Storm - January 22nd, 2022 - Salt Lake City, Utah

MAURO RANALLO: Well fans, the time is now. The World Title Contender Battle Royale is up next and it’s going to be an all out war!

PAT MCAFEE: The entrants are already starting to make their way down to the ring and it is filling up fast! I don’t even think we’re halfway there yet!

MAURO RANALLO: Fans, with as big as this match is going to be, Mick Foley has added our broadcast colleagues from Eruption to the other side of the ring for this one so we don’t miss any of the action. Renee, Marcus, are you ready for this?

We cut to a shot of Renee and Buff on the opposite side of the ring.

RENEE YOUNG: I don’t think anyone is ready for this, Mauro, but Buff and I are excited to be here tonight and see who will fight for the world heavyweight championship at Ascension.

BUFF BAGWELL: Listen here, Mauron Five, the name isn’t Marcus, it’s Buff and I’m the stuff!

RENEE YOUNG: Right, moving on, the world title isn’t going to be the only title picture cleared up with this match tonight!

PAT MCAFEE: That’s right! Mick Foley announced at the start of the show that the person not in the final two with the most eliminations will challenge Braun Strowman for the X-Division title!

MAURO RANALLO: Don’t forget, if Strowman has the most eliminations, he’ll get to choose his own opponent! Lots of little wrinkles in this huge match!

A seemingly continuous and endless line of participants make their way down the ramp here in Salt Lake City to enter the ring as there’s not much room left in there.

RENEE YOUNG: This has got to be one of the biggest and best collections of professional wrestlers all in one place and when that bell rings, it’s going to be every man for himself!

BUFF BAGWELL: I gotta tell ya, Renee, I’m feeling the itch…

RENEE YOUNG: You may want to get that looked at and maybe not bring it up on the air like this.

MAURO RANALLO: Looks like the final entrants are getting into the ring. I think we are about to get this one started.

BUFF BAGWELL: Renee…

RENEE YOUNG: Marcus, what is wrong with you?

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All five sanctioned referees are around the ring to make the calls on eliminations. There is very little room for any kind of large movements in the ring. People have broken off into their own small little groups within it. The Lee Family, making the biggest ‘faction’ in the match, have themselves holed into a corner, ready to defend it. Others like 2.0, who earlier in the evening were trying to make friends before the match, are in the middle of the ring, constantly looking over their shoulders. Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman stand alone near the middle of the ring, practically daring anyone to come at them once the bell rings. MJF sits up on the turnbuckle in a corner with Wardlow standing in front of him, ready to defend anyone who might be foolish enough to come near them. So, while the ring is full of over forty WLCW superstars, there are clearly battle lines drawn, but they’re ones that will be crossed. A chance at the biggest prize in professional wrestling is on the line tonight as well as an opportunity to be the number one contender for the X-Division title. The bell rings as the Salt Lake City crowd absolutely erupts as the match is officially underway!

PAT MCAFEE: All right! Time to settle it! Who is going to be fighting for the title!

RENEE YOUNG: We can’t even see you guys over here, there’s that many people in the ring right now!

BUFF BAGWELL: Well there’s about to be one more, Renee, get ready to see the next world champion in action!

RENEE YOUNG: Wait, what are you doing!? Marcus!?

Buff Bagwell throws off his headset in the ringside commentary area and stands up. The crowd realizes what’s going on and starts to cheer. Buff takes in their cheers as a few people in the ring see what’s going on and look at him. He rushes towards the ring and slides under the bottom rope, standing up near the middle of the ring. Every set of eyes in there turns to him. He looks around, initially worried and maybe a bit concerned, but that all goes away once he starts flexing his muscles, spinning around in a circle. The crowd laughs a bit and then cheers him on as he continues to flex. He’s quickly grabbed from behind by Drake Maverick of all people! He shoves him towards the ropes and he goes up and over, crashing to the floor below!



RENEE YOUNG: What just happened!?

PAT MCAFEE: We have our first elimination!

MAURO RANALLO: Well, it had to be someone!

Buff goes back towards the ringside commentary area and puts his headset back on, joining Renee at the commentary table.

BUFF BAGWELL: What happened? What did I miss?

RENEE YOUNG: You just got eliminated by the Drake Maverick! The smallest guy in the match!

PAT MCAFEE: Drake is the official leader in the clubhouse for the X-Division title shot!

BUFF BAGWELL: That coward! he blindsided me!

Strangely enough, Bagwell’s elimination kick starts the match more so than the bell did with people branching off and trying to eliminate one another early. Lesnar and Strowman still stand near the middle of the ring, tossing away anyone who comes near them. Cody Rhodes, who had an impressive debut earlier in the week on Eruption is in control against Bron Breakker in the corner. Multiple rights delivered right to the skull of the man – who like himself – is a second generation superstar. Before Breakker can mount any kind of retaliation, Cody is grabbed from behind and swung around. It’s Warhorse, or is it WARHORSE!? Regardless, he’s the one putting a pummeling to Cody now, with Bron slipping out of the corner, Cody falls into it. Warhorse is working him over. In another part of the ring, Roman Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso are waiting for any comers or someone foolish enough to get near them. R Truth is knocked backwards from a punch from Matt Sydal and The Bloodline grabs him, throwing him into the corner. They’re all three delivering swift kicks and punches to him now, taking him down to the seated position where they’re just all driving multiple kicks to his shoulder, chest and head region until he falls all the way under the bottom rope. Reigns throws his hands up in a show of domination and the Salt Lake crowd boos him. Across the ring, Kenny Omega is working on Brian Pillman Jr. He does the throat slash symbol and just as he does that, Griff Garrison hits him from behind, saving his tag team partner. Omega stumbles into the hands of the Drake Maverick, who hoists him up altogether and toss him over the top rope to the floor! A second elimination for the Maverick!



PAT MCAFEE: What do Kenny Omega and Buff Bagwell have in common!?

BUFF BAGWELL: A storied history and lineage of great matches that considers them two of the greatest wrestlers to walk the planet?

RENEE YOUNG: Uh…

MAURO RANALLO: Answer seems a little simpler than that! Both were eliminated by Drake Maverick, who seems to be focused on dominating this battle royale!

John Cena: Hey losers…

PAT MCAFEE: Uh ohhhhhh!

John Cena appears at the top of the ramp with a microphone in his hand and a sneer on his face.

JOHN ~WORD LIFE~ CENA: Bloodline? More like the Samoans with no spine.
Got me out here feeling like I’m drunk or Burnett’s and white wine
You call yourself the alpha and the head of the so called table
I’m out here stealing CM Punk’s woman like Brock Lesnar did with Mero and Sable
Yeah that’s right Punk, I know you want your little horny devil back
And the Bloodline wants some too, for John Cena there ain’t no turning back
All of these fools, coming at me but to me this ain’t nothing new
Only thing I gotta say to you is you better watch out behind you!

CM Punk and the Usos are pressed up against the ropes, daring Cena to come down to the ring. As they’re all daring Cena to come down to the ring, Cesar Bonini comes up behind Jey Uso and eliminates him! JD Drake dumps Jimmy Uso over the ropes and Ryan Nemeth eliminates CM Punk!



All three men crash into the mat outside the ring. Before they can realize what’s happened, Cena has disappeared to the back. Punk stands to his feet the quickest and runs up the ramp, chasing him to the back. The Usos look up towards the ring at Reigns, who now is standing near the ropes himself. He has an annoyed and angered look on his face. He motions to the Usos asking them what the hell happened, but they don’t have an answer. Peter Avalon grabs Reigns from behind and tries to dump him over the ropes like the Usos! But Reigns is too big, he fights off the much smaller Peter and turns to face him. Superman Punch on Pretty Peter, who falls back into the arms of the rest of the Wingmen as the Usos head to back and the match continues. Eddie Kingston finds himself in a fist fight in the corner against the Motor City Machine Guns. Shelly and Sabin are not letting him get any kind of action in with continuous blows to him. Bray Wyatt, clad in his Sunday best is trying his best to get Miro over the top rope. He has him in a headlock, pulling him towards the ropes, but giant Miro is stopping any kind of momentum Bray might have or get. Danhausen has rolled under the bottom rope and seems to be outside the ring, offering signed photos of himself to the crowd for bags of money, but seemingly is falling short in padding his wallet. Malakai Black finds himself in a tough spot against Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. The two men using their numbers advantage to try and take Black down, but he fights back with kicks to the midsection and then to the heads of both men. Corbin goes down as Moss stumbles away from Malakai. He turns back towards him but is met with a huge kick to the face, stumbling backwards and over the top rope to the floor!



RENEE YOUNG: We got Madcap Moss eliminated over here, guys!

MAURO RANALLO: Malakai Black clocked him with that kick!

PAT MCAFEE: By my count, Drake Maverick is still in front! Is he gonna challenge for the X-Division title?

BUFF BAGWELL: Maybe I should get in there and stop him!

RENEE YOUNG: You were already in there, Marcus!

Jeff Parker and Matt Lee approach the two big men in the middle of the ring, holding out their hands asking for a truce. Lesnar looks over at Strowman and then disgustingly looks back at 2.0. Braun looks just as annoyed as the beast does. Pillman and Garrison jump 2.0 from behind as they’re trying to set up some kind of agreement though. The two teams, fighting back and forth now. Matt Lee has fractured off with Pillman and Parker with Garrison. Kevin Nash steps between the two fighting tag teams and approaches the two giants in the middle of the ring, making it three big men now. Nash has been mostly on the side of the ring, fighting anyone who got near him. The three men all look at one another before any of them take action. Lesnar is clubbed in the back by Drake Maverick of all people. Lesnar turns and Maverick cowers back a bit, regretting his action. Drake turns to Booker T and motions for him to come help. Booker shakes his head back at Maverick, basically telling him he wants nothing to do with this situation. Lesnar grabs Drake on the shoulder and hoists him up in the air. Booker winces at the sight and goes in to help his business partner. He cuts down Brock from behind with a chop block. Lesnar goes down to one knee and Drake crashes on the mat, but collects himself. Nash watches this unfolds and turns his attention to Strowman. The two men eye one another and then both get distracted before anything can happen. Nash from behind by R Truth, who is back to his feet. Strowman by Hook, who is jumping into the action by taking on the big X-Division champion now. Over near the ropes, 2.0 and the Varsity Blondes are still going at it, with Jeff Parker knocking Garrison back a bit. Griff leans on the ropes. Parker rushes at him, trying to clothesline him over, but Garrison ducks, hoisting Jeff Parker up and over, but he catches himself on the top rope and lands on the apron behind Garrison. Griff falls to the mat. As Parker goes to get back in the ring, he’s caught quickly as Cody Rhodes hops on the second turnbuckle and lunges towards him. Disaster kick right across the face! Jeff Parker falls to the floor!



Across the ring, Matt Lee is working on trying to eliminate Brian Pillman Jr. Matt has Pillman pressed up against the ropes and backs up a few steps. Lee is grabbed from behind by Rhodes, who spins him around, Crossrhodes to the 2.0 member! Cody is back to his feet, rushing towards Pillman and clotheslining him over the top rope and eliminating him!



Cody throws his hands up towards the crowd to a mixture of cheers and boos. He’s grabbed from behind and dumped over the rope as well! By Miro! Cody catches himself on the ropes and lands on the apron, sliding back in under the bottom rope though. Miro thinks he’s eliminated him, as is tradition by people in these types of matches, and turns to go work on someone else. Lance Storm has been doing a good job of keeping himself away from any kind of potential eliminations by playing it smart. He’s being cornered now by the Wingmen though as they try and use their numbers advantage on him. Bononi rushes into the corner and Lance ducks, causing the big man to go face first into the turnbuckle. Now Drake rushes in and Lance moves out his way, causing him to crash into the back of Cezar. Nemeth goes for a dropkick, but Lance ducks under it, causing the Hollywood Hunk to dropkick Drake in the back, knocking him into Bononi again. Avalon is still holding his head groggily from that Superman punch Reigns gave him. Nemeth is grabbed from behind by Storm, and thrown head first into Avalon’s midsection, taking both of them down. Drake turns around and swings a clothesline towards Storm, who ducks it and kicks him in the back, making him stumble forward and land on Nemeth and Avalon. Before the big Bononi can react and get out of the corner, Lance Storm lifts him up and over to the floor, eliminating him!



MAURO RANALLO: Holy cow! What an elimination from Storm! He took on the whole Wingmen by himself!

PAT MCAFEE: Good luck getting access to the world’s greatest nightclub now, Lance!

RENEE YOUNG: There’s still three members of the Wingmen in this one though!

BUFF BAGWELL: My guy Booker T is still in there!

MJF and Wardlow have stayed in their corner since the start of this one and no one has come near them since the sound of the bell. Certainly the two freshest superstars in the ring right now. Warhorse is working of Bray Wyatt now, clubbing blows to his back near the ropes. Now Sydal hits Warhorse from behind, who stumbles forward and catches himself on the ropes. Bray is back to his feet and catches Sydal with a big uppercut, knocking Matt back a bit. R Truth is still trying to get Kevin Nash down off his vertical base. Repeated kicks to the big man’s legs finally take him down to one knee where Truth goes to work with multiple strikes. Bron Breakker drills R Truth in the back though and then goes to work on Nash. He works the big man over – a man who has had some all time matches with his uncle and father many years ago – striking him repeatedly. Bron bounces back on the ropes and goes to launch himself for a clothesline on Nash when he’s caught by a big boot from Big Sexy who has sprung back to his feet. Bron is knocked backwards and over the ropes to the floor! Nash turns around just in time to get jumped by the Lee Family!



The Lee Family, led by Trevor try and get Nash off his feet and over the ropes, but the big man fights back, knocking them off of him one at a time. Like a super shredder against small mutant turtles, Nash rises back to his feet as the Lee Family scatters. Danhausen is still trying to sell his autographs outside of the ring for bags of money when he’s approached by someone coming down the ramp. It’s the Honky Tonk Man! Honky seems to be taking umbrage with Danhausen trying to sell his autographs and tells him to watch how it’s done. He pulls out a 8x10 that he has in his back pocket and signs it, handing out to a fan, who graciously snatches it away from him. Honky gets angered and demands the fan pay him, but the fan just laughs in his face, holding up the signed photograph. Danhausen seems confused by all of this and watches on as the scene between Honky and the fan starts to escalate a bit. Inside the ring, Griff Garrison is working on Matt Lee once again, who is back to his feet. Garrison whips Lee into the ropes, a dangerous scenario in a match like this, but Lee comes off the ropes and hit with a knee to the midsection. Lee tumbles over. Garrison grabs Matt by the back of the head and rushes him towards the ropes, throwing him over! But Lee lands on the apron. He stays on his feet and Garrison is driving rights and lefts into him now, trying to eliminate him, but Lee is fighting back. Matt is hanging onto the ropes and Garrison is trying to pry his fingers off of them. Honky Tonk Man turns around, sees this and springs into action. He gets up on the apron as Garrison is focused on Lee. Honky hoists the guitar up over his head and crashes it down on Griff! Garrison goes limp as Lee is still on the apron, Peter Avalon grabs Garrison and dumps him over the top before falling to the mat once more! Matt Lee and Honky celebrate on the apron like they’re the ones who eliminated Griff. Danhausen watches from the outside, not liking what he’s just seen. He grabs Matt Lee’s leg and foot area, pulling it out from under him, causing him to crash on the apron and fall to the floor, also eliminated!




Honky hops off the apron, annoyed at Danhausen’s actions and gets in his face. Danhausen stands there, taking all the yelling from Honky before holding a fist up. Honky looks up at it and then Danhausen rips him with a big left hand across the face, knocking Honky to the floor as well as the crowd erupts in cheers! Danhausen slides back under the bottom rope into the ring as the match continues. As Danhausen gets back in the ring and stands up, he sees Matt Sydal rushing at him. He goes for a big running knee strike, but Danhausen moves out of the way and Sydal hits the ropes with the knee, getting his legs tied up in them. Danhausen starts to move towards Sydal when he’s grabbed from behind by Miro! Miro lifts him up and brings him down for a big german suplex! Miro is back to his feet, grabbing Sydal from behind as he gets free from the ropes and dumping him over the top to eliminate him! Bray Wyatt tries to grab Miro from behind, but he’s met with a back elbow to the face. Wyatt stumbles backwards towards the corner where he’s surprised and met with a big Scissor kick from Booker T! Wyatt is knocked over the top and is eliminated too!




BUFF BAGWELL: Booker! Go get em!

MAURO RANALLO: That’s two more out of here!

PAT MCAFEE: The list of contenders gets shorter and shorter!

RENEE YOUNG: We’ve got some real surprises in there still!

Roman Reigns and Hook are working on one another as Happy Corbin has entered the mix now. Corbin has Reigns under the leg and is trying to lift him up and over the top rope. Hook gets under Reigns' other leg and tries to work with Corbin. Warhorse comes crashing into the corner on all three of them, stopping the elimination attempt! Maybe not the smartest move from him, but an effective one to say the least. As Warhorse turns his attention to Hook and Corbin, he’s met with a Spinning backfist from Eddie Kingston! Warhorse tumbles into a heap, but as Kingston bends over to pick him up, he’s grabbed from behind by the recently staggered Hook who wraps his arm around Eddie’s neck from behind in a Tazmission-like maneuver. Eddie stumbles back but refuses to go down. Hook has it locked in now as good as he’s going to get it. Eddie fights with his arms and hands to get any kind of relief. Kingston backs into the ropes, with Hook still fully on his back. Hook’s back is pressed against the ropes as Eddie can’t build enough momentum to push him back over the ropes. Hook has it cinched in, trying to pull Eddie over the top himself from behind. Out of nowhere, Disaster kick right to Hook’s face, knocking him off of Kingston, who falls to the mat. Hook goes tumbling over the top and is eliminated! Cody celebrates to the crowd once again!



PAT MCAFEE: That’s three eliminations for Cody Rhodes! He’s passed Drake Maverick!

RENEE YOUNG: Hook is outta here!

MAURO RANALLO: An impressive showing from the man who says he’s doing this for all the fans out there!

BUFF BAGWELL: Forget about him, what about my guy, Booker T!?

Brock Lesnar is still chasing after Drake Maverick, who is doing a good job of avoiding any type of contact with him. He’s ducking around other people in the ring that Lesnar is shoving aside to get to him. Maverick is backing away from Lesnar now, but he backs right into Braun Strowman. The X-Division champion grabs him from behind and spins him around, hoisting him up on his shoulder. He drives him into the mat with a Running powerslam! Lesnar doesn’t wait to grab the downed Maverick and pick him up to his feet. Maverick now finds himself on another set of shoulders, this time it’s Brock Lesnar’s, who spins him and drops him with the F-5! Before either man can work on eliminating the down Maverick, the two giants come eye to eye and nose to nose now. The crowd is at a fever pitch to see these two come to blows. They’re stopped once more though as Warhorse grabs Lesnar from behind and hits him with a big right. Again, R-Truth grabs Strowman from behind and tries to go to work on him. Strowman blocks the punch and grabs Truth, lifting him up over his head. Strowman dumps Truth over the ropes but Truth lands on the apron on the other side of the ropes, slowly sliding back under the ropes. Wardlow stands in front of the still perched MJF, who watches the match play out in front of him intently. No one comes close to them and those who have were batted away by the bodyguard in front of him. The Motor City Machine Guns look to line up the war dog though and get the advantage. They’ve done a good job of using their numbers to their advantage all match so far not putting themselves in any bad situations. This, however, may still be a bad situation with the numbers advantage. They both rush in and the crowd cheers loudly as someone is finally putting a challenge to MJF and Wardlow. Friedman stays perched on the second rope while Wardlow fights them off. They’re both delivering strike after strike with their feet but not able to take down the big man. As they try to figure out a way to get Wardlow down and eventually out, they’re jumped from behind by Nemeth and Drake, who spin them around and deliver punches right to their face. The fight starts to move away from Wardlow who is down to one knee. The Lee Family sees this as a time to pounce. MJF yells at Wardlow to get back to his feet as Dragon Lee is the first one there, then Wes, then Keith, then Trevor and then Jason. All five Lees beating down Wardlow who eventually erupts out of the pile, shooting up and knocking all of them down. Wardlow grabs Dragon Lee and lifts him up! Powerbomb hard into the mat! As Dragon Lee lands, MJF hops off the turnbuckle and lifts him up, throwing him over the ropes and out of the match! Wardlow grabs Jason Lee and another Powerbomb! MJF lifts up Jason and tosses him out after the powerbomb! Wardlow grabs Wes Lee and you guessed it, Powerbomb! MJF lifts up Wes and tosses him over the top to the floor! Wardlow picks up Keith Lee and there’s no way…he can’t…he does! Powerbomb on Keith Lee! Keith is slowly pulled back to his feet and hoisted over the top to the floor by MJF! Trevor is getting back to his feet, but Wardlow helps him and lifts him up…Powerbomb! MJF grabs Trevor after the powerbomb and tosses him out of the match to the boos of the Salt Lake crowd!



PAT MCAFEE: Five! That’s five eliminations by MJF!

MAURO RANALLO: After Wardlow did all the work!

BUFF BAGWELL: That’s just smart from a man who has spent the whole first part of this match not having to lift a finger!

RENEE YOUNG: Wardlow and MJF may be the ones to beat in this match now! Forget the X-Division title, they may be world title favorites!

PAT MCAFEE: Guys, I think we’re about halfway through this one now!

MJF celebrates in the ring as the crowd boos loudly at him still. Wardlow stands there breathing heavily, almost in some kind of trance. He stares straight into the hard camera as the action unfolds around him. R Truth is slowly getting back to his feet near Wardlow who bends down and picks him up. He hoists him up and drops him down with a big Powerbomb! Wardlow is just bent on destruction now. Warhorse is stumbling near the war dog and that’s a terrible idea as he grabs him, lifts him up and drops him with a Powerbomb of his own! MJF is still pandering to the crowd as his bodyguard is leaving mass destruction in the ring. Danhausen and Eddie Kingston have broken off on the side with Eddie in full control. Eddie pulls the top rope into Danhausen’s head and runs it across it for half the ring. Eddie lets go and is rocked with a big time kick from Malaka Black, taking him down! Black picks up Kingston and delivers a kick right to the midsection, doubling him over. Knee to the face, knocking Eddie back a bit into the turnbuckle. Alex Shelly rushes in and delivers a running back elbow to Kingston in the corner. Eddie comes tumbling out as Sabin bounces off the ropes behind him and drives him into the mat with a bulldog. Happy Corbin grabs Sabin from behind as he gets to his feet and runs him to the ropes, throwing him over the top to the floor though! Chris Sabin has been eliminated! Aubrey Edwards is there to make the call!



Shelly tries to save Sabin, but can’t quite make it to him in time. Now he’s going to work on Corbin, who was enjoying his elimination. Roman Reigns is being worked over in a corner by Booker T and Drake Maverick, who have been working decently well together as a team. They’re trying to get the head of the table up and over the top rope, but he’s fighting it off as hard as he can. A right to Maverick, knocking him back and then another right to Booker T, knocking him off of him as well. Reigns gets away from those two, but danger is still imminent for him as he’s met with a knee to the chest from Kevin Nash, knocking him back into the corner. Miro is working against the Wingmen in the opposite corner, who still have three men left and are using their clear numbers advantage to, well, their advantage against the big man. They have him down, but that might be the safest place for him as he can’t be eliminated if he’s down on the mat. Strowman and Lesnar are still fighting against one another, but it’s slowed down considerably with neither of the huge men wanting to exert any real energy and give anyone an advantage. Cody Rhodes is looking for someone to drive a punch into and finds it with Danhausen’s skull, his fist driving right into Danhausen’s facehausen. MJF is back in the middle of the ring and picks up R Truth from the mat, still recovering from that powerbomb. He kind of tosses Truth over to Wardlow and demands another powerbomb. Wardlow obliges and picks up Truth, driving him into the mat again with a big time powerbomb! Before MJF can get to him though, Wardlow picks up Truth and tosses him over the rope onto the floor right in front of the refs!



PAT MCAFEE: I don’t think that was part of MJF’s plans here tonight!

RENEE YOUNG: No, he seems rather annoyed by that.

MAURO RANALLO: MJF seems to think Wardlow should be giving him eliminations.

MJF is indeed annoyed and is asking Wardlow what that was all about. Wardlow just stares at him and picks up the downed Warhorse off the mat, staring at MJF the whole time as he lifts Warhorse up and dumps him over the top rope for elimination!



Friedman is getting more angered and annoyed by that action from Wardlow. Seeming to think he could have had seven eliminations now instead of five. MJF is pointing down at Warhorse and R Truth and telling Wardlow that those should have been his eliminations. Wardlow just stares daggers through MJF for his tone. Eddie Kingston comes stumbling over towards Wardlow, who grabs him and gives him a big Powerbomb! Kingston is down on the mat and Wardlow goes to pick him up. MJF stops him and starts telling him that he’s going to be the one to eliminate Eddie, but Wardlow continues lifting Eddie back up his feet, staring at Friedman the whole time. MJF physically stops Wardlow from picking Eddie all the way up and Kingston slumps back down to the mat. He points at himself and says he’s going to throw Kingston over the top rope. Wardlow shakes his head back at him and picks Kingston back up. MJF watches on in apparent frustration and anger as Wardlow tosses Kingston over the top rope to the floor for his third elimination!



Maxwell Jacob Friedman is damn near incensed that he feels like he’s losing possible eliminations now. He’s yelling at Wardlow who responds by pulling the straps down off the shoulder of his singlet and cracking his neck a bit to each side. Maxwell takes a few steps back and holds his palms up at Wardlow. The two talk over their issues as the action continues in the ring. We are down to eighteen people now in the ring as it’s started to clear out a bit. Booker T and Drake Maverick are still in this one as well as the aforementioned MJF and Wardlow. The Wingmen still hold strong with all three of them in the ring right now. Kevin Nash is still working over Roman Reigns in the corner, keeping him occupied. Lance Storm and Cody Rhodes are fending each other’s elimination attempts wrapped up in the ropes on one side of the ring. The face off that most have had their eyes on are Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar as the two behemoths have been going back and forth for a bit now. They’ve just been trading rights and lefts and then a bodyslam by each. Practically impervious to each other’s blows, they continue to go back and forth. Most others in the ring wisely avoiding coming between them. Lesnar grabs Strowman and whips him into the ropes, meeting him with a clothesline in the middle of the ring. It only staggers the X-Division champion a bit, not taking him down to the mat. Braun leaps and hits Lesnar with a standing shoulder block, but just like the previous blow, it doesn’t take Lesnar down. Now Strowman grabs Brock and whips him into the ropes, as Lesnar comes back to the center of the ring, Braun leaves his feet and hits him with a huge - and I mean huge - dropkick right to the chest. It staggers Brock a bit and takes him down to one knee. Cody Rhodes jumps on the moment and grabs Brock from around the head and neck and drives him into the mat with a DDT! Cody lifts Brock back up a bit and as he does, Malakai Black drives a diving knee into the beast’s face, much to Cody’s surprise! Cody and Black now work together to lift Lesnar back to his feet. Brock doubles over with heavy breathing and Strowman stops Cody and Malakai, telling them he’s going to eliminate him. They both stand back and let Strowman go to work on Lesnar, but Brock catches a second wind, surprises and grabs Strowman, rushing him towards and over the top rope to the floor! Eliminating him! Lesnar has it taken out of him after that Herculean effort! Roman Reigns tries to take advantage by dumping Brock out from behind, but Lesnar catches him and uses his momentum to take him out too! The referees are there to call the elimination of Roman Reigns!




BUFF BAGWELL: We got eliminations over here!

PAT MCAFEE: Those are two really big ones!

MAURO RANALLO: Roman Reigns! Braun Strowman! Eliminated!

RENEE YOUNG: Who can stop Brock Lesnar!? He’s the biggest man left in there!

The rest of the ring all has their eyes set on Lesnar now after those eliminations with no one else fighting one another. They start to surround him a bit, but he goes on the offensive, driving a back elbow into J. D. Drake. Booker T rushes in but is met with a fist right to the face, knocking him back once again. The others start to pair off into their own fights again, leaving Lesnar with just a few challengers. Alex Shelley and Happy Corbin are really going at it in one corner after Corbin eliminated Sabin earlier. Drake Maverick is doing what he can against Lance Storm near the ropes. Cody Rhodes is working against Ryan Nemeth in another corner. Miro and Malakai Black are trading blows near the center of the ring. Black, a striker with Miro being more hold oriented makes this an interesting match up. The thing is either of these men could surprise you with an elimination at any time with their brute force and strength. Miro has Black in a bearhug situation, but Malakai claps his arms around Miro’s head and ear area, forcing him to release the hold and stagger around the ring a bit. Black strikes with a big kick right to the head, knocking Miro down to the mat! Wardlow attacks Malakai from behind as he and MJF seem to be back on the same page now. Friedman is directing traffic in there with his war dog, telling him exactly what he wants him to do. As MJF is telling Wardlow what he wants done, Alex Shelley attacks Friedman from behind. Wardlow is focused on working on Malakai Black as Shelley is working on MJF. He lifts him up in the bodyslam position and moves towards the ropes. The crowd comes alive and is going ballistic as Shelley is holding Friedman over the ropes. Maxwell is grabbing the ropes to stop the elimination attempt and screaming for Wardlow, who finally hears him and comes walking over. He grabs Shelly from behind, picking him up and dropping him down for a huge chokeslam into the mat! Corbin stops fighting with Danhausen and tries to jump Wardlow from behind, but that seems to be a big mistake as Wardlow turns and decks Happy with a big right punch. Wardlow helps fully pull Friedman back in the ring, who collapses back into the corner, clutching at his chest. He yells at Wardlow to not let that happen again. Corbin slowly struggles back to his feet. Shelley is still down. Wardlow makes sure MJF is all right before returning back to Shelley and Corbin. He grabs the Motor City Machine Gun Member and picks him up to his almost lifeless feet after that chokeslam, hoisting him up and over the top rope to the floor! Shelley is out! Four eliminations for Wardlow! He’s one behind Friedman now! Wardlow grabs Corbin and has him pressed against the ropes. Maxwell is still in the corner, watching this all unfold and springs into action, getting under Wardlow and Corbin’s legs lifting them up and over the top rope to the floor! They’re both out!





MAURO RANALLO: OH ME! OH MY! MJF JUST ELIMINATED WARDLOW!

PAT MCAFEE: Wardlow had Corbin eliminated! They were going to be tied in eliminations!

RENEE YOUNG: MJF eliminated Wardlow before he could tie him! Wardlow did all the work for all those eliminations!

BUFF BAGWELL: Work smarter I say! What a job by MJF! Seven eliminations!

RENEE YOUNG: Yeah but he doesn’t have his lap dog in there anymore to help him out. He’s all on his own now!

Wardlow is back on his feet on the outside around the pile of bodies he’s put out there. He’s staring back into the ring at MJF who is at the ropes, telling him it was an accident. Like Wardlow is going to believe that! Wardlow points at the bodies all around him and then points to himself saying he did all that. Maxwell shrugs his shoulders and says he did what he had to do. Wardlow is still incensed though as he leaves the ringside area. Back in the ring, Danhausen takes advantage of maybe the only person he has a size advantage on in Drake Maverick. Danhausen has his thumbhausen right in Drake’s eye, poking it hard. Drake screams out in pain as Booker T saves him with a club to Danhausen’s back. Booker checks on Maverick as Peter Avalon grabs Danhausen, trying to take advantage of him now that he’s been weakened. Avalon throws him into Drake and Nemeth who go for a double clothesline, but Danhausen ducks under it. He bounces off the ropes and does a flat back dropkick, driving one foot into Drake and the other into Nemeth, knocking them backwards. Drake is knocked backwards into the waiting hands of Miro, who grabs him from behind, and lifts him up and over the top rope, to the floor! Another Wingman out!



It’s just Nemeth and Avalon left in there now for the group, but they still have a numbers advantage as everyone else left is flying solo now. MJF has gone back to work, trying to attack Lance Storm. Kevin Nash has Brock Lesnar in the corner as they’re both trying to get one another off their feet. Cody Rhodes is now on the attack against Booker T and Drake Maverick. Malakai Black senses blood in the water with the Wingmen as they try to collect themselves. Peter Avalon goes down to two knees and begs for Black to spare him, but this only disgusts the leader of the House of Black. As he goes for a knee strike to the begging Avalon, Nemeth hits him square in the face with a dropkick, knocking Black back and down! Nemeth helps Avalon back to his feet. They grab Malakai and deliver a double suplex to him, driving his back into the mat! As they get back to their feet to go on the attack, they’re met with a double clothesline from Brock Lesnar, taking both of them down! Lesnar stands over them when he’s drilled right in the chin with a Disaster kick from Cody Rhodes! Before Cody can take advantage of the downed beast, Lance Storm drives a Superkick into Cody’s face, knocking him back and over the top rope! Cody lands on the apron in a heap, quickly realizes where he’s at and rolls back into the ring! Malakai Black is back to his feet though and waiting for Storm to turn around, as Lance does, he’s met with a kick right to the face! Lance staggers back and Black rushes in with a running knee strike! Lance Storm topples over the top to the floor in front of John Cone! He’s gone!



RENEE YOUNG: We are getting down to the end here guys!

BUFF BAGWELL: I can’t believe Drake Maverick and Booker are still in it! They’re gonna win!

PAT MCAFEE: I mean, credit where it’s due, those guys have worked really well together.

MAURO RANALLO: Anyone can still win this! MJF is currently leading eliminations with seven.

Now the Wingmen set their sights on Booker and Drake. The two groups with the numbers advantage in this one start to fight with one another. MJF is off on the side with Kevin Nash. Malakai Black and Brock Lesnar work one another over near the ropes. Cody Rhodes and Danhausen are teaming up on the big man, Miro. Danhausen drives a kickhausen into Miro’s midsection as Cody brings a club down onto his back. Miro is trying to fight back, but this late into the match, almost over fifty minutes in now, everyone is a little gassed. Cody tries to work with Danhausen on a plan to get Miro up and over the top rope. Danhausen acts like he understands and nods approvingly. Cody gets under one of Miro’s leg while Danhausen stands there and watches him, cheering him on. Cody stops and tells Danhausen to help him, which confuses the evil one a little bit. Nash gets the upper hand on MJF in the corner, driving a classic back elbow across Friedman’s jaw. Maxwell reaches his hand up to try and protect his face but Nash comes across with another one. Nemeth has Maverick in a headlock and cries out to Avalon for help, but he’s got his hands full with Booker T. Booker drops an elbow right onto Avalon’s skull, knocking him back. Booker rushes in and hits Pretty Peter with a clothesline, taking him up and over the top rope to the floor. Nemeth does the same to Maverick, taking him out of the match to the floor as well! Booker T and Nemeth start to go at one another now, but right as they collide near the ropes, Cody Rhodes is there and drives both of them over to the floor, eliminating them both!






PAT MCAFEE: There goes the numbers advantage for both of them!

MAURO RANALLO: There they go in general! Cody Rhodes with two more huge eliminations!

RENEE YOUNG: We are down to seven, folks!

MAURO RANALLO: Two of these men will fight for the world heavyweight championship!

BUFF BAGWELL: This is getting really intense!

Danhausen taps Cody on the shoulder after he eliminates Booker and Nemeth. As Cody turns around, he’s met with a finger right to his eyes, blinding him. Danhausen uses all his momentum to clothesline Cody, who again goes up and over the top! But he lands on the apron again. Danhausen tries to stop him from re-entering by driving his foot into Cody, to push him off the apron! Nash is going at Malakai Black in the corner, which just leaves Brock Lesnar as an opponent for MJF to face off with. MJF doesn’t fond of this as he tries to avoid the confrontation but Lesnar seemingly wants to fight, approaching him and goading him into hitting him. MJF holds his hands up as if he say he doesn’t want to fight. Lesnar rushes in but MJF ducks underneath him, hitting from behind. This angers the beast as he turns around and tries to drive a hard right into MJF. Friedman ducks under that though and is trying to use his speed to counteract the attacks. Lesnar has MJF cornered now, but Miro is back to his feet and drives a club right into Lesnar’s back who is thrust into the corner. MJF ducks under the bottom rope to the floor as Lesnar’s face crashes into the top turnbuckle. The referees on the outside try and get Friedman back into the ring quickly and he obliges by getting back up on the apron. MJF argues with Aubrey Edwards and John Cone about re-entering the ring and he says he’ll do it when he damn well pleases. The refs demand he step back through the ropes. MJF flips them off and finally steps through, but as soon as he’s through, Malakai Black is there waiting on him. Black drives his foot right into Friedman’s face. Max is knocked backwards and over the top rope, crashing to the mat below! The crowd erupts with cheers as Cone and Edwards make the call!



MAURO RANALLO: MJF IS OUT! FRIEDMAN IS OUT!

PAT MCAFEE: He was distracted by the refs!

RENEE YOUNG: Eliminated is eliminated, Pat! He ends the match with seven eliminations though! Not sure anyone will catch that!

BUFF BAGWELL: I can’t believe it! What a kick from Black!

MAURO RANALLO: Oh it looks like MJF is starting some issues over there with you guys. He’s not happy with the refs at all.

RENEE YOUNG: Oh yeah, we got a problem here. Marcus, you may need to step in.

Friedman is absolutely livid and up in the face of Aubrey Edwards and John Cone now. The other refs come around from their side of the ring. Charles Robinson, Shane Sewell and Bryce Remsburg are all trying to stop MJF from getting to Aubrey who is motioning for him to leave. Friedman shoves Sewell hard and he goes crashing into the barricade! The crowd erupts in boos as Maxwell is doing everything he can to get at Aubrey and Cone! Back in the ring, Lesnar rises up out of the corner and drives a clothesline into Miro who stumbles back into the middle of the ring. He’s grabbed from behind by Cody Rhodes! Crossrhodes onto Miro! He’s down! Kevin Nash and Danhausen are working on one another in the corner near where the commotion is happening outside the ring! Somehow Big Sexy has survived up to this point as well as the much smaller and much eviler Danhausen. Cody tries to pick Miro back up to his feet, but he’s basically dead weight at this point. Lesnar is back up to his feet and Cody doesn’t see him coming, he’s decked with a hard clothesline, taking him down next to Miro! Lesnar turns and gets decked by a Crescent kick from Malakai Black! Taking down the beast! Outside the ring, MJF is still trying to get at Edwards, he’s practically foaming at the mouth screaming at them that they cost him his chance at a world title. Edwards and Cone aren’t backing down, demanding he leave ringside. Shane Sewell is trying to come to from the attack from Friedman. In the ring, Danhausen is trying to fight back on Nash. Kevin goes in for a shoulder tackle, but Danhausen ducks under him! Now Nash is in the corner, Danhausen is the one rushing in for a shoulder tackle now, but Nash lifts Danhausen up and over the top rope! Danhausen crashes into MJF from behind, knocking him into the giant pile of referees and ringside crew! Danhausen is out!



Aubrey and Cone are knocked back, but not to the ground. They try and get the situation back under control but Charles Robinson and Resmburg are under a pile with Danhausen and MJF on top of it! Back inside the ring, Malakai Black is standing over the downed Lesnar, Miro and Cody Rhodes. Nash is making his way back towards them. Black lifts Cody up to his feet and grabs him back the back of the head, rushing him towards the rope up and over the top rope and to the floor on the other side of the ring from the madness outside the ring!

MAURO RANALLO: CODY RHODES IS OUT! MALAKAI BLACK HAS ELIMINATED HIM!

RENEE YOUNG: WHAT A RUN FROM CODY! WE ARE DOWN TO FOUR!

PAT MCAFEE: It’s still madness over there!

BUFF BAGWELL: MJF is out for referee blood over here!

RENEE YOUNG: Wait a second, what’s he doing!?

Cody Rhodes lands in a heap on the outside but there’s no referee to make the call and call him eliminated. Cody quickly bounces back to his feet and realizes his situation. He slides back into the ring as Malakai Black and Kevin Nash are in the corner. Neither of them see him coming as Rhodes rushes them, grabbing underneath their legs, lifting them up and over the top! They land near the pile of referees and superstars outside of the ring! Miro is still down in the ring as Brock Lesnar gets back to his feet! Cody turns his attention to him and rushes in! Lesnar catches him and hoists him up for an F5, but Cody uses his elbow into the side of Brock’s head and Lesnar has to drop him! Lesnar stumbles back a bit towards the rope and the mess of bodies outside the ring. Cody rushes in and drives a clothesline through his chest! Lesnar is up and over to the floor! Eliminated!

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PAT MCAFEE: WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?

MAURO RANALLO: NO ONE SAW CODY RHODES GET ELIMINATED!

RENEE YOUNG: HE JUST THREW OUT BLACK, LESNAR AND NASH! WHAT IS GOING ON!?

BUFF BAGWELL: CODY RHODES AND MIRO HAVE WON! THEY’RE GOING TO ASCENSION!

Miro starts to come to as Cody Rhodes music plays. Miro stumbles to his feet and Cody stumbles over towards him, grabbing his arm and raising it in the air, pointing to him. The crowd has no idea how to react. There’s a ton of cheers and boos altogether.

MAURO RANALLO: Fans, this is absolutely insane!

RENEE YOUNG: Is this official?

JUSTIN ROBERTS: Ladies and gentlemen, your winners. Cody Rhodes and Miro!

PAT MCAFEE: It’s official! What a match!

MAURO RANALLO: Fans, we are out of time, but we have a mess to clean up before Vengeance on February 2nd!

RENEE YOUNG: Cody Rhodes and Miro are declared the winners and I think MJF is your X-Division number one contender!

The pile of bodies outside the ring all start to come to and realize what’s happened. Malakai Black stares in the ring at Miro and Cody Rhodes, breathing heavily. His gaze narrows as he realizes what happened as the show credits pop up on the screen.