Ash Blake vs. Lissie Hope
Adilene Floyd: The following contest is scheduled for one fall!The distorted guitar that opens Rilo Kiley's "Jenny, You're Barely Alive" blares over the PA system as the house lights die, the ActionTron displaying nothing as a lone spotlight focuses on the stage. As Jenny Lewis' vocals come in, Ash Blake emerges from behind the curtain to the center of the spotlight with an unsteady gait, the Hardcore Title slung over her shoulder. The spotlight follows her as she half-stumbles, half-sways down the ramp, distant gaze fixed on the center of the ring as around her the jeering of the crowd goes in one ear — literally.
Adilene Floyd: Making her way to the ring, from Cottonwood Falls, Kansas! Standing five feet, seven inches tall and weighing in tonight at one hundred, twenty-five pounds. She is the Action Wrestling Hardcore Champion of the World, Ash Blake!The crowd hurls another wave of jeers at the mention of her name as she pauses for a moment at the base of the ring stairs. Shaking her head and inhaling deep, she gingerly ascends the stairs and steps under the middle rope, handing off the belt to the official and making her way towards her corner as "Jenny, You're Barely Alive" slowly fades out and the house lights slowly come back to life.
Chris Avery: Though this match was announced back in November, it feels as though it was much longer in the making.
Billy: You could say that again! And after everything that's gone between the two, I can't imagine there's any love lost!The downtempo bass drops. The trap-heavy outro of Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” floods the arena, the booming shaking the seats underneath each audience member. They rise to their feet in anticipation of the arrival of Action Wrestling’s former two-time World Champion, and erstwhile member of Philidor Holdings, "The Blackheart" Lissie Hope!
I like when you get mad.
The crowd jumps out of their seats as the booming bass of the song continues. The anticipation is growing, and the boos start to crescendo.
You said she’s scared of me?
I mean...
Finally, the curtains spread and Lissie Hope emerges at the top of the entrance stage, standing for a moment and taking in the fan response. She notices a few signs of support and points those young fans out, the ones who despite her decisions to join Philidor Holdings, still hold her up as a figure of strength and perseverance. She sprints down the ramp, sliding under the bottom rope. She bounces to her feet and raises her arms to the crowd.
I’m the bad guy.
Ha!
Adeline Floyd: Ladies and gentlemen, representing Philidor Holdings... standing 5'5" and weighing 135 pounds... "THE BLACKHEART"... LISSSSSSIEEEE HOOOOOOPE!She enters the ring, wearing a cut-off "Villain" tee-shirt, and black and red workout pants. She removes the Villain t-shirt and tosses it the front rows, watching the fans fight over the memorabilia. Climbing the corner to acknowledge the fans, the song fades to a hush and she awaits the opening bell.
Billy: Shitfire! You can't help but feel there's something extra symbolic in her tossing that shirt into the crowd this time!Chris Avery: She's made her first steps towards getting out from underneath Philidor's shadow, but I think if anyone knows that it'll take more than some nice gestures, it's her!Lissie's eyes narrow as they fall upon Ash, who cocks her hand clenches in her fists in response.
Chris Avery: Oh, man. If looks could kill.Billy: They'd have to dig two graves.The official calls for the bell and both women emerge out of their corners, both mirroring the other as they circle one another. Despite the clear animosity painted on their faces, neither woman seems eager to make the first move. Lissie is the first the charge forward, however, lunging ahead, driving her shoulder into Ash's stomach and backing her into the corner. With her former compatriot's back against the turnbuckles, Lissie returns to a fully vertical base, throwing a flurry of forearms; some connect flush with Ash's jaw, some whiff.
Chris Avery: A million miles an hour to start!Billy: If either of these two had a gameplan going into this one, I think it went out the window the second they actually saw one another!Ash ducks one of the blows, and Lissie's forearm smashes into the cornerpost. As Lissie grits her teeth and shakes the damage off, Ash shoves her away, freeing herself from the corner. A cut — one of her recently stitched gashes from her title defense at Turmoil — has split open once more due to Lissie's barrage. Blood trickles down Ash's cheek as she tries to shake loose the cobwebs.
Billy: Shitfire! There will be blood!Ash wipes blood away, eyes still locked on Lissie, who clenches a fist. The pair charge for one another; Ash gets the upper hand, stumbling forward and launching herself up with an ugly looking dropkick that nevertheless sends both feet into the pit of Lissie's stomach. Stumbling back, Lissie lands seated as Ash pushes herself up to her feet.
Chris Avery: Ash hasn't quite looked herself since Execution, when Johnny Bacchus—Billy: Almost bashed her brains in!Chris Avery: Yeah, that.Ash shakes her head and hits the ropes, swinging a kick right into the chest of her seated opponent that Lissie ducks by lying flat on the canvas. Stopping on a dime (or, at least trying to), Ash plants both feet on the ground and hops backward, hoping to land a double foot stomp on the supine Lissie instead.
But Lissie rolls away! Ash stumbles, and Lissie grabs her by the ankle, sweeping her off her feet and sending her crashing to the mat.
Chris Avery: These two have each other scouted!Lissie wastes no time in maintaining the advantage. Climbing into a full mount, she snakes one hand around the back of Ash's head, forcing it upward while cocking back with a closed fist! She rains down punches in yet another flurry, her opponent unable to cover up and just eating blow after blow.
Chris Avery: Lissie refusing to let up!Billy: She's got eight months worth of demons to exorcise tonight!Then, instead of attempting to cover up, Ash reaches upwards, looping her wrist around the back of Lissie's neck. With a sudden spasm, she jerks Lissie's head down towards hers and cracks Lissie right in the teeth with a HUGE headbutt!
Lissie stumbles back, a hand pressed to her lips as Ash rubs the site of impact on her forehead, the newfound space revealing her busted, bleeding nose.
Chris Avery: Ash's nose might be broken here!
Billy: Is there any part that isn't by now?Teeth gnashing, Ash pounds the canvas with her right hand, forcing herself to stand. Lissie, herself bleeding slightly from her bottom lip, charges forward once more, only to get caught with a drop toe hold that sends her careening to the mat. Taking a few steps back to get a running start, Ash leaps once more, landing a standing double stomp onto Lissie's back.
Chris Avery: Oof!Lissie writhes on the mat, her hands balled into his fists as she grimaces and rolls onto her back. Ash goes for the cover.
ONE!
TW— Lissie shoots a shoulder up!
Billy: Kinda quick for her to be going for a cover, no?Chris Avery: I think she's just trying to make Lissie expend the energy to kickout.Ash shakes her head as Lissie rolls onto her stomach. Cinching in a front facelock, Ash hoists Lissie up onto her feet, only for Lissie to immediately respond with a picture-perfect northern-lights suplex, holding the bridge for a pin of her own.
ONE!
TWO!
Ash forces a shoulder up!
Chris Avery: And turnabout is fair play!Sparing no time and keeping the pressure up, Lissie rolls Ash onto her stomach and hoists her up, interlocking her fingers around the back of Ash's neck to cinch in a muay thai clinch! Measuring her shot, Lissie BLASTS Ash in the face with a huge knee! Ash's knees buckle and then give way. Dropping like a sack of bricks, Ash's hands shoot to her face as blood pours from her nose.
Chris Avery: This match is not for the faint of heart!Lissie, shaking her head and snarling, pries Ash off the canvas once more, but Ash — hands drenched with her own blood — use that to her advantage, grabbing onto Lissie's hands to slicken her grip as she pulls herself away. With a hint of separation built between the two, Ash launches herself forward, throwing her whole body into a massive forearm smash that clocks Lissie right in the cheek!
Lissie stumbles back, wincing, before responding with a heavy kick to Ash's thigh!
Billy: This is just a fight!Chris Avery: They know each other too well and hate each other too much for it to be anything else!Grimacing, Ash stumbles forward with another forearm. Another kick in response.
Forearm.
Kick.
Forearm.
Kick.
A cut forms along Lissie's cheekbone. Under her tights, Ash's leg is purple.
Her head snapping back after another forearm, Lissie lets the momentum carry her away, before she rebounds back, looking to take Ash's head off her shoulders with a lariat! Ash realizes what's coming however, and ducks into a sloppy, unsteady bridge to avoid the blow. Letting that momentum carry her, Ash transitions into a handstand, locking her legs around Lissie's neck as she turns back around to face her opponent and taking her to the mat with a headscissors takedown!
Billy: Shitfire!Keeping the neck lock held in, Ash rises to a seated position, rearing her fist back and drilling Lissie right on the spot of the cut!
Chris Avery: She's trying to open it up further!She throws and lands another as Lissie struggles to escape the hold.
Billy: Ain't closed fists against the rules, anyway?Chris Avery: I don't think any official would want to end this one that way!Lissie's hands wrap around Ash's ankles, pulling her legs apart and slipping out of the hold. Ash reflexively rolls onto her stomach as Lissie explodes back to her feet, using the leverage on Ash to transition her grip from Ash's ankles to locking her arms around the prone Ash Blake's waist!
Billy: What's she got planned here?With a grunt, she HEAVES Ash up in the air, before throwing her backward and dumping her on her head with what can perhaps best be described as a Gutwrench Back Suplex!
Chris Avery: A little innovation on display!Lissie doesn't hold the bridge but does cover the folded Ash in a way that pins her own knees to her shoulders.
ONE!
TWO!
Ash explodes through a kickout, taking advantage of the positioning to claw at Lissie's eye on the way up! Lissie stumbles backward, holding the sight of impact while Ash insists she didn't do anything to the official as she moves towards the corner.
Chris Avery: Accidentally on purpose, Ash Blake's style in a nutshell.A sick grin forming on her face as she lines up her shot on Lissie, still tending to her scratched-at eye, Ash explodes out of the corner and drives a sprinting knee right into Lissie's gut! Doubled over, Lissie drops to her knees and Ash flattens her out, pulling her legs out straight before collapsing atop her shoulder blades, cinching in essentially a side full-nelson.
Chris Avery: We all know how strong Lissie is, but it's hard to move when you've got almost your entire body weight sprawled out across you like this!Billy: Especially when you just got the wind knocked out of you!With blood on her teeth, Ash's grin goes manic as she pulls her leg back and drives it forward, connecting with a knee to the side of Lissie's head as she tries to wriggle free of the grasp!
She delivers another. And another. Before Lissie seemingly goes limp and Ash rolls her over for a cover.
Billy: Shitfire! This might be it!Chris Avery: This can't be it!ONE!
TWO!
THR-KICKOUT!
Lissie COMES back to life with a resounding kickout; Ash pounds the canvas in frustration and disbelief. She snarls something incomprehensible to the official before breaking for the corner. Slowly and incredibly unsteady, Ash scales the turnbuckles as Lissie pulls herself to her feet.
Chris Avery: She's looking to put this one away right here!Ash leaps off the turnbuckles, looking for her patented shooting star DDT…
BUT LISSIE DRILLS HER WITH A SUPERKICK!
Ash's head SNAPS back violently on contact, her body crashing to canvas with a resounding THUD as the crowd bursts into cheers!
Billy: SHITFIRE!Chris Avery: Just like that, Ash Blake is out!Lissie immediately covers. The crowd chants along with the ref:
ONE!
TWO!
THREE— NO!
Chris Avery: Her foot's on the rope!The official waves off the count!
Billy: She had her! Lissie had her! No way Ash was gonna kick out of that!Lissie, stunned and angry, pounds on the mat before getting back up to her feet. Looking over at the corner, gestures for the crowd who receive her with another wave of support before scaling the turnbuckles herself.
Chris Avery: Lissie's lookin' to fly here!Balancing on the top rope, Lissie takes a deep breath before leaping off, looking for her Corkscrew Swanton Bomb!
But Ash gets her knees up!
Chris Avery: Signs of life from Ash Blake!As Lissie clutches at the small of her back, Ash writhes on the mat, pulling herself up to her feet with aid of the ropes. Shooting a look over her shoulder and wiping the blood on her hands across her tights to dry her hands off, Ash leaps onto the second rope and springboards off, driving her feet right into Lissie Hope's sternum with a wicked Springboard Moonstomp!
Chris Avery: These two are pulling out all the stops in this one!Billy: This is it, Chris! Crunch time!Ash collapses atop Lissie for a cover.
ONE!
TWO!
THRE—NO! Lissie kicks out!
Chris Avery: Lissie Hope will not die!Billy: And listen to the crowd, Chris! They're loving her for it right now!Face contorted in a look of rage, Ash forces Lissie into a seated position, wrapping in bodyscissors before cinching in a crossface chickenwing!
Chris Avery: The Icaruswing!
She wrenches the hold in, thrashing Lissie around with a squirrel caught in the mouth of a pitbull. Lissie grimaces and roars in agony, tightening her hands into fists to force herself to remain steeled.
Nevertheless, though, she reaches out, her hand hovering over the canvas.
Chris Avery: Is this it? Is she going to tap?As Ash, smelling blood in the water, wrenches harder, Lissie's hand shakes violently as it continues to just hover, inches off the mat.
Then, it shoots upwards, clapping Ash's right ear as hard as it can! Ash's grip goes limp immediately and Lissie wriggles free, forcing the dazed Ash onto her shoulders as she rises to her feet. Eyeing the corner, Lissie gets a running start before dumping Ash into the turnbuckles with a nasty looking Death Valley Driver!
Billy: Shitfire!She pulls Ash out of the corner, towards the center of the ring before going for the cover once more!
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT!
Ash, seeming dazed and confused, is about as shocked as everyone else in the arena that she managed to kick out! Eyes wide, blood smeared and leaking down her face, stares up at the lights in shock, while Lissie scowls.
Chris Avery: What a match!Billy: Neither woman is willing to yield!Lissie grabs Ash and peels her up to her feet. Delivering a boot to Ash's gut, she forces her doubled-over opponent's head between her legs and hooks her arms.
Billy: It's time for the Crown of Thorns!However, Ash wriggles and thrashes, spinning out of the hold!
Chris Avery: They know each other all too well! Neither have been able to capitalize on any of their signature maneuvers!As Ash turns around, Lissie tries to catch her off-guard, going for her patented Lights Out Jumping Knee!
But Ash gets her hands looped around Lissie's thighs and shoves her up further, so she's seated on Ash's shoulders!
She drops with a sit-out powerbomb!
Billy: I think I've said it a lot in this match, but SHITFIRE!Chris Avery: In all my days, I never thought I'd see Ash Blake give someone a powerbomb!Ash places her feet across Lissie's shoulders for the cover as the crowd erupts in boos!
ONE!
TWO!
NO!
Lissie EXPLODES up with a kickout that brings her seated, and she drives another strike into the face of Ash Blake!
Chris Avery: These women are both willing to die for this!Billy: And kill for it, by the looks of things!Her head snapping back from the blow, Ash responds by spitting a mouthful of blood and mucus into Lissie's face!
Chris Avery: Disgusting behavior here!Forcing herself to her feet while her opponent wipes the gunk off her face, Ash grabs Lissie by the hair, ignoring the admonishment from the ref as she drags her to her feet. Driving a boot into Lissie's midsection, the crowd gets a good sense of deja vu as Ash gets Lissie in the same position Lissie had her in moments prior!
Billy: She's going for the Crown of Thorns!Chris Avery: The move that signaled the beginning of Lissie Hope's affiliation with Philidor! It would be a poetic ending, of course, but there's one small problem.
Ahem.
LISSIE HOPE BREAKS FREE!
The crowd ROARS with approval as Lissie hoists Ash onto her shoulder!
Billy: What could she be looking for here?Chris Avery: I could only imagine, Billy! With how well they know each other, it's time for something new!Ash writhes and struggles on Lissie's shoulder, however, driving elbows into the side of Lissie's neck! Breaking her grip momentarily, Ash pushes herself upwards, bringing her knees together before awkwardly trying to stand on Lissie's shoulders.
Chris Avery: What the hell?Billy: I think I've seen this film before.Achieving the feat, Ash doesn't take a moment to steady herself or hesitate before leaping off, driving Lissie's skull into the mat with a Shooting Star DDT off of Lissie's shoulders!
Chris Avery: Chapter 11!Billy: Shades of Timebomb!Chris Avery: It can't end like this!The crowd washes the ongoing scenes with a wave of boos as Ash hooks the leg for the cover.
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Adilene Floyd: And your winner, by pinfall: Ash Blake!The crowd continues to boo as "Jenny, You're Barely Alive" hits the speakers once more. Ash pushes herself to her feet and snatches her championship back from the timekeeper before turning and making her way back up the ramp with little pomp or circumstance.
Chris Avery: An absolute war between these two women to ring in the new year!Billy: It might be cold comfort for both of them, but they left it all in the ring! And now to see what the rest of the year brings.We see Ash Blake up the ramp and she looks up at the ActionTron but only for a beat then smirks and just walks to the back with her Hardcore Championship.
We see Lissie Hope sitting in the middle of the ring with her head down.
We fade to a commercial break.