8/12/2024 - Anniversary Special

We return from break with the Moondogs, sans Oog - the biggest of their bunch inside the ring.  Lynx and Orville Newton make their way down to the ring to a great pop, shaking hands with fans along the way. 

The Dogs start barking at the jeers from the crowd.

The crowd roars for the fan favourites, who acknowledge their fans with a wave.

The bell sounds and Lynx begins with Moondog Buster.  Buster began wrestling in 2003, so he's one of the only fighters on the roster who have an experience edge on Lynx.  A lock-up sees Lynx drop to a knee, trying to muscle through with some leverage but Buster sends him rolling backwards nonetheless! Lynx gets up slowly, rethinking his strategy as Buster slaps his belly, chuckles then barks in delight as out-muscling his opponent.  Lynx circles around and they lock-up again, but Buster uses his size to send Lynx tumbling backwards a second time.  Lynx gets up in anger and they lock-up a third time, Lynx excutes a go behind but can't really do much with this position and Buster's stout body.  Lynx gets elbowed for his efforts, sending him back into the corner.  Buster hones in on him, delivering a knife edge chop to the chest! He then grabs Lynx' wrist and Irish whips him, but Lynx digs deep and manages to reverse it and send the Moondog into the opposite corner.  He then charges in... but no one is home! Buster moves at the last second, then clocks Lynx with a headbutt to drop him to the mat! Lynx clutches his head and doesn't see it coming...

BIG SPLASH!

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BROKEN UP BY ORVILLE NEWTON!

Buster gets to his knees and storms to his feet, Newton is on his way back to the apron but senses Buster is behind him and turns around! The Brains sees Lynx roll out to the floor to officially make him the legal man and Orville locks-up, applying a top wrist lock on Buster but the Moondog breaks it up with the most technical of reversals - a finger to the eye! Newton doubles over, Buster thumps him with a wild overhand club and now with Mrs. Newton's baby boy on the mat - Buster puts his dirty foot across Newton's chin/mouth area and grabs the ropes - standing on his foe! Referee Gideon Dube reprimands him for it, threatening to disqualify him but Buster simply ignores him and tags in Runt.  Runt rushes in and stomps on Newton repeatedly, then drags him into position as Buster slowly climbs to the second rope.  Lynx comes back in and attacks Runt, allowing Newton to roll out of harm's way before Buster can even get properly situated - so the big (moon)dog comes back down instead. 

Dube gets the ring all sorted out and we're in with Runt and Newton, two men who are similar in weight (150lbs for Runt, 160lbs for Newton) but a four inch height advantage for Newton... and drastically different ring styles.  Newton of course is heavy on the technical skills with little in the way of striking ability while Runt is a high-flying brawler.  Runt misses a dive, spear, tackle... I don't know! He just goes full bore into Newton and the Brains avoids him with a leap, then turns around and tackles Runt to the ground as he's trying to get up.  From the bottom, Runt pushes Newton off and escapes back to his feet.  Newton gets hit from behind by Buster and that little opening is all that's needed for Runt, who attacks! Lefts, rights, headbutts, kicks! It's like a cartoon cloud of smoke come to life! Runt grabs Newton's mask and begins tearing it, prompting Dube to shove him off - but Runt keeps on kicking and stomping at him as he's being pushed back.  Runt turns to the crowd and growls, Newton stumbles to his feet and eats a huge lariat! Runt falls to his hands and knees and barks and growls some more before he gets up and charges Newton again... but a drop toe hold puts him down! Newton gets up, puts his feet on the back of Runt's legs and grabs both arms...

ROMERO SPECIAL!

Newton slides back, putting Runt's shoulders to the mat!

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BROKEN UP BY BUSTER!

Buster stomps on Newton a few times, but the Brains isn't having it! He gets up and attacks Buster back! To the delight of the crowd, Newton is throwing strikes... and they're every bit as wimpy as you'd expect! He tries to body slam Buster, but a thunderous club puts him back in his place.  Runt charges in looking for a front dropkick, but Newton dodges it and Runt strikes Buster!

BUSTER FALLS ON RUNT!

The Chicago crowd oohs as the little guy is crushed by the big guy! Newton crawls over...

TAG TO LYNX!

Lynx gets in and grabs Buster by his hair, being yelled at by Dube as he pulls him out.  Lynx looks around...

AND BODY SLAMS BUSTER!

The crowd pops big as 5'8" Lynx body slamming the 300lbs Buster! He wraps his legs around Buster's arm and rolls him...

CRUCIFIX HOLD!

Newton comes in for the extra leverage!

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3!

Venue lights dim to an ominous red glow as a heavy, rhythmic drumbeat reverberates throughout the arena. The Chicago crowd buzzes in anticipation, and the screen flickers to life with cryptic, blood-red symbols and jagged lines.

Ladies and gentlemen, this bout is NO HOLDS BARRED! Introducing first from Mexico! He weighs in at one hundred and eighty pounds! SANGRE!

SANGRE steps out, his silhouette cutting through the dark as he appears.  As SANGRE approaches the ring, he pauses briefly at the apron, lifting his head as if drawing in the energy of the arena. He then leaps onto the apron and over the top rope in a fluid motion. Once inside, SANGRE drops to one knee, raises both hands to the sky.  He rises to his feet, his gaze fixed on the entrance, awaiting his opponent.

The lights in the arena suddenly flicker and shift to a cold, clinical blue. The sounds of whirring machinery and distorted electronic tones fill the air, creating an unsettling atmosphere.

His opponent from Silicon Valley! He weighs in at two hundred and forty five pounds! Being accompanied by Dr. Victor Turing! This is NEXUS!

Dr. Victor Turing emerges first, dressed in a sleek, futuristic lab coat with LED accents that pulse in rhythm with the music. He surveys the arena with a calm, calculating demeanor before gesturing to the entrance. The music shifts to a heavy industrial beat as NEXUS appears, his movements precise and mechanical. NEXUS wears a metallic-looking mask that obscures his face, with his ring gear consisting of tight, silver-and-black attire resembling advanced combat armor. The crowd is stunned silence, unsure how to react to this unsettling duo. NEXUS moves with eerie precision, each step synchronized with the flashing lights on his gear.  SANGRE rushes NEXUS as he gets in the ring, pelting him with shots as he backs him into the corner.  NEXUS takes quite a few blows, but keeps upright and picks his shots - blasting SANGRE with a few good ones.  SANGRE backs up, but charges in and hoofs NEXUS in the midsection with a push kick.  NEXUS falls to his knees and SANGRE keeps the onslaught coming, battering him with his knees to the "armoured" body while holding the ropes - taking full advantage of the no holds barred stipulation.  SANGRE then lines up a shot to the groin, dropping his knee onto NEXUS' privates! NEXUS' lights go all sorts of colours as referee Gideon Dube gets in SANGRE's face, but the Mexican warrior reminds him "NO HOLDS BARRED!" and pushes him aside as he goes back to the fight, smashing NEXUS with a right hand as he gets back up to his feet.  He delivers another knee and then proceeds to drape NEXUS over the second rope, SANGRE exits to the apron and climbs up the ropes...

DIVING FOOT STO-NO!

NEXUS moves and SANGRE has to somersault through his landing.  NEXUS greets him back on his feet, blasting him with an elbow smash - the Execution Elbow! SANGRE is knocked against the ropes and NEXUS climbs up onto the second and begins hammering away as the fans count along to ten! NEXUS' AI engine doesn't seem to understand the numbers going above 2, as his LED displays 0-1-0-1-0-1-0! NEXUS grabs him off the ropes as he steps down and lifts him into a side carry...

BACKBREAKER!

NEXUS seems to be calculating his next move as SANGRE feels the effect of the backbreaker, but ends up eating an upkick from SANGRE! SANGRE rolls to his feet and cracks NEXUS upside the head with a kick, then begins trading blows with him once more! SANGRE grabs him and spits the Niebla de Sangre! NEXUS' LED displays goes haywire! NEXUS grabs SANGRE and drills him with a headbutt, sending SANGRE down and out of the ring.  Dr. Victor Turing pleads with referee Gideon Dube to let him get in the ring and clean his clients' armour off, but Dube refuses! He tells Turing if he tries it - he's out of here!

NEXUS' equipment begins acting erratically, Dr. Victor Turing frantically taps his tablet as NEXUS' movements become a bit more fluid.  He exits the ring and goes after SANGRE, who's face paint as been mixed with a shade of crimson red! NEXUS rushes him, but SANGRE dodges the attack! NEXUS crashes into the guardrail and SANGRE has to wipe some blood away from his face, but drags his bloody hand across NEXUS' armoured chest and begins thumping away at the legs with kicks! SANGRE leaves him in a seated position and goes back into the ring... he runs to the opposite ropes, bounces off and comes tearing through the middle and bottom ropes...

TOPE CON GIRO!

Unfortunately for SANGRE, no one is home! NEXUS moves out of the way and SANGRE crashes hard into the guardrail.  NEXUS peels SANGRE off the ground, bloodied and battered and sends him back inside the ring.  Miraculously, SANGRE is up on his hands and knees before NEXUS is back inside the ring.  NEXUS slides in and bolts to his feet, hitting a high-angle senton to the back of SANGRE as he's on all fours to flatten him out! NEXUS rolls away and is slow to get up, while SANGRE tries to push himself off the mat but winces each time, opting instead to drag himself toward the ropes.  He tries to reach out for the middle rope but falls down across the bottom rope.  Blood drips down onto the apron as he lays there trying to recover, but NEXUS comes along and reaches between the top and middle ropes... grabbing SANGRE by the neck...

DRAGON SLEEPER IN THE ROPES!

Poor SANGRE has his body contorted between the ropes, the middle rope at his back as NEXUS clamps down on his head/neck with the Dragon Sleeper! Or the Data Drain as he calls it! Referee Gideon Dube exits the ring to check on SANGRE who is refusing to submit! All you can hear coming from him are repeated swears, cursing NEXUS... until it stops.  Dube waves the match!

The crowd cheers as NEXUS backs off his opponent and stands emotionless as he looks down upon him.  Dr. Turing enters the ring next to his client and calls this victory - "proof of technological superiority!" and raises his arms! NEXUS follows Turing as he exits.

SANGRE defiantly glares down the aisle at the pairing as we go to break. 

All four men are inside the ring and being shown the tag team titles.

The two guys raise their arms and shout "YEAH!" before removing their customized Punch Line jerseys. 

The crowd cheers the hell out of these two in comparison to their opponents.

Our main event gets under way with AJ Knight starting things off with Harv Norris.  A good mix of technical skill at play, but of course that isn't what we see.  A lock-up is initiated, but Norris drills AJ with a knee to the breadbasket and doubles him over... then dumps him outside the ring.  Referee Tubby Thomas orders NO TAG forcing Hull and Yamazaki to stay on the apron, Norris follows AJ out to the floor and Knight greets him on the outside! The two trade blows before AJ gains the upper hand, slams Norris' head off the apron and stuffs him back inside.  AJ crawls in and clamps on a front chancery, trying to control the situation while getting his wind back.  Norris counters out of it, taking AJ's back and trying to grab a chickenwing.  AJ grabs the top rope to force a break, but Norris cracks him with the point of his elbow! With AJ stunned, Norris wraps the arm over and under the top rope and begins yanking on it! Norris steps over and tags in Rick Hull.

Hull immediately goes to work, grabbing the arm and kicking it several times.  Hull is forced off by the five count, but grabs hold of AJ's arm again as soon as he's able and wrings it around, then slams his elbow down on it.  AJ falls to his knees, but Hull tries to force him back to his feet only to eat a forearm smash! Hull is knocked back a step, but eats a second helping! Yamazaki calls to AJ and surprisingly, AJ listens to someone else! He grabs Hull by the hair and drags him over to Yamazaki who's boot is the perfect date for Rick Hull's face! AJ grabs Hull and whips him off the ropes, catching him on the rebound with a back elbow smash - with the worked over arm, he clutches it as Hull goes down and Yamazaki stalks his prey... Hull climbs back to his feet...

DENIED!

Hull dumps himself through the ropes to the floor and tells everyone in Chicago how intelligent he is compared to "some dumb sumo" while Norris isn't exactly pleased with the situation Hull has left him.  Nonetheless the Punchie steps into the ring, the Canadian Shield steps up to Yamazaki and shoves him.  Yamazaki smirks, seemingly admiring the guts on the kid... then fires back with a knife edge chop that puts him on the mat! Norris begins the ascent back to a vertical base, but gets met with a double axe handle... then a forearm smash to the face.  "Fight back, stupid!" someone in the crowd yells and Norris swings and misses badly.  Yamazaki gives him a jab that knocks him on his ass again.  The Daikaiju backs up and tags in AJ, who shakes out his arm and seems eager to get in and dish out some revenge.  AJ grabs Norris and applies a cravate, but Knight gets his eyes raked and Norris escapes.  Norris shoves AJ over to the Punch Line corner and exits the ring, allowing Hull to come in.

Hull lights AJ up with kicks, forcing him into a neutral corner.  AJ fires back with an elbow from his right arm, the one the Punch Line have been working on thus far.  He grunts through the pain and grabs Hull's head, driving it into the top turnbuckle! Hull goes flying backwards and AJ retrieves him.  Slapping on a side headlock, Hull tries to quickly work his way back to his feet... but AJ takes him over to the mat and clamps it on tighter.  Hull keeps trying to turn, but AJ won't let him... and finally releases, but holds him down and drops a knee on his head! AJ reaches up for the tag and in comes Yamazaki again.  AJ pulls Hull to his feet and slams him backwards into their corner... holding steady as Yamazaki takes advantage of the fact that Norris has yet to return to the Punch Line corner and roars forward, crushing Hull with a corner avalanche splash as AJ moves out of the way. 

Hull steps forward and eats a chop, sending him down and out of the ring.  Harv Norris slides in from behind and drives a knee into the back of Henry Yamazaki, sending him into the very corner he just collided with.  Norris turns and taunts the crowd, then AJ and grabs Yamazaki in a rear waist hold... the fans laugh as he struggles, then Yamazaki does a standing switch and sends Norris all the way to the North Pole and back down with a German suplex of his own! Norris is flattened! Yamazaki makes a cover!

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3-NO! Hull saves the day and begins stomping away on Yamazaki, then drops some knees on the back of his head.  He rolls Norris out of the way and he drops to the floor, making the Rocket the legal man.  Hull grabs Yamazaki and tries to force him to his feet but gets met with resistance, Hull responds by raking the eyes! Then a questionable shot, but Thomas seems to think it was above the waist so the match continues.  Hull grabs Yamazaki and whips him from the center of the ropes, Hull tries to score with the Sling Blade... but Yamazaki readjusts...

OVERHEAD BELLY TO BELLY!

Yamazaki crawls over to AJ and makes the tag as Hull rolls on the mat in pain.   AJ comes in, still favouring his arm and opts to grab Hull, applying a hammerlock and looking for the DDT as the Chicago crowd realizes it! Norris attacks AJ from behind! Heavy boos as the Punch Line back AJ into a corner and pummel him, then hit him with a double enzuigiri! AJ stumbles forward, reaching out for a tag before he crumples to the mat.  Even Hull and Norris are confused at this point on who's legal, so they both exit to the apron and slap hands before coming back inside.  Norris drapes AJ over the second rope and wheelbarrows his lower half as Hull comes rushing up and over his partner, crashing down on AJ's lower back! The duo taunt and embrace the jeers of the crowd, but those boos turn into cheers as AJ slinks over and tags in Yamazaki!

Norris sees him first and tries to get Hull to turn around, but someone yelled something about his mother! Norris tries to attack on his own but Yamazaki scoops him overhead and reps him twice before calling out to Hull who turns around in time to catch his boy! Yamazaki bellows out an "OSU!" as the crowd starts chanting it.  Hull staggers up and right into Yamazaki's grasp...

BIEL THROW!

Yamazaki throws him right into enemy territory and tags AJ back in.  AJ grabs Hull's arm and pins it behind his back... then scoop slams him down onto it! Hull cries out, apologizing as AJ clamps on a cross armbreaker! Hull calls out for Norris, but he's out of the ring! Hull swings his hips, finally finding the ropes to force a break in the hold.  AJ doesn't let go until three though and gets admonished by Thomas for it, which goes ignored of course.  AJ grabs a hold of Hull's arm again and tries a Fujiwara armbar, but Hull is wiggly enough to somersault away and out of it.  Knight gets up and creams him with a lariat! With Rick Hull down, AJ signals for the end... then grabs Hull in a front chancery, but the Rocket clutches AJ's legs and prevents the move.  AJ awkwardly walks backwards, tagging Yamazaki back in.  The God-Beast grabs Rick Hull and pulls him free from AJ's legs and turns him around...

UP AND INTO THE AIR!

BACK BODY DROP!

Hull hits the mat with a thunderous oomph! Norris tries to reach in and grab the leg of his fallen partner, but Yamazaki kicks at him.  AJ scoops up Hull and snaps off a DDT! Thomas tells Yamazaki he has to get out of the ring!

NORRIS SLAMS THE TITLE BELT INTO THE BACK OF AJ'S HEAD!

AJ ROLLS OFF! NORRIS THROWS HULL'S ARM ON TOP! AND TAKES OFF!

Yamazaki gets out of the ring and Thomas turns around...

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2-YAMAZAKI STORMS BACK IN!

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3! TOO LATE!

The bell sounds and the Chicago crowd is livid! 

Yamazaki is threatening to powerbomb Hull through the ring, but Thomas and other stage hands attempt to calm him down.  Norris gets in close enough to grab Hull and scoops him out, grabbing him in a hug and carrying his barely conscious body to the aisle.  Norris retrieves his friend's belt and...

THE LIGHTS GO OUT!

The lights come back on and it's an Ambush! The crowd is hot! Red Tiger King! Sunfire! And a black masked tiger that Pollo Road fans haven't seen yet! They're standing in the entrance aisle and the Punch Line are full alert now! Norris and Hull start backing up, but...

AJ KNIGHT AND YAMAZAKI ARE BEHIND THEM!

It's a wild scene as each side takes a man and begins double teaming them around the arena floor! Harv Norris tries to jump over the rail and high tail it, but gets cut off by AJ while Rick Hull is being pinballed between the three members of the Ambush!