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 Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:30 am
Cords were torn from their sockets, papers had been spilled across the timekeeper's area, and monitors lay strewn and busted across the padded concrete, but it was all in a day's work for the resident world champion, lying on his back nearly breathless from the strength he'd had to summon up to flip the loaded announcers' table over onto his opponent. But from the ground, Salem could see he'd failed to knock Hiro off his feet with the desperation maneuver, even if he'd momentarily disarmed the would-be maestro from conducting his Con-chair-to. With the fans rallying him back up with alternating "SALEM CROFT" and "HOLY s**t" chants, "The Copperhead" would kip-up and step onto the edge of the desk, leaping over the wreckage and at the #1 Contender with a missile dropkick aimed for the middle of his back while he was positioned against the ring post!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:40 am
Hiro had been still rubbing his shin, shaking out the pain as he heard the crowd roar. "...********." is all the Ethnic Enigma could murmur as he realized he was about to be a victim. Hiro slowly turned his body to look at the table, and as he did, Salem leaped and slammed into the Cuban-Jap with both boots. It wasn't square in the back, mainly a foot planted into his side and the other into his back. The right side of Hiro's body was smooshed into the ring post, his head bouncing on it. The crowd roared some more as both men dropped, Hiro gripping his head and swearing, and Salem ready to get right back up!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:44 am
The crowd was now firmly behind the champion, who - despite having hurled himself from one side of the arena to the other, already - was still finding it in him to get back up, even though his joints were surely paying the price for all this high-risk he was attempting. Still, Salem wasn't showing any signs of slowing down as he stood back up, stumbling a couple steps under his own weight to regain his balance before trying to take Hiro's head off with a running knee!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:52 am
Hiro was on the ground still nursing his head, spitting every so often to make sure there was no blood. It's very seldom that Hiro takes a hard shot to the head and DOESN'T bleed, but it looks like, for some reason, it's one of those times. Hiro looked around at the crowd in the park from his position on the ground, hearing them chant for Salem, and root on the violence that hurt Hiro so very badly. Normally, Hiro would feel betrayed...but he knows better. He's had a long enough career to know that these fans will cheer whomever is in control if they like them both. All he had to do was find a way to get back in control. Pushing himself, Hiro started to get back to his feet, shaking out the kinks in his head. His shin was starting to bother him again too. However, the BBW Championship was on the line. Giving it your all wasn't going to be enough, you had to give more. As Hiro reached his one knee, Salem took off running, ready to ram his knee into the skull of the Ethnic Enigma.
It was now when Hiro's career, and even his life, flashed before his eyes. The few championships. The good matches. The promos. The interaction. The love. The hatred. Everything. The fans were ready to let out a loud "Ohhhh", as soon as Salem's knee connected with Hiro. However, for the Cuban-Jap, time was almost standing still...until he suddenly caught sight of Salem, about to ram him in the skull with his knee. It was then that it happened, out of no where, a jolt, and BANG. The people in the park, the workers in the back, the other wrestlers watching, the people watching from their houses outside the park for free, the thousands watching at home, and every single person on the planet let out a collective and universal cringe.
Hiro threw up his arm, looking to deliver a stiff, locked on, and hard low blow. The arena, pretty much the whole park, went silent. Hiro was stunned as he looked up at Salem, his eyes wide with regret. If the lowblow connected, Hiro would of course pull his arm out from between the champions legs, and stand back up in shock.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:27 pm
The cobwebs started to rattle loose as Salem stood back up to his feet, the surge of adrenaline and anticipation from the cheering crowd enveloping his senses with an overbearing pulse. The blood pumping in his veins, the thrill of the fans who were sitting at home and standing across the arena, these things brought the hair up on Salem's arms, producing goosebumps that made Croft feel like his skin was crawling. Moments like this, they were special for Salem. Opportunities to rise above, to face the challenge head-on, they were the tinder that stoked the young champion's fire as he braced his footing and prepared to run forward with ill-intent aimed at the side of his friend's skull. Staring on at Hiro with a thousand-yard gaze, it felt like the BBW World Champion was running the length of a football field with every step he took, his peripheral vision distorted by the tunnel effect as his nostrils flared and his knee shot up for the challenger's chin.
But instead, "The Copperhead" was caught by surprise with a sudden low-blow, Hiro having used his recovery time to size up an opportunity to seize advantage of the moment by sending a forearm straight into the groin of his close friend! On one leg, Salem's knee was only inches from nailing its mark, but it was obvious by the wide-eyed expression on the lad's face that he lacked the wind in his sails to follow through, almost tripping over himself when he felt his family jewels being broken by Hiro's underhanded tactic! Gasping, his eyes bulging and watering from the profound pain of running into the crotch shot, Croft stumbled forward on bowed legs while cupping his crotch, managing to turn his shoulder and plant his back into the nearby barricade before he'd be forced to fall over.
Staring over at Hiro, Salem bit his bottom lip in both pain and anger, the young man coughing for breath as his legs were slowly failing him with the remaining muscles in his lower half. The crowd, meanwhile, began to boo the #1 Contender, berating him with a "BULLSHIT" chant as they witnessed him take the fight to personal levels, showing such little concern for the well-being of his friend, even in such extreme conditions. Sliding down to a seated position, Salem struggled to contain his composure, not wanting to retreat an inch from his opponent...but in his mouth, the bitter taste of iron was starting to manifest, a byproduct of the blood that was leaking from his bitten-open lip, a small sacrifice to avoid crying out in agony at the way his manhood had been violated. Back to the barricade, sitting on his bottom, Salem tried kicking his feet and legs to strike some life back into them before Hiro came to capitalize on the ailing champion!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:38 pm
Hiro slowly stood up, looking around at the crowd and down at Salem as he began to become slightly flustered. "I...I didnt meant to! It was a kneejerk reaction!" Hiro stammered out, the fans booing still. There were a few fans who couldn't be swayed from behind Hiro, so it wasn't all booing but there was still a lot of it. Hiro was being cheered for weeks, even for the start of this match...but not now. He looked back at the champion once more. He was angry. He had a very faint amount of blood seeping out from the side of his mouth. Hiro knew he was in for it. He turned to his left, and immediately slid back into the ring, backing into a corner far from Salem. Hiro was scared at this point, worried as all hell. The fans turned on him, and he was going to need to worry about Salem's wrath now as well.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:52 pm
Though Hiro was in retreat, Salem was still struggling to stand, still processing both the pain and the frustration of what had just happened. Did Hiro really not mean to low-blow his longtime friend? Or for that matter, in this hardcore environment, was there really no such thing as friendship? Perhaps Salem had underestimated his opponent, become too complacent with issues of honor and respect to think that his ally, a man who'd helped shape Salem into the very champion he was, today, wouldn't be willing to throw aside all bonds and sever all ties to achieve victory, tonight. Still cupping his groin with one hand, "The Copperhead" reached up with his other, trying to leverage his weight onto the top of the barricade and pull himself back up.
The referee was still in the ring, and as he walked over to the ropes to get an eye on the champion's condition, Salem waved him away, pulling the hand off his crotch to try and tough out the cheap shot, urged back onto his wobbly legs by a series of pats and well-wishes from those behind him along the front row. At last, Salem managed to return to a vertical base, though his legs more resembled softened spaghetti noodles as he approached the apron, trying to grasp the bottom rope for balance. Sweat clung to his face, blood dripped from his mouth, and as he shuffled over for the steps, Salem's eyes seemed full to the brim with a newfound fury, despite whatever protests his body may have been making. Staring over at Hiro from behind the ringpost they'd been fighting at, earlier, Salem stumbled up the steps and stood atop the apron, leaning against the turnbuckle while the nerves in his lower body were still slowly coming back to life. Spitting a bloody loogie onto the canvas, Salem raised a hand and urged Hiro to advance, almost roaring with the growl-laced words he spat after.
"You wanna check my manhood, bro..." Salem challenged from the corner opposite his opponent. "Come on back over here and see how man I am, then!"
With that, the crowd reignited - livened up by Salem's resilience and Hiro's sudden shift into the danger zone, eager to see what would come of this encounter now that it had appeared all bets were off!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:05 pm
Hiro watched on, regretful and upset, as Salem struggled to stand. Admittedly, Hiro was right there with all of the fans, cheering as Salem stood. However, while standing there, a thought came to him...Did he really do that by accident? Was it really just a survival instinct? Was it perhaps...the hatred Hiro had buried deep inside of him from days past, trying to break out. Perhaps the Cuban-Jap was going back to his old ways of doing whatever it took to win. I mean, in a hardcore environment, is there such a thing as "friends"? Either way, Hiro exited the ring, not the side Salem was on, and began to walk around to him. "Hey listen, man, I'm sor-" Yup. It was the hatred. Hiro took off at full speed as he approach Salem, completely dropping his non-hateful and friendly demeanor as he got rather close, and he aimed to bring the champion down with a well placed chopblock to the right leg, hoping to catch him off guard!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:14 pm
Salem knew better than to take Hiro's friendship for granted, this time around - watching him wearily as his buddy dropped from the opposite side of the ring and began walking the perimeter, doing his best to put on an unassuming front. But as the old saying went, 'Fool me once', and Salem wasn't about to be made a fool of again by his friend. Whether they'd make peace with each other after was yet to be seen, but this time it was Hiro underestimating just how sensitive a guy Salem could be towards betrayal, or just how potent his venom could be when he had real lethal intent. Thus, as Hiro went to try and swipe "The Copperhead" right off the apron with the leg chop, Salem instead bounced gingerly onto the bottom rope to avoid the maneuver...looking to step back onto the apron and run off the side as Hiro passed to deliver a swift punt to the man's skull from off the ring's side!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:17 pm
Hiro flipped turned around as his deceit did nothing, and WHAM! Salem punted him right in the head, sending him staggering backward, and making him fall...and lean right up against the steel steps! The challenger was in a very bad position now as the champion had gotten his biggest hit in yet! It was time to feel the snake's scorn!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:23 pm
The crowd turned white-hot as Salem got some justice for the crotch shot he'd taken earlier, the champion wasting no time in walking around the corner and dropping to the floor on the other side of the steps that Hiro now leaned back against. Reaching across to hook his friend by the hair, "The Copperhead" would try dragging Hiro's back down across the top of the steel stairs, raising his other hand high to start delivering a series of open-handed chops to the challenger's bare chest should he be successful!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:25 pm
Hiro was afraid Salem would go ahead and take another risk daredevil like move and dropkick him while he was propped up against the steps, but he thankfully didnt. However, Salem did pull up Hiro, and lay him back first on top of the steps. Hiro was still too dizzy to really fight back, but he was knocked back into it once Salem began chopping at his chest, the fans responding with a loud and collective, "WOOOO!" after each chop!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:37 pm
CHOP!
"WOO!"
CHOP!
"WOO!"
CHOP!
"WOO!"
The crowd echoed after each strike, provoking Salem to smirk at the crowd and bring one more down onto the whelping chest of his friend and former hype man. All's fair in love and war, and though they'd shared a lot of the former with one another in the past, it was evident that this would quickly descend into the latter if this pace kept up.
Salem wasn't holding anything back with his blows, letting the full sting of his viciousness be felt with every muscle-cleaving cut from his forearm. But by the way those in attendance were so intimately focused on the action he was taking around ringside, it was obvious that this display of brutality wasn't enough to satisfy the tastes of the "BBW Faithful". Ever one to please a crowd, Salem nodded and seized a hold of Hiro's hair, wrenching it painfully before looking to hammer his knee into the challenger's cheek with another high-knee, hoping to drive home the final nail in Hiro's coffin and knock the sense out of (or back into) his longtime ally!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 3:59 pm
Hiro's chest stung and glew a bright red that became darker with each capillary Salem busted thanks to the chops. Rage was building in the Ethnic Enigma, he wanted to just sit up and wail on Salem, but couldn't. His chest was just hurting too much. The Number One Contender's hair was suddenly grabbed, and Salem was rearing back his knee, and Hiro knew it was coming....so he moved his head just enough to tak the high knee right to the face! A slight crack could be heard. Dear got, Hiro's nose is broken....AGAIN! For whatever reason, Hiro has been trying to protect his temple tonight, at all costs!
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:19 pm
This time, there was no question whether or not the blow landed, evident by the brutal breaking of Hiro's nose against Salem's knee. The blood-curdling sound was enough to make even Salem take a step back in recoil, his expression showcasing the shock and awe of having done such a brutal thing to his own friend. As blood started to seep from Hiro's nose and onto the padded concrete, Salem reached up and put a hand over his own mouth, then his eyes as he turned towards the crowd and stepped back towards the ring apron, leaning against the side as he felt his legs go a little weak from the muscle memory of feeling bone crack against his knee, the face of his own friend cracked open in a moment of anger by the world champion. This...was new. Salem had thought going into this match that he'd be ready to defend his title, but perhaps some doubts were creeping into the Rookie of the Year's mind as to whether he was prepared to possibly - and maybe permanently - put away his friend, a guy who taught him the meaning of paying dues and putting on a show.
Conflicted, Salem glanced over at the ailing challenger, still strewn back-first across the steps with his head hanging off. By all rights, he should be dragging Hiro up to his feet and throwing him into the ring for a cover right about now, but something was holding "The Copperhead" back. Was it fear of not being able to follow through with what he'd set out do, and end up choking on his own words of bravado? Or perhaps the realization that saying you'll beat your friend and actually beating your friend were two very different realities, one of which Croft would have to come to grips with before the night was through. Running his hands through his hair with a dead-eyed stare, Salem sighed a heavy breath and shook his head, moving away from the ring and back towards the hurting Hiro, looking down at him with an almost bitter, resentful anger. Was Hiro going to throw away his friendship entirely to get this world title? Would Salem be willing to put his friend down like a dog, to retain it?
Kicking the stairs hard, Salem sought to send Hiro over and onto the padded concrete with a firm stomp of his foot against the steps, trying to dismantle them with the power behind it. Though it was more aimed at the stairs themselves, it certainly wouldn't have felt good being knocked around with a bunch of steel, should the attempt have been successful. Shaking his head, "The Copperhead" would thrust a finger down at Hiro, shouting passionately enough to make himself go red in the face, briefly.
"Just stay down, Hiro!" Salem bellowed, almost as though his demand were a desperate plea to spare himself having to further tear apart his good friend. "You don't want to do this...so stop! You're only hurting yourself!"
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