FIVE-STAR TITLE: NATE COLTON (C) VS. TYLER ADRIAN BEST
Event: CULTURE SHOCK 2023 NIGHT ONE
Event Date: 04/07/2023

FIVE-STAR TITLE: NATE COLTON (C) VS. TYLER ADRIAN BEST
Back into AT&T Stadium, we return for what is, to date, one of the most highly anticipated 5 Star Championship Matches in the ReVival Era of PRIME.
Nick Stuart: Folks, it doesn’t get much bigger than this for the 5 Star Championship. Nate Colton is one of the faces of the new era of PRIME. One of its most successful, one of its most beloved. He’s ascended to the number one spot in the rankings. Not only that…in his near year in PRIME…he has yet to be pinned or submitted.
Richard Parker: And that’s great. He’s a fresh faced, aww shucks kind of guy. Always saying the right thing. Always seemingly doing the right thing. But there are many out there…many…that think him holding the 5 Star Championship is wrong. That he was handed that belt at Colossus as part of Brandon Youngblood’s plan to make FLAMBERGE suffer in humiliating fashion.
Nick Stuart: And I think that’s foolish.
Richard Parker: And I think you’re being naive.
Nick Stuart: In any event, Nate Colton won the 5 Star Championship by beating Rezin at Colossus just a few months ago. And he’s sense successfully defended the championship against Anna Daniels. But tonight marks a major obstacle, and while many consider FLAMBERGE to be Colton’s forever adversary…the man the champion faces tonight might just be the greatest challenge he has ever faced.
Richard Parker: Maybe? Look, I love FLAMBERGE. FLAMBO is great. One of my absolute favorites. He beats up all those that are THE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH. But Tyler Adrian Best is literally come from a pod, granted the best training in the world, and has the genetics of champions running through his veins.
Nick Stuart: His appearance in PRIME surprised many in the wrestling world. Tyler, not one year ago, looked to be the next in line for High Octane Wrestling supremacy. His father, Mike Best, is widely considered the Greatest of All Time in HOW history, but his son…Tyler…looked to be on a trajectory unlike any other. He captained his team to victory in War Games and was, alongside Christopher America, the sole survivor of his team. And while he chose not to claim the World Title as his own, he took the mantle of his father, becoming ICON Champion. It seemed like he was sure to become an unstoppable force.
Richard Parker: Sure to be? He was.
Nick Stuart: But then, well…he lost the ICON Title and disappeared. To show up in PRIME, to sign a contract to compete here…nobody would have expected HOW Owner Lee Best to allow his own flesh and blood to compete here exclusively.
Richard Parker: And what has he done since coming here? Cut down everyone in his path. Second and third generation wrestlers all. Eddie Cross. The Anglo Luchador. And now…tonight, he gets another. He gets Nate Colton, and if he does what he’s been doing? He’s walking out of Dallas with the 5 Star Championship.
The anticipation built, the lights in AT&T Stadium draw down suddenly. The flash of cell phones and the concourse are the only light within the stadium. And flashing across the PRIMEView?
T A B
“People I Don’t Like” by Upsahl blares as the acronym begins to drip with 97Red. A singular spotlight falls upon the entrance ramp stage as Tyler Adrian Best appears, taking all the focus, his slow stride stopping just before the runway toward the ring. Looking out at the fans filling Jerryworld, the Grandson of GOD has the slightest of smirks.
Vince Howard: This contest is set for one fall and has a one hour time limit…and is for the PRIME…5 Star…CHAAAAAAMPIONSHIP!
BOOOOOO
A wall of raining gold sparkling pyro falls, all before red starts to pour down the center, all before it stretches out and envelopes the entire scape of the PRIMEView
Vince Howard: Introducing first…from Chicago, Illinois…
Tyler begins to make his way to the ring, with purpose, confidence, swagger carried with every movement.
Vince Howard: He stands five-feet, eleven inches tall, and weighs in at one-hundred and eighty two pounds…the chaaaaaaaallenger…he is…TYYYYYYLER! AAAAAAADRIAN! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST!
BOOOOOO
He barely pays them any mind as he saunters to the ring, a few slight gestures to the crowd punctuating his movements. At the end of the ramp, a spring enters his step, and quickly, he rolls under the ropes, exploding to his feet, stepping past the official for this contest, Ashley Barlow on his way to the far corner. Climbing the turnbuckle, he throws his arms outward, the prized tattoo covering his chest displayed prominently as the lights in AT&T Stadium return. Upon his perch, Tyler pantomimes to the Dallas crowd, playing them like a violin.
Richard Parker: What a beautiful display for the challenger…
Nick Stuart: Garish could be a word to describe it.
Richard Parker: It’s an investment. Look the part. Become the part. Only thing is…Tyler Best already IS the part.
Vince Howard: And his opponent…
The lights of AT&T Stadium once again go out.
The fans erupt in anticipation, and soon their energy is rewarded as the PRIMEView springs to life. On a field of white, three words appear
THE
NEXT
DIAMOND
These fade away, replaced by a logo. It’s the letter C in the shape of a diamond, with a smaller N inside. The logo is framed by the name.
NATE
COLTON
A classic rock riff signals the beginning of “Tryin’” by the Eagles, and the Dallas fans give out a raucous cheer. Moments later, Nate Colton emerges from the curtain. He holds his arms up high, showing off his blue satin jacket–his family name emblazoned on the back; his first name stitched on the front. He also shows off the Five Star Championship, currently secured around his waist.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Nate walks quickly to the ring, stopping periodically to point at groups of cheering fans, or waving his arms to hype up the crowd. There’s just one thing; as he makes his way, alongside the ramp, percussive pyros launch to the sky.
Nick Stuart: Nate Colton is here, and he is feeling the excitement from this crowd!
Richard Parker: Careful he doesn’t burn himself out coming to the ring.
He climbs the steps, ducks between the top and middle ropes, and enters the ring. He heads directly to his corner and undoes his jacket, showing off his gear–white trunks that reach his upper thigh with a blue stripe down the side, white boots with blue trim, white MMA gloves, and blue elbow and knee pads. After handing his jacket to a ring attendant and unfastening the title belt, he makes another appeal to the fans–this time, holding the Five Star Championship high above his head.
He hands the belt to referee Ashley Barlow and heads to his corner, where he stretches against the ropes and mentally prepares for his challenger.
Vince Howard: Hailing from Evansville Indiana…weighing in at two-hundred fifty-five pounds…he is the Next Diamond! He is the PRIME Five Star Champion! He is…NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! COOOOOOOOOOOOOOLTON!
The music fades. The bombast and smoke ebbs away. This isn’t the future; it’s the present. And we have it here, deep in the heart of Texas. Tyler drops from his perch on the top rope, flatfooted, offering a mock clap at the display for the 5 Star Champion. Nate Colton, deep in preparation routine, doesn’t notice.
And with that, Ashley Barlow calls for the bell.
DING DING
Nick Stuart: And we…are officially underway.
Richard Parker: The Prodigal Sons of the Midwest. Their families carry with them different legacies, but here, tonight, none of that matters. What matters most is the 5 Star Championship. What matters most is what one of them will, ultimately, do to cast their own shadow over this sport.
Nick Stuart: The fans here in AT&T Stadium are buzzing, Richard, and why wouldn’t they? Tyler Adrian Best proved himself a phenom in High Octane Wrestling not even one year ago. Say what you will about the stacking of decks, in how it was the team HE captained that seemed to be given every single advantage…
Richard Parker: And do you blame Lee Best, or Mike Best? That young man standing in our ring is their flesh and blood. He is a dynasty, yes, but he’s also their child. Their grandchild.
Nick Stuart: I’m not disputing any of that. And of course, paternal instinct is going to carry with it a desire to see those that share your lineage do well in whatever it is they do. What I will say, though, is that there IS a question of whether Tyler is actually a true winner of War Games. How much of the heavy lifting did he do? How protected was he by security and other means?
Richard Parker: None of that matters in the official record books, and none of that matters when the people involved know what they’re signing up for. And he was a captain. He could have awarded himself the High Octane World Championship and been the youngest Champion in that promotion’s history. He could have lapped past even his own father in achieving such stature in this sport. But he didn’t. He took on being the Icon, to carry the burden and challenge. And he’s not even twenty years old.
There is nary a movement offered between Tyler and Nate, the two standing close to their opposing corners, eyes trained on the other. While Colton dons an expression of focus, TAB flashes only a smirk, a trademark growing the more it is seen. The Next Diamond reaches his gloved hands to his head, cracking his neck, and then steps forward, readying himself in an amateur stance.
Nick Stuart: Colton here looking like the first to try and engage.
Richard Parker: I’m almost shocked we aren’t hearing about how this is a battle between the just and the profane.
Nick Stuart: Tyler’s credentials are impressive. His pedigree even more so. In so many ways, he’s been bred for exactly this. Trained for exactly this. To be a champion in the sport of wrestling. The tutelage of Lindsay Troy–
Richard Parker: Who might be the best wrestler in PRIME history–
Nick Stuart: Goes without saying. And he’s only lost a single professional match in his young career. But Nate Colton…
Colton takes the center of the ring, his arms extended, fingers flinching. The 5 Star Champion offers a mighty size advantage over his challenger, and yet, TAB is undaunted, not even acknowledging him. Mind games?
Nick Stuart: Nate Colton is the biggest, the greatest challenge he has ever faced. And while some in Chicago might not like me saying that, and while our contacts with PWA might not like me saying it…I call it like I see it. Nate Colton hasn’t had a family’s promotional arm hand him the greatest opportunity it can possibly offer.
Richard Parker: Like his father hasn’t–
Nick Stuart: His path to tonight, in being 5 Star Champion, in being undefeated in singles competition in PRIME…it isn’t paved by his father’s success. It might inform us, but it’s not the same. His father or grandfather didn’t work to gift him title opportunities. He had to work to get to PRIME, he didn’t debut under the brightest of lights. He’s worked to get here. He’s worked to become the number one ranked wrestler in all of PRIME–
Richard Parker: So this is silver spoon versus the working class? That going to be your praxis? Like Nate Colton isn’t aping a nickname given to him by some legendary wrestler in PRIME? Like he hasn’t wormed his way in profile by buttering up so many veterans who have some tacit connection to his family?
Nick Stuart: I think the conversation is proven versus unproven.
Richard Parker: Eddie Cross and Anglo Luchador would beg to damn differ.
If the anticipation for a tie up is to come, keep waiting. Because Tyler isn’t giving you what you want. In fact, he’s blowing snot at your very insistence. But The Next Diamond is through waiting. He’s pushing closer, cutting off the ring, his long reach making his already sizable frame all the more daunting in the eyes of observers. It’s only when it seems like there’s no possibility to escape that the former HOW Icon Champion even proffers a response, matching Colton’s wrestling stance with one of his own. The grin seems to only grow. A way to mock the Evansville Indiana product?
Colton looks to shoot.
SMAAAAAAAAAAACK
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Richard Parker: And so does Colton’s cheek!
Tyler anticipated the shot attempt. Nate didn’t anticipate the cocked arm of his opponent, nor the absolutely massive pimp slap that blasted him across the cheek. The ring now open to him, TAB shuffles away, almost playfully, his smirk growing ever wider as he throws his arms out, the 5 Star Champion static, now standing completely upright in place.
Nick Stuart: Best just walloped Colton in the face with a heavy slap, but the Champion barely flinched!
Richard Parker: So says you. I swear I saw him spit out some blood there. Maybe even a tooth.
No to the blood and teeth. Yes to a huge gob of spit falling from the face of Colton, who’s head remains downcast. Tyler should be going in for the kill, but he doesn’t, instead resting against the ropes, a hand to his ear to goad the booing of the fans.
Nick Stuart: That blow looks like it caught Colton completely off guard.
Richard Parker: It’s obvious that it did. Like he wasn’t expecting TAB to pack anywhere near that kind of punch.
The 5 Star Champion finally brings his head up from its drawn position, turning to face Best, who is practically giggling as he offers a shrug. The microphones don’t catch what Tyler is saying, but fans at home can hear something along the lines of ‘sorry to ruin your whole plan to wrestle hump me to death, dumbass, but also, not sorry, and by the way, fuck you’. Not any of those words, TAB has a gift for gab that is probably more soul rending.
What happens next is a surprise, even to him.
Richard Parker: Did…is Nate Colton…is he stupid? Did a concussion knock him stupid?
Nick Stuart: Nate Colton is pointing at his other cheek, offering it up to Tyler Best!
His hands are even down to his sides, hanging limply. This should be a moment where Tyler thinks twice, or maybe even takes his time before swinging. Again, he doesn’t play by your rules. Within milliseconds of the offer, TAB strides over and absolutely smacks to piss out of Colton’s other cheek.
SMAAAAAAAAAAACK
Colton’s head bolts backward, and just as quickly, rockets back into place, his whole body tensing.
SMAAAAAAAAAAACK
And again, to the opposite cheek.
SMAAAAAAAAAAACK
Richard Parker: Why is he–
TAB will keep starching the 5 Star Champion’s face.
SMAAAAAAAAAAACK
Nick Stuart: I don’t–
Richard Parker: –these blows–
CRAAAAAAAAAAASH
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Nick Stuart: Colton ducked that last slap and BIELED Best across the ring with that hiptoss!
The launch point is high up on the Stanislav Yeet scale…a BABY Yeet, if you will. And as TAB hits the canvas, he tries to shoot back to his feet, having absorbed the blow on his hip, but on the stagger, Nate Colton AGAIN launches him with another high angle hip toss. Tyler tries to scurry back to a vertical base, but the running forearm strike that obliterates him puts an end to all that.
Nick Stuart: COVER!
ONE!
TW–
Tyler is busy kicking out, but Nate uses the opportunity to blast him in the face with a grounded forearm, hooking the near leg for another cover.
ONE!
TWO!
The bigger 5 Star Champion is like deadweight on top of Best, laying on his upper body, smothering the challenger, forcing him to spend valuable energy in frustrating fashion with another quick kick out, and when he does, Colton holds him down on the canvas with a transitioned side headlock, the near arm splaying outward, almost as though TAB is locked in a choke. The War Games winner stamps his heels into the canvas, trying with his free arm to release the vice grip over his neck. The palm prints color Colton’s cheeks a bright flush, a little water in his eyes glimmering in the lights of AT&T Stadium. A heavy wrenching of the hold to try and smother the challenger brings a smile across the face of the champion, all as Tyler tries to claw his way free, tries to reach outward.
Nick Stuart: Tyler Best learning just what it means to have someone nearly fifty pounds heavier than him use all of that to their advantage.
Richard Parker: A lot smarter strategy than constantly being slapped in the face.
TAB’s struggles show a level of frustration rare for the Grandson of GOD. His fingernails don’t work to break the hold, no matter how they bite into the flesh of Colton. In desperation, Tyler throws wild punches to the side of Colton’s head, a bell clap to the ear, and after half a dozen, the grip is loosened enough to give TAB a little bit of wiggle room, letting him use his free arm to transition and brandish the forearm as weapon, driving it into the side of the champion’s head and pushing him over so he’s the one with control, pinning Colton to the mat.
ONE!
TWO!
A kickout. Ashley Barlow reprimands TAB for the use of the closed fists. Does he care? What do you think? Tyler isn’t done, breaking away, rising up as quick as he can and throwing a soccer kick in the direction of Colton’s head, the 5 Star Champion able to avoid it by scant milliseconds. Kicking the air, Tyler finds himself a little out of sorts, and seeing Colton trying to scramble up to his feet, launches himself on top of him feet first in a display of violence that would make Mauricio Shogun Rua proud. The blow takes the energy out of Colton, and as he lies, looking up toward the Grandson of GOD, he eats a heel to his throat.
Nick Stuart: Tyler Adrian Best showing an immense mean streak here, launching at Colton like this, we weren’t expecting–
Richard Parker: He was born for this, forged in the crucible of champions. If you weren’t expecting this, then YOU haven’t been paying attention!
Standing over the downed 5 Star Champion, TAB is all sick smiles of malice, all loaded up, launching thick, powerful kicks to the shoulders of Colton, the smack reverberating throughout the ringside area. Another and another and another. He leaps from his stand, ready to drive his heel into the face of The Next Diamond, aiming center mass to explode his nose, but Colton rolls out of the way in the nick of time, the intensity of which Tyler is stomping his leg causing the heel to collide with the canvas and jar his knee, a slight hyperextension, forcing him to sneer as he instinctively grabs at his leg.
It’s enough time for Colton, his face a mask of irate rage, to not only get to his feet, but to grab hold of TAB.
Nick Stuart: Back suplex by Colton! That little bit of an opportunity is all it took!
Tyler is reeling from the concussive blow, but before he can scurry away, Colton grabs him in a cravat, taking him over and slamming him to the canvas with a jerking snapmare, maintaining the hold and shooting back to his feet, jarring Best back to the canvas with another snapmare, and for a third time, he rises from the canvas, only to release the hold, smoothly transitioning to a Russian leg sweep, driving TAB into the canvas.
Nick Stuart: The 5 Star Champion showing off his repertoire here!
Richard Parker: And leveraging his size advantage!
If you thought Colton is finished with his mode of attack, you’d be wrong, as he yanks TAB back to a standing base, grabbing a front chancery, and slamming Tyler into the canvas with a heavy vertical suplex. A float over and a cover.
ONE
TWO
THR–KICKOUT!
But just barely. Just barely. Colton rises, TAB staggers, and on wobbly footing, he turns to Nate Colton, only to receive a starching slap across his face that drops him to the canvas, only to roll outside and fall to his knees, walking with them over the mats and to the guardrail, lifting himself up and slamming his fists into it as her swings around, shooting daggers at the 5 Star Champion.
Nick Stuart: Tyler thought this would be easy. You can tell. And now, he’s on his heels, having to deal with some adversity and some heavy artillery from The Next Diamond!
Richard Parker: That’s how you see it. I see it differently. Tyler had lost all momentum and was getting mauled in there. Now, he’s away, and all Nate Colton is doing is looking at him from the inside of the ring. And each of those seconds Tyler has on the outside? He’s recovering. He’s getting his wind back. And more importantly, he’s able to devise a strategy to overcome what he just went through. Like a savant. A wrestling savant.
As if sensing Richard Parker’s commentary, and with Ashley Barlow’s ring out count at three, Nate Colton decides, after hearing all the trash talk, after getting slapped, after getting stomped out…that he’s not about this little shit squirm away freely. He shoots out of the ring, sliding from the ring apron, and while TAB slightly stumbles, he’s there, throwing a clobbering blow toward the larger Colton. Too bad for him, Nate hits him with one of his own, shutting him down, lifting him up and driving him back first into the ring apron, the air escaping the challenger, this undesirable chiropractic adjustment made all the worse by Colton smothering him, latched onto him like a lamprey. Tyler tries throwing a 12 to 6 elbow into the back of the champion, but the blow doesn’t have much on it, and before he can steel himself to throw another, Colton is lifting him from the spot, dropping him with an inverted atomic drop that causes spit to fly from the Grandson of GOD.
Colton loads up, looking to hit another vicious running forearm on the outside.
TAB sees it coming in the nick of time, dropping, and Nate Colton’s forearm blasts into the ringpost.
Nick Stuart: OH NO!
Richard Parker: Should’ve stayed in the ring!
Tyler, beat up as he feels, has been trained to deal with the rigors of the ring. He senses the opportunity in front of him. And as Colton grabs at his arm, wincing, shaking it, the not-so-funny bone maybe completely broken, Tyler is finding all sorts of reasons for it to be funny, grabbing onto the arm of the 5 Star Champion, twisting it with an arm wringer, then jerking the whole arm downward.
Ashley Barlow wants the both of them back in the ring, immediately, but Tyler brushes her off, mouthing something toward her that only serves to furrow her brows. TAB then grabs the arm of Colton, wrapping the elbow across the post, again and again, never letting go of the wrist, driving it into the unforgiving steel time and time again, all until swinging the arm outward and then bashing it elbow first into the post.
Richard Parker: That arm is going to be useless going forward!
The count is rising far too high. Best rolls underneath the bottom rope, then outward again, forcing a restart. What a little shit. But it has purpose. He gets on the ring apron, standing up. Colton is wincing, grabbing at his arm from a kneel, trying to pull himself back up to a stand. And when he finally does?
THWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWACK
There’s the punt he was looking for earlier. And the 5 Star Champion crumbles into a heap. Brushing away sweat and flecks of his hair, the sociopathic look of joy spreading across TAB’s face is harrowing, as is the savage smirk spread across his lips.
Nick Stuart: This is getting dangerous here…
Richard Parker: Dangerous? What are you talking about?
Nick Stuart: If Nate Colton can’t continue–
Richard Parker: Then we have a new 5 Star Champion.
The replays show just how sickening the punt is at it connects with the face of Colton. And seeing the aftermath, we can see that Nate’s eye is already starting to swell, heavy reds, an almost jaundiced level of bruising instantly washing over the eyelid and ocular cavity.
Do you think TAB cares?
How many times are you going to be asked this rhetorical question?
All he gives a shit is the damn gold.
And seeing an opportunity, he flips off the downed Colton, and then, suddenly, makes his move, grabbing onto the ropes.
Nick Stuart: SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT FROM TYLER ADRIAN BEST CONNECTS!
Richard Parker: KNEES FIRST INTO THE 5 STAR CHAMPION!
The inertia from the blow launches Tyler away from Colton, but, once again, Ashley Barlow is reaching a crescendo point with her ring out count. And if the young man is going to become the Champ Champ? Well, he needs to get the first damn belt out of the way. Grabbing Colton, he jerks him up from the ground, rolling him back into the ring. Once inside? He latches onto the arm, punting it over and over, and then using his boot to facewash the champion.
Richard Parker: You feeling what I’m feeling, Nick?
Nick Stuart: I–
Richard Parker: A 5 Star Championship belt with a strap that’s 97Red?
Nick Stuart: –ehhh…
Richard Parker: It’s okay. You’ll get used to it. It’ll look nice set off against the faceplate.
The fans in AT&T Stadium are growing restless. And why wouldn’t they? They can read the tea leaves. How many of them thought that this match was going to be Nate Colton, primordial babyface, the number one ranked wrestler in all of PRIME, and man who has YET TO BE PINNED IN PRIME, putting the petulant grandchild of Lee Best into the bad boy corner? How many thought that not only was Colton going to pay the TAB, but take him behind the woodshed for the beating his mouth and his whole sense of being deserved.
Tyler lifted Colton on his shoulders.
Is it sinking in? Are you fucking realizing it? YOU asked for this! This is YOUR fault. Mission statement from jump. Superior training from a state of the art facility headed by legends in the industry against some podunk midwestern chode with his little dipshit varsity jacket and his little ‘aww shucks I just am working so hard’ attitude.
Nick Stuart: TY-BREAKER! TY-BREAKER!
Can you feel the oxygen being driven from your obese, know-it-all ass? The good guy wins? Not when you have the genetic makeup of GOD. Your entire concept of good and bad, right and wrong, it bores him. Your little digs bore him. He uses it to paper your cage so you don’t ruin his floors as you frustration shit in despair. Your little second and third generation sacrificial lambs were there for the slaughter, to be served with a side of mint. Not even able to legally drink a glass of wine, yet he’ll gladly, gladly enjoy sipping on this victory.
Richard Parker: COLTON IS FINISHED! HE’S DONE!
Nick Stuart: STREETS SWEEPER!
The cover is automatic.
ONE
TWO
How about that blow job?
THRE—————–KICKOUT!!!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
Richard Parker: WHAT?!
Nick Stuart: COLTON WITH THE KICK OUT AT THE VERY LAST SECOND!
Richard Parker: I DON’T BELIEVE IT!
And neither can Tyler, who, if even for a moment, is seated mere inches away from the man he is still challenging for the 5 Star Championship. His eyes are in disbelief. And as he looks over to Nate Colton? That shock is evident. Palpable. But just as soon as it appears, it fades, under a look of disdain and hatred. As the 5 Star Champion tries to ready himself, tries to get off the canvas, tries to do anything, Tyler Adrian Best launches atop of him, firing off dirty elbows from the mount. As Colton’s gloved hands fight upward to stymie the blows, TAB fires off a headbutt, and then another, all before grabbing the arm he’s brutalized and wrenches it in a kimura, doing everything he can to push away from his body, to try and break the arm.
Richard Parker: COLTON HAS TO TAP!
No he doesn’t. What he has to do, though, is something, fast, or his arm is about to snap. His 5 Star Championship reign will end if he doesn’t. Positioning himself, he drives his forearm into the face of TAB, but the Grandson of GOD isn’t about to let go. Yelling. Demanding. There’s no threat that he will break the arm unless he taps. No sharp, incisive words. Just actions and all the torque he can muster.
ONE
TWO
RELEASE
Nick Stuart: Colton forced Best to let go of the hold or lose the match by forcing his shoulders to the mat!
A masterstroke. But just because he’s managed to get Tyler to release the hold, it doesn’t mean much of anything, not as Tyler once again clamps onto the hold on the rising Colton. Another kimura. There is no hesitation this time.
Nick Stuart: BACK BODY DROP SUPLEX!
Richard Parker: WHERE IS HE FINDING THIS?!
The impact jars Tyler off of him. And as Colton does his best to shake his arm, its limp measure shows the damage that has been done. TAB rises shortly thereafter, and looks to throw a snapping kick at the wound.
What does Nate Colton do?
He absorbs the fullness of the shot with his chest, letting it eat the blow rather than his arm. The sudden shift has TAB out of sorts even with connecting, especially when the 5 Star Champion clobbers him with a forearm shot from his good arm.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
COLTON! COLTON! COLTON!
Nick Stuart: LISTEN TO THIS CROWD!
Richard Parker: UNBELIEVABLE!
Tyler’s eyes are crossed from the shot, but he manages to remain standing. And before Nate knows it, his chest absorbs the full brunt of a scintillating knife edge chop.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Like chopping a tree.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
It’ll take time.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
But eventually it will fall.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Except the tree is growing stronger.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Except the tree seems to be making its striker wilt with each and every blow of spent energy.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Like solid freaking oak. Tyler Best gasps from the rapid fire succession of knife edge chops. But Nate Colton stands there, towering above him, his eyes wide, his eyes wicked.
THWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
And on the last strike, Nate Colton lets out a mighty roar that causes Tyler to, if even for a moment, quake in his boots on a slight backpedal.
Nick Stuart: NATE COLTON!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
A blistering forearm strike with the good arm instantly flattens Tyler. He doesn’t give him a chance to rise, jerking him back up to his feet with said arm before blasting him with another forearm shot. And as Nate Colton goes to grab Tyler, TAB goes to throw a blatant low blow.
Ashley Barlow doesn’t see it.
But the fans aren’t booing either.
Why?
Because as Tyler is on the wind up for the desperation shot?
He eats a monstrous knee to the bridge of the nose.
Richard Parker: THAT BROKE HIS FACE!
Maybe it did. Whatever it did do, the blow is a vile concussion maker if ever there was one.
Nick Stuart: COLTON WHIPS TYLER ACROSS THE RING
Richard Parker: OH MY HOYT–
Nick Stuart: COLTON SPLASH!
Richard Parker: COLTON SPLASH?!
Nick Stuart: NATE COLTON DOVE INTO TYLER ADRIAN BEST WITH EVERYTHING HE HAD AND BURIED HIM IN THAT CORNER!
Richard Parker: OH NOOOOO–
Nick Stuart: INVERTED SUPLEX! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!
Richard Parker: BUT HE ONLY HAS ONE ARM–
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Yeah, he only has one arm. One good arm. The Colton Clutch isn’t in deep. If Tyler Best can manage, if he can offer a single bit of furious response, a strike, a bite, hell, maybe anything, this Colton Clutch is broken. After all, he has to know this. All his training, all the tutelage, being born and trained to be a killer in the ring, his synapses are firing in survival mode even if he isn’t aware. The Best that money can buy.
Nate Colton didn’t have state of the art facilities. He didn’t have World Champions grooming him to be the next in line. The Colton Academy is filled with second hand equipment, a ring that smells deeply of mildew. It’s trappings are far away from Chicago, from the East Coast. Surmounting the rigors of his father’s perfectionist gaze, he wasn’t awarded title opportunities or big money contracts. Just a jacket. Just a family. A legacy not out of a petri dish.
A championship earned and paid for with his own sweat, the right way.
The Colton way.
Nick Stuart: COLTON CLUTCH SUPLEX!
Richard Parker: OH MY HOYT! OH MY HOYT JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESUS!
Before Tyler can react, and because he doesn’t have enough to strangle the life out of his challenger, The Next Diamond uses everything he has and hits the Colton Clutch Suplex near the corner, the proximity causing the back of Best’s head to smash into the bottom turnbuckle pad. Young as he is, there’s sure to be a click in his neck, perhaps for the rest of his life.
Nick Stuart: COVER!
ONE
TAB.
TWO
Paid.
THREE
KICK. THE FUCK. OUT.
Nick Stuart: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!
Oh? That tab you thought was paid?
Richard Parker: His head…his head bounced off that bottom turnbuckle so viciously…
Tyler kicked out RIGHT in the nick of time. And you know why?
Because even with scrambled brains, he is still a furious mass of youth and cum.
Nick Stuart: AND NATE COLTON IS BESIDE HIMSELF!
Colton’s eyes are as wide as china saucers. His mouth trembling in disbelief. And then, he looks down, the challenger stirring, just barely, just barely alive, smirking, the son of bitch smirking…
Nate struggles to pull Best back up, Tyler practically deadweight. And with a wince, and with a roar from deep within, Colton hits ANOTHER Colton Clutch Suplex, AGAIN deep in the corner, TAB’s head violently ricocheting off the turnbuckle.
Colton makes the cover, with everything he has.
ONE
TWO
THREE
DING DING DING
Nick Stuart: Oh my word what a match!
Richard Parker: His head…his head bounced off that bottom turnbuckle so viciously…
Colton instantly is off of Tyler, who is splayed out. If the blow hadn’t knocked him practically unconscious, an arm, a foot, something, could have stopped the three count. As it stands? The desperation Colton Clutch Suplex hits with a brutal efficiency, something so destructive that it would have felled everyone else in the wrestling world.
Vince Howard: YOUR WINNER…AAAAAAAAAAND STIIIIIIIIIIILL…5 STAR CHAAAAAAMPION! NAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE! COOOOOOOOOOOOOLTON!
Barlow is back in the ring, handing the 5 Star Championship to Nate Colton as he dabs his eye with arm, all before wincing and dropping it to his side. He can’t even hold the title as she raises his hand.
Nick Stuart: Say what you will…Tyler Best showed us, tonight, that any thoughts that he can’t get his hands dirty, that he isn’t ready to bring the fight…they are wrong…
Richard Parker: Maybe…if Ashley sees the replay…there will be a reversal…
Nick Stuart: But we also found out that, even in the face of a vicious opponent wanting nothing more than to destroy him…that Nate Colton…the 5 Star Champion…is your huckleberry and so much more.
Stooping on a knee and grabbing the 5 Star Championship with his good arm, Colton pumps it skyward, and then goes back to tending to the bruises and welts beginning to grow all over his body.
And as Colton’s muted celebration goes on, Tryin’ by The Eagles blasting through AT&T Stadium, Tyler Best slowly starts to come to with the worst headache imaginable, nearly foaming at the mouth as his head begins to crane up off the mat.
What does he see?
A Colton ‘fuck you’ disguised as a thumbs up.