[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by M-A-G SmackDown!: December 7, 2040 Twenty Minute Opening Promo of Doom Time as Haven makes his way out. He's aware of what Victor Dark is trying to do, but if what occured on Raw was his best shot, he's in for more disappointment. "Victor can speak grandly as much as he wants, but until he himself has the guts to get his hands dirty and try on his own to break me, he is but words. I have never been beaten or swayed by mere words. So throw whatever grunts you can my way and I shall send them back to you, bruised and demoralized and humiliated as a message. I am the Dark Shepherd and no one..." "Please, for the love of God, shut up, Haven", interrupts someone. What the hell? Quinten McDaniels comes out to the stage and has a mic in hand, looking to speak with Haven. "I've heard sermons like this before so many times from you and I'm just about at the end of my rope. Now, I don't really know or particularly care about whatever history happened between you and this Victor Dark person, but there is a grain of truth coming from his camp that struck a chord in me. It wasn't that long ago when you had a collection of us at your beck and call. You promised us the world. Chet and Lyle and Orlando and Eclypse and, of course, me among others, we went along for the ride. Now I was never completely on board with what you were selling so I don't really feel any major sense of betrayal when it comes to that department, but you really never did end up taking as big of a hit when that whole Order thing collapsed. You went on to headline WrestleManias and win King of the Ring and continue to march these people along with this whole messed up pied piper schtick. That's not really fair, now is it? It's about time I get around to doing what I should've done a long time ago and that's finally knocking you off this throne of yours. Now seeing as you look ready and willing to get physical, I don't see a reason why you can't meet me in that ring later and you can try to shut me up. I have nothing left to fear from you, Haven. I...have been set free." That's the third person in the last few weeks who's used that phrase. What the hell is going on? Well we can't worry about that right now as Quinten takes his leave and Haven is left to think about what was just said.

I'm assuming you are going for some sort of a stable formation with everybody dropping the "set free" line, and I'm all for it. The slow realization that all of these folks are up to something is good shit.

First Match: Adam Hail and Lonny Richards vs. Simon Bennett and Mathias Paul Andrews speaks for Simon and wants Adam Hail to know that he can have his retribution if he really wants it. Simon Bennett is offering Hail a one-on-one match between the two of them at Bragging Rights. It's high time that things get settled because Simon isn't going to stop. Adam has nobody else but himself to blame for his headaches right now, but if he's so sure of himself and his goal to get to the top of the mountain is a surefire thing, he should have no problem accepting this match. A great match rating here with an 80% crowd reaction to remind me that these guys aren't rocking it in the charisma department. This match is costing me at least half a million to put on so it'd better be fucking good and the crowd had better appreciate it. Simon is a house afire and gets all up in everyone's business off the hot tag. Hail evidently thinks it's too much for him to handle for now and he decides to bail and call it a night and get counted out. No doubt this isn't over. ****1/2, 90% overall.

Always have a soft spot for heels getting themselves counted out. It's a well you can't go to too often and I feel like, in kayfabe, there should be some level of financial incentive tied to every match. Even if not explicitly stated, there's a winner's purse and that's reason enough for heels to not just skirt there way out of every match they're in.

But then you have a deeply personal rivalry where someone just says "nah I'm good" and the countout hits different.

It's time for another edition of the Hot Button with everyone's favorite host, The Hero to Millions Around the World, the Host With THE Highest Rated Interview Show In All of Entertainment, The New Age Intellectual Savior to the Masses, The 2031 Fulton County First Place Conga Award Winner, The Luscious Lover of the Manager of the Year Slammy Award Winner and Undefeated Steel Cage Master and REAL 2040 King of the Ring, The Supreme Submission Machine, Mister Twenty-Forty, The Two Time Slammy Award Winner Including the Rookie of the Year and the Most Envied Superstar of the Year, the Man Who is the Rightful Winner of the Slammy for Cruiserweight of the Year, Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion-Elect, the Cruiserweight Champion Michael Hotbody! Has Luscious with him, of course, as he feels that last night wasn't enough to celebrate all of the Slammys that the two of them acquired. "I mean, there was indeed a lot of celebrating all night. You'd think the two of us would be too tired to even show up here tonight, but never let it be said that Michael Hotbody isn't full of energy! I'm a walking, living, breathing dynamo and I lit up all of 2040! The Energizer Bunny has got nothing on me. And may I just say that bunnies of any sort have got NOTHING on dear, dear Luscious over here." ` Luscious blushes and fans herself with her hands at that comment as Hotbody presses on. "So tonight, I am proud to present to all of you a special in-depth edition of the Hot Button, as we take a look at our awards and reflect on our success and what it is about us that led us to win these prestigious accolades. I know you're all chomping at the bits so let's get this show on the road. Bring them on down, boys!" A music cue hits and one-by-one, Zed Jones and Galino & Farnes each bring down a Slammy on a mobile pedestal with Hotbody naming each one as he and Luscious look on with tears in their eyes. The Douche of the Year Slammy is covered with a piece of paper taped on with MOST ENVIED written on it in marker. Hotbody asks us all to bask in the beauty of them all. "It's the culmination of hard work and grit and determination that makes one the best in their chosen field. The only tragedy that one can and should find in all of this is that there is one particular Slammy missing and THAT'S THE CRUISERWEIGHT OF THE YEAR! Jordan Demiras, you know that deep down in your black soul, in your selfish unloving heart, you have no right to claim that award. Rest assured that I have my TOP LEGAL COUNSEL working on finding any irregularities! I don't know if it's a case of ballot stuffing, or Lisa Benton pulling some nonsense, or you people not knowing how a poll works, but there isn't any other person on this roster other than me that can say they were the best cruiserweight of the whole year. None of them have this belt around them and none of them are going to take it from me anytime soon! So to Jordan Demiras, I say you can choke on that statue and to Gavin Jones, good freaking luck because it's going to be one hell of a disappointment come Bragging Rights! Look at all you see before you, Gavin, and tremble!" This is obviously the time for the number one contender himself to sneak up from behind the champion. Gavin spins Hotbody around and delivers a boot to the mid-section and Gavin sends Hotbody flying over the top, knocking over the pedestals and awards. Luscious bails and that leaves Gavin alone in the ring with the title belt. He hoists it up briefly before taking his leave through the crowd as Hotbody and crew start to recover.

Really good shit as you'd expect. Hotbody is now up to a whopping 4 and a half lines of an intro even on my large gaming monitor, so if I read this thread on my phone it's probably take up the whole screen. Covering up Douche of the Year is just classic.

At this stage I feel like Hotbody's eventual dethroning could be saved for a WrestleMania moment, but he's run through nearly everyone so I'm not entirely sure who will get the honor. I firmly enjoy this angle.

Second Match: Jason Sorola vs. Nigel Gallagher It's rebuilding time for Sorola as he's coming off a pretty substantial loss on Monday. SmackDown! can always stand some hot cruiserweight action. I need to brainstorm his next feud. In the meantime, he can help rock this match like a hurricane. The match ends when Sorola yanks Nigel off the top rope by his leg and the Englishman hits hard. Sorola locks in the STF and that's going to give him the submission win. ****1/2, 91% overall.

I like the simplicity here. Sometimes guys are just between feuds and you need to keep them busy, and that's fine. That's where the hypothetical, unspoken winner's purse comes into play. You get yourself a good match to keep yourself going and that's good enough.

Fifth Match: Jenna Kyle vs. Vivian Merrick The Women's Champion and Woman of the Year Sonya Braddock joins the commentary team to observe this match. She's congratulated on her Slammy win and Sonya responds by saying it'll look great with the one she's going to win next year. She's asked about Naomi's injury and she replies by pointing out how much it sucks that she's not going to be able to knock her ass out again anytime soon. Naomi only needs to worry about getting better because despite the fight that Jenna Kyle is going to bring at Bragging Rights, Sonya is still going to be waiting for Naomi if she wants to take another shot at taking the title. The match at hand, though, is all kinds of awesome. I often forget that Vivian is also a worker despite being a manager to the Future Foundation. Jenna BUILDS MOMENTUM by picking up a hell of a hard-fought win by nailing the Kyle Driver and scoring the pinfall. She has a staredown with Sonya Braddock as the champion looks on from the announce table. *****, 95% overall.

I've said it before but I just love the ability to freely move people from wrestling to managing, and am just as happy sticking people into a "Manager" spot if I want to ensure they're standing there at ringside for any teammates or partners. EWR doesn't really know the difference between the roles.

Good to see Jenna BUILD MOMENTUM. I would like to BUILD MOMENTUM in my personal courtship of her.