WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.1: Shut Your Mouth!
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.2: The Inaugural WWE Draft
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.3: Hollywood Takeover
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.4: Faction Warfare
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.5: Faction Warfare
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.6: The Next Big Thing
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.7: Unlikely Allies
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.8: New Members?
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.9: Back Overseas
WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.10: Rattlesnake In The Grass
Once again, Paul Heyman parades Brock Lesnar around as an unstoppable champion, but they are confronted by Triple H. HHH accuses Lesnar of dodging him and demands that he gets a shot at the title right now. Heyman goes to speak, again Brock Lesnar stops him and speaks for himself. Brock is sick of all these entitled assholes walking around making demands. Triple H, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Big Show. All of these guys are old news now. This is a new era, the Brock Lesnar era, and he thinks that the people want to see fresh competition.
If Triple H wants a shot at the championship, he can earn it like everyone else. The next PPV is Armageddon and Brock Lesnar is ready and willing to put himself and his challengers through the ultimate test. He reveals that we will be getting Armageddon Hell in a Cell, with qualifiers taking place on Raw and Smackdown.
Road To Armageddon
The End is Near
We have our qualifying matches for the 6-man Hell in a Cell. On Smackdown, Booker T defeats The Rock in a great match thanks to botched interference from Hulk Hogan. Rhyno defeats Diamond Dallas Page. RVD defeats Triple H, Brock Lesnar was watching at ringside and after HHH got in his face and disrespected him, Lesnar levelled Triple H behind the referee’s back.
Over on Raw, Christian defeats The Undertaker thanks to interference from Kurt Angle. A returning Jeff Hardy defeats the Big Show to be the final man entering the match.
Brock Lesnar is impressed and he is happy to see a fresh set of faces challenging for the world championship. He warns them all though that this might be a great opportunity for them, but this is not their moment to shine. They may win a world championship in the future, but right now they are a footnote in the ever growing legacy of Brock Lesnar. The other 5 guys, who are more experienced than him, don’t like hearing this and they all beat him down. We get pre-tapes from all these men of their journey here and why they want to win.
Paul Heyman argues with Brock for putting himself in such a position where the odds of him retaining are lower than ever before. Lesnar questions what Heyman even provides him anymore. He is too busy critiquing the plan rather than helping him pull it off. He also questions Heyman’s loyalty, but Paul apologises profusely and swears his loyalty to him.
Unlikely Trio
Booker T & Edge haven’t defended their titles in a little while and that has been noticed by Ric Flair and his protege Randy Orton. Flair & Orton have been bonding over the past several months as the Nature Boy tries to teach the cocky, arrogant youngster how to be the man. Flair challenges the champs for the titles on Smackdown. The match is a close one thanks to Flair and Orton pulling out several dirty tricks and cheats to try and win the match. Flair steals on of the tag titles and slides it to Orton to use behind the referee’s back but a returning Goldust snatches it out of his hand! Booker T hits the Book End and retains his title. The referee hands the other title to Booker T. Edge reaches towards Goldust for the other title, but Goldust pulls it away, unwilling to let it go.
The following week, Booker T sits with Edge and Goldust to discuss the tag titles. Goldust claims that he is a tag champion, he never lost it he just got hurt. Edge has been tag champion with Booker T near enough the same amount of time Goldust was so why should he not be a champion? Booker T settles the debate and says that all 3 of them can defend the titles under the Freebird rule. They will just have to become a team. They spitball some bad names before settling on B.E.G. Goldust makes an innuendo about making people beg, Booker T forgot how weird he was.
Ric Flair calls Goldust a freak and he should not have got involved in their match. He calls it unfair that All 3 of them are acknowledged as tag champions and says that he always hated the Freebirds. Flair & Orton do get themselves another shot at the tag titles, but they are facing Edge & Goldust instead since Booker T is in the Hell in a Cell match.
Speaking of the tag division, it is not only Flair & Orton who have been complaining about a lack of opportunity. Other teams from both brands want title shots, so a mini-contender tournament is set up culminating with a Raw vs Smackdown finals at Armageddon. After the matches take place we are left with Test & Albert from Smackdown, Tazz & Spike Dudley from Raw.
Old Wounds
Kurt Angle explains his reasons for attacking the Undertaker and costing them the match. He calls it an injustice being eliminated so early and that was not because of his ability, but because Undertaker being a jackass. Taker wanted to steal the show and be the valiant hero who fought against the odds and won for his team. Kurt wasn’t about to let it happen. He calls Undertaker a bitch and tells him to stay out of his way. Kurt is interrupted by Christian who reveals he has a match for the US championship since he pinned the champion at Survivor Series.
Christian and Kurt Angle wrestle a great match and thanks to interference from the Undertaker, Christian defeats him for the United States title. The Undertaker has a measure of payback, but Kurt Angle fires back by costing Taker a spot in the Hell in a Cell to Christian. Undertaker calls Kurt a Deadman and chases after him on his motorbike, Kurt manages to escape the arena in time. Undertaker warns him that at Armageddon. There is no running away from him.
Cutting in Line
Eddie Guerrero congratulates his friend on his victory, but he thinks that the result would be different if he had another chance. Benoit isn’t sure on giving Eddie another match so soon when there are other opponents out there. Matt Hardy comes in and agrees thinking Eddie has had his shot, now Matt wants a chance at the gold. Benoit remembers Matt winning the Best of Seven series and having an opportunity but failing to win. Benoit seeks new competition.
Chris Benoit comes out and has an open challenge for his Intercontinental championship. The challenge is answered by a masked man named El Extremo. It is clearly Matt Hardy in disguise. He tries to wrestle the match but Benoit refuses, knowing that it is clearly Matt under there. Their arguing is interrupted by another challenger, it is Mascara Magica (which was an alter ego Eddie Guerrero used when in CMLL). Benoit doesn’t notice at first, but he sees Eddie’s tattoo on his forearm and puts 2 things together. Benoit refuses to wrestle them both. Hardy and Guerrero argue about having the same idea and they get into a fight.
The next week, Stephanie McMahon has bad news for Benoit. She says that the wrestling world has been going crazy over these new superstars on Smackdown. El Extremo and Mascara Magica. Chris Benoit is shocked and questions if she knows their real identities. Of course she does, but the fans have taken such a liking to the characters and have formed conspiracy theories that they are indeed new debuting stars. McMahon is trying to make matches the fans want to see, so if they want to see these two luchadores in action then they can. A triple threat is booked for Armageddon. Benoit, Extremo and Magica.
2-Time
X-Pac is convinced into giving The Hurricane a shot at the Cruiserweight championship on Raw after he taunts him and Kevin Nash. Hurricane fights hard but he struggles against X-Pac, plus Kevin Nash is looming a ringside getting involved. However, a run in from Shawn Michaels takes out Nash and X-Pac with Sweet Chin Music and Hurricane gets the pin. He becomes the first person in the WWE Fantasy Universe to be a two-time champion.
The Hurricane is approached by Billy Kidman, who was the man who ended Hurricane’s first reign as cruiserweight champion. Kidman says Hurricane doesn’t deserve to be champion and he could defeat him easily. The Hurricane says he is a superhero for a reason and it is to fight villains like Kidman. He sets up the match for Armageddon.
Armageddon
We kick things off with cruiserweight action. The Hurricane defends his championship against Billy Kidman. A fun fast paced opener with some comedy elements from the Hurricane too. Kidman isn’t playing around and he is aggressive in his chase to become a 2x cruiserweight champion. Unfortunately for him, Hurricane dodges the Shooting Star Press, landing his chokeslam to get the pin.
The Hurricane retains in 6:08.
Next up we have an Intercontinental 3-way. Chris Benoit defends against El Extremo (Matt Hardy) and Mascara Magica (Eddie Guerrero). Benoit is pissed off by them wearing these luchador costumes. He rips the mask off Eddie’s face and they argue. Matt Hardy takes them out and wrestles as El Extremo for a little more, before dramatically removing his mask to reveal his true identity, to the shock of no one. Jerry Lawler on commentary puts this over as a huge reveal, whilst Jim Ross tries to be serious.
This competitive match sees finishers and near falls from all 3 men. Matt Hardy takes a rough tumble to then outside and the referee goes out to check on him. Meanwhile, Guerrero matches to trap Benoit in a small package and he has it in for a 4 seconds before Benoit kicks out. The referee missed it and Guerrero is not happy. He drags the referee into the ring and argues with him, shoving him around. The referee does not take the abuse and shoves him back, Benoit catches Eddie in a roll up and gets the pin. Benoit doesn’t really celebrate his win, knowing it was a cheap one, whilst Guerrero is seething in the ring.
Chris Benoit retains in 8:37.
The Undertaker faces Kurt Angle. Taker tries to make this a brawl whilst Angle tries to slow it down, ground him and wrestle. Kurt targets an ankle to immobilise Undertaker and set up the Ankle Lock, but Undertaker is resilient and able to power out of every attempt. Angle manages to land an Olympic Slam but Undertaker kicks out. It takes Angle hitting a super Olympic Slam from the top rope to keep Undertaker down for the 3 count.
Kurt Angle wins in 5:39.
Kurt Angle turns to leave, but he decides to continue his punishment by trapping Undertaker’s leg in a chair and stomping on it, re-applying the Ankle lock. He holds it in, security try to stop him but it isn’t until Kane appears that Kurt lets go and runs away.
A tag title contender match is next. Smackdown’s Test & Albert vs Raw’s Tazz & Spike Dudley. T&A attack them during their entrance trying to get an early advantage, but it backfires. When the match officially starts, they wear down Spike a little but he manages a tag to Tazz who goes into suplex mode. Tazz throws T&A around until locking Test in the Kata-Ha-Jime to secure a submission victory.
Tazz & Spike win in 1:19
Our penultimate match is for the tag team championships. Edge & Goldust defend against Ric Flair & Randy Orton. The story here is how Edge & Goldust do not have any tag team chemistry since it has been Booker T teaming with them two regularly. They struggle to fight in unison, allowing Orton and Flair to control large portions of the match. However, as time goes on, Edge and Goldust find themselves a groove and manage to hit some nice double team maneuvers. Goldust hits Orton with Shattered Dreams, feeding him to Edge to hit an Impaler DDT to get the win.
Edge & Goldust retain in 10:41.
Our main event is of course the 6-man Hell in a Cell match. Brock Lesnar defends against Rhyno, Booker T, RVD, Christian and Jeff Hardy. Paul Heyman watches on nervously at ringside. Of course, this is a complete war between these 6 men. Fighting, wrestling and brawling happening both in the ring and around it. The chaos elevates when Rhyno nails Jeff Hardy with a Gore through the Cell door. The door is still attached but now there is open access to the Hell in a Cell. Now some of the action spills out of the Cell. Christian is trying to escape punishment and he climbs the Cell, but Jeff Hardy goes after him. They fight on top of the structure, until Christian hits Hardy with an Unprettier and climbs back down. He climbs down into the arms of Brock Lesnar though who hits him with an F-5.
Jeff Hardy shouts from below, telling Lesnar to set Christian up on top of the announce table. In true Jeff Hardy fashion, Jeff hits an insane swanton bomb from the Cell through Christian and the gimmicked announce table. Both of them are essentially out of this match now. Booker T and RVD have a great back and forth, with RVD taking Booker T out with the Van Daminator but a pin attempt is broken up by Rhyno. Brock Lesnar gets in the ring and takes them both out. Lesnar hits an F-5 on Rhyno, but he is pulled off the pin by RVD. Lesnar stares down RVD, who tries to escape Lesnar’s wrath by leaving the cell. Lesnar goes to follow him, but Paul Heyman slams the Cell door into Brock’s face! He betrayed his client!
Paul Heyman appears to be in cahoots with his former ECW star RVD. Lesnar is busted open, Heyman hands RVD the WWE title to use on Brock. RVD bashes Brock’s head in with it. Heyman and RVD enter the ring and focus their attention on the last man remaining, Rhyno. RVD goes to use the title, but Heyman from behind low blows RVD! What is going on?! Paul Heyman grabs the WWE title and he hands it to Rhyno who now bashes RVD with it. Rhyno hits a Gore and he pins RVD. Rhyno is the new WWE champion and Paul Heyman is by his side.
Rhyno wins the WWE title in 14:37.
Brock Lesnar is back up but he is cut in half by a Gore from Rhyno. Heyman puts the WWE title around Rhyno’s waist as both men leave the structure. Brock Lesnar has been screwed by Paul Heyman, but so has Rob Van Dam. What does this mean for WWE heading into 2003?
Brock Lesnar’s dominance has came to an end thanks to the ultimate betrayal from Paul Heyman. Rhyno is WWE champion at the end of the year. Will Brock Lesnar get his revenge? Who will win the Royal Rumble? Tune in next week for episode 12.
You must be logged in to post a comment.