If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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Inside the ring, Harper backed Woods into the corner, setting him up for a top rope maneuver. The physical exhaustion was palpable, the sweat flying off both men as they battled for supremacy. The right to challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships hung perilously in the balance, and neither team was willing to stay down.
Harper climbed to the middle rope, his massive hands wrapping around Woods' neck, looking to execute a devastating superplex that would undoubtedly shatter the ring canvas. Woods, operating entirely on survival instinct, began to fight back. He threw a series of desperate, biting headbutts directly into Harper's face.
Smack! Smack! Smack! The sheer impact of the strikes finally forced the giant to release his grip. Harper wobbled, his eyes rolling back slightly, before he lost his balance and crashed heavily back to the mat.
Woods didn't hesitate. He pulled himself up to the top turnbuckle, standing high above the ring. He launched himself into the air, perfectly executing a breathtaking missile dropkick that caught Harper flush in the chest!
Both men were down. The referee began his mandatory ten count as the Tampa crowd clapped rhythmically, willing both competitors to their feet.
"This is an absolute war of attrition!" Mathews yelled over the broadcast. "Both of these teams have given every single ounce of energy they possess! They are fighting for their professional lives!"
Woods began to crawl toward his corner, his arm outstretched. Harper mirrored the movement, dragging his massive frame across the canvas.
With a simultaneous, desperate lunge, both men made the tag!
Ziggler and Rowan sprinted into the ring. Ziggler tried to use his explosive speed, ducking a massive clothesline from Rowan and leaping into the air for a flying crossbody. But Rowan caught him entirely in mid air!
Demonstrating terrifying, raw power, Rowan simply shifted his grip, hoisted Ziggler onto his shoulder, and planted him with a devastating pumphandle fallaway slam! Ziggler flew across the ring, crashing into the turnbuckles like a discarded ragdoll.
Rowan followed up immediately. He charged the corner, crushing Ziggler with a massive running avalanche splash. Rowan grabbed Ziggler by the hair, dragging him to the center of the ring, and locked in a torturous, nerve-pinching claw hold directly onto Ziggler's skull.
"Rowan is trying to crush his cranium!" Cole winced. "The sheer, unorthodox brutality of the Wyatt Family is completely neutralizing the technical prowess of the Undisputed System!"
Ziggler screamed in agony, his legs kicking wildly. On the outside, Paul Heyman was hyperventilating, his face turning a dangerous shade of purple. He knew that if his clients lost this match, Sandro Zhang would publicly execute them from the empire.
Woods rushed the ring to save his partner, delivering a stiff superkick to the side of Rowan's head. The impact broke the hold, but Harper immediately slid under the bottom rope, nearly taking Woods' head off with a catastrophic, spinning discus clothesline!
Absolute chaos erupted. The referee frantically tried to restore order, physically stepping between Harper and Woods, trying to force the illegal men out of the squared circle.
On the outside, Paul Heyman realized the match was slipping away. Operating on pure, frantic survival instinct, the Special Advisor scrambled toward the timekeeper's area. He reached frantically under the heavy black ring apron, rummaging through the darkness until his hands closed around cold, heavy steel.
Heyman pulled out a long handled sledgehammer.
"What is Paul Heyman doing?!" Cole shrieked in horror as the camera caught the Special Advisor clutching the weapon. "He's got a sledgehammer! This isn't a No Disqualification match!"
Heyman didn't care about the rules, he cared about Sandro's wrath. He slid the heavy steel weapon under the bottom rope, right into the corner where Ziggler was gasping for air.
Harper, seeing Heyman's interference, completely lost his mind. The wild eyed giant roared, turning his attention away from Woods and stepping aggressively toward the ropes, screaming at Heyman on the outside.
The referee, desperate to prevent a ringside massacre, stepped in front of Harper, throwing his arms out and physically blocking the giant from exiting the ring.
"Get back in your corner!" the referee shouted, completely turning his back to the center of the ring to deal with the enraged Luke Harper.
It was the opening the Undisputed System needed.
Erick Rowan, the legal man, slowly turned around to face his opponent.
He was met with the blunt, heavy steel head of the sledgehammer.
CRACK!
Ziggler violently thrust the weapon directly into Rowan's gut. The massive ginger giant doubled over, the breath completely escaping his lungs in a sickening wheeze.
Ziggler didn't stop. He raised the sledgehammer high into the air and brought it down with catastrophic force across the broad of Rowan's back!
CRACK!
The Tampa crowd erupted into a massive, hostile wave of deafening boos!
"NO! NO! NO!" Mathews screamed, absolutely disgusted. "They are using the sledgehammer! The referee is completely distracted by Luke Harper!"
Xavier Woods, realizing the window of opportunity was closing, snatched the sledgehammer from Ziggler's hands. He took a step back, measured his target, and swung the steel weapon like a baseball bat, driving it squarely into Rowan's ribs!
CRACK!
Rowan collapsed to his knees, his eyes glazing over, completely incapacitated by the illegal assault. Woods frantically tossed the sledgehammer out of the ring, sliding it far underneath the apron to hide the evidence.
Ziggler hit the ropes, accelerating to maximum speed. He leaped into the air, driving Rowan's face into the canvas with a devastating Fameasser!
But the Showoff wasn't finished. As Rowan instinctively pushed himself up to a kneeling position, Ziggler jumped onto his back, hooking his neck and violently ripping him backward to the mat with the Zig Zag!
Ziggler quickly rolled out of the ring, giving the legal tag to his partner. Woods sprang into action. He grabbed the unconscious Erick Rowan, trapping his arms, and drove his boots directly into Rowan's face with his catastrophic finishing maneuver, Lost in the Woods!
Woods hooked both of the giant's legs, burying his face into the canvas, and screamed for the official.
The referee, having finally forced Luke Harper back into his corner, spun around. He saw the cover. He dove to the mat, entirely oblivious to the illegal carnage that had just taken place.
One!
The Tampa crowd rained down visceral hatred.
Two!
Harper realized what was happening and desperately lunged forward to break the pin!
Three!
DING! DING! DING!
The heavy, gritty riff of the Undisputed System theme blasted through the arena speakers, instantly drowned out by a deafening chorus of angry, absolute rejection from the NXT audience.
"I don't believe it!" Cole yelled, slamming his hand on the desk. "They stole it! Dolph Ziggler and Xavier Woods just stole the number one contendership! They used a sledgehammer on Erick Rowan!"
"It's a complete travesty of justice!" Mathews agreed, his voice thick with outrage. "The Undisputed System couldn't beat the Wyatt Family in a fair fight, so they resorted to attempted murder! This is disgusting!"
Inside the ring, the ring announcer raised his microphone over the boos. "Here are your winners... Dolph Ziggler and Xavier Woods!"
The moment the bell rang, Harper completely snapped. The giant roared, charging at Woods with homicidal intent. On the outside, Bray Wyatt tipped his rocking chair over, his maniacal laughter gone, replaced by pure, terrifying fury. Bray scrambled into the ring, ready to tear the Undisputed System apart.
But Ziggler and Woods were already in motion. They didn't even stay to have their arms raised. They rolled rapidly under the bottom rope, dropping to the arena floor where Paul Heyman was waiting.
The three men sprinted backward up the long entrance ramp, clutching each other, laughing hysterically and celebrating their stolen victory. They had survived the monsters, and they had secured their title shot.
Inside the ring, Bray Wyatt dropped to his knees next to the unconscious Erick Rowan. Bray looked up the ramp, pointing a trembling finger at the retreating members of the Undisputed System. Without a microphone, Bray screamed into the arena, his words lost in the crowd noise, but the terrifying promise of vengeance was written clearly across his face.
Suddenly, a familiar blues rock theme hit the speakers.
"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes stepped out from the curtain, stopping Ziggler, Woods, and Heyman in their tracks near the top of the stage. Dusty held a microphone, and he did not look happy.
"Hold on just a minute, baby," Dusty commanded, his soulful voice cutting through the hostility.
Ziggler and Woods stopped, panting heavily, looking at the General Manager.
"I saw exactly what happened out here," Dusty said, shaking his head in absolute disgust. "I saw the sledgehammer. I saw the cheap shots. I despise the way you did it. It makes me sick to my stomach to see business handled like that in my ring."
Heyman stepped forward, a smug, arrogant grin on his face. "You saw nothing, Dusty! The referee made his decision! The record book will reflect that my clients were victorious!"
Dusty glared at Heyman. "You're right, Paul. As much as I hate it, the referee's decision is final. And I am a man of my word. I don't make a habit of booking endless rematches just because I don't like the outcome."
Dusty pointed a finger at Ziggler and Woods.
"You got your win," Dusty declared. "So next week... right here on NXT... you two will get your NXT Tag Team Championship shot against Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins."
Ziggler and Woods absolutely erupted into cheers. They hugged each other, jumping up and down in pure elation.
"You made the right decision, Dusty!" Ziggler yelled arrogantly, pointing at the Hall of Famer. "You recognize greatness!"
Dusty just shook his head, turning his gaze back to the ring. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and a recovering Erick Rowan were staring daggers up the ramp.
"You boys better enjoy your celebration tonight," Dusty warned the Undisputed System ominously. "Because you just made enemies with the devil himself. And the devil always collects his due."
NXT faded to black on the eerie, terrifying visual of Bray Wyatt laughing in the center of the ring, leaving the WWE Universe to wonder if Ziggler and Woods had just signed their own death warrants in exchange for a championship opportunity.
Time marched forward, the relentless machine of the WWE schedule grinding toward the most important season of the year. The weekend passed, and the wrestling world descended upon the great state of New York.
It was Monday. Monday Night RAW was broadcasting live from a completely sold out, absolutely electric arena in Buffalo, New York.
The anticipation in the building was palpable. The fans had flocked to the arena, packing every single available seat, desperate to witness the ongoing fallout from the Royal Rumble and the escalating civil war between the WWE locker room and Sandro Zhang's fracturing empire.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The opening pyrotechnics fired with explosive, ear-shattering force, lighting up the Buffalo arena in brilliant flashes of red, gold, and white. The camera dynamically panned across the sold out crowd, capturing a massive sea of waving signs.
The signs told the story of the current landscape: "MEAT SHIELDS REVOLT!", "MACHO MADNESS LIVES!", "ROCK & Y2J = DOOM!", and "GOD KING CHOKES!"
The camera swooped down to the ringside commentary table, where the broadcast trio was already feeding off the incredible energy in the building.
"Welcome, everyone, to Monday Night RAW!" Cole yelled, a massive smile on his face. "We are coming to you live from a completely sold out, absolutely raucous arena here in Buffalo, New York! I am Michael Cole, alongside Jerry 'The King' Lawler and JBL, and gentlemen, the landscape of the WWE has completely shifted on its axis!"
"You can feel the electricity in the air, Michael!" Lawler cheered. "The fans know that the Undisputed System is vulnerable! The rebellion has officially begun, and Sandro Zhang's golden empire is under attack from all sides!"
"The only thing under attack is the basic concept of loyalty!" JBL immediately interrupted, his voice booming with irate indignation. "What we saw last week was a disgusting display of insubordination from the locker room, and a massive misunderstanding of corporate leadership!"
"Misunderstanding?!" Cole argued incredulously. "John, Sandro Zhang stood on that stage last week and publicly stated that aside from himself, his Queens, and Paul Heyman, the rest of his faction are 'disposable meat shields'! He said they were completely replaceable! How on earth can you defend a leader who calls his own World Tag Team Champions disposable?!"
"It's called corporate restructuring, Michael!" JBL roared, defending his idol with fanatic devotion. "The God King is trimming the fat! He expects absolute perfection, and when his employees fail him, like Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler did, he has every right to remind them that they serve at his pleasure! It was a brilliant, motivational tactic! He is lighting a fire under them!"
"He's not lighting a fire, he is burning his own house down!" Lawler countered. "Sandro Zhang has gone completely nuts! His ego has grown so massive that he thinks he doesn't need anyone else! And his paranoia nearly got him executed by the Macho Man!"
"Which brings us to the main event of last week!" Cole transitioned smoothly, the broadcast graphics flashing on the screen. "Paul Heyman abused his power as General Manager, forcing the legendary Randy Savage into a No Disqualification match against the Scottish Psychopath, Drew McIntyre!"
"It was an assassination attempt!" Lawler added, shaking his head. "Drew McIntyre almost won because the entire Undisputed System interfered! They tried to end the Macho Man's career permanently!"
"And they would have succeeded if it wasn't for the ultimate equalizer!" Cole praised. "The Rock, Chris Jericho, and the Intercontinental Champion Sheamus rushed the ring! They took out the Undisputed System, allowing Savage to take Drew by surprise and hit the diving elbow drop for the victory! The locker room come out to protect one of their own!"
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Name: Alessandro Zhang
Age: 21 (2011)
Birthplace: Orlando, Florida, USA
Brand: WWE - RAW
Wrestling Style: Mixed Of All Styles
Faction: The Undisputed System
Championships History: 1x FCW Tag Team Champions, 1x FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion, 1x TNA World Heavyweight Champion, 1x TNA X Division Champion, 1x WWE United States Champion, 1x WWE Champion, & 1x World Heavyweight Champion
Other Achievements: 1x Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale Winner, 1x Mr. Money In The Bank, Youngest WWE Champion, PWI Top 500 (No.1) - 2010, & 1x KOTR (2010)
Wrestlemania Record: 1 - 0