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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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But there was also a massive outpouring of support for The New Day. Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were much more than a colorful comedy act. They had taken the experienced tag team to the limit, and the fans recognized their potential. "New Day didn't win the belts, but they won my respect tonight," a top Twitter comment read. "Their time is coming. Keep those three together."
As the night shifted, the online discussion naturally gravitated toward the United States Championship match.
Drew McIntyre dethroning the Big Show was a polarizing booking decision that sparked intense, passionate arguments among the hardcore fan base.
Big Show had only held the championship for roughly a month after his massive victory over the God King at Extreme Rules. A vocal segment of the audience felt that the short reign severely damaged the giant's credibility.
"What was the point of having Show beat Sandro if he was just going to drop the belt a month later?" a fan argued on a popular forum. "It makes Show look like a fluke champion who got lucky because Sandro was hurt."
However, the opposing side of the argument was equally loud and far more optimistic. Many fans felt that this was the perfect time to cultivate a brand new, top tier talent. Drew McIntyre had been the God King's heavy enforcer for a year, but over the last month, he had proven that he could deliver incredible matches and cut main event level promos.
"Drew earned this," a prominent wrestling blogger fired back. "The guy works his ass off. Big Show didn't need a long run, his job was to get the belt off Sandro and transition it to the next generation. Plus, it proves Big Show's point from RAW, if Drew had fought Sandro one on one, maybe Drew would have been the one to dethrone him in the first place."
Finally, the timeline braced for the fallout of the main event.
The Unsanctioned Match between Lashley and Lesnar was widely praised for its raw brutality, but the finish left the community heavily divided. Many fans were genuinely shocked that Lashley was booked to win, but the post match assault left a sour taste in the mouths of those who wanted a clean resolution.
"Lashley won, but it doesn't feel like a real win," a fan tweeted. "He had to kick Brock in the nuts twice just to survive, and then he got destroyed after the bell. Lesnar still looks like the stronger guy."
The general consensus was that the feud was far from over. The cheap finish and the devastating Avalanche F-5 practically guaranteed that there would be a final, decisive third chapter between the two heavyweights.
But beneath all the match analyses, star ratings, and storyline predictions, a much larger, darker shadow loomed over the wrestling community.
It had been a full month since Extreme Rules. It had been a month since Sandro was seen on television. And most importantly, it had been a month since the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship had been defended on WWE programming.
The fans were growing restless.
At first, the absence was a compelling storyline. But now, the reality of two hostage world titles was beginning to frustrate the audience. They wanted to see main event title defenses. They wanted to see someone step up and challenge the throne. A new hashtag began to gain serious traction, climbing up the trending sidebar within hours of the Pay Per View ending.
#WhereIsTheGodKing
Some fans used the hashtag to demand his return so he could face justice for his tyrannical reign. Others used it to complain about the lack of world championship matches. But regardless of the intent, Sandro Zhang's name was the most talked about subject of the night, proving that his shadow was just as powerful as his physical presence.
Meanwhile, on Tampa, Florida, the midday sun beat down against the floor to ceiling windows of Sandro Zhang's luxurious penthouse apartment. The sprawling, open concept living space offered a breathtaking view of the Tampa Bay skyline, the calm blue waters shimmering in the distance.
The apartment was quiet. AJ, Nikki, and Alexa had gone out for a late morning shopping trip, leaving Sandro alone with the silence of the empty penthouse.
Sandro sat comfortably in a plush leather armchair, dressed in soft grey sweatpants and a simple black t-shirt. He held his iPhone 2 on his left hand and a warm mug of black coffee in his right.
He was scrolling through Twitter, his eyes darting across the endless stream of notifications, hot takes, and trending hashtags. He read the arguments about Big Show's credibility. He noted the praise for the Usos and The New Day. He studied the fan reactions to Lesnar and Lashley's bloodbath.
And, of course, he saw #WhereIsTheGodKing trending at number one worldwide.
Sandro took a slow sip of his coffee, the bitter warmth grounding his thoughts. He let out a long, quiet sigh, resting the tablet on his knee.
From a purely business perspective, his master plan was working flawlessly. The fans were begging for his return. The ratings were holding steady, fueled by the vacuum of power he had left behind. The other talents were stepping up, filling the television time with compelling feuds. Vince McMahon was likely thrilled with the quarterly projections.
But from a creative standpoint, Sandro felt a frustrating, nagging block settling into his mind.
For the last one full year, he had operated with a massive, unfair advantage. He had lived a past life as a hardcore wrestling fan. He knew what worked, what failed, and what the audiences of the future craved. He had taken inspirations, borrowed booking strategies, and adapted characters he had watched on television a decade from now, molding them to fit the 2011 landscape. The God King persona itself was a refined, highly elevated amalgamation of the best arrogant, untouchable heel champions he had ever studied.
But he couldn't play the God King forever. Wrestling characters needed to evolve, or they risked growing stale and boring the audience.
He had been brainstorming his eventual return, sketching out ideas for the next phase of his character. He wanted to introduce a darker, more psychological layer. He thought about the great alter egos of the business.
He thought about Finn Bálor tapping into the body paint of 'The Demon' when pushed to his absolute limit. He thought about Bray Wyatt donning the terrifying mask of 'The Fiend' to exact revenge on those who had wronged him.
An alter ego was the perfect way to reinvent himself, sell millions of dollars in new merchandise, and introduce a fresh, terrifying dynamic to the main event scene.
But as he sat in his quiet living room, staring out at the bay, he realized why the idea wasn't clicking.
Timing.
An alter ego, especially a dark, violent one, could not just be introduced on a random Monday night because it looked cool. Wrestling psychology demanded a narrative trigger.
The Demon emerges because the man isn't strong enough to win the fight alone. The Fiend is born from the ashes of a broken, discarded cult leader. A dark persona requires a breaking point. It requires the character to suffer a profound loss, a trauma that fractures their mind and forces them to dig into the darkest corners of their soul to survive.
Sandro sighed again, tapping his finger rhythmically against the ceramic mug.
How could the God King possibly justify a dark alter ego right now?
He had lost his faction, yes. He had lost the United States Championship, true. But he was still a billionaire. He was still the undefeated holder of both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. He was sitting in a multi million dollar penthouse with three beautiful women who adored him.
He hadn't lost everything yet. He wasn't a broken man. He was just a king on vacation.
"You can't resurrect a monster if you haven't killed the man first," Sandro muttered to himself, the sound of his own voice echoing faintly in the large room.
He stood up, walking toward the massive windows. He looked down at the city below, his mind racing through the complex chessboard of the WWE roster.
If he wanted to reach the next evolution of his career, if he wanted to unleash something truly memorable and terrifying on the wrestling world, he couldn't return to television and simply dominate everyone again. Winning would only keep him stagnant.
To grow, he was going to have to do the one thing he hated more than anything else in the world.
He was going to have to lose his remaining gold.
Sandro took another sip of his coffee, a slow, calculating smile finally touching the corners of his mouth. The writer's block began to crack, replaced by the thrilling challenge of booking his own downfall. He needed to orchestrate a scenario where the God King was stripped of his power, betrayed by his own arrogance, and left with absolutely nothing.
Only then, when the fans thought Sandro Zhang was finally finished, could he unleash the nightmare he was designing in his head.
He walked back to the armchair, picked up his phone, and opened a blank document. His fingers hovered over the digital keyboard for a moment before he began to type furiously, mapping out the slow, agonizing destruction of the God King, and the violent birth of what would come next.
After some time passed, Sandro finally finalized the draft on his screen, carefully reviewing the structural narrative he had laid out before saving the document into a heavily encrypted folder labeled for future creative phases. The concept was stable, stored away until the narrative arc reached its absolute breaking point.
Leaning back against the leather cushion of his armchair, Sandro picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number. It barely finished the second ring before the call was answered.
"Sandro!" Vince McMahon's voice boomed through the speaker, radiating an intense, vibrant energy. The Chairman sounded like an executive who had just looked at the morning financial sheets and found himself profoundly satisfied. "If you're calling to check on the gate or the pay per view buys, let me stop you right now. We are up across the board. The digital data are phenomenal!"
Sandro shook his head with a slight smile, taking a slow sip from his coffee mug. He could easily visualize Vince pacing around his corporate office, practically glowing from the success of their recent booking decisions.
Keeping Sandro off television under the guise of a severe injury had created a massive narrative vacuum, forcing the rest of the roster to step up. The fans were tuning in in droves to see who would claim the territory, and the strategy was paying off handsomely in both television ratings and ticket sales.
"It looks like the board is glowing green, Vince," Sandro noted, his voice calm and relaxed. "The New Day must be giving the merchandise department a healthy workout."
"They can't print those neon shirts fast enough!" Vince chuckled, his gravelly voice filled with genuine creative pride. "And the Usos holding the gold has stabilized the RAW tag division instantly. The crowd in Seattle was unglued. The whole thing is working, Sandro. Your absence is generating the exact kind of creative hunger we wanted."
"Which is exactly why I think the timing is right," Sandro said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "I've been tracking the fan reactions online. They're getting restless. The tracking for the hashtag is hitting peak numbers. I feel it's the perfect time for me to make my return at the Capital Punishment Pay Per View in a few weeks."
On the other end of the line, Vince fell silent for a brief second, caught off guard by the sudden proposal.
"Capital Punishment? That's in Washington D.C. The nation's capital. A highly political atmosphere... it certainly fits the grandeur of your presentation." A broad smile evident in his tone, the Chairman quickly pressed further. "Tell me, champ, did you use this time off to find that new creative direction we talked about? Have you designed the new look, the new persona?"
"Not yet," Sandro answered honestly, turning his gaze toward the sunlit waters of Tampa Bay outside his window. "I'm going to maintain the God King persona for the time being. I've given it a lot of thought, and I believe it's the absolute best direction for the immediate future. When I return, the character isn't going to suddenly change his ways. If anything, the God King is going to be significantly more unstable. He's going to be deeply unhinged, paranoid, and far more aggressive than he ever was before he lost the United States title."
Sandro paused to let the concept sink in. "Think about the psychology, Vince. He was touched. He was pinned. His loyal hounds abandoned him and executed a mutiny on live television. The untouchable billionaire has been proven mortal. He's going to be hyper focused on protecting what he has left. I won't execute a structural change to my character's personality until I lose both of my world titles. The absolute loss of the gold has to be the catalyst for ku change."
Vince remained completely silent for a long moment, his creative mind actively wrestling with the pitch. Sandro waited patiently, taking another sip of his coffee.
"I see the narrative weight of what you're saying, Sandro," Vince finally responded, his voice measured. "The paranoid tyrant is a classic, highly effective wrestling trope. It naturally builds incredible heat. But from a business perspective, I personally feel you should execute a fresh character shift right now upon your return. If you introduce a new, highly marketable persona while you still have the WWE and World Heavyweight titles in your hands, we can maximize merchandise sales instantly. We can double the revenue before you ever drop the gold."
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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 (1st - 376 days), 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: 2 - 0 Main Event: 1 - 0