Welcome to Gaia! ::

As though answering the prayers of the disgruntled fans in attendance, the lights would suddenly cut off completely, the sound of mega-generators whirring down as a silence crept over the darkened arena. A voice cut through the shroud of black, a masculine voice that caused the audience to stir once again with excitement.

"Allow me to introduce myself." the mystery man said, the stage illuminated with a red glow that engulfed the entrance ramp, as well. Stepping out from behind the curtain, a silhouette stood amidst the fog that rolled in with him. Before long, the smoke clouded the figure from view and all that was left of him was a veiled outline.

"You see...my name is Salem Croft...and I've been summoned here for one reason, and one reason only...to dominate."

Tilting his head back, Salem let out a fiendish howl that pierced the stadium's stillness as his music began playing. With the explosion of pounding drums and shredding guitar, the house lights flared in blinding fashion to expose Salem to the crowd for the first time.

The man sported a broad frame, sculpted and toned from years of training and exercise into a muscular, athletic physique. Bare-chested, his muscles glinted with trace beads of sweat that caught the overbearing set lights in the rafters above. His skin was bronzed, but not the spray-on variety - clearly, he had some exotic blood venturing through his veins to give his skin such a natural tan. The jet black hair that hung down to his brows seemed to indicate some Native American predominance, but surely his heritage wasn't up for discussion tonight. Hands wrapped to the elbows, black combat boots buttoned up over his buckled and zippered trip pants, Salem appeared ready for a battle as he stared down at the ring with a look of unquestionable resolve, drawing the microphone once again to his lips.

"...And from what I understand," Salem continued. "You're the man I have to beat in order to get my shot at a title, as was promised in the sign-on package that your GM offered me when I took the job to wrestle here. But after hearing all of that...I have to say, I'm pretty unimpressed."

Salem's expression became gnarled, like a stubborn root who's sole purpose was to trip passers-by. His eyes lowered into a more fierce stare, and for a second it felt as though the very temperature of the arena had risen by fifteen degrees in the snap-second that it took for his demeanor to change.

"I am the future of this company!" Salem boldly declared, provoking a reaction of excitement out of the seat-fillers in the stands. "I am the Heir Apparent of Hardcore! I am the Enigmatic Anomaly! I am the Charismatic Cavalier! And once I've finished teaching the two of you a lesson in that regard...I'll be making a victim out of whoever is unfortunate enough to be holding my belt!"

Drawing his hands around his waist, Salem mimicked the Aaron Rodgers touchdown celebration, polishing an invisible championship belt three times. During each motion, the stage would erupt with fire from the Titantron, a series of three bursts that rocked the ground of the stadium before Salem tilted his head back, spewing fire from his mouth like a demon.

Growling loud enough to be heard without the use of a microphone, Salem thrust his right hand towards the canvas of the ring, singling out Hiro as the adrenaline-inducing music finished playing, the possessed man running down to the ring and sliding under the bottom rope to charge head-first at Hiro, not bothering to listen for whether the bell had rang or not.

After Kyle and Thangor made their way down, out came the three members (former or not) of Gothica. The Remnant Champion Matt Draven, the Witch Claire Hawkins, and the Face of the Faceless Nameless walked down the ramp. Soon all three were positioned at ringside, ready to lumberjack this match!