Death Match: The Ultimate Clash
an excerpt

“The King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett climbed through the ropes of the trademark six-sided ring of Total Nonstop Action as a mixed chorus of cheers and boos came from the iMPACT Zone in Orlando, Florida. In one hand he carried a microphone, while in the other, his trademark guitar which he has used for years as a weapon.

The former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion paced in the ring and impatiently waited for the fans to stop their cheers and jeers. He then slowly raised the microphone to his mouth, and paused as the fans got louder.

“Shut up, you slap-nuts,” Jeff demanded as he looked into the crowd. “I have something to say!”

The fans made even more noise as Jeff argued with a few select fans around ringside. He then walked to the center of the ring and looked directly into the camera. “I know all of you want somebody to talk about the North American Wrestling Council’s challenge to TNA and the WWE, but I got something more important to address right now.”

Another chorus of cheers, with even more jeers than before came from the crowd as he continued. “AJ Styles, you are the reason I’m not going to be in the match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Destination X this Sunday is because of you!”

“AJ beat him fair and square,” “The Professor” Mike Tenay said to the television audience as highlights from the match between the Jeff and AJ two weeks ago were shown.

“As you can see in the replay, it was a perfectly planted Pelé that lead to Styles win,” Mike’s commentating partner, Don West added. “And there’s the referee counting the pin, and AJ Styles will get the shot at Homicide’s title this Sunday at Destination X.”

“Styles,” Jeff angrily said as the cameraman zoomed in on his face. “That is my title,” he continued, “and I will get it back one way or another.”

“Whether you like it or not, Jeff,” TNA’s Management Director’s Jim Cornette’s voice boomed from the public address speakers as he appeared on the large-screen monitor positioned above one of the two talent entrances. “AJ Styles earned his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.”

“Is that so,” Jeff angrily asked.

“Yeah, that’s so,” Jim said. “But, if you want to be a part of the match, you will have to earn your spot.”

“And just how am I suppose to do that,” Jeff asked.

“By defeating an opponent of AJ Styles choice,” the former manager of the famous tag team, the Midnight Express announced. “And that match begins right – NOW!”

From behind, Jeff gets attacked by AJ’s choice for the match – professional wrestling legend, “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

“What’s he doing here,” Mike asked excitedly.

“The only thing I can say is that he must be AJ Styles hand-picked opponent,” Don responded as a referee jumped into the ring.

For many minutes, the two fought in the ring and through the audience. The two former WWE Intercontinental Champions threw punches furiously at one another as the referee and security pushed the audience back. Eventually, they made their way back into the six-sided ring.

After a couple of minutes of action, Jeff grabbed the collar of the referee’s shirt and pulled him into Savage, knocking them both onto the ring mat. As the referee was being helped up by Savage, Jeff came up behind his hand-picked foe and went down on one knee. He then proceeded to low-blow Savage, making him fall to his own knees.

Without any warning, AJ ran down to the ring, climbed to the top turnbuckle nearest Jeff, and proceeded to jump off and ram his forearms into Jeff’s shoulder blades. AJ then turned Jeff onto his back and then pull Savage over and placed the “Macho Man” on top of his opponent. He then went over to help the referee, and told him that Randy was covering Jeff for the pin. The referee then got down on his stomach, and proceeded to count the pinfall.

“And your winner of the match,” ring announcer Jeremy Borash announced. “‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage!”

The crowd cheered as Randy climbed to the middle turnbuckle to accept the applause.

Backstage, professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan watched what was going on in the ring as he prepared to step in the ring to defend the TNA World Tag Team Championship with his impromptu tag team partner, Val Venis, when his cell phone.

“Hey,” Hulk said in response to the person on the other end of the line. “Yeah, he’s here,” he then answered. “He just defeated Jarrett.”

Hulk listened intently as he adjusted his knee brace. “Do you really think we should bring him in,” he asked.

The person on the other line responded. “I don’t know, brother. He wasn’t with us when we started.”

The person who called Hulk then stated something as the Hulkster took one of his trademark bandanas from the nearby table. “I’ll see what Randy and the others think.”

Horace Hogan walked down a hallway past numerous backstage workers and other World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars. As he casually walked, he occasionally glanced into the rooms which were opened. He then turned into the room set aside for catering.

As he stepped in, he nodded a hello to many who looked up to see who came into the room. As he continued over to the food set out by the catering service hired by the WWE, he glanced over to “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash, who had a look on his face which Horace knew was about.

“Hi, Horace,” Gregory Helms said with a grin as he placed some food on his own plate. “You ready for tonight?”

“I always am,” Horace responded as he scooped some salad up and placed it on his plate.

“You better be,” Gregory stated as he reached for some bread. “Tomko doesn’t back down that easily.”

“I know,” Horace stated as he glanced back at Kevin.

Stevie Ray sat in an audience seat at the Rabobank Arena as he finished a phone call. He then put one of his feet back and relaxed in the chair.

“Hey, Stevie Ray,” Hardcore Holly shouted. “I heard what you said last week about me on television.

“Hey, man,” Stevie said as he lowered his foot. “We both know your feet were on the ropes last week.”

“The referee didn’t see anything, therefore it never happened,” Hardcore said as he looked into Stevie’s eyes.

“Why don’t you just leave,” Stevie demanded.

“I got a better idea,” Hardcore said as he raised his fist and swung at the former member of Harlem Heat.

Stevie staggered for a moment, and was about to come back with an attack of his own as WWE officials and Superstars on the RAW Brand ran over from the various locations around the two and tried pulling the two apart.

“If you think this is over, Stevie Ray,” Hardcore yelled as he was being pulled backstage. “You’re wrong! Dead wrong!!”

“Bring everything you got,” Stevie yelled back. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Backstage, World Wrestling Entertainment Champion Kip James was doing a photo shoot with the brand new championship belt he unveiled at last Sunday’s WWE Judgement Day prior to his fan-picked First Blood match against top contender Buff Bagwell, who lost after accidentally opening himself up on the steel steps leading up to the ring apron.

“That new belt looks pretty good on your shoulder,” DH Smith said as he walked up to the champion. “But it would look much better on mine.”

“Oh, would it,” Kip said.

“Yeah, it would.”

“I think not,” Kip said as DH came nose-to-nose with him.

“Your daddy couldn’t even win it.” Kip said as he locked eyes with the son of the late “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith.

“He was the greatest Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion of all time,” DH stated as he put the tip of his nose against Kip’s.

“He was good,” Kip then stated. “But not as good as me.”

“Let’s see how good you are,” DH then stated. “How about you put the title on the line tonight?”

“Against you,” Kip then sarcastically asked.

“Yeah, against me,” DH answered as some referees ran up to prevent a fight.

“You got it!” Kip said as he allowed a few of the referees to push him away from his challenger.

“See you in the ring,” DH said as he was about to turn away from the referees blocking his path to the WWE Champion.

“Next week,” Kip said. “You’re lucky I have a match this week.”

“I’ll be ready next week,” DH said.

Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion “The Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm walked into the the New Alhambra Arena, which is known as the ECW Arena in the world of professional wrestling and looked around. He looked up at the banners for the inductees into the Hardcore Hall of Fame just as he lifted his beer bottle up to his lips to take a swig of the frothy beverage.

“Hey, Champ.” ECW co-owner Paul Heyman said as he walked up from behind. “Have I got some news for you,” he then added with a devilish smile.

“What’s that,” he asked as he lowered the bottle from his mouth.

“The benefactor wants you to defend the title tonight,” Paul answered.

“Against who,” James wondered.

“Shannon,” Paul responded.

“Shannon Moore,” the ECW World Heavyweight Champion laughed. “You’re kidding right?”

Paul laughed as he placed his hand on the champion’s shoulder, then looked at him straight in the eye as the expression on his face changed to that of a more serious nature.

“And if you don’t,” Paul said as he wrapped his arm around James neck. “I’ll strip you of the title, and award it to Shannon.”

“You wouldn’t,” James said.

“Oh, yes I would,” the ECW official said with a huge grin on his face as he walked away.

Elsewhere in the ECW Arena, Hernandez walked past the office set aside for the unnamed and publicly unknown mysterious benefactor. He momentarily paused at the door, and decided not to open it to see who was inside.

Without warning, somebody blindsided the big man, and he dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks. As his attacker began stomping on his back, he was able to roll over to see who was attacking him. It was none other than BG James.

“How do you like them apples, bitch” BG yelled at his fallen prey.

As Hernandez got up, he tackled his attacker and began to pound him into the wall behind BG. He then began to choke the former WWE and TNA star as Eric Bischoff pushed himself between the two to break things up.

“Save it for the ring,” Eric stated as he tried to keep himself between the two.

Knowing of Eric’s kickboxing background, Hernandez walked away as he glared at BG. “You too,” Eric then said to BG as he pointed down the hallway.

As Eric watched the two wrestlers walk away as they just watched one another, he heard the hinges of a door behind him squeak. As he looked over his shoulder, he saw the door to the benefactor’s office close and latch.

Whoever that is, they are in the surprise of their life, Eric thought to himself as he took his cell phone out of his pocket and began to dial.

“It’s me,” Eric informed the person he was calling when they picked up. “Looks like everything is ready here.” He then began to walk down the hall, listening to the person on the phone, as he took one last look over his shoulder at the office of the benefactor.

In the backyard of their home in San Antonio, Texas, “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels and his wife Rebecca were hosting a small barbecue with their guests Scott Hall and X-Pack, whom Shawn had known for well over a decade and were good friends with them.

“I’ll help you with that,” Shawn said to his wife, who was stacking serving trays on her arm. He then took a plastic cup from the pile Rebecca was holding and jokingly smiled as he walked toward their house.

“Thanks a lot,” the former member of the World Championship Wrestling Nitro Girls dance troupe laughed.

“You’re welcome,” Shawn said as he let his wife into the house first.

X-Pack wiped his fingers and mouth with a napkin as he watched Shawn follow his wife into the house.

“How’s the knee holding up,” X-Pack asked the original Razor Ramon, who was just about to return to the ring after a serious knee injury.

“Pretty good,” Scott answered as he lightly rubbed the scar on the knee from the resulting surgery. “Did ‘Big Kev’ call you?”

“Yeah,” the former 1-2-3 Kid said as he glanced at the sliding glass door to make sure Shawn and Rebecca were not coming back out. “Are you ready for this?”

“I’ll be back in the ring by the time it goes down.” Scott responded as the Michaels, followed by their children who just returned from a day at school.

“Hey, guys,” X-Pack said to the children with a smile. “How you two doin’?”

“Fine,” the two answered in unison.

Psycho-delic strolled into the Salem Sapphire Coliseum as he flashed the peace sign to the fans waiting just outside the security fence nearby. After checking in with North American Wrestling Council officials, he walked to his assigned dressing room. He continued to flash the peace sign to anybody who said hello to him as they passed.

Just as he turned a corner to head to his dressing room, he noticed Scott Gravel in the interview set discussing his match tonight against his identical twin brother, Danny.

“Hi, Danny” Psycho-delic said as he walked up to the set, knowing how much it annoyed both brothers to be called the other. He also was legitimately unsure which one of the brothers he was addressing.

“I’m Scott,” the evil twin said.

“Did you hear the latest from the Doors,” the man who believes it’s still the 1960s asked.

“The Doors,” Scott inquired.

“Yeah,” Psycho-delic said. “Remember. We watched them perform on Sullivan last week.”

Scott thought for a moment. “Dude, that was David Letterman, not…” Scotty paused as he recalled the mental problems of the one he was talking to.

“Psycho-delic,” NACW Spanish announcer, Jorge Herrara said as he walked past behind the camera crew that filmed Scott’s comments that are to be used in the television broadcast later that night. “Mr. Lyons is looking for you.”

“OK,” Psycho-delic responded.

“See ya later,” Scott said as he watched the big man walk away. He then shook his head knowing how much help Psycho-delic needs to bring him out of his delusions.

As he continued to watch Psycho-delic walk away, he heard somebody clear his throat in the general direction Psycho-delic came from. He turned back to see who might be trying to get his attention.

“Are you the one I got a match with tonight, or is it your brother,” Will “Danger” Robinson asked as he came up to Scott.

Great, Scott thought to himself. First the one stuck in the 60’s, now the science-fiction geek. “That would be my brother, Will.”

“Oh,” Will stated. “Got any tips on how to beat him?”

“Low blow him when the ref ain’t looking,” Scott responded as he walked away. “Or, even better, use brass knucks.”

Avispón looked in the mirror and adjusted his mask as somebody knocked on his dressing room door. “Just a minute,” he called to the person on the other side of the door. After checking the strings on the back of his head, he walked over to the door and opened it up.

As soon as he looked to see who knocked, he went into defensive posture when he realized he was outnumbered.

“What do you want,” he cautiously asked.

“Easy, amigo,” Chief Soaring Horse said as he walked in with Running Elk and the Tomahawk Express, Peter Black Bear and Johnny Two Feathers. “We just wanted to bring you the good news.” He then slapped a magazine into the small American luchador’s chest.

“What is this,” the smallest member of Guerreros de Salem asked inquisitively, yet cautiously.

As he looked at the magazine, he realized it was the latest edition of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. In one corner of the cover, he noticed a photograph of him taken during a match.

“You made it, bambino,” the "tribal leader” of the Shadow Walkers said. “Now, if you could headline a pay-per-view, you’d be somebody in this business.”

“He is somebody, boy,” Scott Hogg said as he stood behind the Chief.

As the Shadow Walkers turned around, they were confronted by Scott, the Liberty Belle, the Stars and Stripes Warrior and Quasar.

“C’mon guys,” the Chief told his cohorts. “The stench is getting pretty bad.”

“It will get better when you leave,” the Stars and Stripes Warrior commented back.

“Think you’re big huh,” Peter sarcastically asked as he walked out of the room.

“Bigger than you.”

“You wish,” the Native American said. “Come see me later, Belle, I’ll show you that I’m bigger than he is – in more ways than one.”

The Liberty Belle shook her head in disgust as her only response.

“Don’t worry about them, kid,” Quasar stated. “They have yet to be on the cover.”

“What’s going on, gang,” El Diablo Azul asked as he and El Gato Silvestre walked into the room.

“Not much,” Scott said. “We just had to help Avispón with the trash a bit.”

“Well, isn’t that special,” El Diablo Azul joked as he looked at the magazine that was now laying on the table. “Next, you will be in the PWI 500 list,” he joked as he picked up the publication and started to thumb through it.

“You mean like you,” Avispón joked.

“He was in the PWI 500,” Quasar asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Scott answered. “Last year, he came in at 503.”

“Actually, it was 517,” El Diablo Azul joked.

After a laugh within the group, those who came in to back up the smallest Warrior of Salem filed out of the room.