{‘The Man That You Fear’ by Marilyn Manson begins to play as blue fog emerges from the rampway, Trent Helms walks out, his head covered by a black hoodie. As he walks to the ring, he stares out towards the crowd, looking at all the fans who turned against him by not helping him gain entrance into the hall of fame. }

Amber Ashe: “The following contest is a Road To The Gold Tournament match….Now making his way to the ring…..From Thunder Bay, Ontario…….Weighing in at one hundred and ninety pounds……Trent Helms!”

{Helms simply smirks and walks to the ring before sliding underneath the bottom rope and climbing to the middle turnbuckle, spreading his arms outwards.}

Kelly Knite: “Oh boy…It’s Trent Helms.”

Willy Carter: “Show some enthusiasm Kelly. The man is a future Hall-of-Famer, and he just beat a Hall-of-Famer last night.”

Kelly Knite: “By count-out! It was a B.S. win for a guy that has about as much of a chance in making the Hall of Fame right now as Hexx does!”

Willy Carter: “Because the man keeps holding him down! Trent can’t get in the Hall of Fame, but the early buzz is that next year’s class includes Zelda and Ryleigh.”

{The beginning bass line to ‘Louder Than Words’ by Celldweller begins and the fans start to give their boos for Kristoff Liam Bates.}

Amber Ashe: “And his opponent……Hailing from Sunnyvale, California……He weighed in tonight at two hundred and forty pounds……..Kristoff Bates!”

{Bates comes out from behind the curtain, he ignores the fans as he walks down and they continue to boo him. He is quick to get down to the ring. He rolls under the ropes and he stretches in the corner getting ready for the match at hand.}

Eric Hardy: “You might not love Kristoff Bates’ attitude, but you have to give him some respect for coming out as a gay wrestler.”

Willy Carter: “More like Kristoff GAYtes! Am I right?!”

Kelly Knite: *Smacks Willy* “You’re better than that.”

Eric Hardy: “Uh….Bates is coming off another hard loss at the hands of Jonas Potter. He’s looking to move on to bigger and better things with a win on the Road to the Gold.”

{Referee Norman Dafoe is our official for this contest. He calls for the bell and the match is underway with some instant jockeying for position. Bates advances towards Helms and Trent kicks at his legs to keep his distance. Trent backs away and Bates shoots in for a takedown, but Trent avoids it and guides Bates into the turnbuckles. Trent spins Bates around and lights up his chest with a big Knife Edge Chop. The crowd lets out a collective ‘WOOO!’ as Helms lays into his pectoral region with another stiff chop. Bates delivers a right hand to Trent and quickly reverses their positions and hits Kristoff with a lightning fast series of chops that quickly bring the blood rushing to his chest. Bates takes a step out of the corner and Trent Hip Tosses him to the mat and immediately follows up with a jumping Knee Drop to the sternum. Bates sits up holding his ribs, allowing Trent to plant a boot firmly in the side of his head and knock him back to the mat. Trent drags Bates away from the ropes and starts to put the boots to his midsection with a kidney smashing collection of stomps. Helms jumps up and delivers an Elbow Drop to the sternum before hooking the leg. 1.…Bates quickly kicks out, and Trent guides him to his feet. Trent kicks Bates in the sternum before coming off the ropes with a Running Knee to the side of his jaw. Bates crumples to the mat before Trent bounces off the ropes with a Running Leg Drop to the back of his head. Trent delivers a kick to the ribs that nearly sends Bates out the ring entirely. The former NCW World Champion steps back and waits as his opponent gets to his feet, before dropping him from behind with a Full-Nelson Facebuster. He then takes a few steps back before running in with an Elbow Drop to the lower back, and then another planted directly in the shoulder blades.}

Eric Hardy: “It seems to me like Trent is just toying with Kristoff early on in this match.”

Kelly Knite: “Yeah. The guy is a major dick. I can’t wait to see him get some comeuppance.”

Willy Carter: “He’s playing mind games. Maybe if you did that you’d win more often.”

Kelly Knite: “You are really pushing it tonight Willy….”

{Helms lifts Bates to his feet and hits him with a left punch, right punch, left punch, European Uppercut combo that stuns him. Trent then hits the ropes and comes off with a Spinning Heel Kick that Bates is able to duck, sending the opponent crashing to the mat. Trent is up instantaneously and he quickly charges at Bates, who catches with him with a Japanese Arm Drag, and as they both get up yet again, Trent swings and misses allowing Bates to drop him with a spinning Back Suplex. Again both men are quickly on their feet, and Bates recklessly Headbutts Trent, sending him back into the ropes. Bates shoots him off and connects with a Powerslam, completing the maneuver with a pin attempt. 1.….2. Trent gets the shoulder up as soon as Dafoe’s hand hits the mat a second time. Kristoff takes a few seconds of rest before guiding the man hailing from a Planet called Canada to his feet, where Trent catches him with a knee to the sternum. Bates bends down and Helms locks in a front facelock DDT Clutch, laying in several stiff knees to his head. Trent releases and looks to run off of the ropes, but Bates grabs him from behind and powers him down with The German! Bates tries to shake himself back into shape following those vicious knees to the head, before grappling the legs and turning Helms over into a Boston Crab. With a psychotic look on his face, Bates leans back in the hold for maximum pressure on Trent’s back. Bates yells for the referee to “ASK HIM!” for the submission, but Trent refuses. He crawls his way to the ropes, forcing Bates to break the hold before a five count disqualification. KLB pulls Trent away from the ropes and looks to lock the hold back on again, but he’s rolled up into a Small Package. 1.…2...Bates breaks free. As both men get up, Helms hits Bates with a series of forearms to the face, backing him into the ropes. Bates fights back with a big punch of his own, knocking him back, but Trent comes running in with a big Clothesline that sends them both out of the ring and to the arena floor.}

Kelly Knite: “This match is just getting good…so that means it’s time for a commercial break!”

Eric Hardy: “Kristoff Liam Bates and Trent Helms fight to move on in the Road to the Gold tournament! Who will advance? We’ll find out after these commercials!”

{

{COMMERCIAL}}

Willy Carter: “How were the commercials? Did they make you happy, sad, or indifferent?”

Kelly Knite: “Shut up Hardy! Let’s get back to the action!”

Eric Hardy: “But I didn’t even say anything!”

{Back in the ring, or two competitors exchange punches in the center of the ring. Bates ducks a wild left hand and stuns Helms with a quick Jawbreaker. Bates looks around before running back and bouncing off of the ropes. As Bates rebounds, Trent is waiting and catches him with a surprise Bob-Omb Drop! Helms lays his hands across Kristoff’s chest following the Powerbomb type maneuver and looks for the victory. 1.….2.….Bates shoots his arm off of the ground. Trent stands up and devises a plan of attack. He takes Bates by the legs and crosses them around his own before turning him over into the Sharpshooter! You can see the pain shooting through KLB’s face as his legs and back are being punished. He tries to drag the bodyweight of both men to the sanctity of the ring ropes, but the dastardly Trent Helms drags him back closer to the center of the ring. Bates is stuck in No Man’s Land, and he takes the only route possible, as he tries to turn the hold around. He rips at the leg and elbows the back of the knee, finally knocking Helms to his knees. Bates pulls himself out of the hold, and rolls on the mat favoring his back. He crawls over and uses the turnbuckles to hold himself up as Trent comes in for the kills. Bates grabs Norman Dafoe by the shirt collar and pulls him in front of his body, stopping Trent’s attack. While Helms moves the referee out of the way, Bates reaches up and rakes his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Dafoe sees Trent holding his eyes and questions Bates. The Sunnyvale native denies any wrongdoing and pushes him aside to continue his attack, but Helms feels his coming up. Trent instinctively jumps up and drives his legs into Kristoff’s face and chest, pulling him down into a Double-Knee Facebuster. With the opponent down, Trent steps through the ropes and slowly climbs to the top rope. The fans begin to roar in anticipation of the former high-flyer returning to his roots and nailing a spectacular 630 Splash. A maniacal grin comes across the face of the future hall-of-famer, as he steps down to the second turnbuckle….and then the bottom one as the fans begin to boo mercilessly. Trent jumps off of the lowest possible turnbuckle while looking for the Diving Legdrop, but Bates rolls out of the way and Trent lands on his tailbone.}

Kelly Knite: “Ha! Serves him right.”

Willy Carter: “Kristoff Bates is a crafty wrestler. Playing possum while his opponent taunted the fans was a smart move.”

Eric Hardy: “It gave him the much needed opportunity to catch his breath. Meanwhile if Trent had just came off of the top, this match could have been over.”

Kelly Knite: “Man…I hate both of these assholes.”

{Bates waits in the wings as Helms gets up holding his behind. The former Honor Champion then boots Trent in the sternum and jumps in the air, coming down with his trademark CPU Trouble DDT! He shoots the half, rolling Helms over and looking for a pin. 1.….2.…..Trent gets his shoulder up! Kristoff practically loses his mind (if he hasn’t already) at this point, and begins to argue with the referee. Bates says some things to Dafoe that aren’t fit to print, before noticing Trent getting to his knees out of the corner of his eye. Bates stalks over and places his arm under the chin of Helms and hooks his legs around the waist…..He locks in This Tie Is Too Tight! Kristoff’s deadly Rear Naked Choke is locked on and he’s looking to suck the life out of his opposition as he lays on Trent’s back. Referee Dafoe comes over and asks Trent if he wants to give up, to which Trent doesn’t respond. Dafoe takes hold of Trent’s left arm and checks for the choke out victory. He drops the arm, and Helms is barely able to keep it up off of the mat. Trent plants both of his hands on the mat and tries to push himself up off of the mat. Bates has the weight advantage and he uses it to his advantage, trying to keep Helms pushed to the mat. Trent pushes his upper body off of the mat just enough so that he can use his momentum to roll the hold over, and now he’s on top, allowing him to reach over with his arm and grab the middle rope! 1.…..2.…..3.…..4.….Bates finally breaks the chokehold in a fury and gets to his feet, stomping away at the defenseless opponent. Dafoe tries to stop the attack by pulling Bates away, but he has none of it. He rips Trent up from the mat, and grapples him from behind. Bates looks for another German Suplex, but Trent fights away his hands and elbows him in the temple. Helms hooks his arm around Bates’ head and uses the second rope to flip himself over the back…..Trent connects with Any Given Moment! Trent just pulled off Kelly Knite’s finishing move! He reaches an arm across Bates for the pin. 1.……2.…..Bates gets his arm up just in the nick of time!}

Kelly Knite: “Oh you’re going to steal my moves Trent?!? If you’re going to do that at least win with it you bitch!”

Willy Carter: “Hahaha. Way to stick it to ‘em Trenty.”

Eric Hardy: “We may have to cut the sound feed for a few seconds….I’m pretty sure Kelly is going to get us in trouble with the FCC.”

Kelly Knite: “You’re right. Trent Helms can go fu- *Audio cuts off*”

{Both men lay on the mat, motionless as the referee begins to count them both down. 1.…2.…3.….4.…Both men begin to stir…..5.…..6.…..7.…..Bates uses the second rope to hold his body up and Trent is to his knees…..8.…..9.…..Everyone is up on wobbly legs just before the ten count. Helms slaps Bates in the face in a show of disrespect as the crowd hisses…and Bates retaliates with an equally disgusting slap. With fire in their eyes and pain coursing through their bodies, the two exchange words…

Kristoff Liam Bates: “HAS-BEEN!”

Trent Helms: “PAT PATTERSON!”

Kelly Knite: Who?

{Bates jumps in the air and nails Trent with an Enziguri to the ear, knocking Trent out on his feet. Bates catches him falling forward with a Release Northern Lights Suplex. Bates slowly drags Trent’s lifeless body over closer to the corner before stepping through the ropes to the ring apron. He looks out to the crowd and taunts them before heading to the top rope. Trent gets to his feet and stumbles over, falling across the top rope. This causes Bates to slip and crotch himself down across the top turnbuckle. Helms walks over and Uppercuts Bates, before stepping up to the second rope and pulling the opponent across his shoulders in a Fireman’s Carry……Trent’s looking for a Super Bioshock! Trent leaps off the second rope for the Bioshock….Bates connects with an elbow to Trent’s head, knocking him senseless mid-move! They both crash to the mat, and Bates immediately locks his legs around Helms’ neck and yanks at his arm….Suffocating Cubicle! Bates locks on his Triangle Choke finisher and tries to make his opponent tap out. Trent struggles to get to the ropes, but the pressure on his arm is threatening to rip his shoulder right out of socket…..Trent tries to escape, but he can't break away and falls limp!}

Amber Ashe: “Here is your winner by submission……..KRISTOFF LIAM BATES!”

{Bates holds the Suffocating Cubicle a few moments later for good measure. He releases and stands up, having his arm raised in victory.}

Eric Hardy: “Kristoff Bates has done it! He defeated Trent Helms and is moving on in the Road to the Gold tournament.”

Kelly Knite: “And he did it in an impressive fashion! That Triangle Choke is just deadly.”

{Bates steps through the second rope and jumps to the arena floor. As Helms massages his shoulder one the mat, Bates backs up the ramp with a satisfied smirk on his face.}

Willy Carter: “Great. Now that guy is one step closer to winning a World Title shot….Do we really want Kristoff Bates to be our World Champion?”

Eric Hardy: “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s still a long way left on the Road to the Gold. We’ll see who will be joining Bates in the next round right after this break! Stay tuned!”

-[COMMERCIAL BREAK]-