Suddenly, the Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla” begins to buzz throughout the studio, causing a hum of confusion among the ClaW faithful, until the unmistakable presence of a certain manager drives them to jeers.
Moss: And here we go, this is going to be a high-stakes match!
Robbins: Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall! And if Mushigihara wins, Leon Van Zandt must leave Classic Wrestling FOREVER! But if Leon Van Zandt wins, HE will get five minutes alone in the ring with Eddie Dante!
Mushigihara and Eddie Dante emerge from the bowels of the arena, sauntering to the ring like business as usual.
Robbins: Making his way to the ring, accompanied by Eddie Dante! From Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan… weighing in at two hundred ninety-four pounds… he is THE EMPEROR! MU! SHI! GI! HAAAAAAAAAAAA-RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
The jeers intensify, as Mushigihara climbs into the ring and looks out to the crowd, roaring out an intimidating…
Mushigihara: OSU!
The unmistakable string introduction of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” fills the studio, triggering a buzz among the ClaW faithful, until the emerging form of Leon Van Zandt draws cheers. Dressed for battle, the Professional looks out into the crowd with a look of bloodlust.
Robbins: AND HIS OPPONENT! From Ghent, Belgium! Weighing in at two hundred thirty-five pounds… HE IS THE PROFESSIONAL! LEON! VAN! ZAAAAAAAAAAAAANDT!
Wasting no time, the Professional beelines to the ring, never taking his gaze off either his opponent, or his former manager at ringside. He knows what’s at stake here, and he won’t let himself fall to any traps.
DING DING DING!
Leon Van Zandt wastes no time, rushing from his corner across the ring to waffle Mushi in his own with a sandwiching European uppercut!
Moss: LEON VAN ZANDT WASTING NO TIME!
Van Zandt pulls the dazed Mushigihara out of the corner and tries to wrangle him to the ground with a tight cravate headlock, but Mushi holds on with his superior bulk, and shoves Leon into the ropes, before plowing him to the mat with a shoulder tackle on the rebound. With a chuckle, The Emperor pulls Van Zandt back up to his feet, taking advantage of his stunned state to clothesline him back down to the mat and cover him, as Kevin Clady counts!
ONE!
Van Zandt manages to kick out relatively quickly, but Mushi is not fazed, as he hops back up and levels Van Zandt with a thunderous elbowdrop, which he leans into for another cover!
ONE!
Van Zandt kicks out again, and Mushi is slightly more miffed, but Eddie Dante at ringside is starting to get livid, because he knows what is at stake tonight! He would certainly rather see his former client forced out of Classic Wrestling than have to spend five minutes in the ring with him, and he is smacking the ring apron louder to rally his Emperor along!
Mushi rises up and pulls Leon Van Zandt back up to his feet… but Van Zandt manages to slip his arms past Mushi’s and clamp on that cravate! Mushi is taken off guard and pulled off-balance, so LVZ is VERY much able to put pressure on the neck.
Moss: This is a very solid strategy by Van Zandt, here… not only softening the Emperor’s neck for that nasty Sugar Hold, but also making it harder for Mushigihara to attempt the Emperor’s Suplex!
Howley: It’s a good strategy, but he’s gotta remember Mushi ain’t out there alone, or else he might find himself out of a job here in Classic!
With a mighty snap, Van Zandt manages to take Mushi to the mat with a crisp flying mare, and lets go of the hold, before running off the ropes and kicking Mushigihara HARD in the face as the crowd goes wild! Seeing Mushi rattled invigorates the grappler, as he locks on a crooked headscissors as tight as possible on the Emperor’s head, and wrenches his neck farther! Mushi groans in pain as he flails his legs to reach for the ropes… and he does! Clady makes Van Zandt break the hold, but LVZ uncharacteristically holds on until the count of four! Eddie Dante calls out to LVZ, climbing up onto the apron and taunting him. Leon takes his focus off Mushi and gets into Dante’s face, and they exchange words we can’t quite pick up… which gives Mushi enough time to get up to his feet, and make a rush towards Leon Van Zandt…
…only for Van Zandt to sidestep out of the way, and for Mushigihara to plow into Eddie Dante, sending him careening into the guardrail! Van Zandt sees an opportunity, and manages to roll Mushi up in a schoolboy roll-up!
ONE
TWO!
MUSHI KICKS OUT! However, Leon Van Zandt is able to predict the kickout, and manages to lock Mushigihara down to the mat…
Moss: SUGAR HOLD! SUGAR HOLD! The Professional may have his former tag team partner where he wants him!
Van Zandt has Mushigihara locked in the Sugar Hold, and has it locked in tight! Mushi is struggling to escape, but to no avail! The Emperor is trying to find a way out, to no avail! Eddie Dante manages to recover, and hops back onto the apron to yell at Kevin Clady, and even goes so far as to throw his cane into the ring to deliberately get Clady’s attention, and it works!
Howley: Dante throwin’ a tantrum in the ring to get the ref’s attention, but I think there’s more to it than a hissy fit, because Dante’s DEFINITELY smarter than that!
Clady gets into Dante’s face and argues with him about his actions, but Dante keeps his attention, which Van Zandt doesn’t notice until he starts seeing Mushi fade out of consciousness. He looks up and sees the argument, and lets go of the hold, and even slaps Mushi on the back to restore blood and air flow to his body! Van Zandt gets up, and calls out to Clady, who pushes him off as he continues arguing with Dante.
Moss: Leon knows he won’t beat Mushi like this, but he’s showing sportsmanship in letting go AND helping his opponent revive, to prevent any permanent damage!
Howley: Honorable, but it might end up being a foolish mistake!
Mushigihara starts to come to, and sees the drama unfolding in front of him, and then sees Eddie Dante’s cane in the ring. He rises to his feet and grabs the cane, and slowly raises it up to hit Van Zandt with, but he seems to hesitate…
Moss: Oh, no, will Mushi steal the bout with Dante’s help?!
He chucks the cane outside of the ring, and instead waits for Leon to turn around and walk right into…
Howley: That’s gotta be it! Nobody’s been able to survive the Emperor’s Suplex, and he got ALL OF IT!
Mushi drives Leon into the mat with the Emperor’s Suplex, but he is clearly still reeling from the pain of the Sugar Hold, and struggles to reach over and cover, but he does, and Kevin Clady lunges for the count!
ONE!
TWO!
…
…
…
Moss: LEON VAN ZANDT **JUST** SHOOTS A SHOULDER UP INTO THE AIR! Mushigihara is surprised! Eddie Dante is LIVID!
Mushigihara stamps back to a standing position, and YANKS Van Zandt back up to his feet, before wrapping his arms around his waist for another Emperor’s Suplex…
…but Leon Van Zandt manages to twist himself in midair, and shift his weight down ONTO Mushigihara, landing on him and covering him for a pin!
ONE!
TWO!
…
…
THREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
DING DING DING!!!
Moss: HE DID IT! LEON VAN ZANDT HAS BEATEN HIS FORMER TAG PARTNER, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, SAVED HIS CAREER IN CLASSIC WRESTLING!
Robbins: Here is YOUR WINNER… LEON! “THE PROFESSIONAL!” VAN! ZAAAAAAAAAAAANDT!!
As Dvorak queues up again and referee Kevin Clady raises the Professional’s hand, Eddie Dante is still staring in terror; first at his fallen God-Beast as he struggles to get up, then at the cackling Van Zandt. Leon looks back at Eddie, and points to him with glee before making his way out of the ring towards his former manager. Dante makes a break for it, and tries to run out of the arena, but his escape is short-lived, as he trips onto the ringside mats, and his attempt to get up fails, as he freezes the second LVZ gets a sinewy hand on his shoulder!
Moss: Dante tried to get away from paying his bet, and I REALLY don’t think Van Zandt is going to go easy on him NOW!
Dante can only babble in vain, begging for mercy as Van Zandt tosses him inside the ring and follows suit. Mushigihara is off to the side, trying to get himself back up onto his feet, and just manages to stand up, before he gets Dante on his back, clinging to dear life!
Mushi tries to get his bearings together, turning around until he is face to face once again with Leon Van Zandt. The crowd starts to rev up, as the two former partners stare each other down, as Dante barks orders at Mushi to protect him, and stop Van Zandt from getting his five minutes!
Dante: Put a stop to this, Mushi! I don’t have to be in here with that brute! Don’t let him get his hands on me! Don’t you da—
WHUMP!
The crowd cheers as the Emperor of Classic Wrestling, in an act of defiance, casually just snaps forward and drops Dante flat on his back, directly in front of the Professional!
The stunned Dante can only look up in terror as Mushigihara nods to LVZ and gestures towards Dante with his arm, as if to say “he’s all yours,” before making his way out of the ring. Dante scrambles to the ropes Mushi stepped out from, as Leon Van Zandt stalks towards him and we see a timer start to blink on our screen, before staying solid.
Howley: Hey, Pat. Wanna see a dead body? Because I think you just might in five minutes.
5:00
Van Zandt grabs Dante by the shoulders and locks on a full nelson before swinging him towards the center of the ring!
Dante tries to kick out at the approaching grappler, but Van Zandt manages to grab a hold of Dante’s leg, and do a wishbone stretch, causing Dante to yelp in agony as the limits of his groin are violently tested!
After a few moments, Van Zandt rushes down and gets his arms around Dante’s waist, bounding up to his feet and driving Dante into the mat with a thunderous suplex! LVZ wastes no time, pulling Dante back up before hooking on a front headlock and underhooking an arm, suplexing Dante down once again with vicious impact!
Van Zandt flows with the momentum of the suplex, and floats over to trap Dante in a painful-looking guillotine-like maneuver! After a stretch of time, LVZ rolls around on the mat, planting a few knees into the top of Dante’s head and rattling him, before letting go and rising up, playing to the crowd who is loving all of this destruction!
Dante is clutching his neck and shoulder in pain as he rises to his feet, looking around for some kind of timer, only to gasp when he finally finds one, showing him that there’s still more time left!
Dante gets a burst of adrenaline and tries to get to the ropes, and in fact, manages to get one foot between the ropes… only for LVZ to catch him, and yank him back into the ring with a saito suplex that lays him out!
LVZ rises up to his feet and stalks around Dante like fallen prey, before looking at the timer a bit before slowly lifting Dante up and leveling him with ANOTHER saito, and reaching down to wrap his arms around his head and neck! Van Zandt is going for the Sugar Hold! Dante struggles, but ultimately is trapped in Van Zandt’s grip!
Van Zandt posts a hand on Dante’s hip, giving him some leverage as Dante writhes in agony; first rapidly and flailing, and slowly becoming more lethargic and sluggish as his airways are cut off!
DING DING DING!
The bell rings signifying the end of the five minutes! Van Zandt rises to his feet, smiling contentedly as he has gotten his revenge. He stands up and looks down on his victim, who is just barely conscious. As Dante struggles to get away, Mushigihara returns to the ring, walking over to his long-time manager as he grabs onto his legs and tries to rise up.
Van Zandt stays put and watches, as Dante manages to make eye contact with Mushi for a brief moment…
…before Mushigihara hoists him up and over with an Emperor’s Suplex in the center of the ring!
Mushighara and Leon Van Zandt are now facing each other on either side of Dante’s body, and the crowd starts to hum as it looks like this rivalry may not be over…
Moss: Things looking tense between the former Classic Tag Team Champions…
…until they shake hands over Dante’s body! The crowd goes wild, and the two wrestlers raise each other’s arms, signaling the reunion of the Foreign Legion!
Moss: OHHHHHHH! The Foreign Legion may have just reunited after this squabble, and that just might be BAD NEWS for the rest of the tag team division, if dropping the sadistic training of Eddie Dante is any indication!
Howley: If those two are a team again, without any restraints? It’s gonna be BIG trouble.