Howard Black vs. Lissie Hope
Adiliene Floyd: The following is scheduled for ONE FALL! Introducing first, she weighs in at 135 lbs... "THE BLACKHEART"... LISSIE HOPE!!!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 All-In Briefcase holder, and current new recruit of Philidor Holdings, 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, but the boo's and heavy, nuclear amounts of heat.
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 negative reaction of the fans. It seems to get to her, both in a slightly hurt but then, defiant manner. Lissie doesn't sprint to the ring this time, taking the time to boldly square her shoulders and take the long walk down to the ring, with the crowd booing the entire time. Sliding under the bottom rope, she bounces to her feet and raises her arms to the crowd.
I’m the bad guy.
Ha!
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 as the crowd showers her with boos, the song fades to a hush and she awaits the opening bell.
Chris Avery: The fans are showing Lissie all of their feelings about the "new" Lissie Hope, the woman who called herself the Heroine had been recruited by Philidor and perpetrated a brutal betrayal. They are not forgiving.Billy: She broke all our hearts, Avery! She's a Jezebel!!Chris Avery: And yet, when push came to shove, Lissie did not go through with it when Ash Blake ordered her to join in the decimation of Howard Black last week on Clash... so Blake, and the HR Department, have issued this ultimatum, tonight, Lissie is going to fight Black.Billy: I have no idea what's gonna happen, but I'm invested as FUCK!Adilene Floyd: And her opponent...Lissie seems to be mentally preparing herself. She squats in a ready position, looking back to the backstage area. Perhaps she's waiting for Howard in this pregnant second, or maybe, she's looking back to see if Ash Blake and the HR Department are watching.
Adilene Floyd: Weighing in at 215 lbs... "THE LOST BOY"... HOWARD BLACK!!The lights in the arena go to black, with only the giant screen above the stage displaying intensifying white streaks as the violins beginning "Endzeit" by Heaven Shall Burn swell. As the guitar and screams blare through the speakers, words splash themselves across the ActionTron:
"It's Such a Long Way Down"
From the curtain emerges Howard Black in a black hooded sweatshirt and black wrestling pants. White lions decorate the sides of his legs - a silver crucifix hangs from his neck.
Howard makes his way down the ramp, his eyes focused on the ring and his attention largely removed from the roar of the crowd around him. At the base of the ring, he looks up and stares right into the eyes of Lissie Hope. The two of them stare at each other, with the tension hanging thick. Howard's face shows a mix of determination, hurt, anger, care... but most of all, he just stares at Lissie with a little bit of sadness, as if this is what it's come to. The moment of contemplation passes before he turns and crosses to the stairs, climbing them and entering the ring between the middle and top rope.
Once inside, he goes through the usual motions of sweeping his hood from his head and crossing the mat to the far turnbuckle. He climbs to the second rope and looks over the crowd, his face stern and stoic. But this time, he's taking extra careful and deliberate time, slowing everything down to put off fighting Lissie. Dropping back to the mat, he crosses to his corner and removes his sweatshirt and crucifix necklace, which he gives a kiss before carefully storing it away. Turning back to the ring, he wait for the match to begin, leaning back in repose until the bell rings.
Chris Avery: Howard Black's face tells the story. Neither one of them wanted it to come to this, but it seems like Lissie's obligations to Philidor have forced their hands. And yet, the history between them has made this all too real, and painful for Black.The referee orders the bell rung and Lissie and Howard stand there for a long, tense moment. Howard makes no move towards Lissie, and the ref tells them let's get it on. Lissie looks from Howard, back to the back, and her mind seems to be making itself up, even though she doesn't want to do this. She yells at Howard to hit her. Howard shakes his head, and says he isn't going to do that. Lissie's voice gets higher, exhorting him "Fight me, Howard. FIGHT me" and she comes towards him, shoving and hitting him. Howard takes it on the cheek and shakes his head. The crowd is building in energy, some cheering for Howard to give everything he's got to the woman who betrayed their hearts, some not wanting the two to fight each other, a mix of "Yes Yes Yes" and "No No No" chants. Lissie is getting frustrated now, because she's been given no choice in the matter, she slaps Howard, yelling "FIGHT ME!!" Howard grits his teeth, and he backs away from Lissie, but he motions for her to come on. The two circle each other warily.
Billy: THEY GOTTA FIGHT!Lissie moves towards Howard, who attempts to shoot in for a takedown, but Lissie dodges to the side and nails his arm with a straight kick. Howard grits his teeth and shakes his arm. He grapples Lissie again, but Lissie wrings his arm and snaps off several more kicks. Lissie wrings Howard's arm, twisting it into a wristlock. Howard grunts in pain. He reverses into a hammerlock on Lissie. Lissie twists and tries to escape his grasp, then stomps on his foot and elbows him with her free arm. Howard finally releases the hold. Lissie goes for a kick, but he catches her foot, plants a hand on her chest, and shoves her away with force. Lissie simply rolls back into a crouched position. Howard looks down at her as if he's doing everything he can not to hurt Lissie, saying 'Don't make me hit you'. the two of them come towards each other again. They grapple, and Howard twists Lissie's arm into a wristlock. Lissie is able to perform a cartwheel to relieve the pressure on her arm, then she takes him down with an arm drag. Lissie applies a keylock on Howard's arm. Howard shakes his head in pain and attempts to elbow Lissie off. Lissie floats over into a front facelock, trying to choke him out, then she readjusts the hold and applies a rear chinlock wih her knee in Howard's back.
Chris Avery: Lissie has more incentive to fight here, and she is using all of her quickness and skill to chip away at Howard.As the crowd starts getting behind Lissie and Howard, clapping for them, Howard begins pulling himself up to a vertical base. He pushes Lissie off with force. Lissie comes right back at him, lighting him up with several kicks to the midsection, and then she grabs his arm and springs to the ropes, springing up onto the second rope and then hopping over the top rope while holding Black's hand, and as she comes down she yanks his injured arm on the top rope with force. Howard stumbles back, and holds his arm. Howard comes back to the ropes to grab Lissie, but she gives him a shoulder thrust. Howard drops to one knee, and Lissie runs off the ropes and as she comes back, she performs a short modified reverse hurricanrana to the doubled over Lost Boy that drives him face first into the canvas. Lissie then locks on a Fujiwara armbar, yanking Howard's injured arm and shoulder as she wrenches it upwards. The ref asks Howard if he gives up. Howard refuses. Lissie bends his arm back at an uncomfortable angle, but Howard still refuses to give up.
Lissie grips his arm, trying to lift him up and twist the arm at the same time, but Howard explodes with a clothesline from his free arm that flips Lissie completely over. Howard looks down at Lissie, then looking at his hands, seeing in horror that he hit her. Howard looks sadly down at her, a sort of "Look what you made me do, kid" expression. Howard tries to help her to her feet, not in an offensive way, more of a trying to set her upright. Lissie ducks under Howard'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. Lissie backs up to the ropes, but Howard gives Lissie a back drop that sends her sailing high into the air and crashing down on the mat. Lissie shouts in pain and holds her lower back.
Chris Avery: Howard seems reluctant to hit Lissie... but he is doing everything he can to outpace her.Billy: My grandmama always said it was wrong to hit a lady, maybe Howard had some other similar countryboy archetype in his life to feed him catechisms.Chris Avery: You -... Billy, that was remarkably meta. Are you becoming self-aware?Howard lifts Lissie up, and sensing that he needs to do something here, plants Lissie with a scoop slam. Lissie grits her teeth and hisses in pain, as she holds her lower back. Howard looks down at his hands again, mentally calculating how far he wants to go with her. Howard irish whips her to the ropes, and as she comes back off Howard swings for a clothesline but Lissie ducks under it and keeps running to the opposite ropes. She flings herself at Howard for a Thesz press, but Howard catches her for an arm drag. Howie then works it into a key lock, before flattening Lissie's arm out on the mat and giving a handstand kneedrop onto her elbow. Howie then grips Lissie's arm and bends it back in a Fujiwara armbar of his own.
Chris Avery: I think Howard has settled on, if he isn't going to hit Lissie, he can outwrestle her.Billy: Yeah, but you gotta ask yourself at some point, Avery... can there be any winners here, I mean... these two have gotta find some way to get out of this.Lissie reaches out quickly and scoots to the ropes before the hold can be fully applied. The referee tells Howard to break the hold and he does, holding his hands up innocently. Howard gets to his feet Howard lifts Lissie up and performs a vertical suplex. Howard lifts Lissie up and whips her off the ropes, giving her a one-armed version of a back body drop on the return. Howard paces around, a determined expression on his face. Lissie gets to her feet, and Howard hooks her from the side and goes to give her an STO Lissie spins out of it and wrings his arm. Lissie floats behind him with a hammerlock, but Howard snapmares her out of it. Lissie rolls back up, and Howard shakes his head grimly. Lissie gets back up, and clamps on Howard with a sleeper hold, yelling and thrashing around on his back, yelling for him to just lay down and end this. Howard runs her backwards until she is rammed into the turnbuckles with force. Lissie releases the hold, and Howard pulls her out with one arm and plants her with a sidewalk slam. Then, he locks in a crossface chickenwing.
Chris Avery: Black going for perhaps one of the only things in his arsenal to just put Lissie to sleep. Howard has more violent options, such as the Pitbull Lock or the Kimura... but those have more aggressive mannerisms that would put Lissie in more hurt than Howard is trying for in this match.Billy: We know there ain't no quit in Lissie - at least, the old Lissie. But I also think, with the situation she's in, she can't afford to quit, either.The referee asks Lissie if she gives up, but Lissie refuses. Several long moments tick by as Howard grips the hold in, and Lissie yells and reaches for the ropes with her free arm. Finally, Lissie pushes Howard, still hanging onto the hold, onto his back and bridges her legs into a pinning predicament. The referee drops down for a count.
The referee: One...
Two...
Thr - Howard releases the hold and lets Lissie fall to the side.
Howard is starting to get into big fight mode, trying to figure how to put Lissie away. As Lissie gets to one knee, Howard starts his arm as if to hit her with a Mollywhop but then, as Lissie looks up at him, Howard stays his hand, flashing back to all their times together, and hesitates. Lissie does not hesitate, performing a leg sweep kick to take Howard down and then floating over into an elevated single leg Boston crab with a knee on Howard's neck. Lissie yells again for Howard to give up. Howard groans in pain, but he refuses. Lissie is getting increasingly frustrated. Lissie releases the hold, only to float over and bend both his arms back into a scissored armbar, aka the Rings of Saturn. Howard yells in pain as his shoulder is wrenched. Lissie shouts that he has to give up. Howard yells that he won't. Lissie simply tightens the hold. Several moments pass by as the ref asks Howard again and again if he submits, and the crowd is willing the Lost Boy on. Finally, Lissie releases the hold. She shakes her head in frustration. Attempting to lift Howard up, but he is dead-weighting himself so as not to make it easy. Lissie pounds on his injured shoulder. Howard shoves her away. Lissie comes running back in and boots him viciously in the side of the head. Howard stumbles and falls to the mat, facedown. Lissie has a look of the utterly possessed as she stares down at Howard.
Chris Avery: There is so much on the line for Lissie, who knows what will happen if she disobeys or doesn't give her bosses what they want??Billy: Exactly, they told her they want Howie mangled, broken, beat tf up, and she has to deliver!!Lissie stomps on his hand and then gives his arm a knee drop. Howard yells and holds his arm in pain. Lissie motions for him to get up. As he gets to his feet, Lissie doubles Black over with a spinning back kick to the midsection, then she runs off the ropes and hits a running variation of a double knee facebuster. Lissie then runs to the ropes, and comes down with a tornado DDT, taking Howard to the mat, and for a second, the crowd reacts like they've got the Lissie Hope of old back. But then, as Lissie takes a few seconds to take a few gasping breaths, hanging onto the top rope by one arm, she looks around at the crowd with a look of disdain, and the boos start to creep in. Lissie shakes her head, and goes for the pin.
The referee: One...
Two...
Thre - Kickout.
Chris Avery: Lissie is just raining down punishment on Howard Black, and now look at her, she certainly isn't looking like the "Heroine" at the moment.Billy: No doubt about it she's the baaaad guy, duh.Lissie looks down at Howard, and she seems to be calculating, herself if she wants to go for one of her more devastating signature moves but - she hesitates too, she doesn't want to go all in on destroying Howie, somehow. She starts to go for a reverse STO but Howard fireman carries her to the mat. Lissie stumbles again, right into a back suplex. Howard peels Lissie off the mat and gives her a harsh snap suplex. Lissie arches her lower back in pain. Howard then applies a Boston crab, bending Lissie's legs back until she's almost bent double. Lissie shouts in pain. Lissie tries to grab the bottom ropes. Howard pulls her back out into the middle of the ring and sits back on the hold. Lissie screams in pain, and flails her arms. She grits her teeth to keep from shouting any more and bites her knuckle. Howard looks back at her, conflicted over how much pain he's putting Lissie in, but then looking forward stoically. Finally, Lissie crawls forward and grabs on to the bottom rope yet again, and the referee forces the break. Howard stands, again holding his hands up to show that he is making no aggressive action.
Howard senses, as Lissie lies on the mat and holds her back and leg in pain, that he can end it here, and he starts to pull her up, hooking her for the Tree of No Cares, but he doesn't have it cinched in all the way. He looks up at the lights, searching for answers from God the universe or the fans, who are all giving him support. Howard releases her from the hold for the spinning arm-trap DDT and just plants Lissie into the mat with a scoop slam. Howard shows regret in his eyes as he tries to grip her arm and maybe start the Kimura lock. Lissie's foot lashes out and catches him in the mouth, so hard that it makes his head snap back. A few spatters of blood fall on the mat, Lissie's kick busted' Howard's nose and lips. He holds his mouth in shock, and then Lissie gives Howard a kick in the gut to make him double over and drop to his knees. Lissie then runs off the ropes and goes for a shining wizard, but he ducks the swing of the kick and before her momentum can carry her around, he lifts her up on his shoulders and grabs on, then drops her with a reverse Death valley Driver. Howard then rests against the ropes, working his jaw and trying to wipe away the heavy flow of blood coming from his deviated septum.
Chris Avery: I think Lissie may have just pushed Howard too far.Billy: She made the Lost Boy BLEED!!Howard lifts Lissie up in a front facelock, then he drops her with a sit-out spinning arm-trap DDT, which he rolls straight into a Kimura lock.
Chris Avery: His hand completely forced, Howard went from the Tree of No Cares into the Kimura. He has been doing everything he can to avoid hitting Lissie, but with blood leaking down his front from his busted nose, he's trying to end this match right NOW!Howard twists on the Kimura, wrenching the hold in. Lissie yells and thrashes with her free arm. The hold isn't in to it's deepest twist yet, and Lissie is pushing herself on her elbow to turn into a position to alleviate the pressure even as Howard is doggedly trying to take her back down to her stomach. Lissie flings her free elbow back, the point of it ramming into Howard's temple again, and again, until he releases the Kimura. Howard shakes the cobwebs out quickly, and he gets to his feet, trying to turn Lissie over for a cloverleaf. Lissie again tries to fight out of it by punching Howard, hitting him in the face again and again and making more blood fall on them both. Howard simply stops trying to lock in the submission, then he grips both of her legs and falls back with a catapult, throwing her up into the corner. Lissie, however, is able to spring up at the last second and hop onto the second rope, then she resets herself and springs off the ropes, but she runs right into a big boot from Howard that catches her in midair and nearly decapitates her. Lissie does a flip in midair, then flops to the mat. Howard drops to both knees, holding his face, and he looks over at Lissie. He didn't want to do any of this to her, but he has and there's no turning back now.
Howard hen grabs hold of her legs and locks her in a Mexican surfboard submission. The referee asks Lissie if she gives up, but Lissie refuses.
Billy: You have to admire this girl's tenacity.Howard pulls back on the hold until he is on his back, and Lissie's back is arched. He tells her to give up, but she frantically shakes her head as her mouth is stretched in a grimace of pain. Finally, Howard breaks the hold. He lifts Lissie up and gives her a lifting t-bone suplex. Lissie lands on her lower back, and lets out a scream of pain. Howard walks over, and clubs Lissie a few times, then gives her a vertical suplex, holding on as he rolls his hips and lifting her up for a second vertical suplex. He holds on and rolls to his feet a third time, lifting her back up, and he resets himself and pops off a rolling Northern light's suplex. Lissie is flung across the ring. Howard, standing by the ropes, is calling for a Seventh Seal, but as he rushes at Lissie, Lissie leapfrogs him. Howard puts on the breaks, and turns around, and Lissie counters into a sit-out facebuster. The crowd pops for Lissie at this sudden reversal.
Chris Avery: Seventh Seal COUNTERED!!Billy: Both of these two know each other so well, and that's why it's best not to have sex with anybody!Chris Avery: They were just friends, Billy, don't be gross.Billy: Suuuureeee, juuuust friends!!Lissie then rests for a moment, catching her breath. After a few moments, she simply wraps her legs around Black's throat with a headscissor submission. She squeezes his throat tightly. Lissie shouts for him to give up. Howard, although being choked out, refuses. Lissie tightens the hold on her legs, and shouts at him again. Then, Lissie turns over on her stomach as she keeps his head between her legs, facedown. Lissie begins bouncing her hips up and down, giving him multiple facebusters into the mat and repeatedly driving his face into the canvas. Lissie turns back over and re-tightens the headscissors submission. The referee asks Black if he will throw in the towel, but Howard refuses yet again. Howard begins tiwsting himself around and trying to pull Lissie's legs apart. Finally, he is able to power his way up to his knees, as he is between Lissie's legs and he stands, gripping them, and he turns her over into a Texas cloverleaf. Lissie's eyes shoot open wide as Howard sits back on the hold. Lissie yells in pain and reaches for the ropes, for anything. Howard puts all his weight on the hold yet again. Lissie's face is twisted in agony. Howard tells her to give up. Lissie, however, is able to counter by pulling Howard's leg and yanking him off balance, and finally with Howard shaken up thus she is able to counter into a leg-scissor rollup!!
The referee: One...
Two...
Three - Kickout!
Both competitors are down, and take a few extra seconds to recuperate and take big lungfuls of air, before Howard is the first to his feet, still wiping his busted nose. He lifts Lissie back up and whips her off the ropes. As Lissie bounces off the ropes, Howard crushes her on the comeback with a bicycle knee. Then goes to lift her up, but he is tripped so that he falls into the corner, face first onto the middle turnbuckle, exacerbating the already busted nose of Howard. Howard falls out of the corner and onto all fours, stunned. Then Lissie quickly takes his head off with a buzzsaw kick. lissie paces around, holding her back, and Howie once again gets to a crouched position, as Lissie comes running in and gives him a low doublefooted dropkick to the side of the head. Lissie goes for a cover.
The referee: One...
TWO.
Three... Kickout!
Lissie looks frustrated, and lets out a yell. She looks back up the ramp, as if sensing the HR Department's hand close by, and then looks once more down at Howard as if she'd rather be doing anything but this. She lifts him up, calling for the Crown of Thorns, but she hesitates, an Howard backdrops his way out of the Pedigree, hitting the mat hard and then Lissie rolls to the outside, holding her back. Howard follows after her. Lissie crawls in the aisle, trying to get to her feet.Howard lifts Lissie back up and clubs her a few times, then he hooks her from the side and gives her a harsh Russian legsweep into the guardrail. The back of Lissie's head cracks the steel. She falls into the aisle. Howard, his jaw set in determination, walks over and grabs a steel chair, and he begins setting it up in the corner where two portions of the guardrail intersect. He lifts Lissie up and sits her in the chair. He backs up to the middle of the aisle and then gets a running start, attempting to give Lissie a boot while she's in the seated position, but she dives out of the way. Howard's leg is hung up with the guardrail. Lissie then nails Howard in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick, and Howard drops into the aisle! Lissie then senses the referee counting both of them out. The referee is at a count of 8... Lissie rolls in to break the count, then, her energy begins vibrating, and her leg bounces a little in anticipation, waiting for Howard to get back up in the aisle. Then, as Howard gets up, Lissie sprints across the ring, then explodes through the ropes, taking Howard down in the aisle with a Suicide Plancha!! Both competitors are down in the aisle again! The crowd explodes, and both Howard and Lissie are down in the aisle.
Chris Avery: LISSIE JUST WIPED THEM BOTH OUT!The referee leans out and starts checking on both competitors. At length, as Lissie and Howard are both dazed and unable to pick themselves up, he begins counting them both out... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... Lissie starts pulling herself up, using the guardrail to hold her upright. Howard follows, stumbling and barely able to keep his footing without the use of the apron. Lissie recovers quicker. She makes her way around the ring. Howard pursues Lissie around the ring. Lissie comes around the corner where the announcer table is, and she jumps on the corner of the table just as Howard comes around the corner by the ringpost. Lissie jumps back with a springboard forearm nocking Howard back against the guardrail. Howard then launches himself forward going for a clothesline, but Lissie ducks and Black gets nothing but ringpost. As Howard backs away from the turnbuckle holding his shoulder, Lissie takes him down to the padded floor with a Meteora off the ring apron. Both competitors are down again, but Lissie nips up to her feet with a warrior's yell.
Lissie rolls back in the ring, staring at Howard with intense focus, and she senses that she has to do something to end this. She gives a nervous look back over her shoulder.
Chris Avery: You have to wonder if the clock is ticking, or if Lissie's new benefactors are getting impatient for her to put Black away.Howard, meanwhile, is pulling himself up. Lissie goes for a baseball slide, but Howard moves out of the way and lets Lissie go by her. Howard goes for a clothesline, but again Lissie ducks. Howard and Lissie both rise to a standing position as Howard wraps his arms around Lissie's waist and powers her into the ring apron with force, as Lissie screams. The referee is at a count of 8. Howard quickly walks over and rolls in the ring and back out to break the count. Howard then rolls Lissie back into the ring before entering the ring himself. Lissie grabs her by him arm and attempts to whip him to the ropes, but Howard resists by planting his feet. He sends her into the far ropes with everything he has. Lissie hits the ropes fast, so fast in fact that Howard can't get to his feet completely by the time she returns, and she grabs Howard around the neck before hitting a spinning neckbreaker on him in the middle of the ring. Howard grips at his neck, and Lissie ruthlessly pulls him up by the face, yelling at him "YOU THINK THIS IS EASY FOR ME? HUH??" and slapping him. Howard falls back. Lissie curses and shakes her head, a stricken look on her face.
Suddenly, "Midnight City" by M83 hits on the PA, and Samson Saltair and Peter Garvey come walking out onto the stage, wearing well-made suits. Lissie's eyes fly wide open, and she shakes her head, can be heard to be saying "No, No No No No No", and looking from Samson and Garvey back down at Howard in a panic. Samson points a stern finger at Lissie, ordering her to finish it. Lissie holds her hands out to placate them, saying that she has this, please let her take care of this, and she turns back to Howard with a new speed borne of desperation. She picks Black up and drops him with a side slam backbreaker. She covers off the Dreamchaser.
The referee: One...
Two...
Three - Kickout!!
Lissie's hands fly to her hair, making her look disheveled and frantic, and she looks over at the HR Department as they're now right at ringside. Her eyes are wide, and she looks down at Howard. Suddenly, a flash of rage passes over her face. She snarls down at Howard, how dare he put her in this kind of position in front of the HR Department. She peels him back up off the mat and boots him in the gut, making Howard stumble and drop to all fours. Howard seems to not want to fight her anymore. Lissie grips the arms of Howard for a double underhook, setting him in position for what will not be a Downfall signature move, but will in fact be a match-ending pedigree. But before Lissie can hit the Crown of Thorns, Howard backdrops out of it sending Lissie to the mat!! The crowd explodes!!
Billy: WHAT IN THE SHITFIRIN - HOW DOES HE HAVE ANYTHING LEFT??Lissie yells in pain, holding her back. Howard kips up to his feet, and then he turns to stare sternly at Garvey and Saltair outside the ring, as if he's telling them that he holds them responsible for making them do this. He slowly turns back to Lissie, and a struggle passes across his face but he stuffs it down as he finally grits his teeth and charges her, BLASTING into her with a jumping knee strike. Lissie falls onto her back, completely wiped out by the move.
Chris Avery: I DON'T BELIEVE IT!! SEVENTH SEAL!! SEVENTH SEAL CONNECTS!!!Billy: IT'S OVER!! IT HAS TO BE!!!Cursing himself and visibly hating himself as he hesitates over it, Howard drops down, covering Lissie. HR Department, Garvey and Saltair exchange looks, Saltair shaking his head. The referee drops down for the count.
The referee: One...
Two...
Three - Kickout!!
Howard falls onto his back, completely spent. He runs his hands over his face, in complete disbelief and the emotional rollercoaster of the match having had a grueling effect on him. The crowd is cheering both competitors on, trying to will them to get back into the contest, but both Lissie and Howard are so worn down that they lay side by side, recuperating and trying to get some air back into their lungs. There's almost a wistfulness to the way they're laying down there, a wish that it didn't have to come to this... for both of them. But they've reached a point of no return.
Howard rolls over, pushing himself up on his elbows. Lissie, blinking and shaking the cobwebs out, does so as well, looking across the ring at Howard with pain written large on her expression.
Chris Avery: With everything these two meant to each other... and everything they've put each other through tonight... how will anything ever be the same?Both Lissie and Howard get to their feet, and then, as they stand, barely able to keep upright, Lissie dummies up and gives Howard a blistering forearm to the face, and then a chop to the chest, yelling "FIGHT ME, DAMN YOU!!" The next chop, however, is a bit more half-hearted, and her expression shows a lot of emotion, as she says, softer, "Fight me". Howard gives her a chop back, and then Lissie gives him a chop, trying to get him to exchange bombs. Howard chops her back, and then, his mouth becomes a firm line. He holds his fist back for a Mollywhop... but Lissie ducks it!! Lissie gives him a bicycle kick to the chest, knocking him back down. Lissie shakes her head at Howard, squinting and yelling "Why don't you just STAY DOWN??" Lissie grips at his arm, trying to pull him up and double underhook him yet again. Suddenly, though, Howard reverses, snapping her down and locking in the Kimura!! Lissie's eyes fly open wide, as she's locked into the submission, and on the outside, Garvey and Saltair exchange a shocked look, Lissie is seconds away from tapping.
Chris Avery: Kimura!! Kimura!! KIMURA IS LOCKED IN!!Billy: She's tapping, Avery, Lissie is about to TAP!!Lissie uses her free hand to frantically grab the ropes just when it looks like she's going to tap. The crowd gives a deflated sigh, as she uses the ropes to escape the Kimura. Lissie rolls around on the mat, holding the rope still, and looking up at Howard, and the referee checks on Lissie's arm. Behind the referee's back, Howard is too close to the side of the ropes that Samson Saltair is by, and Howard is nailed across the back by a surprise chairshot. Howard falls to his knees. The referee's ears shoot up, alerted by the impact of the chair, but Samson Saltair has surreptitiously disposed of the chair. Lissie knows what happened, though, and she looks at Samson Saltiar with a narrowed-eye expression, almost a betrayed look.
Chris Avery: DAMN THEM. DAMN THE HR DEPARTMENT. THEY TOOK THE FIGHT OUT OF LISSIE'S HANDS.She looks over at Saltair and Garvey, standing there like silent sentries, and she also senses another presence walk out onto the ramp. Ash Blake herself, the World Champion walks out onto the ramp, an expectant expression on her face. Ash Blake seems to be telling Lissie to honor her Philidor obligations. Lissie looks down at Howard, who is on his knees holding his back. Ash Blake points at Howard Black, telling Lissie "Finish it. NOW." Lissie shakes her head, looking miserable, and then, she pulls Howard up.
Billy: What is she gonna do??Lissie looks as if she can't win no matter what, and she gives a look up to the heavens, but she does underhook the arms. Finally, Lissie hits the Pedigree, and with a lot of effort, pushes Howard over.
Chris Avery: And now the Crown of Thorns, but it's academic.Billy: Lissie does not look happy about this.Ash Blake and the HR Department are looking on as Lissie sits over Howard, exhorting her to do the right thing. Lissie is forced to pin Howard.
The referee: One.....
Two...
Three!!
Ding Ding Ding
Lissie sits up as "bad guy" starts playing, but Lissie has a tearful expression on her face. She looks down at Howard and apologizes. She kisses his forehead.
Saltair and Garvey are smiling and applauding, and Ash Blake stares down with a small smile of approval, even knowing how it's twisting the knife in Lissie.
Lissie does not celebrate, she does not play to the crowd or want her hand raised, but she does look at Howard again as she exits the ring. Lissie is flanked by Saltair and Garvey as they walk away from the ring.
The crowd is showering the Philidor group wth heavy boo's, and a few of the jeers start to get to Lissie, but she tries to shake it off. Still, she can't help but look back at the ring, as Howard is pushing himself up on his elbows.
Chris Avery: It was a pyrrhic victory for sure, and Lissie does not feel good about it... but, where does this leave Lissie with Philidor?Billy: What about Howard?? Where is their soap opera going to lead?Chris Avery: Only time will tell!!