Ethan Miller: The following is scheduled for ONE FALL!
Chris Avery: This match has such huge potential to be match of the night, it realistically is one of a billed double main event. I can't imagine who's idea it was to give this away on the pre-show!!
Billy: Listen, this feud is just to pop a few likes on Twitter, and that's passe. We're all about the Tiktok buzz, the Truth Social buzz, the Woopfh buzz! Haven't you gotten a bark on Woopfh yet? It's next level shit!!
Chris Avery: .....Social media may have played a part in this, but what it really comes down to is, who's standing for AW when the dust is settled, which of these two former World Champions comes out victorious tonight?Ethan Miller: Introducing first...
The guitar opening of “Plowed” by Sponge begins to bellow out over the P.A system bringing the attention to the stage as the lights strobe as if in sync with the tempo of the song.
Will I wake up, some dream I made up
No, I guess it's reality
What will change us, or will we mess up
Our only chance to connect with a dream
-KA-BOOM!-
The fireworks explode off the top of the tron bringing the end to the strobes as a spotlight illuminates the figure of Tatiana Jolee standing there. Dressed in her blackout ring attire with matching boots and pads - her hair is pulled up in a bun and she has a black leather jacket with the Canadian flag on the back.
Will I wake up, some dream I made up
No, I guess it's reality
What will change us, or will we mess up
Our only chance to connect with a dream
Say a prayer for me
(Say a prayer for me)
Say a prayer for me
Say a prayer for me
(Say a prayer for me)
I'm buried by the sound
Of a world of human wreckage
In a world of human wreckage
In a world of human wreckage
Where I'm lost and I'm found, and I can't touch the ground
I'm plowed into the sound
Ethan Miller: Making her way to the ring, from Vancouver, British Columbia… weighing in at 113 bs... TATIANA JOLEE!!
To see wide open with a head that's broken
Hang a life on some tragedy
Plow me under the ground that covers
The message that is the seed...
After giving out a few high-fives and taking a couple of selfies with her fans along the ramp, TJ walks up the ring steps, gliding across the apron before entering the ring through the middle ropes. She gives the hard camera a smirk and a little wink while removing her jacket before settling into the corner to await the start of her match.
Chris Avery: It's good to see Tatiana Jolee showing up ready to fight, and hopefully she's brought her top form to this.
Billy: You can say it, she blew AW off for Havoc and didn't prepare, but she was posting cat videos instead. Really hope she came to work tonight.
Chris Avery: If she taps into the fighting spirit that lead her to overcome Jill Park at XIII, she might have a chance.
Ethan Miller: And her opponent...
The opening keyboard intro, synths, and soft buildup of "Degausser" by Brand New begins to play, and as drums kick in, an immaculately animated video game drop down menu, made to resemble the font and aesthetic of a Japanese RPG, opens and the cursor hovers over the options, "LOAD GAME, SAVE GAME" before paging up to the first option, "START GAME" and highlighting it. Kyle Shane steps slowly out onto the stage, as Jesse Lacey launches into the first lines:
"Goodbye to sleep...
I think this staying up/Is exactly what I need...
Well, take apart your bed,
Take apart the counting/And the flock it has bred...
Goodbye to love...
Well, it's a ride that will push you up/Right against the wall[...]"
Kyle is wearing a leather coat with a black hood, the cut and color of which is made to resemble David's in Cyberpunk 2077. As he steps onto the stage, clips of a futuristic cityscape flash by in quicktime interspersed with flashes of him hitting signature moves, and the crowd is picking up the energy and singing along with the backing vocals in "Degausser"; As Kyle starts walking down the ramp, smiling, that inimitable Kyle Shane swagger in his step, arms out, pivoting so all eyes are on him as he turns, the crowd sings along "TAKE APART YOUR HEAD, CHEW IT UP AND SWALLOW IT". As Kyle steps towards them, some of the fans are put off by the ever-present arrogance of the smarky, self-obsessed Catalyst, but some fans at ringside give a deep, fanning bow in the aisles as Kyle passes. The crowd continues to counter-sing the backing vocals, "TAKE APART YOUR FRIENDS, TAKE APART YOUR DEMONS, IN THE ATTIC TO THE LEFT..." And the guitars are going harder, and Jesse Lacey's voice reaches it's apex, with the crowd singing along.
"GOODBYE, MY LOVE/YOU BURN BRIGHT, BUT YOU RUN OUT...
(You wait right here, they'll come and pick you up)
I FELL ASLEEP IN THE ALKALINE...
(I've been on pause, I'm shaking off the rust)
I CAN'T SHAKE THIS LITTLE FEELING...
(I've lost my charge, I've been degaussed)
I'LL NEVER SAY ANYTHING RIGHT..."
Ethan Miller: Making his way to the ring, from Roxbury, Massachusetts... weighing in at 207 lbs... THE GOD OF GAME... KYLE SHANE!!Kyle stops halfway down the aisle, snapping the collar of the Cyberpunk cosplay jacket upright. He climbs onto the apron. Kyle balances one knee on the ropes, hanging on to the top for a moment, an infuriating smirk breaking across his face. As the song reaches the softer part of Jesse's solo, with the crowd singing along, "Take me, take me back to your bed, I love you so much that it hurts my head..." Kyle fluidly slips between the ropes, spins towards the entrance ramp and extends his arm fully out, his first finger and thumb pointed out in a pantomime of a cocked pistol, before he mouths the word "Bang" and lets the hammer down.
"When we were made we were set apart/But life is a test and I get bad marks...
Now some saint got the job of writing down my sins...
The storm is coming/THE STORM IS COMING IN!!"
Kyle turns, still with a smirk, as the crowd is worked into a frenzy, and he removes the leather jacket and begins stretching for the match.
Chris Avery: The return, and reinvigoration, of Kyle Shane in 2024 is a story that has to be studied, because it's been years, even before his hiatus, since we've seen him fully motivated, fully-charged, not making excuses, not providing a negative energy or burning himself out. Kyle Shane returned, at Havoc, and immediately fought his way into the final two. He's been on fire since his return, and he's begun forming a connection with the fans that none have matched.
Billy: Fucking christ, did his entrance get LONGER? And he's up against Jolee, who also has one of the longest entrances in AW; This is the 9/11 of people with IBS who need a bathroom break but are forcing themselves to sit through entrances!
Chris Avery: Listen to the crowd singing his theme song!!
Kyle stands on the top rope, shielding his eyes with the flat of his hand and scanning the crowd, and he breaks into a bigger grin as they are still singing the bridge to Degausser, "Take me, take me to your bed, I love you much that it hurts my head, I don't mind you under my skin, I'll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in", Shane motions to the crowd to sing along, conducting in the air like a maestro with his fingers. Tatiana looks on, nonplussed, and Shane glances back at her, smiling broadly. The crowd is overwhelmingly singing his theme song, "Take apart your friends, take apart your demons, in the attic, to the left." Tatiana stares around her with a bemused and annoyed expression, because what the fuck is happening.
Billy: Can I get your prediction, Avery?
Chris Avery: Well, I... I don't want to call it this early, I think both of these competitors have so much on the line, there's no way we aren't seeing a true test of will, and who wants it more.
Billy: Booooo, don't take a cop out. I know in my heart that Shane is going to be looking to stand as a messenger here, he feels like Tatiana has besmirched AW and has been a voice of negativity and he wants to show the wrestling world that he loves it for everything it's given him. It's hard to argue with logic like that!
Chris Avery: I just want to see the best fight possible.
The referee tells Shane to hop down and let's get this started, and Shane gives him a cocky grin, but he stands down, and faces Tatiana. Kyle looks from Tatiana, to the crowd, and extends a handshake, and Tatiana's eyes dip to his hand, back up to his face. Kyle just makes a "well, alright" kind of grin and he nods to the referee, who asserts also that Tatiana is ready to go as well. As soon as the bell sounds, and they step towards each other, camera flashes light up the arena, because let's fucking GOOOOOO.
Chris Avery: Ring the bell, the (pre-show) main event has BEGUN!!
DING DING DING
Tatiana shoots in for an amateur takedown attempt, but Kyle spins out of it. For a moment, they jockey for position, and then he sweeps her legs from under her, but before he can mount her, she quickly slips out. She attempts to clamp Kyle in a facelock, but he spins out of it. Tatiana and Kyle square off against each other, in a standoff, and then Tatiana fires a flurry of martial arts kicks at Kyle, starting with his hamstrings. Kyle takes a kick to the midsection, and then Tatiana takes Kyle down with a leg sweep and then she slaps on a leg grapevine. Kyle breaks the hold immediately by getting to the ropes. Tatiana lifts Kyle up and gives him a dragon whip, then attempting another, and holding onto his leg she lifts him up, and gives him a third dragon whip, hanging onto his leg before trying for a single leg crab. Kyle won't let Tatiana turn him over, shoving her off. Tatiana goes flying into the corner and hits chest first, and she falls back to the mat. Kyle axehandles her over the back before she can get up. Kyle takes a moment to boot Tatiana down and then he sticks his boot on Tatiana's throat and begins choking her. He pulls down on the top rope as he pushes down with his boot. The ref warns Kyle, but Kyle ignores him.
Billy: I think because he's been gone since 2020, there's an entire crop of people, in the AW extended cinematic universe, who haven't experienced Kyle Shane in his prime wrestling, this kid has a mean streak!
Chris Avery: While he may be fighting, as he asserts, for the love of the game, Kyle is definitely going to put her through a trial by fire tonight.
Kyle lifts Tatiana up and he goes for an Irish whip. Tatiana ducks a clothesline on the bounce back, then she runs to the ropes and hit Kyle with a flying forearm smash. Tatiana nips up to her feet and as Kyle gets up, she takes him down with a leg lariat, then covers.
ONE!
KICKOUT!!Tatiana goes to lift Kyle up but Kyle cuts her off with a stiff European uppercut. Kyle takes a few steps away as he rubs his chin, and then he angrily starts stomping on Tatiana. He lifts her up, and whips her to the turnbuckle. Tatiana hits back first and stumbles out right into a heavy clothesline. Kyle shakes his arm out from the impact. Kyle plants Tatiana on her back with a scoop slam. Kyle lifts Tatiana and powers her down with a snap suplex, and then hangs on to her head as he drags her back up and nails a side suplex. Finally, Kyle drops an elbow across her back, locking in a rear chinlock. The ref checks on Tatiana, who flails her arms around in the air. Kyle drops his rear down on Tatiana's lower back. Tatiana is pulled up, and Kyle gives her a gutwrench suplex. He covers.
ONE!
KICKOUT!!
Kyle grips Tatiana and locks her in a guillotine chokehold. Tatiana's arm flails. Kyle grinds it in, using his longer legs to coil around the smaller woman. Tatiana refuses to give up, rocking back and forth, so Kyle simply releases the hold. Kyle then lifts Tatiana, hitting a double underhook backbreaker. Kyle lifts Tatiana up, and begins peppering her with right hands, backing his smaller opponent up to the ropes. Tatiana ducks a right and sweeps in and gives him a kick to the hamstring, then another, and another. She tries for one more, but Kyle grabs her foot and flings her around in a circle. Tatiana, dazed, pulls herself up on the ropes. Kyle tells her to come on.
Chris Avery: Not necessarily a knock against Tatiana, but there's simply no way around it, she gives up a foot of height and a hundred pounds of mass to Kyle.
Billy: Size is a relative motherfucker, to anyone else Kyle is a cruiserweight, but against this tiny firecracker he's a plodding behemoth.
Tatiana ducks under Kyle's outstretched hands and gives him a forearm shot to the mouth, then she lights up his legs with a few kicks, including a straight stomp right on the knee. Tatiana backs up to the ropes, but Kyle gives Tatiana a back drop that sends her sailing high into the air and crashing down on the mat. Tatiana shouts in pain and holds her lower back. Kyle lifts her up with ease and plants Tatiana with a scoop slam. Tatiana grits her teeth and hisses in pain, as she holds her lower back. Kyle lifts Tatiana back up, clubbing her over the back a few times, which completely floors Tatiana. Kyle irish whips her to the ropes, and as she comes back off Kyle swings for a clothesline but Tatiana ducks under it and keeps running to the opposite ropes. She flings herself at Kyle for a Thesz press, but Kyle catches her midair with a dropkick! Kyle nips up to his feet, a cocky grin on his face, and he shouts "Come on!!" to get the crowd fired up. Kyle lifts Tatiana up, and whips her into the corner. He comes in looking for a corner splash but Tatiana moves right the hell out of the way, and when Kyle turns, he eats a stiff backfist from the former AW World Champ. Kyle stumbles back, and Tatiana gets a running start and then dropkicks Kyle right in the knee.
Chris Avery: I think Tatiana has found her own strategy as a way to take Kyle down.
Billy: It's like chopping down a lanky redwood that's like 1/4 neck and haircut.
Tatiana grabs Kyle's leg and hooks his foot under her arm as if for a DDT and then drops back, slamming in on the mat. Kyle grimaces and holds his leg and knee. Tatiana straightens the leg out and then drops a knee across the leg. Then she puts all her weight on it as she grabs his foot and bends upwards, twisting it. Kyle groans and tries to push her off. He reaches for her, but she moves back out of his reach. Our official for the evening asks if Kyle gives up, but Kyle says no. Kyle swings at her, but again Tatiana moves her head back, as she continues twisting upwards on his leg. Again, the ref asks if Kyle will give up, but he refuses. Finally, Tatiana releases the hold. She gets to her feet and gives Kyle a low straight kick right to the sternum as he sits up, then she gives him a running forearm drop to the head, a la the Hitman.
Chris Avery: Tatiana has learned from the best in Canada, she's got a long tenure as a journeyman and knows how to break a man down piece by piece.
Billy: Wrestling is as much a revered institution up there as Tim Hortons, smearing maple syrup on snow and calling it a dessert confection, and spooning with a Mountie in the wilds of Saskatchewan.
ONE!
TWO!!
KICKOUT!!!Kyle gets to one knee, as Tatiana boots him down a little. Suddenly, Kyle comes out with a rolling uppercut that nearly knocks her head off. Kyle gets to his feet, limping a bit. Kyle rests, then sees Tatiana has rolled over to play rope-a-dope by hanging under the bottom ropes. Shane's face is deadly serious as he paces around, staring at her. Kyle pulls Tatiana back up into a waistlock, and begins giving her a German suplex. Tatiana scrambles over to the ropes and grabs on to the top rope, holding on for dear life and attempting to block it. Kyle clubs her across the back a few times, as he tries to suplex her, but she hangs on. The ref tells them to break it up out of the ropes. Kyle and the ref argue for a moment, as Tatiana continues holding on to the ropes. Kyle finally turns back to Tatiana, who slips out onto the apron and gives Kyle a kick to the midsection. Tatiana then hangs grips Kyle's head and pulls it down, hanging him up throat first on the top rope. Kyle goes stumbling back, holding his throat. Tatiana gets back in the ring and takes Kyle down with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Tatiana waits for Kyle to recover, and she attempts to give him a Codebreaker, but Kyle ducks his head under it and slides around, lifting her into an electric chair before dropping her with a German suplex.
Chris Avery: Tatiana had him on the ropes going for the Double Clutch, but Kyle was able to counter, and - Within Cells Interlinked!!
Billy: It's taken me this long to get that half of his moves now reference Blade Runner.
Chris Avery: It is a valid metaphor for how influential Kyle sees himself as in the current wrestling zeitgeist, Blade Runner was commercially-panned but has gone on to influence a multitude of stories about artificial intelligence and the human spirit, and in the same way Kyle also has long been pushing to examine the human -
Billy: I was just going to remark that that movie has four different director's cuts and he should've named his finisher the Director's Cut, jesus christ have you ever touched a woman's titty.
Chris Avery: How many ladies have you had lately with that mentality?
Billy: About one to the square root of five more than you've had in your life?
Kyle grimaces, as the lift of Within Cells Interlinked has forced him to hold his knee and sell for a moment, before he pushes himself up. He lifts Tatiana off the canvas and gives her a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, leaving Tatiana laying across his knee. Kyle then lifts the smaller opponent as he stands up, and drops her with a back suplex. Kyle walks away towards one of the corners as Tatiana slowly makes her way to her feet, and as Kyle circles around he nails Tatiana with a basement superkick that sends her flopping onto her back. Tatiana lays on the mat, dazed and not knowing where she is. Kyle covers...
Chris Avery: BLACKOUT!!
ONE!
TWO!!
KICKOUT!!!Tatiana rolls outside the ring to recuperate. After a moment, Tatiana starts to get to her feet. She makes her way around the ring. Kyle pursues Tatiana around the ring. Tatiana comes around the corner where the announcer table is, and she jumps on the corner of the table just as Kyle comes around the corner by the ringpost. Tatiana jumps back with a springboard forearm knocking her back against the barricade and knocking Kyle back against the ringpost. Kyle then launches himself forward going for a clothesline, but Tatiana ducks and Shane gets nothing but ringpost. As Kyle backs away from the turnbuckle holding his shoulder, Tatiana takes him down to the padded floor with a springboard legscissor off the ring apron. Kyle rolls to the outside, and the ref is counting them both out. Tatiana rolls back in the ring, staring at Kyle with intense focus. Kyle, meanwhile, is pulling himself up. Tatiana goes for a baseball slide, but Kyle moves out of the way and lets Tatiana go by him. Kyle goes for a clothesline, but again Tatiana ducks. Kyle and Tatiana both rise to a standing position as Kyle wraps his arms around Tatiana's waist and powers her into the ring apron with force, as Tatiana screams.
Chris Avery: Vicious shot by Shane, driving Tatiana into the apron.
Billy: Kyle's mentality is fascinating here, I suppose, to mix metaphors, you can't fight for love without breaking a few eggs.
The ref has begun counting them out again. Kyle drags a limp Tatiana over to the announce table and begins clearing it off. Avery and Billy scatter. Kyle scoop slams Tatiana onto the announce table, then he walks over and climbs onto the Spanish announce table, gets a running start and gives her a big running leg drop on top of the announce table, and Tatiana is nearly beheaded and rolls off, dropping into a heap on the floor below. The referee is counting... 4... 5... 6...
Chris Avery: The action came right to our doorstep, but we -
Billy: Don't hurt me, I bleed easily, I'm a hemophiliac!!
Chris Avery: You're a true soldier, Billy.
The referee, still counting them both out, is at a count of 8. Kyle quickly walks over and rolls in the ring and back out to break the count. Kyle then rolls Tatiana back into the ring before entering the ring himself. Tatiana grabs her by his arm and attempts to whip him to the ropes, but Kyle resists by planting his feet. He sends her into the far ropes with everything he has. Tatiana hits the ropes fast, so fast in fact that Kyle can't get to his feet completely by the time she returns, and she grabs Kyle around the neck before hitting a spinning neckbreaker on him in the middle of the ring. Tatiana then goes for a Lionsaut, but Kyle gets his knees up and Tatiana hits midsection first across his upstretched knees. Kyle then pulls the dazed Tatiana to her feet as she locks her into an abdominal stretch. Tatiana groans in pain. The bigger Kyle has Tatiana bent into an uncomfortable position. Tatiana reaches out for the ropes but she can't move any closer. Finally, Tatiana brings her foot down and stomps on Kyle's foot. She does it again, and Kyle finally releases the hold just enough for her to drop down and bring her leg up to connect with his face in a Pele kick. Tatiana drops to all fours as Kyle stumbles back. Tatiana pulls herself up, and then she runs to the ropes and when she comes back, Kyle catches her and drills her by flipping her up onto his shoulders and crushing her with a gutbuster in one smooth motion. Then, just to make it that much more fucked up, Kyle grips the legs, pulls Jolee arms back and stretches her with a Mexican surfboard.
Chris Avery: Look at all that weight on Tatiana's back as Kyle twists her body like a pretzel.
Billy: She should just give up while she's ahead.
Chris Avery: I think you know that Tatiana is determined not to give Kyle the satisfaction.
Billy: Right, we'll see how well that works.
Tatiana shouts in pain and flails her arms around frantically. Kyle sits back on the hold, tightening the chinlock. The ref asks Tatiana if she gives up. Tatiana shouts "No!". Kyle increases the pressure, and she screams, then bites her hand to keep from screaming. The crowd is chanting "JOLEE, JOLEE, JOLEE". She tries to elbow her way free, but Kyle clubs her down and keeps the hold applied. Tatiana can't help but to scream at the pressure on her back. Tatiana finally inches forward just enough and pulls herself out, and grabs the bottom rope. The ref tells Kyle to break the hold. Kyle aggressively holds on for just a moment. Finally, he gets to his feet. He and the official argue for a moment. Tatiana gets to her feet at about the same time, only Tatiana is holding her lower back. Kyle walks over toward Tatiana, and Tatiana quickly gives him a spinning back kick to the gut, then jumps up onto the middle rope before hitting a sleeper hold drop. Boh competitors are down momentarily, Kyle jerking and spasming and holding his neck and Tatiana selling the beating from the submission. Tatiana rests, grimacing and holding her lower back. She slowly gets to her feet. Tatiana then applies a falling leglock, contorting Kyle's knee painfully. Kyle screams, and flails her arms. The ref asks Kyle if he gives up, but Kyle refuses. Finally, Tatiana releases the hold. Tatiana gets to her feet in a bit of pain, and then as Kyle pulls himself up he eats several kicks to the hamstring, and then to the midsection. Kyle shoves Tatiana away, and Tatiana runs off the ropes, only for Kyle to speed up, run past her, hit the ropes with lightning speed and rocket back to Tatiana to take her down with a slingblade neckbreaker! Kyle covers...
ONE!
TWO!!
KICKOUT!!!Kyle stalks Tatiana as she gets to her feet, and Tatiana gets up, and she eats a combo of two light superkicks back to back, the first one making her stumble to the ropes, the second making her fall back to the mat. Kyle paces around the mat for a second before walking over to the turnbuckle. Then he climbs up to the top rope, setting his legs briefly and tucking them in as he flings off into midair going for a 450, I know his bio page says he's been phasing these out, but this is Evolution baby, he's pulling it all out, but Tatiana is already moving, out of the way, and Kyle adjusts himself to land on his feet, but as he turns, just a bit off-balance from having to land on his feet, Tatiana nails him with a shotgun dropkick, sending Shane ping-ponging back and hitting the turnbuckle and bouncing off. Shane pulls himself up, painfully, on all fours, holding his lower back and grimacing. Tatiana paces around, screaming and making motions with her hands getting the crowd behind her. Tatiana comes running in and gives him a low doublefooted dropkick to the side of the head. Tatiana goes for a cover.
Chris Avery: Jolee has Shane reeling, Shane is down, and OOOOH what a shot!
Billy: This diminutive Canadian is pulling her weight against one of the most OP players in the game!!
ONE!
TWO!!
KICKOUT!!!Tatiana waits for Kyle to get to his feet, and then doubles Kyle over with a spinning back kick to the midsection, then she runs off the ropes and hits a running Codebreaker, dropping Kyle's face down on her knees. Tatiana holds on for the cover.
Chris Avery: DOUBLE CLUTCH!!
Billy: Tatiana is treating this like AW is her domain, and Shane is the interloper!!
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Chris Avery: I truly can't tell who has the edge in speed here, they have both gone counter for counter.
Billy: Again, this is a pre-show match! Like fucking CHRIST.
Tatiana turns Kyle over, locking him in a brutal looking cattle mutilation submission hold, squeezing with all of her might. Kyle slowly begins looking like he's fading out as Tatiana increases the pressure. The ref asks if he gives up. Kyle shakes his finger no, but he's being exerted to a lot of pressure as his shoulder joints are being ripped and torn as Tatiana worries him like a dog with a bone. Kyle's face is turning bright red. Tatiana shouts for him to give up, and flexes her shoulders to force Kyle's shoulder blades closer together, digging in the hold. Kyle continues to try and pull himself over and stack Tatiana into a pin, to release some of the pressure, but Tatiana readjusts herself, not letting Kyle bully her. The ref asks Kyle if he gives up. Kyle shakes his hand no, but he's starting to fade. The crowd is getting behind Kyle slowly but surely, and then he starts pulling himself up to one knee as Tatiana hangs over him keeping the cattle mutilation hold in. Tatiana frees one arm, and Bryan Danielson-style begins battering Kyle with rapid-fire elbow-strikes to the side of the head. Then, she lets go of one side, transitioning BJJ style from a butterfly guard to an omoplata crossface. Kyle's eyes bug out as his arm is jerked into place and Tatiana clamps the crossface down.
Chris Avery: Jolee has Shane in DEEP trouble, he might tap at any minute!!
Billy: That in itself is a big possibility, Kyle Shane is regarded as the most pitbull tenacious (or doggedly annoying) of his peer group ever since the heyday of the XDub Reboot. He's outlasted peers like Tax, Joseph Page, Lucas Felix, RJ Palmer, and he's rarely if ever just given up!
Chris Avery: It has been four years, and Shane showed up having kicked off a lot of rust, but he's competing at a main event level now, against an opponent at the top of her game!
The crowd is getting behind this amazing display, the pro-Jolee or just Shane is fucking annoying half chanting "TAP TAP TAP TAP", and the pro-Shane half chanting "NO NO NO NO", and Kyle struggles and groans in agony, stretching his length frame to reach out for the ropes, but Tatiana keeps him in place. Kyle begins rocking back and forth, trying to maneuver out of the omoplata crossface, and he succeeds in rolling onto his side and his arm, dislodging Tatiana somewhat, but she tenaciously hangs on keeping her hands clamped around his face. Shane rolls onto his side, so that he stacks Tatiana up like he's going for a pinfall. Tatiana, sensing that she's only got a second before she starts getting counted as pinned, releases it, and Shane slides over her back, transitioning into a headlock and pulling up with a bully choke! His long legs lock into place and he begins arching his back, and now HE begins yelling for Tatiana to TAP!! The crowd pops huge for the reversal into the Black Lotus, and veins begins bulging with the effort on Shane's forearms. Tatiana's face begins going dark as Shane pulls up under her chin with all his might. However, Tatiana, reaching out, is able to push Shane off-balance and loosen the noose of forearm around her throat, then she scoots over, and SHE reverses the bully choke, holding onto a wrist and bringing her legs up so that she locks Kyle in a triangle chokehold! Shane's eyes bulge, and he slaps the mat, in abject frustration of escaping one hold only to be twisted into another.
Chris Avery: Tatiana is a submission specialist, any submission Shane has in his arsenal is one she no doubt has already gameplanned a way out of.
Billy: Really is one of those "you would use my own spells against me, Potter" moment; And fucking ugh, it's 2024, I hate making Harry Potter references even when they apply perfectly to a situation.
Chris Avery: We here at AW would like to say trans lives matter.
Kyle is fading fast in the triangle hold, and he sinks to all fours, his face going a shade of purple that can't be healthy. Several long seconds pass by in the hold, but Shane waves it off when the ref asks him if he gives up. Finally, Kyle begins pushing himself up, and twists around so that her legs are still around his neck, and he pulls himself up to a kneeling powerbomb, slamming Tatiana hard enough that he dislodges her. Kyle, gasping for air, lays between Tatiana's legs for a moment, then keeps control of her legs as he finally he gets to his feet, grips her legs and then drops back for a catapult, sending her into the turnbuckle. Tatiana rests in the corner, catching her breath, and Kyle also takes a few deep gasps of air. Tatiana runs off the ropes, and then Kyle swings at her for a clothesline but she ducks and keeps running, going right into the corner and running up the turnbuckles until she is on the top rope, then she turns and flies off with a crossbody. However, Kyle runs right through her, nailing her with a running single leg dropkick IN MIDAIR THAT BOOTS HER OUT OF THE SKY!!
Chris Avery: KYLE SHANE JUST CUT TATIANA DOWN IN MID-FLIGHT!!
Billy: ...I'm rooting for the cocky little shit and I've never seen him pull anything like that out before, that was an amazing counter!!
Chris Avery: He blew Tatiana clear across the ring!!!
Tatiana is thrown across the ring, and lands on the apron. Kyle looks for all the world as if he is dazed and that counter put him in an out of body experience, he blinks and shakes his head, trying to get his natural coloring back. The crowd is chanting "SHANE, SHANE, SHANE, SHANE". Kyle then pulls a nearly lifeless Tatiana up, back into the ring, hooking her head in a facelock and taking her out with a snap rolling cutter, and pins her.
Chris Avery: SHANE WITH TANNHAUSER GATE!!
Billy: Sniff, best... monologue... ever... love you forever Batty.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!The crowd goes so loud for that, and Kyle flings his hands up in the air like he can't believe it as he sinks down onto his back, breathing heavily. Tatiana is laid out on her back, eyes closed, grimacing in pain.
Chris Avery: I don't think Kyle even knew just how much effort he would have to put out to defeat Tatiana!!
Billy: This is a Pride Month match, as in both of these people have too much pride to go down so easily! Also, they're both somewhere on the Kinsey scale ifyouknowwhatImean.
Kyle grits his teeth and argues with the ref, telling him it was three. The ref assures him Tatiana kicked out. Kyle has an intense look on his face as he lifts Tatiana up. He boots her in the gut and attempts to give her a powerbomb. He lifts her up in the air. Suddenly, she reverses into a victory roll pin. The ref counts the pin.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!The crowd are fully invested in a 50/50 partisan split, going up to the rafters with a "TATIANA/LET'S GO SHANE, TATIANA/LET'S GO SHANE" Tatiana slowly gets to her feet, and gives Kyle a few kicks. Tatiana boots Kyle in the gut and grips his head for a Codebreaker, but at the last second as she flips herself up he pulls his head loose and catches her on the way down with a straight kick right to the sternum. Kyle then lifts Tatiana up and plants her with a lifting single underhook DDT. A winded Kyle sinks down, and covers Tatiana.
Chris Avery: AND SHANE WITH THE VOIGHT-KAMPF TEST!!
Billy: Kyle may just force Tatiana to admit she's a replicant with that one!!
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Billy: Man, Tatiana is really showing me something.
Chris Avery: I know, she has shown a lot of heart in giving Kyle this test.
Kyle grits his feet in frustration at Tatiana and he lifts her up, clubbing her over the back, which knocks her down subsequently. Kyle grips Tatiana's head between his legs as the crowd is building a "Shane" chant, but as he pulls her up, she pulls her head loose in midair and twists around behind Kyle, kicking him in the back of the leg and then as he drops to one knee, she runs and uses his knee as a springboard to hit a shining wizard right to the temple. Kyle drops down to the mat. Tatiana rests, using the ropes to hold herself up, and motions for Kyle to get up, and when he does, shaking the cobwebs out, Tatiana boots him in the gut and hits a hurricanrana. Tatiana then runs over to the corner, begging for Kyle to get up, and when he does, Tatiana cuts him the fuck down with a Codebreaker. The crowd erupts with cheers for her and camera phones catch the moment as Shane falls onto his back. Tatiana drops down for a pin.
Chris Avery: After multiple attempts in this match, a SECOND Double Clutch connects!!
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Tatiana rolls off of Shane, sitting up, and staring in disbelief. For a moment, doubt begins to creep into her face, as if she's replaying all of the things Shane has said to her this month, questioning her heart, and you can see the emotion settling in as she tells herself that no, he's wrong, and she is the best technical wrestler in AW. She snarls, getting to her feet, and her fingers grasp at Kyle's sweaty head, his usually gelled and coiffed hair looking unkempt. She pulls Shane up, but as she goes to lift him up Kyle catches her with a roaring elbow, and she falls back.. He goes to lift Tatiana up. He punishes her with a club to the back that makes her drop to her knees and crawl forward on them. Kyle lifts Tatiana up, attempting for a headlock driver, but before he can spike her head into the mat, Tatiana spins out of it, and quickly sweeps his legs out from under him, countering into the Sharpshooter.
Chris Avery: Tatiana's got him! Tatiana's got him! She turned him over!
Billy: Yeah, but it's such awkward positioning, since she's so much shorter than Kyle and he has those long legs, she has to work harder to bend him back.
Chris Avery: Tatiana has the sharpshooter clamped on with all she has!
Kyle yells in pain and struggles to avoid tapping out. The ref tells Shane that he should give up, even, but Kyle shakes his head, trying not to burst, but he finally lets out a yell of pain. He bites his knuckles rather than let out another scream. Tatiana sits back on the hold, bending Shane almost in half, provoking a new burst of anguish. Kyle uses his greater size to pull himself, and he tries hard to gain the ropes to force a rope break, but she just won't give it up. Kyle screams again, and does a push-up as he tries to force his way out of the hold. Finally, he scrambles over and grabs the bottom rope, forcing a rope break. Tatiana stands, and boots Kyle a few times as his hand is wrapped around the bottom rope. The ref tells Tatiana to back off, now. Tatiana stands apart, letting Kyle regain his footing, and then runs off the ropes and then wrap her legs around Kyle, going for a wheelbarrow transition bulldog maneuver (think Rey Mysterio) but Kyle grips on to her legs, lifting her up, and then planting her forcefully into the mat with a wheelbarrow facebuster, then while she's prone in that position he immediately steps over her and locks on a bridging bully choke again. Tatiana's eyes widen. Kyle arches his back and pulls Tatiana's neck back and up, in an uncomfortable angle. The crowd is getting behind Tatiana. Kyle yells at the ref, who asks Tatiana if she gives up, but she shouts, "NO!" Kyle shouts for her to give up, but Tatiana refuses. Slowly, she begins to fade from the pressure on her. She motions that she isn't done yet. Kyle settles back on the hold, increasing the pressure, and Tatiana yells out in pain. Tatiana tries to scoot her butt laterally to get to the ropes, but they're just out of reach.
Chris Avery: Kyle has the Black Lotus locked in. Tatiana is fighting with everything she has not to give up!!!
Billy: She has to, it's hopeless! Just give up, Tatiana, there's nothing wrong with being a quitter!
Tatiana pulls herself closer to the bottom rope, stretching her foot out out as far as she can, but Kyle squeezes his bicep and worries the hold in like a dog with a bone. Finally, after several more moments, Kyle releases the hold, seeing that she won't give up. He attempts to pull her back into the center of the ring and apply the hold, but she slips out from between his legs and quickly grabs on to the rope. The referee comes between them to make sure nothing happens while Tatiana grabs the rope. Kyle backs off, and Tatiana comes out of the ropes, and as Kyle swings for a clothesline, Tatiana ducks under it, boots him in the kneecap to knock his legs out from under him and when he is down closer to her level, follows up with a roundhouse kick right to the temple. An exhausted Tatiana makes the pin.
Chris Avery: Kyle Shane's expression is so glazed, that blow had some serious concussive force.
Billy: Well, it's not like his brain wasn't already pudding from those years of playing video games...
Chris Avery: I don't think Kyle can get out of this one!
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Tatiana can't believe it. She tells the ref that had to be three, but he assures her it was two. The crowd has dueling, "TATIANA/LET'S GO SHANE" chants starting up. Tatiana shouts for Kyle to get up, and she goes for a shotgun dropkick but as she does he pulls his head from under her leg and hits her with an outtanowhere V-TRIGGER while she's still in mid-jump that makes her do a flip or two in the air before crashing to the mat. Kyle shakes the cobwebs out. Tatiana is stunned, pulling herself up on the ropes, and Kyle runs back to the ropes on the opposite side, gaining even more momentum than previous, to run in and give her an even more explosive V-Trigger, plowing into her temple while she's laid against the middle ropes!!
Chris Avery: ONE SHOT, ONE KILL!
Billy: Two of them, back-to-back, to be precise! Well, it looks like Tatiana's back to being a steppingstone for people to get to the main event.
Chris Avery: Kyle is already in the main event, he's a nine-time World champion in XWF, Pure Class and WGWF, plus he was main eventing before Tatiana came along.
Kyle is winded, and the explosive energy that propelled him into those two punishing knockout blows seems to be dissipating rapidly, as he sinks the mat, convulsing. Tatiana, glassy-eyed and out of it, is near the ropes. For a moment, both competitors are too winded or selling the effects of the grueling match to continue. The referee is forced to start counting them both out.
Chris Avery: WHO IS GOING TO MAKE IT TO THEIR FEET??
As the referee starts counting them both out, the crowd, fully invested, begins to start singing the backing vocals to Degausser by Brand New, Kyle Shane's theme song, loudly enough from the front row to the back in a wave, and before you know it the referee is looking around in absolute awe as 67,553 fans are singing loudly "TAKE APART YOUR HEAD, CHEW IT UP AND SWALLOW IT, TAKE APART YOUR FRIENDS, TAKE APART YOUR DEMONS, IN THE ATTIC TO THE LEFT..." Shane, hearing the crowd conducting this unprompted singalong, begins pushing himself up, as does Tatiana. Tatiana stumbles to one knee, and Kyle meets her with a right hand, making her stumble back, Tatiana fires off a right of her own, making Shane stumble back to the ropes. Tatiana fires up, landing three unanswered rights, and going to grab Shane, but she hears the crowd singing "TAKE ME, TAKE ME TO YOUR BED" and Tatiana snaps, yelling for them to shut up. Tatiana grabs Shane's legs, pulling him out, and going for a sharpshooter, only for Shane to roll her into an inside cradle! The crowd goes insane!
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
NOOO!!!Kyle rolls out of the inside cradle himself, and picks Tatiana up and in one smooth motion, spikes her head into the mat with a headlock driver!
Chris Avery: NEXUS DAWN! THAT'S IT! THAT HAS TO BE IT!!
Kyle, winded, rolls Tatiana over, she's lifeless and barely even seems to be moving. It takes a moment for him to nudge Tatiana over, but when he does, he drags her over for a pin.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!
Chris Avery: SHE KICKED OUT! TATIANA BY GOD KICKED OUT OF THE NEXUS DAWN!!!
Billy: WHARGHBLLLL SHITFIREEEE WHAT A MATCH BRO!!
The roof explodes as Kyle sits up, his elbow over his knee, and runs a hand through his spiked hair, a hard exhalation crossing his lips. The crowd, those on his side, are singing! Kyle looks around them, a mix of emotions for those who are chanting the lyrics to Degausser, "Take me, take me to your bed, I love you so much that it hurts my head..." and Kyle looks at them as if he doesn't want to let them down. He didn't expect this to be so much a fight, either. He slowly, selling a lot of pain and grit, reaches down picking Tatiana up off the mat. He puts Tatiana in position to deliver a second or third headlock driver, and even lifts her head up under his elbow crook beginning to swing it down, only to have Tatiana spin out, pick the leg from behind, get to his legs and begin turning him over into the SHARPSHOOTER AGAIN!! Shane's eyes bug out of his head as he's caught in the trap.
Chris Avery: SHANE HAS NOWHERE TO GO!!
The referee asks Shane if he gives up. He frantically looks over at the referee, pleading with him and saying no, and he struggles. He tries to use his free arm to inch him over to the ropes. Tatiana's weight on his lower back, make moving less possible. Shane can barely hang on, and his left arm is outstretched, shaking, every erg of energy in his body thrumming. His hand wavers as if he may tap, but instead he drags himself on his right elbows and tries to pull himself laterally. Finally, the ref asks Shane if he gives up again, but Shane yells "NO" and scootches over, grabbing the bottom rope. The referee asks for a break, and Tatiana lets go of the sharpshooter, a disappointed and aggrieved look on her face, clearly thinking that this is a conspiracy. Shane is laid out like a deflated air mattress, rubbery and weak looking. Tatiana pulls the crippled Shane out into the middle of the ring, making the cover.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Yelling and cursing, Tatiana is coming unglued, as if this is all pointing to something being held against her in her mind and she is not having it. After all she's sacrificed for this sport, all of the blood, sweat and tears, she is not to be pushed aside anymore. This all tells on her face, along with a hint of desperation. She re-applies the pin, hooking the leg with more force. She yells at the referee to get down there and count again.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
KICKOUT!!!Shane breathlessly kicks out, and sits up, his eyes unfocused and his face red. Tatiana looks down at her opponent with a wild mix of emotions, respect, annoyance and many more. Tatiana cuts her eyes towards the referee who shows him two fingers as Tatiana starts working his way back to a vertical base, already irate as a Karen at a Target special that doesn't honor a coupon. Tatiana composes herself, finally, and she aggressively snatches the right ankle of Shane before locking in the sharpshooter for the THIRD time. The crowd continues to roar as Tatiana pulls Shane out towards the center of the ring, but Shane resists being turned, reaching up and pounding on Tatiana's head. Finally, Shane flexes his legs and uses all of his strength to send Tat flying off his lower extremities. Tatiana is sent flying into the referee, spilling both of them over. This referee is knocked down, and being... well, you know, a referee, he is knocked silly. Tatiana stares down in bewilderment and consternation at the ref taking such a bump, but then gathers her composure. She turns to look for Kyle Shane, but Shane has gotten behind her, and runs both of them forward into the corner in a somewhat desperation, somewhat he may be concussed and not knowing exactly where he is move.
Both Shane AND Tatiana go flying forward at full speed into the turnbuckles... and then... and in a freak accident, as Tatiana hits the turnbuckles, the nut holding the top rope SNAPS!
The top rope cables in that corner go loose, and Tatiana falls back, Shane falling with her, as the ropes in an entire side go limp!!
Chris Avery: WHOA WHOA WHAT THE HELL??
Billy: Tatiana just hit with sufficient force to break the ring!!
Shane is able to snap off a German suplex as Tatiana is tumbling back from being popped by the exploding ring ropes!!
Officials at ringside are panicking over the snapped top rope cable. And in the confusion, a new referee, let's call this guy Referee Two because your boy can't find any staffing, has come running down to ringside. Shane has turned both his and Tatiana's backward tumble into a sloppy, botched German suplex as both he and Tatiana go backward. Shane manages to land the suplex, slipping a little on one leg as his foot rolls on a cable before righting it into a bridge. Referee Two sees Shane holding on to the uneven bridge and he drops down for a cover, unaware that, on the other side of the ring, from a different angle, Referee One has gotten to his senses and sees the pin differently.
ONE!
TWO!!
THR---
EEEEE!!!!!The second referee orders the bell rung.
DING DING DING
Chris Avery: What the - what just happened here?!
Billy: I don't know, did you get a good look at it?!
Chris Avery: It all happened so fast after the top rope broke.
Billy: I know that Shane got that suplex in, it looked like he bridged into a pin.
The second ref confers with Ethan Miller, telling her that Shane got the pin with the German suplex into the bridge and he counted three. But then the first ref interjects, and he says that isn't what happened. Referee two yells at the first one, saying he saw it with his own eyes.
Billy: Well, which one of them is right?!
The referees are arguing, as Kyle Shane and Tatiana Jolee are both getting to their feet, angrily arguing and pleading their case as well as bickering with each other, Tatiana saying her shoulder was clearly up. The two referees can't come to a consensus, but the second referee says that as the senior official he's making the call, and tells some instructions to Ethan Miller.
Ethan Miller: The winner of this match... due to a referee's decision... KYLE SHANE!!The crowd respond to this controversial decision in a HEAVILY partisan fashion, split between cheering for Shane and booing loudly. Affirming his decision, the referee two goes over and lifts up Shane's hand. Shane argues with Tatiana, who is cursing at him from the other side of the ring.
Chris Avery: A controversial win, certainly with an asterisk, but it looks as if the referee made a call and it is going to be the one that he stands by, we're sure this is going to have to be peer reviewed.
Billy: This is bullshit!!
Chris Avery: Well... That's A peer review, I guess.
Billy: These two put on an instant classic, one of the highlights of Evolution, and it ends this way??
To his credit, Kyle isn't happy either, but he exits the ring as the PA system is queuing up "Degausser", Shane points to himself as he says he's the winner tonight. In the ring, Tatiana is irate, cursing at officials and saying that she was screwed.
Chris Avery: Not the way Tatiana wanted her Evolution to go, but you know she isn't done with this by a long shot!!