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Matt rose up to his full height, only to be met by a swift chop against his bare chest from his challenger! The echo of the smack resonated in the air and caused Shanahan's scowl to only get more prominent. Another chop, followed by another and another! Before too long, he found himself backed up into the corner!

The tides had fully turned against The Storm, and it looked like he wasn't going to get to shift it in his favor just yet. Before he could retaliate appropriately, he was whipped across the ring and sent thudding hard against the turnbuckles! Luckily, he managed to turn his back to the corner before connecting.

Matt's eyes finally closed for longer than a blink after the impact, his body not used to taking this amount of pain since over a year ago. It had been far too long since someone had manage to push him towards any form of a limit, an-

That thought process was quickly cut off as all the wind was knocked out of Shanahan; Bad Boy just hit him with a beautiful Stinger Splash. After the impact, The Storm's hands instinctively shot out to push the man away, but that only served to help him jump off for the X-Factor! Matt's face came crashing down into the mat, adding a nice exclamation mark to Bad Boy's fierce combo!

Matt's focus was on holding his and making sure he wasn't busted wide open from the vicious X-Factor. Luckily, there was no sign of the familiar red liquid yet. His focus began to fade once his legs were picked up; by the time Shanahan realized what was happening, it was too late. His eyes went wide as flashbacks of the last time he was locked in this hold came to mind. It nearly made him go unconscious.

The Texas Cloverleaf was locked in, and Matt's roar of pain confirmed the amount of immense pain the maneuver caused! He roared and wrapped his hands around his head, trying to fight through the pain!

The Storm's roar only got loud as Bad applied more pressure; it felt as if his lower back was about to snap in half, but Shanahan was not a man to tap out. This was not going to be any different. The referee leaned down and asked the Champion if he wished to submit, if he wanted to give up his championship to one of the former World Champions of WWF:G history. All he got in response was a loud "NO!" right to the face.

Throwing his arms out, The Storm attempted to pull himself across the mat and drag his legs out from underneath Bad Boy! He had to get out of this hold!

Just as Shanahan thought he had got away, he was yanked right back into the Cloverleaf! As Bad seated himself into the hold, a scream of pure agony ripped from Matt's throat. It was almost unnerving, as the man typically wouldn't let his pain be known so vocally; but the years seemed to have worn on his lower back more than he'd ever care to admit.

His arms wrapped around his head as he tried to prevent himself from shouting any further. He had to come up with a way out of this move, and fast!

No verbal response left Shanahan this time. The pain spiking through his back was almost too much to bear right now. He had taken worse beatings than this before, but something about this move proved to be the bane of his existence. As Bad Boy taunted him, Matt's arms didn't move from his head or even attempt to pull him away again.

The referee shouted, asking if he was okay. He got no response; was the Champion out from the Cloverleaf?!

With no response coming from the Champion, the referee was forced to his duty and check to see if Shanahan was even conscious. He picked up one of Matt's massive forearms and lifted it up off the mat before dropping it...

Thud.

The crowd ignited even further at the notion that Bad Boy might win this match by knock-out! The referee picked up The Storm's arm once more and dropped it...

Thud.

One more time, and it was all over. The referee picked it up and let it go... but everyone knew how good Shanahan was at playing possum.

Matt's arm shot up to show he was still in this. In fact, he looked up with wide eyes to show just how alive he was! With some slack put on the hold, he attempted to rip one leg away from Bad and put his knee against the mat! If successful, he'd try to push his body upward and reach back to wrap his arms around Bad Boy in any way he could!