FLAMBERGE vs. ARTHUR PLEASANT
As ReVival returns to the arena, we see that the fans who had been milling about purchasing many delicious beverages and food stuffs are slowly returning to their seats, awaiting with excitement for the semi-main event of the evening between Flamberge and Arthur Pleasant. As the lights slowly start to dim and more people take their seats, a small buzz starts to break through.
The buzz is quickly interrupted by a song.
Which song?
“Dangereux” by IAM of course! The song that heralds the arrival of the Flamberge.
Nick Stuart: What a semi-main event we have for you this evening! We get to see Flamberge, who in recent months has been something of a buzzsaw through the PRIME roster take on a new signing, Arthur Pleasant, who made a bit of a splash at the Culture Shock Battle Royal.
Richard Parker: It’s a pity he didn’t drown in that splash.
Nick Stuart: RICHARD!
Richard Parker: What? I’m a Flamberge kind of guy.
“Dangereux” by IAM plays to a weirdly supportive roar from the crowd. Perhaps it’s a Gen Z crowd that can appreciate Flamberge’s current situation of replacement daddies, who can say? Flamberge doesn’t give much away himself, heading to the ring with a very expressionless face, clearly focused on the match ahead of him, instead of backstage gossip and drama.
Vince Howard: The following contest is scheduled for one fall, your referee is Elvis Nixon. Introducing first, making his way to the ring at this time, he hails from Strasbourg, France, standing an even six foot, and weighing in tonight at two hundred and four pounds… HE. IS. FLAMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGE!
Nick Stuart: You have to imagine that this new Glue Factory situation has messed with the already fragile mind of Flamberge. He has been lusting for the return of Phil Atken and what he got at Culture Shock was a very different outcome.
Richard Parker: Two things – first, please don’t use the word “lust” ever again. Second, I think Lord Farthington has made it very clear how much Flamberge is valued. Tonight is his opportunity to prove his worth and to me, Arthur Pleasant seems like the perfect opponent to do it.
Nick Stuart: Arthur Pleasant is certainly a great test for Flamberge as he heads towards his banked Intense Title match at Tropical Turmoil. Pleasant strikes me as a guy who would be right at home in the Intense Division.
Richard Parker: I’d rather we didn’t house him. He might keep coming back.
Parker and Stuart continue to bicker about the merits of Arthur Pleasant on commentary as Flamberge continues his cautious and casual walk towards the ring, playing no mind to any of the external forces. Flamberge stomps up the ring steps and pivots to the ring, immediately taking his place in his corner. As Flamberge leans up against the turnbuckles, dead eyes and all, “Dangereux” fades away, replaced by, I don’t fucking know, “Baby Elephant Walk” by Henry Mancini? Whatever Arthur Pleasant’s theme is, that’s what played. I don’t have access to such information but I bet it’s some form of evil banger.
Nick Stuart: We saw a preview of this man’s capabilities at Culture Shock but tonight, against Flamberge, we will get a true test of what one of PRIME’s newest signings, Arthur Pleasant, can do.
Richard Parker: My mother always told me to never trust a man with wolf teeth.
Nick Stuart: Your mother always was very specific.
The music that plays when Arthur Pleasant is here continues to play as out from the back walks Arthur Pleasant to a less than warm reception from the PRIME faithful. Instead of being bothered by such things, Arthur Pleasant almost seems delighted at the hostile crowd. Two men try to get a “TEETH! TEETH! TEETH!” chant going, but no one can work out if such a chant is pro or anti-Pleasant.
Vince Howard: And the opponent, on his way to the ring, one of PRIME’s newest signings stands tonight at six foot three inches and weighs in at two hundred and twenty two pounds, ARTHURRRRRR PLLLLEEEEEEASANT!
Richard Parker: A weirdly specific chant is developing in the crowd, I think, perhaps, due to some of Flamberge’s thoughts earlier in the week.
Nick Stuart: TEETH! TEETH! TEETH!
Richard Parker: I don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t enable this. That was an error on my part.
Pleasant makes a slow and steady walk to the ring, with a focus on Flamberge for the entire walk. Flamberge for his part rolled his eyes up to the ceiling some time ago and that is where they have remained for the entirety of Pleasant’s entrance. Pleasant enters the ring and almost knocks over referee Elvis Nixon as he tries to check him for contraband. Pleasant chuckles to himself as Nixon scrambles back up to his feet to perform his referee-y duties.
DING DING
Nick Stuart: Elvis Nixon has called for the bell, and here. we. go.
Richard Parker: This is going to be one to watch for Paxton Ray. These two men are very eager to show they belong in the Intense division.
As the bell rings, Flamberge slowly rolls his eyes back towards ring level, where they meet with Pleasant’s. Pleasant goes for an immediate rush in, aiming to kick Flamberge in the thigh, but Flamberge is quick enough to hop back and all Pleasant makes contact with is air. With a small gap between the two, Flamberge scoops in with a double leg takedown in mind, but Pleasant manages to push him away and immediately follows with a boot to the skull. Unfortunately, Flamberge manages to roll out of the way of the boot, leaving Pleasant staggered.
Nick Stuart: These two men have come to fight!
Richard Parker: Flamberge has to be careful here, particularly trying to take Pleasant down. Pleasant has the weight and height advantage. Flamberge is going to have to weaken Arthur if he hopes to take control of this match.
Flamberge rolls right into the ring ropes and leans up against them, giving a dead-eyed look in the vague direction of Pleasant as he does so. Pleasant does not take very kindly to the nonchalant attitude of PRIME’s resident French youth and makes true first contact in the match by…
Poking Flamberge straight in the eye.
The warnings for Elvis Nixon seem to do very little to impact Pleasant’s game plan, as Flamberge tries to right himself after getting some fuzzy vision. The fuzzy vision allows Pleasant to slam a knee right against the ribs of Flamberge and with the advantage in hand, he throws a second and third knee into the Frenchman for good measure.
Nick Stuart: At the start of the match, Arthur Pleasant looked very confident in his chances, which makes you wonder why he went so dirty, so fast.
Richard Parker: It’s because he knew in a fair fight, he’d never be able to stagger Flamberge. Particularly not when the young athlete has the blessing of Lord Farthington riding upon him.
As Flamberge gasps from Pleasant’s onslaught, he manages to position himself up against the ropes. Elvis Nixon is about to step in to break up the action, but Arthur Pleasant instead hooks his arm around Flamberge’s neck and swings himself backwards for a DDT. The problem for Pleasant? Flamberge manages to wrap his leg around the bottom rope and Pleasant loses his grip, flying backwards into the mat and winding himself. The former Chipsmodel sees the opening and throws a flurry of stomps at the downed Pleasant, he gets around five solid stomps in before Pleasant manages to roll out of the way, clutching his ribs as he does so.
Nick Stuart: Hard hitting match in the opening match, Dick, do you think these two men are looking to prove something?
Richard Parker: I think they’re trying to prove that they can kick the ever loving crap out of each other, and hell, they’re succeeding in making their opponent.
Flamberge walks over to continue his assault on Pleasant but runs into a very unfamiliar sensation. Never before had Flamberge experienced a man chomping down on his ankle, and certainly not a man with teeth designed to do the job in a much efficient manner. Flamberge groans out in pain as Pleasant uses the opening of Flamberge nursing his ankle to scramble back up to his feet, looking very proud of himself as he does so. The crowd does not massively appreciate this action by Pleasant, apart from the group of “TEETH! TEETH! TEETH!” diehards in the seventh row.
Nick Stuart: I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like Pleasant before. I do wonder though, are those performing enhancing teeth?
Richard Parker: I hate to say it, but there’s nothing in the PRIME rulebook that says a man can’t sharpen his teeth for additional impact. It is very much within the man’s right.
Pleasant looks at the irate Flamberge, who is clearly nursing his ankle, a small pool of blood gently dripping out and takes a cheeky bow. Flamberge tries to swing at Pleasant, but the pain from the ankle takes over and he slowly stumbles backwards into the ropes instead, much to the delight of Pleasant. Flamberge tries to nurse his ankle, and Pleasant decides that instead of allowing that to happen, actually, he’s going to headbutt Flamberge straight in the noggin, sending Flamberge straight to the mat. Pleasant follows this up with a short DDT to the mat and quickly floats over for the cover, Elvis Nixon quickly in place for the count.
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT!
Flamberge manages to kick out at two, and Pleasant decides to hook for the cover again.
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT!
Flamberge manages to break free again.
Nick Stuart: This is smart strategy from Pleasant, he’s not trying to win the match, he’s trying to tire Flamberge out.
Richard Parker: It’s good ring tactics, particularly when you have to imagine that Flamberge is still feeling that intense pain in his ankles. Pleasant knows how to make the most of the tools in his possession, I will give him credit for that.
Pleasant goes for a third cover.
ONE!
KICKOUT!
The third kickout from Flamberge contains more authority than the first two, as the French youth leaps back up to the mat, hobbling slightly with his bad ankle. Pleasant sees that Flamberge is ready for another fight and decides his best path forward.
Eye gouging.
Pleasant drives his thumb so hard into the eye of Flamberge, you could almost say it was done with high octane energy. Flamberge, deciding that he’d rather not have a future of eyepatch purchases, returns the gouge with a knee that he directs right into the gut of Pleasant, causing Pleasant to loosen the hold. Pleasant staggers back, clutching his stomach and gives Flamberge just enough space to leap up and smack him right across the jaw with a jumping roundhouse kick. Pleasant bounces off the ropes, right into the waiting arms of Flamberge, who hooks him up tight and begins to throw knee after knee to the region just under the ribs of Pleasant. Pleasant tries to struggle free from Flamberge’s grip, but finds it difficult to do so.
Nick Stuart: It would seem that Flamberge almost took the eye gouge as an insult in how he’s chosen to respond.
Richard Parker: That’s it Flamberge! Show everyone what you’re made of in the ring! Show the world that you are worthy of the mantle of Glue! Lord Farthington believes in you!
Nick Stuart: One of these days we’ve going to have to dig into this Lord Farthington thing you have going on…
Richard Parker: …I just think he’s neat!
After softening Pleasant up with the knees, Flamberge shoots in again for a double leg take down, but the bigger frame of Pleasant once again proves to be too challenging and Pleasant manages to push Flamberge off. Pleasant seeks to follow up the assault, but as he goes to grapple with Flamberge, Flamberge uses judo magic to toss Pleasant to the mat, and as Pleasant crashes into the mat, gasping for air, Flamberge hooks the leg for a cover.
ONE!
TWO!
A kickout from Pleasant happens almost immediately at the two, causing frustration for the Frenchman. Elvis Nixon signals the two to Flamberge, and for his part, he doesn’t engage in any argumentation and gets back to the job of grappling. Or so he would hope. Instead, as he bends over to leave Pleasant back up, he’s met with a headbutt from Pleasant that comes with such force that people would expect Arthur Pleasant’s brain would need a little wash when he heads backstage. The force and fury of the headbutt completely dazes Flamberge.
Nick Stuart: Flamberge’s legs are looking a little weak after that headbutt. For how much longer can he stay up?
Richard Parker: Flamberge is made of the strong stuff, he’ll see this out! He knows how to get his head back in the game. We’ve seen it before. It’s why he places so well at Culture Shock!
Nick Stuart: I can’t argue that he had a VERY strong performance, but I don’t know if that’s helping him in the ring against Arthur Pleasant right now.
Pleasant sees that Flamberge is completely out of sorts and scrambles back to his feet like a slippery little eel. Pleasant tilts his head slightly at Pleasant, and smiles, revealing the very teeth that his opponent had made a mockery of earlier in the week. Motioning to the crowd that he’s ready to bring the whole thing to an end, Pleasant lifts up the staggered Flamberge up upon his shoulders, but as he starts to flip him, Flamberge rolls back behind Pleasant, and plants himself back on even footing. Flamberge staggers as he lands, clear that he’s still feeling the effects of the prior attack on his ankle and it presents just enough of an opening for Pleasant to drive his boot into the temple of Flamberge. Flamberge collapses to the mat in a heap, and Arthur Pleasant quickly scoots down for the pin, with Elvis Nixon in place for the count.
ONE!
TWO!
KICKOUT?
NOT QUITE!
Flamberge doesn’t kickout with authority, but rather instead manages to roll himself up slightly, making sure that his shoulders no longer touch the mat. This is enough for Elvis Nixon to call off the count. Pleasant looks at Nixon, ready to argue his case but this momentary distraction ends up being slightly foolish on Pleasant’s part, as it gives the opening for Flamberge to hook his arm around Pleasant’s neck.
Nick Stuart: Arthur Pleasant was absolutely convinced that a powerful kick to Flamberge’s temple was more than enough to put the Frenchman away and that surprise of Flamberge rolling out of the pin took him off guard.
Richard Parker: Flamberge is an incredibly fluid athlete, similar to his future mentor and hero, the great Lord Farthington. You cannot present a single opening to these men, they know how to take advantage of it and now Flamberge has a python-like grip around the neck of Arthur Pleasant.
As Flamberge tries to position himself to put more force and power behind the choke that he finds he has Pleasant in, Pleasant wriggles back and forth trying to break free. Elvis Nixon stays in position, as he sees life start to gradually fade from Pleasant. Pleasant continues to try and fight free, trying to use his larger frame to lift himself up off the mat, but by doing so, he presents a tactical opening to Flamberge, who quickly wraps his legs around the waist of Pleasant as Pleasant strains to lift himself up. Flamberge manages to roll over and position himself into a full Marie Antoinette Guillotine Choke, and Arthur Pleasant starts to show signs of the air rushing out of his body, his fight out of the hold continually weakening. Despite Elvis Nixon checking to see if Pleasant would tap, Pleasant presents no such satisfaction for Flamberge, who now has the hold locked in tight.
Nick Stuart: Pleasant is trying to fight free of this choke but I think it’s actually helping Flamberge control the hold tighter.
Richard Parker: A smart man taps, Nick. Sometimes it is better to admit that for one brief moment, you got got. Sadly, pride is a hell of a drug and Arthur Pleasant looks like he’s going to a very proud, unconscious man in a minute.
Arthur Pleasant is a very interesting man, and in being such, instead of tapping out, decides instead to hold up a middle finger straight into the face of Flamberge as he slowly begins to fade out. Nixon makes one last plea to ask if Pleasant gives up, but he continues to not give Flamberge the satisfaction, holding the middle finger in place, almost smiling as he passes out. As the middle finger drifts towards the ground, referee Elvis Nixon decides that he has seen enough and signals for the bell.
DING DING DING
Vince Howard: Your winner at nineteen minute and twelve seconds, by referee’s decision, FLAMMMMMBERRRRGE!
Nick Stuart: Impressive ring tactics by the young athlete in the ring tonight. Arthur Pleasant looked very much in control of this affair, but he provided one opening and that opening was enough for Flamberge.
Richard Parker: There’s a very sticky man that I’m sure is right now watching backstage with pride after that effort from Flamberge. The man had his ankle assaulted by illegal teeth and he still managed to push himself towards victory. He is the living embodiment of resilience!
Flamberge scrambles himself up against the bottom and middle ropes, leaning against them as he nurses his ankle, gasping for air, emotionless but prideful in his victory. Elvis Nixon chooses to check out Pleasant as opposed to raising the hand of Flamberge, which suits the young Frenchman fine.
Flamberge rolls out of the ring as he sees Nixon help Pleasant slowly come back around.