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Fans from the front row followed behind the barricade, jeering and mocking Freakshow as he departed back towards the ring from the ramp, where Salem's car presently stood. Others shouted words of encouragement or patted the young rookie as Salem got back up to his feet, finally moving his hand away to reveal the pock-marked gash that'd been formed on the left side of his brow. A few drops of blood dripped from Salem's chin, his expression grim and angry as he watched Freak start to escape, taking off after him while using the barricade for support.

"Ughn...n-no you don't!" Salem growled, calling out after Freak as he made it over the barricade, himself, just next to his car in pursuit of the fiendish villain. Salem was feeling tired, and not just of Freakshow's annoying antics. His head was aching from the lingering sting of Freak's fork attack, and Salem knew better than to let his aging adversary get too far away, lest he make it to the ring, first.

Just as Salem was starting to get himself over the security barricade, barely managing to get one leg across the railing, he was struck by surprise with a hard hook from Freakshow, the blow causing Salem's head to bob and his shoulders to shudder. Despite the pain searing through his open wound, having just been punched in his uncomely cut, Salem remained on the barricade, fighting through the fatigue and pain to try and throw a right hook back while still straddling the rail, hoping to finish getting over if his attack was successful.

Only the audience was left elated following Salem's desperate strike for Freakshow's skull, the rookie too preoccupied with getting over the barrier to revel in his opponent's pain. Despite having had the athletic advantage the entire match, Salem was having to struggle with a new kind of enemy, tonight - himself. More than anything else, it had been his own lack of focus on the task at-hand that had prevented Salem from capitalizing on opportunity, but not this time. The "Charismatic Calamity" had a more stern and stoic expression on his face as he managed to get over the blockade, stumbling over towards Freakshow while gripping his eye briefly from the lingering throb in his forehead. Pursuing slowly down the ramp, Salem trudged towards Freakshow at ringside while slapping his chest a couple times, trying to both reinvigorate his confidence and circulation.

It had appeared to Salem that Freakshow was making a run for the ring, a move the rookie wanted to prevent if he were to maintain some measure of control over the match. The microphone had already proven to be a game-changer on more than one occasion, and that kind of power was more than Salem wanted Freakshow to have at this point in the match. However, Freakshow turned his sights instead on Salem as the young man stumbled down the ramp to intercept. Though he was dazed, Salem still possessed the wherewithal to pick up the overplayed intentions of his opponent, pushing forward as Freakshow raised his arms high to throw another hook upward towards the underside of the man's jaw. With this, Salem would try to nail his enemy with a surprise European Uppercut, a signature move that Salem affectionately dubbed the "One-Hitter Quitter".

Salem felt as though his legs were ready to give out from underneath him, the momentum he'd put into his uppercut being enough to throw the young man forward a couple steps by accident. Still, his knuckles burned with the bittersweet sting of success as Freak was thrown back into the apron, draped like a mannequin over the ropes that held him up. Getting up from his hands and knees, Salem took in a few deep breaths as he stumbled forward, rolling up into the ring. Once inside, he'd grasp Freak by the shoulders, attempting to drag him up through the ropes and into the ring as well.

Though Freak had gone limp in effort to delay Salem's actions, it was only a delay as the raven-haired rookie powered through and dragged the motionless man up into the ring. Freak had rolled to his stomach, likely to avoid a cover, but Salem didn't appear to have any such plans - instead, walking over to the microphone he'd thrown into the ring earlier, when he'd called for the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation. As much as Salem may have wanted to keep going, he knew that the match had to slow down a bit if he were to keep up his stamina, and it was with that in mind that Salem drew the mic up off the mat with one hand, wiping the last drops of blood from his now-clotted cut with his spare fingers, and turned towards Freak.

"You wanted to use the Hangman's Noose?" Salem said, huffing into the speaker system. "Well, let me show you how it's done...in a Submissions Match."

Tossing the microphone down, Salem would move over towards Freakshow while he was on his stomach, trying to wrap his arms around Freak's hips in attempt to lift the man in a waistlock.

"Proud of it!" Salem spat right back, trading verbal jabs with Freakshow as he grasped the top rope. Though Salem wasn't a technical master, he knew enough to hold his own but never had he faced a conniving shrew such as Freak, before. Though he had some submission skills, he lacked any knowledge into how disciplined his opponent was at mat wrestling. If Salem were to prevail in this new stipulation, he'd need to find his own way of creating opportunity that didn't involve grappling or tiring out. Thus, as Freak tried to secure his hold on the top rope, Salem would channel his aggression into a forceful Irish Whip into the nearby corner, trying to disorient and rattle "The Marauder" with a toss into the turnbuckle.

Salem was hoping to watch Freakshow's body bounce hard against the sturdy ring post of the corner, but was instead as surprised as the rest of the arena's audience when Freakshow somersaulted overtop the turnbuckle, landing on the apron like a trained gymnast. It was certainly an impressive feat, one Salem himself quietly thought to remember while Freak moved across the outside, trying to climb the altered ring post. Thinking quickly, Salem rushed over and climbed the second rope just as his opponent was scaling his way up, trying to initiate a grapple. Though his Irish Whip had failed, Salem's predatory instinct salivated at the prospect of pulling Freakshow off of the corner with a high-impact Superplex!