserve to see this rematch, because why should anyone be satisfied with what happened here tonight. There needs to be a real definite winner and everyone deserves for the team holding those championship belts to not have to question whether or not they truly deserve them.

There is a pause as Julie and Rebecca exchange a glance, the smiles slowly returning to both of their faces, and that’s when Rebecca shoves the microphone back against the chest of our lost interviewer who is wishing to be able to exit the scene as soon as possible.

REBECCA THOREAU: She’s right, as always, because we both know for as much nonsense that Cartier allows to spill from her mouth… she doesn’t want any nagging doubts about whether or not she was the winner of a match. So it’s time she really puts her mouth where her tits are.

JULIE MIRI: That doesn’t even make any sense.

There is a confused expression on the face of Julie as Rebecca simply shrugs her shoulders with a smirk on her face. It’s quite obvious she’s pleased with her last comment.

REBECCA THOREAU: It makes about as much sense as Cartier does.

With a laugh, Rebecca links her arm int o her best friend’s, turning her away from the interviewer so they can resume their walk down the hallway. The both of them now feeling satisfied that this matter has not been fully resolved and they will once again be clashing with Glow in the Dark for the tag team championship belts. It’s just a matter of when it will happen.

[Robert Daniels]

MAIN EVENT

MAINSTREAM WRESTLING
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
2/3 FALLS MATCH
★★★ BILLY DANIELSON (C) ★★★
vs
★★★ A.J. MORALES ★★★

There might not be fans in the stands, but both sides of this lucha de apuestas throw some extra pageantry into their entrances anyway. First, from behind the barricade, here comes A.J. Morales, the self-proclaimed lineal World Heavyweight Champion, wearing a mashup of some of his previous special gear—the green mask, the shirt, and the gloves are sourced from his Kyle Rayner cosplay at a Halloween battle royale a few years back, while the coat and everything from the waist down comes from the Buffy-inspired set he wore the night of his first world title win. Minka Carter, his second for the night, trails close behind, looking all business even as A.J. poses for the cameras and tells everyone at home this is his night.

As for Billy Danielson, he comes out from behind the usual curtain in a suit based off of one he wore playing Commissioner Gordon on Batgirl, which he tears away to reveal his ring gear, covered in Franchise logos. AJ Knight emerges soon after, strapping Billy’s World Heavyweight Championship belt on from behind, then flashing a GCPD badge as he follows the three-time champ to the ring.

Once the music’s faded, and Graham Stevens is done with the ring announcements—in both English and Spanish, for the benefit of the lucha libre commission officials, who came here from Mexico City to certify everything—it’s just Morales and Danielson, barely able to contain themselves in their corners, waiting for the bell to sound...

DING DING DING!

Just like their last clash on Memorial Day, Morales opens by charging at Danielson, who sees the shotgun dropkick coming a mile away. But when Danielson goes to block high, Morales gets low and slides feet-first at Danielson’s ankles, knocking the champ off his feet. Morales holds on to one leg, and pulls it up, so that way he can do a stomp that drives the knee straight to the mat. Danielson tries to roll onto his back, but Morales plops on Billy’s back, and floats over to a north-south position to keep Danielson on his stomach. He goes for the headlock, and tries maybe for a bridging chancery submission, but Danielson is able to power up to his feet. A.J. tries for a Suplex, but Billy again uses his 50lbs weight advantage to stop Morales from slamming him. Danielson tries to suplex Morales himself, but A.J. is able to switch his momentum and land behind Danielson. He tries for a roll-up, but Billy powers out at 1.5!!!

Kick after kick after kick lights up Danielson as he’s on one knee. Danielson shoves A.J., but get’s taken down by a hurricanrana. A.J. kips up and springboards off the middle rope for a moonsault. Danielson rolls out of the way. A.J. catches this and lands on his feet, but he has to roll backwards with the momentum he has from the springboard. A.J. gets to his feet and hits a standing shooting star knee drop! He stacks the champion up, but again, Danielson kicks out at a weak 2. A.J. is undeterred and decides to hit the ropes, running at Danielson with an El Diablade, but as he leaps into the air, Danielson catches him with a powerslam! Danielson attempts a pin of his own. 1… 2-Kickout by Morales!!!

Danielson grabs A.J. up by his hair, and drags him into the corner. Danielson get’s Morales in a Muay Thai clinch and begins to knee A.J. in the face. The referee pulls Danielson back, but the moment the referee releases their grip, Danielson runs at A.J. looking for a real Chicago Blackout, but A.J. is able to side step. Danielson collides with the corner, but no sells it to turn around and hit a lariat to the back of the head of Morales, turning him inside out! Danielson lifts A.J. up with a gutwrench and suplexes him into the center of the ring. Danielson then runs up and delivers a Chicago Blackout to the face of The Revolution! He covers the challenger… 1… 2… Kickout by Morales.

Back to his feet, the champion begins to stomp on A.J., targeting the legs of Morales. Rev is able to wiggle away though, as he gets into the ropes to create separation. Danielson tries for a cactus clothesline, but A.J. slips through the ropes to apron and delivers a kick to the face to the champion. Danielson staggers a bit, and A.J. goes for a slingshot DDT-NO!!! Danielson catches him, and A.J. is promptly launched into the turnbuckles with a suplex. A.J. crumples, but before Billy can capitalize with a pin, Morales rolls to the outside. Danielson hypes himself up, looking like he’s gonna go for a rare suicide dive. He hits the ropes, and comes running towards the ropes, so much so, even A.J. thought Billy was gonna dive. Morales ducks, but Danielson reveals that he was just gonna step through the ropes and hit a double axe handle onto the exposed back of Morales!

Annoyed with himself for falling for Billy’s trick, A.J. turns around and punches Billy in the gut, then gets into a taekwondo stance and—OOH, drops an axe kick right on Billy’s back! That keeps Danielson bent over long enough for A.J. to back up to the barricade, then charge back in and—THUNK! Hit the Famouser, sending Billy facefirst to the floor! Of course, by now the referee’s starting to get annoyed with all these outside shenanigans, and he can’t just ignore AJ Knight and Minka Carter, both clearly looking to get up close and mess with the situation. So the referee starts a ten-count for the both of them, prompting A.J. to drag Billy back up to his feet and slot him under the bottom rope. A.J. climbs up onto the apron from there, vaults up and over for an effortless slingshot senton, and hooks a leg to make the cover...1!...2!—Billy gets the shoulder up right at 2, wisely conserving energy.

A.J. tries to make the leg a theme, staying with the one he hooked and trying to get Billy into an ankle lock, but Billy just uses the other foot to kick A.J. away and make space for himself. They go back to Muay Thai for a bit, trading forearms back and forth until A.J. feints into a shoot kick, right to Billy’s hamstring. A.J. switches stances to kickboxing, keeping Danielson off guard with a mix of jabs, crosses, and shoot kicks until he gets an opening for a massive right hook! A.J. runs the ropes, comes back, leaps in...GETS HIM WITH EL DIABLADE! The leaping clothesline sends them both to the canvas, and A.J. once again goes for the cover...1!...2!...KICKOUT!



A.J. stands and lifts The G.O.A.T. up but Danielson delivers a headbutt that stuns Morales. Billy tries for another bicycle knee, but Morales comes to his senses in time to get away. He stumbles into the ropes as he does, and rebounds looking for any amount of offense, but Danielson hits an european uppercut to halt his momentum. A German suplex followed by a Chicago Blackout takes Morales to the floor, and Danielson grabs one of A.J.’s legs for a single leg crab. He sits down on the small of A.J.’s back and wrenches on the leg as Morales tries to crawl his way to the nearest rope. Finally, A.J. is able to take Danielson from his base and gets a hand on the ropes to break out.

A.J. gets to his feet on the ropes as Danielson is being held off by the referee yet again. Morales uses this as a chance to hit a springboard Stunner on the big man. Danielson is down on a knee, and A.J. hits the ropes, trying to hit another Famouser, but his leg buckles mid-run and he collides into Danielson instead awkwardly. Billy is the first to his feet and he lifts A.J. up in the air. Danielson runs forward, hitting a shin breaker, and as A.J. flips and writhes in pain, Danielson decides to drop a knee on one of A.J.’s legs that was resting awkwardly. Danielson then goes for a figure four leg lock on the injured leg into a pin attempt. 1… 2… Kick out by Morales miraculously enough!

Billy tries to go in for a ground-and-pound, but A.J. catches Billy with an elbow upside the jaw, giving the Revolution enough time to roll to the side and get to the ropes, which he uses to pull himself to his feet. Morales shakes out that aching leg, avoids Danielson’s attempt at a single-leg takedown, and goes right into a boxing stance, staying light on his feet as he practically dares the G.O.A.T. to approach him. Danielson starts pursuing Morales around the ring, trying to grab and throw him, but all Billy gets is handfuls of air and the occasional counterpunch for his trouble. After a few repetitions of this, Billy takes an extra-wild lunge, leaving himself wide open for Morales to grab that arm, hyperextend it, and drag the champ down for a kneeling Fujiwara armbar! Billy yells out in pain, but keeps his senses, realizes how close he is to the ropes, and manages to edge over far enough to get a foot on the bottom rope, forcing the break.

Both Danielson and Morales get to their feet at the same time, and Danielson throws a haymaker, but A.J. ducks it—BAM! F#QKIN’ SLAYERRRR!!! Danielson is dead on his feet as A.J. stumbles into the ring ropes, and 94 BBBLLLLIIITTTTZZZZ!!! A.J. takes the Champion down, but he’s feeling his leg sting. He drills some punches into his knee to kind of numb the stinging. He gets to where he wants to be pain wise. A.J. goes to the nearest corner, and climbs to the rope. He’s either going Diamond Killer or Prikasa, but Billy catches this and leaps towards the ropes. However, A.J. sees Billy leap and goes for a parkour dismount to get on his feet. Morales sets his sights on Billy on the ropes and runs up ANOTHER F#QKIN SLAYERRRR!!! DANIELSON GOES OVER THE TOP ROPE!!!

Tope suicida from Morales hits the Champion perfectly, sending Billy tumbling into the barricade. He picks Billy up and whips him back into the ring. A.J. stays behind Billy as he slowly rises to his feet. When Billy stands straight up, A.J. goes a somersault reverse DDT, but DANIELSON CATCHES HIM ON HIS SHOULDER!!! Danielson hits a modified The Franchise, but he knows he didn't get all of it and scrambles to follow up. He pulls out a weird figure four/single leg crab hybrid and pulls it back. A.J. knows there’s at least one round left, and has nowhere to go anyways, so he just gives up, tapping and giving the first round to the champion.

DING DING DING!

GRAHAM STEVENS: The winner of the first fall, by submission...BILLY—"THE G.O.A.T."—DANIELSON—!

As is custom, both combatants get two minutes of prep time in their corners before the next fall begins. Morales rolls over to his instead of walking, just to spare his aching leg, and Minka applies an ice pack. Danielson, meanwhile, goes to a ringside cameraman and starts talking trash to the camera, which forces Knight to grab his shoulder and steer him back over for their strategy talk.

As the commentators plug the match’s sponsors one more time, the two sides talk strategy, rehydrate, and generally do what they need to do until the ref signals that it’s time to start this back up. Danielson climbs up the stairs and lets himself back into the ring, while Morales, who never actually rolled out, just removes the ice pack and grabs the ropes to pull himself back to his feet. The two combatants limber up, waiting for the signal...

DING DING DING!

Right out of the gate Danielson targets the leg. He goes for a chop block that takes A.J’s legs out from underneath him while A.J. was still on the outside. Billy slides to the outside, and grabs A.J.’s leg, slamming it into the ringpost multiple times. He then drags A.J. out to the floor and throws him over the top of the barricade. Billy rolls back into the ring, and tells the referee to count as fast as possible. 1… 2… 3... A.J. got up quickly yet gingerly, but he still had to get back over the barricade and into the ring in the next few seconds… 4… 5.... He stumbles as he gets over the guardrail and has to scramble to make it into the ring as the referee counts… 6… 7… 8… A.J. makes it in, but Danielson hits a Chicago Blackout!!! He covers the challenger! 1… 2… NO!!! KICK OUT BY A.J. MORALES!!!

Danielson keeps the knees coming, despite the kick out! Knees to the ribs from a mounted position, knees to the face from a clinch position. He even threw some ribs to the midsection when he had A.J. cornered. The referee tries to pull Danielson off of Morales, but Billy shoves them away and places A.J. on the top rope. Billy climbs up with him and punches him in the face a few times. Danielson grabs a handful of A.J.’s hair and says “You’re gonna be my bitch”. This prompts A.J. to spit right in Billy’s face! The loogie lands right in Billy’s eye, causing Billy to grab at his face, as A.J. shoves him off the top rope! A.J. collects himself as Billy get’s to his feet and hits Billy with a Dragonrana for the pin! 1… 2… 3—NO!!! BILLY KICKS OUT!!!

Billy shoves A.J. off of him and runs at him, delivering a sick Chicago Blackout to the side of A.J.’s head. Danielson stands on A.J.’s back, jumping off of it and landing a knee drop to his back. He pulls A.J. up to his feet, and delivers a german suplex that makes A.J. land on his head. Billy has clearly gassed himself beating on A.J. so much so early in this round, and even he started to realize this. He puts a neck crank on A.J., trying to keep Morales down, but A.J. starts to get his buzz back. Minka begins to clap on the mat to try and rally behind her partner, and A.J. does eventually get to his feet. He elbows Billy in the ribs and then hits the ropes- SMACK! EL DIABLADE!!! He nearly decapitates Danielson, but forgoes the pin instead for a chance to catch his breath.

He crawls towards Billy and mounts him, before slapping the shit out of Billy numerous times. Billy gets the challenger off of him and is able to send a kick that buckles A.J.’s knee, but A.J. is able to pop back up with an Uppercut that would make Smoke proud. In fact Smoke would be even more proud because A.J. is able to deliver the Smokin’ Kombo. He’s too weak for the bridge, so A.J. tries for the punt kick, which hits the champion directly in the temple! A lesser man would’ve been knocked out as Morales goes for the pin, but somehow, Billy kicks out and raises his arm out of desperation. A.J. goes over to the corner and begins to bounce on the turnbuckle as he kneels waiting for Danielson to get up. Billy gets to a knee, and A.J. goes for a 3-Point stance. Danielson turns around- 94 BLIIIIT-NO!!! DANIELSON BRINGS THE KNEE UP!!! CHICAGO BLACKOUT OUT!!! DANIELSON LAYS ON A.J. WITH A WEAK PIN 1… 2… A.J. MORALES KICKS OUT!!! BILLY CAN’T BELIEVE THIS AND ROLLS TO THE OUTSIDE TO CATCH HIS BREATH AND CONSULT WITH AJ KNIGHT!!!

While Danielson does that, Morales takes a moment to massage his aching knee, then pulls himself up to his feet. He lets himself out onto the apron, where he runs up on Billy from behind. Knight, spotting A.J., points and warns Danielson, and Billy turns around—KABAM! Right into a satellite DDT onto the floor! Knight recoils in shock, then starts screaming at Morales, but the Revolution just waves Knight off—after all, what’s Knight gonna do? Smack A.J. and hand over a free fall by DQ?

A.J. takes this opportunity to bully his much larger opponent, shoving Billy into the barricade at odd angles all the way down one side of the ring and around the corner, then halfway over to the Scooby Gang corner before A.J. finally Irish whips the 3x World Heavyweighr Champion back over to the apron, which Billy hits ribs-first before groggily pulling himself up and into the ring. Morales, meanwhile, high-fives Minka as he heads over to the ring steps, which he climbs easily before scaling the turnbuckles, lining up his shot aaaaand...CRAAASH! Hits Billy with a breathtaking blockbuster! Into the cover! 1!...2!...AND A KICKOUT!

Billy tries to grapple with A.J. as they both rise to their feet, but he’s still kinda groggy, giving A.J. plenty of opportunity to chain-wrestle his way to a position he likes and bring Billy down with a hip toss. Morales follows with a shoot kick, which seems to wake Billy up, and the G.O.A.T. quickly gets up, chops A.J. in the chest, and Irish whips the Revolution off the ropes. Danielson rushes in, looking for the Chicago Blackout...he whiffs—BOOM! A.J. latches onto Billy’s arm and drives him down with the crucifix bomb! Right into the cover! 1!...2!...KICKOUT! Billy yanks his arms away and rolls to the side so he can’t get hooked right into an armbar.

Once A.J.’s up, Billy throws a roundhouse to Morales’s gut, then a second to the wounded leg, sending A.J. down on one knee. Danielson goes right to the ropes nearby, vaults up, looks for a crossbody—INTERCEPTED! Thanks to Minka’s signal from across the ring, A.J. knows Billy’s coming and rises to catch him with an unexpected fireman’s carry, then—SLAM! A Samoan drop to bring Billy down! As Billy tries to process the shock, A.J. goes to the middle rope and—WHOA! A SPRINGBOARD CORKSCREW LANTERN’S FLIGHT! How the hell did he do that from the middle rope? And that elbow right between Billy’s eyes just amps the damage up! Will this be enought?...1!...2!...NEARFALL AT 2.9!

Billy is glassy eyed as he gets to his feet. Morales has Danielson right where he wants him. He runs up and goes for the Liberator, BUT BILLY CATCHES HIS ARM!!! Danielson drags A.J. to the ground and tries to bring out an old page in the playbook by locking in the Great Tapsby. However, A.J. is able to scramble to keep Billy from getting the submission locking in. Morales handsprings to his feet and break’s Billy’s wrist lock. He goes for an enziguri, but Danielson ducks it. A.J. goes to his feet, but Billy grabs him from behind. Big German Suplex, but it’s too big and The Revolution lands squarely on his feet. A.J. backpedals into the ropes, and rebounds with some real momentum- LIBERATOOORRR- NO!!! DANIELSON AGAIN CATCHES HIM! This time with his old Ura Nage, Imperium! Morales is planted on to the mat HARD.

Danielson gets to his feet and decides to take off one of his knee pads. He throws it at Minka as a sign of disrespect and begins to hype himself up for a wicked Chicago Blackout. A.J. has no clue what’s about to happen, but it seems as if his green lantern ring tells him something is coming, so as Billy runs at him with the wild knee, A.J. is able to hit a well-placed Donkey kick to Danielson’s other leg, making Billy miss his knee strike and land knee first on the canvas. A.J. smiles and goes for a springboard Lantern’s Flight off the top rope, but Danielson get out of the way just in time himself. A.J. splats on the mat, and Danielson is able to hit an arm-trap Chicago Blackout. Not feeling satisfied with kneeing A.J. in the face, Billy decides he’s going to go high risk. He climbs to the top rope, and hits a surprisingly beautiful 450—THAT A.J. MORALES APPARENTLY HAD SCOUTED! As Billy comes Down, A.J. catches him and turns it into a small package pin attempt!!! 1… 2… 3—NO!!! Billy kicks out at the last second!

A.J., looking to capitalize, backs up and starts running the ropes. He wants a lariat, but Billy’s way too low, so A.J. jumps over him, keeps running, comes back...SMASH! Billy throws a lariat of his own, and the two cancel each other out. Danielson points a finger at each rope to his side, daring A.J. to try him, and as soon as A.J. nods, they run in opposite directions, charge back aaaand...SMASH! The lariats cancel out again! They go for it again with the other two ropes, going even faster now...Billy tries to go low, but A.J. turns sideways to cartwheel over him! A.J. grabs Billy by the arm, pulls him back towards him, gets the ripcord...and a wicked-fast slingblade to bring Danielson down!

A.J. kips up and decides to play some mind games, going into his Mi Tzu stance as Billy gets to his feet and launching a volley of palm strikes to Billy’s torso, so fast that Billy can’t dodge one without stepping right into the next one. A.J. doesn’t slow down until he lands one up, right at Billy’s throat, staggering the champ. Morales follows with a bit of a double-tap, driving Billy towards the nearest corner, winds up a haymaker...and then rolls to the side and out of the ring? Billy doesn’t realize what’s happening for a half-second, but once he does, he turns around, tracks A.J. outside running around the corner, heads to the ropes to try and cut Morales off—AND LEANS RIGHT INTO A JUMPING EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! A.J. scrambles back into the ring and tries to catch Billy with a sunset flip...1!...2!...KICKOUT!

But A.J.’s still with Billy, and he gets a cravate locked in before turning around, running up those ropes, looking for the shiranui—DENIED! Billy gets his arms up and blocks it in midair! Danielson guides Morales down, forcing the Revolution to land on his feet, then throws a knee to the gut, lifts A.J. up, looking for the powerbooooomb—CRAAAASH! A.J. manages to get a loose headscissors and throw the slam off-course, sending them both crashing down at an awkward angle! They both lie there for a few seconds, clutching at the places that hit the mat first!

Danielson barely gets to his feet, as he drags A.J. up with him he picks A.J. up in a double leg hold and drives him back first into the turnbuckles! This second round has clearly taken a lot out of Billy and A.J., but there was clearly still a lot of match to go. Billy walks to the other end of the ring, and looks over at A.J. He delivers a Chicago Blackout at full speed to A.J., right in the face. He then goes to one of the perpendicular corners, and delivers another knee strike to the face of A.J. Morales. Danielson marches to the last corner and completes the trifecta with a third knee strike that might’ve broken A.J.’s nose as his face bursts with blood on impact. Danielson then drags A.J. to the corner, and lays across him with another weak pin. 1… 2… F#QKIN ANDREW JONES ESTEBAN JULIO RICARDO MONTOYA DE LA ROSA RAMIREZ MORALES LAYTON KICKS THE F#QK OUT!!!

Billy can’t believe it, so he covers again. 1… 2… Kickout again. He does it one more time. 1.. 2.. ANother kick out. He tells the referee to count faster and harder as he pins again. 1… 2—NO!!! A.J. kicks out before two this time. Billy screams out “Why won’t you die already. If he hadn’t shaed all of his hair off in quarantine, Billy would be pulling it out right now. Billy shakes his head as he gets to his feet. Billy is grasping at straws. He decimated A.J.’s leg and broke A.J.’s face. What else can he do. He looks at his fist, and then smiles. He mimics A.J.’s theatrics for his Liberator punch, and waits for A.J. to get to his feet. As soon as A.J. gets to his feet, Billy runs up and puts all 230lbs into a Liberator that snaps A.J.’s head back like it was Butterbean’s fist to the side of Bart Gunn’s head. It actually makes Minka scream. Billy goes and stacks A.J. up with a double leg pin. Billy counts with the referee, thinking it’s all over. 1… 2.. NO!!! YOU CAN’T F#QKIN KILL THE REVOLUTION WITH HIS OWN FINISHER!!!

And A.J. doesn’t just kick out, either—he practically sits up out of that, his hair frazzled like a wild man’s, his face contorted into a jaguar’s snarl, a narrow stream of blood starting to trickle down from his mouth. Billy has just enough time to realize he might have made a mistake before—SLAAAM! A.J. grabs Billy by the scruff of the neck and smashes the G.O.A.T.’s face into the canvas! He keeps the grip tight, digging his fingernails in...SLAAAAM! Does it a second time!

Knight cries foul from the Franchise corner, Minka looks on with concern from the Scooby Gang’s, and when A.J. goes to slam Billy’s head a third time, the ref pulls Morales away and reprimands him. Billy takes the opportunity to let himself out onto the apron, but before he can take the leap down to the ringside floor, Morales gets away from the ref, seizes Billy’s wrist, and—POW! BUSTS BILLY’S LIP OPEN WITH A SHORT-ARM LIBERATOR! The G.O.A.T. goes limp, out on his feet, with only A.J.’s wrist control stopping Danielson from falling to the floor below!

Morales pulls his nemesis back towards him, using a textbook vertical suplex to get Danielson back in the ring—well, as textbook as a middleweight suplexing a heavyweight can be, anyway. The Diamond Slayer again maintains the hold, dragging the Franchise to his feet before shoving Billy into the nearby corner and—BAM! F#QKIN’ SLAYERRRR, RIGHT INTO THE TURNBUCKLE PAD! A.J. switches his stance, wipes the blood off his own face, and—BAM! Hits that superkick again! A.J. does another stance-switch, stomps the mat a couple times to tune up the band...AND THEN HITS THE GOLDEN GOAL! The Pele outta nowhere bounces Billy’s head off the turnbuckle pad a third time, and the G.O.A.T. flops face-down to the mat!

At this point, A.J. knows he can seal the deal with pretty much anything, so long as he doesn’t wait too long to do it. So A.J. drags Billy away from the ropes, makes a quick sign of the cross, and puts Danielson in a camel clutch, just like the legendary El Santo did to so many opponents in so many iconic luchas de apuestas. Billy, just conscious enough to recognize the danger, quickly taps out to tie the score.

DING DING DING!

GRAHAM STEVENS: The winner of the second fall, by submission...THE REVOLUTION! A! J! MORALES—!

Danielson gives a heavy cough, trying to get the air back in his lungs ASAP, before rolling out and walking over to Knight. The Franchise aren’t looking nearly as cocky as they did before that fall, but the rudos aren’t panicking either. They seem to know exactly what their plan is, and they keep shooing the cameras away so the audience at home won’t pick it up. As for Morales, he heads back to his corner riding high off that victory, even if he can’t get the Gatorade soon enough. As soon as Minka hands him one, he chugs half a bottle down in one go, then slams it down on the apron.

The rest of this two-minute break goes pretty much the same as the last one from there, only now Minka Carter and AJ Knight have to wipe away the blood off their stablemates’ faces and try to press their wounds as close to shut as possible before the action picks up again. When it’s time to start the rubber match, Morales and Danielson practically mirror each other’s movements, looking daggers from across the ring. They know the gang war ends here, and they want to win it and humiliate their enemy more than anything in the world...

DING DING DING!

With everything on the line, and nothing even resembling respect between them, Morales and Danielson both rush the center and start hockey-punching, aiming right for the mouth and trying to knock each other’s teeth out. It’s a stalemate for a good few seconds, but A.J. gets the edge with a headbutt to Billy’s once-injured collarbone, separating the scrum long enough for A.J. to grab Billy by the head and—YIKES! Knees Billy right in the nose, giving him payback for that shot last round! After that, a shotgun dropkick sends Danielson stumbling between the ropes to an awkward landing on the outside, where he clutches at his face, trying to wipe the blood away.

A.J. starts nodding his head, and Minka quickly catches on and starts banging her fists on the apron in time. Knight starts hitting the apron too, but at the wrong times, trying to throw Morales off. The Revolution doubles back to the ropes, bounces off, makes a beeline for Billy aaaaaand...wait, wait, A.J. goes up—SPRINGBOARD MISTY FLIP METEORA! HOW THE HELL DID HE PULL THAT OFF?! They both sprawl out on the ground, and A.J. doesn’t even bother trying to pull Billy up—he just rises to his knees and starts pounding away!

Morales looks like a wild man, swinging with no accuracy but all ferocity as he hits the champion with a barrage of strikes to the back. Billy shoves A.J. away, but A.J. is right back on him at ringside. Billy shoves A.J. away once more, and A.J. comes at him with an El Diablade, BUT DANIELSON SIDE STEPS! He pops A.J. up with a flapjack, and Morales lands gut first on the metal railing, and AJ Knight pops for this. Billy pulls A.J. up by the hair, but A.J.’s adrenaline seems to be still pumping. A.J. tries to Irish whip Billy into the ring steps, but Billy uses his own momentum and whips Morales into them instead. The ref yells at them to get back in, so Danielson picks up A.J. and rolls him into the ring.

Danielson tells A.J. to get up and spits on A.J. for good measure. A.J. pops right back up and gets in Danielson’s face, neither one refusing to die in this third round. Billy shoves A.J. and chops the chest hair off that bitch. A.J. grabs at his chest, and decides to deliver a series of quick chops that equal to one of Billy’s big strong ones. This goes on for quite some time, until both men’s chests look like demons had groped their man-titties. They tire each other out and go for a lock up. A.J. tries to drive Billy into the corner, but Danielson yanks A.J. off his feet and ragdolls him, accidentally taking out the referee!

AJ Knight sees this as a chance to break the 3rd round stalemate and slides into the ring, hitting A.J. with a stiff forearm to the back of the neck. Minka Carter isn’t gonna let that slide, so she gets into the ring with a chair and just starts swinging. She clips Billy, but Knight is able to duck it and disarm Minka, but not before A.J. hits him with that good ol F#QKIN' SLAYERRRR!!! Knight is staggered, and A.J. goes for a headscissors, but gets caught by Knight! AJ positions A.J. just right and delivers a near-neck breaking piledriver! Minka Carter comes back swinging that chair, and hits Knight in the gut with it. She kicks him right in the head with a Demon Stake, knocking AJ Knight out! She starts to drag Knight out of the ring, but Billy comes from out of nowhere with a Chicago Blackout to the side of the head. For good measure, he picks up the steps and drops them on her to keep her there.

Billy wakes his AJ up, and they corner the other A.J. as he begins to come to. Morales gets ready for a fight, as all of a sudden, the big screen shows a bunch of weird images and matrix-like number codes begin to appear. Different sounds are made that are hella creepy, and all of a sudden, the words CICADA are spelled out on the screen. The lights go dark, and when the come back on, former tag-champion CICADA appears in front of A.J. and looks poised ready to strike The Franchise down! Danielson moves forward, and just as he does Cicada moves quickly striking… A.J. Morales??? Danielson and Knight smile, as Cicada lifts A.J. up for Billy. Knight begins to wake the referee as Morales gets hit with a second illegal piledriver, but this time it was The Big Match Driver, Danielson’s Gonzo Bomb variation. He then covers completely stacks Morales up and the referee counts weakly… 1… 2… 3!!!

DING DING DING!

GRAHAM STEVENS: Your winner by pin fall and STILL World Heavyweight Champion...BILLY—DANIELSON!,

CHARLES HUDSON:  You know what this means Lou! A.J. Morales has no option but join the Franchise as their newest member!

MCKAYLA LEWIS:  You’re right Charles. Morales is now under the thumb of the Franchise.

Billy is handed his Mainstream World Heavyweight Championship, and raises it over his head, as AJ Knight and Cicada stand over the fallen A.J. Morales. Billy drops down to the floor and tells him “Welcome to The Franchise, Bitch!” They all put a foot on his chest and raise their hands. Trainers rush down to make sure Minka is okay, as she realizes that A.J. has lost and looks on in disgust and horror. If there were fans, the ring would be littered with trash right now, but instead, there is just the deafening silence of The Franchise enjoying their victory.

A.J.'s body lies motionless on the canvas, too battered and exhausted to do anything, but somewhere in his mind, the realization sinks in that, not only did he just fail, he threw his freedom away in the process. He can't stop the Franchise's war machine, because now he HAS to be part of it.
CHARLES HUDSON:  This is sickening. Morales is deserved so much better!

MCKAYLA LEWIS:  Folks that’s all for tonight. We will see you in two weeks from tonight for MAINSTREAM 44!

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