[M-A-G]

SmackDown!: December 21, 2040

OPENING TWENTY-MINUTE PROMO OF DOOM TIME as the Stable That Isn't A Stable comes out to join us. It's more of an alliance of convenience. Anyways, Quinten McDaniels, Hugo, and Chet Morris come on down to express their grievances. Quinten takes the mic and proceeds to bare his soul. "It can be quite disheartening when you set out to make things better for yourself in life and barrier after barrier after barrier keeps coming up to disuade you. Look no further than the noble intentions of the three of us and then try to say that we aren't being tested. Haven is still up and about and filled with more righteous indignation than ever. Eddy Clash, in what is becoming the story of his WWE career, doesn't know how to keep his nose out of other people's business. And last, but certainly not least, the personification of the dagger through the heart known as Orlando Kincaid. You all witnessed the events that led up to last night so you can't call any one of us three a liar when we say that Kincaid did it all to himself."

Chet takes the mic and continues. "It wasn't that long ago that the three of us stood with Orlando in this ring before you all and let him know how welcome he was in our fold. But he thought he knew better. He thought he had everything all figured out. Orlando, credit where it's due, you did continue your trend of choosing the wrong path. So neither or Hugo hold it against Quinten for what he did to you last night. You can't expect to get off free when you bite the hand that's extended towards you. No barrier is going to stand in the way of the three of us purging our souls of failures."

Hugo takes his turn with the mic and address Haven. "Haven, I'm not through with you by a longshot. A great truth was revealed to me during our encounter last night, and that's the fact that when I looked you in the eye as I was pounding away at your carcass, you are no idol. You are no leader. You are no savior. I hate frauds. But Haven, you saw it and you damn sure felt it. You know that I'm no fraud. You know that I can break you. And it doesn't matter who is standing by your side. In fact, I demand justice for being cheated last night!"

Quinten takes back the mic and declares that he's in agreement with Hugo. "There's no reason that all of this can't be settled right now. Eddy and Haven, come and take your medicine! The quicker you face your fate, the better it is for everyone. And Orlando, if you're watching, know that what ends up happening to these two is the same thing we have in store for you."

The music of Eddy Clash hits and Big Thunder himself comes out to the stage, looking pissed. He's got a mic and wants to respond to all of this. "You know, if I can address something you brought up earlier, I actually was minding my own business for a good while. I remember it like it was yesterday. There I was at Survivor Series, beating the snot out of the Superstar of the Year, when this lunatic comes out of nowhere and ruined my night. Then that same lunatic surrounds himself with two other nutcases. So now I've got myself a problem. See, I really, really, REALLY want to wrap my hands around the neck of that original lunatic, but to do that, I've got to deal with the other ones. Well, I'm nothing if not a go-getter and a problem solver, so while I can't speak for Haven, I'm not about to turn down a chance like this."

With that, Eddy drops the mic and starts making his way down to the ring. Is he seriously going to do this with a 3-on-1 disadvantage? Regardless, he easily trucks Quinten and Chet thanks to his size and starts slugging it out with Hugo. Hugo doesn't go down as easy and it's only a matter of time before the tables are turned on Eddy, made even worse by Quinten and Chet making their way back into the fight, clipping Eddy's knee and bringing him down. Things look bad BUT THE LIGHTS GO OUT!!! Oh, shit, things are picking up. Indeed Haven is in the ring when the lights return and he's a house on fire! Down goes Quinten! Down goes Chet! Down goes Quinten again! Eddy gets back into it and Quinten and Chet are disposed. Haven and Eddy look like they're going to survive this but Hugo makes his comeback and just trucks the two faces. He gets them both by the throat and it looks bad BUT WTF IS THIS?!??!??! IT'S ORLANDO KINCAID!!! Orlando just came in out of nowhere behind Hugo AND HE'S GOT SOME HARDWARE! Steel chair hardware to be exact. He unloads on Hugo repeatedly, enough to break the grip he had on Eddy and Haven and to bring him down on all fours. Chet tries his hand at it but gets a chair to the gut for his trouble and gets sent to the outside by Haven. Orlando goes after Quinten, but Quinten isn't feeling that tonight and he retreats, calling for his comrades to call it a night. It's a 3-on-3 staredown as Orlando has added a new wrinkle to all of this.

Backstage, Brooke is with Salvatore Scabbia and Ronnie Costello, none of whom are looking happy about what's been going down between them and the Academy and now Cordelia Capriati. Brooke calls her former clients ingrates. Unintelligent ingrates, even. Leaving her fold is one thing. She can even understand going off and finding a new manager. But to go so far as to challenge her is a bridge too far. Brooke isn't hurting for talent in the slightest, but if Sophie Waters wants to make it seem otherwise, they can settle a few questions at Bragging Rights. Brooke will bring Carmella, Ronnie, and Salvatore and Sophie can bring those outcasts she's so proud of. It's time they all learned the hard way what a stupid decision it was to ever leave Brooke.

First Match: Neil Quint vs. L.A. Xander
Making Quint stand out and look good is certainly not an indication of something in store for him fairly soon, right? L.A.X. isn't even a cruiserweight, but I figure the wins need to continue somehow, so fuck it. We get a sweet outing here from these two, all of which is leading up to the streak continuing. Neil gets the pinfall win here after hitting the Quint-Essential Top Rope Maneuver. ****1/2, 90% overall.

Second Match: 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, Zed Jones, and Galino & Farnes vs. The Wasteland, Isaac Wolff, and El Silencio
Hotbody gets on the stick as he wants to give us an update on the issue of the proposed ladder match. "The WWE is taking the issue I brought up last night VERY SERIOUSLY! Their legal department knows that a case of discrimination this severe and this blatant would be a huge black eye to the company's public image. This is nothing but good news because now it seems like some fair treatment for their Cruiserweight Champion is in order! I understand that the cancellation of this match is a huge letdown for all of my fans, but you will come to realize that it was all for the best! I am a wrestling champion, for sure, but I am also a champion for civil liberties! And in that epic struggle, there is always one winner which prevails, and that is justice! Yes, true justice, and Gavin Jones will come to realize that being on the right side of justice is way more important than any title!"

Well, with all that said, let's get this match underway. This is more about letting Zed get some shine, along with letting Hotbody go completely ridiculous with his supposed fear of heights, notably a spot where he's got Wolff down and he tries climbing to the top only to "freak out" and go to the middle rope where he also "freaks out", finally settling on "coming off" the bottom rope with a forearm. He hyperventilates a bit, while his crew shows concern, but he assures them he's OK. The match comes to an end when it's down to Drakken and Hotbody. The ref is busy trying to get some order with the other participants. Hotbody tries crawling away from Drakken, making his way towards Luscious on the outside. Drakken grabs his leg, trying to pull Hotbody off the rope. Luscious slips Hotbody her Slammy and he lets go of the rope as Drakken continues pulling, causing Hotbody to go towards Drakken with the Slammy just happening to collide with Drakken's skull. Oh, dear, what a horrible accident. Hotbody tosses the Slammy back to Luscious, as she no doubt misses it, and the ref turns around to count the pin for Hotbody. ****1/2, 91% overall.

More backstage interview time as we go to Nathan Quinn and his client, Adam Hail. Adam gets asked if there is any concern over the choice of stipulation that Simon Bennett made for their match at Bragging Rights. Adam says Simon could've picked a God damn Abrams tank and it wouldn't have mattered. "All Simon did was pick out the thing that I'm going to bludgeon his face with. He wants the chain? He's got enough to hang himself. Cutting my ties with him ultimately came down to the fact that I have always been and will always be better than Simon Bennett, and I refuse to be anchored to dead weight like that. Bragging Rights is where I'm finally free of this nonsense!"

In-Ring Super Special Talky Time as the Parkour Princess, Faith Connors comes out to join us. She's got Dusk on her mind and wants to share some thoughts with us about that. "One of things that I still get asked about is how I'm able to dive into whatever I'm doing without fear. And I always respond the same way: don't be mistaken, the fear is always there. It's just a matter of how strong you are to overcome it. It's being able to have the feeling that what you're doing is going to pay off when you challenge that fear. And quite frankly that adrenaline rush I get when I've conquered whatever's in my way is like no other. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that when I get confronted by some chick talking about darkness and gloom and misery that I end up getting a little bored. Dusk, you're new here so I'll be somewhat gentle. I survived the onslaught of one of the toughest women ever to grace this ring to win the first ever Queen of the Ring. I upset the monster known as Sonya Braddock to capture the Women's Title just one year into my career here. I won the first ever Women's Money in the Bank. And I stood side-by-side with my sister-in-arms Jenna Kyle to make history by winning the Women's Tag Team Titles for the first time ever. So if you're thinking that you something in your bag of tricks that can ever rattle me or kill the high that I got in all of those moments, you're not just naive, you're delusional. Now under normal circumstances I'd just dismiss you, but a chair to the face is the kind of thing that sticks with me. I've got no issue with settling things if someone wants to come in here and be the big dog in the yard, and if that's how you want go about it, I'm more than ready to match you hit-for-hit. That is, unless, you're nothing but talk."

That's the cue for Dusk's music to hit and the Doll of Darkness herself makes her way out with Sorrow in tow. How are you liking these monikers I've been dropping for some of these people? Anyway, Dusk has a rebuttal for sure and she lets Faith know how she feels about what was just said. "Poor, poor Faith. It's quite the sight to see you flailing about, searching for meaning. But what else is left for you to do when you're being swallowed by the abyss? You can certainly scream, but that's just as futile because I won't hear it. You think yourself special because of your supposed form of 'fearlessness'? You think yourself above it all because you walk the mirror's edge, that thin line that separates the unreal from the truth? The only thing that makes you is alone. And with loneliness comes despair."

"You really know how to say a whole lot of nothing," Faith counters. "Critique me all you want, but one thing you can always count on is that I'm up-in-your-face direct about everything. And I'm not alone and I never have been. I've had people like this family over here. I've had people like this couple. I've had people like that group up there with the banner. All these people you see here raising their red gloves, they've been with me. The people at home watching right now. They've all been with me, loving every moment, from every big chance I ever took and every time I made some loudmouth eat my knee. So I'm willing to bet that they'll be with me all the way when I do the same thing to you. Which bring me back to my original point: are you going to bring some action with all of that talk or are you just going to stand around with your bird like some scarecrow?"

"You don't make demands of me," Dusk replies. "I am not beholden to your whims or any of your mindless followers. But if they want to be by your side, then let them be overtaken by the darkness, too. Next week seems appropriate, don't you think? If we're going to call it a send-off, then it only makes sense if you get a farewell." And with that Dusk takes her leave as next week's SmackDown! Send-off looks like it's getting even more packed.

Third Match: Clubber Harris vs. Romeo Valiente
There are times when I wonder why I even have Romeo still on the roster and then I remember it's for situations like this. Clubber Harris gets on the mic and announces his match against Zed Jones next week on SmackDown! Send-off. "Now I know Zed thinks he's got something in the badass department, but he needs to understand that I'm the damn boss of that section. Zed you got the tools physically. You're big, you're tough, you're strong. But what do you got right here, in your gut? Right here, in your heart? Right here, in your head? We're all going to find out together next week, only you're going to be finding out the hard way. You're running with a crew of people too big for their britches and you're going to learn you're no different. Muscle up and man up the best you can, Zed, because you're overdue one hell of a lesson!" So this is a sweet big man vs. little man outing. We've got to do what we can to get people looking forward to next week. Harris naturally has to go over here and so he does by hitting Romeo with the Club Pain to pick up the pin. *****, 94% overall.

Fourth Match: Kerry Cemenko vs. Vinnie LaPaige
Hey, it's round two of Matches For The Purpose of Putting a Dude Over. Brandon Reigns takes an interest here as he decides to watch from the stage as he and Cemenko have a date at Bragging Rights. It's another solid outing as Kerry looks good, trading glaces with Reigns throughout. Ultimately, Kerry gets the duke by hitting the Curb Stomp on Vinnie to score the win. We go to break as Kerry and Brandon shout some words at each other. ****1/2, 88% overall.

Fifth Match: King Kavovit vs. Robbie Greer
A little preview ahead of the Tag Team Title match scheduled for next week. Neither man has their respective partners out with them as it's going to be a true one-on-one affair. An awesome one-on-one affair as the rating demonstrates. A good sign for next week, unless the game wants to be a dick about things. Anyways, the end comes when Kavovit reverses an Irish Whip but Robbie rebounds off the ropes with an attempted crossbody. Kavovit ducks and Robbie hits the ref. He goes down and Robbie shows some concern. Kavovit takes advantage and grabs Robbie from behind, looking to dump him over the top. Robbie reverses and Kavovit ends up on the apron. A dropkick from Robbie puts Kavovit down on the floor and that gives Robbie a chance to try to revive the ref. The ref looks like he's coming to so Robbie turns his attention back to Kavovit. He reaches through the ropes and tries to pull Kavovit up, but Kavovit pops up and nails Robbie with his Tag Team of the Year Slammy in the side of his head. Kavovit gets back in and a dazed Robbie is open to an Oklahoma Roll from Kavovit and that's going to be enough to give him the cheap win. *****, 96% overall.

To the back we go again as Kyle Jacobs has some things to get off his chest. He's looking forward to next week's SmackDown! Send-off where he's hoping to send off Xavier Cross to obscurity. He talks about breaking into the business and all of the advice and talks he got from his father and uncle. They told him that he was a special case because the hardest thing he was going to ever have to endure was not the training, not the abuse, and not any kind of loss. The hardest thing he was going to have to overcome was the doubt and the reluctance of the people and his peers to accept him because of the simple nature of his last name. There was going to be resentment and scrutiny and they were right. But Kyle feels like he's past that and is ready to reach new heights. All that needs to be done is break through that barrier named Xavier Cross. "Cross, I've earned my place here, same as you. What happens next week was inevitable."

MAIN EVENT: Ryan Pattillo vs. Chris Collins
So we've got the two challengers for the two main singles titles at Bragging Rights going at it here. Collins brings up how this is a bit of a reignition of what went the two of them went through earlier this year, and much like how things are reigniting between him and Seth Von Kamp, the end result is going to be same: Chris Collins coming out victorious as the winner that he is. His father didn't do much for him as a person, but he passed on the necessary attributes to be the best in this business. Circumstances may change, but talent is talent and the proof will be presented to you come Bragging Rights! So this is a rocking main event as these guys have awesome chemistry. We can't really let either guy job here, though, so unfortunately we're going to have to go the double countout route as the two brawl on the outside. Things continue to break down afterwards, but luckily the WWE Unified World Champion Wrakk looks like he's going to break things up, namely by attacking Ryan Pattillo. Wrakk tries charging at his challenger, but Ryan ducks in time and Wrakk nails Collins. Ryan looks to get one over on Wrakk and proceeds to nail a Shutdown on him to send a message. We close the show with Pattillo standing tall. *****, 94% overall.

Overall show rating: 91%