...but Beast manages to roll out of the way, and the crowd groans loudly then cheers as Melton eats the chair!

MN: NOOOOO!

DT: Beast got out of the way!

The crowd continues to cheer as Beast slowly pulls himself to his feet, favoring his leg. Beast then shakes out his leg and rubs it, trying to get some feeling back into it, and he limps over to Melton, and pulls him to his feet, before putting Melton right back on the canvas with a brutal neckbreaker! The crowd gasps at the impact, and Beast gets to his feet again, and sees the chair on the canvas.

MN: Ryan's telling at Beast to use the chair on Melton!

DM: Five bucks says Beast crushes Melton with the chair.

MN: No way. He's too much of a prude to stoop so low as to use a chair.

Beast turns and looks at Ryan, who's motioning like he's swinging a chair. Beast picks up the chair, and Ryan seems pretty happy and the crowd starts to cheer as Beast moves toward Melton.

DM: Come on, Loafy!

Beast raises the chair, but rather than waffle Melton, he turns and tosses the chair out of the ring, and the chair lands right at Dan Ryan's feet!

DM: Dammit!

MN: Told ya!

Dan Ryan looks down at the chair, then back up at Beast, and a red faced Dan Ryan locks eyes with Beast and the two men glare at each other!

DM: I don't like the looks of this, guys.

Ryan walks around the ring upset, with his hands on his hips as Beast pulls Melton back up to his feet and hits some chops that draw a WHOOO from the crowd, as Beast then whips Melton to the ropes. Melton rebounds and Beast takes Melton over with a huge powerslam that shakes the ring!

DT: Beast just hammered Melton with that powerslam! But he's still favoring that leg! He can't go right back to Melton!

Beast slowly gets back up, and he pulls Melton back to his feet again. He lands some punches, followed by a stiff European uppercut, and the World Champion whips Melton to the ropes, yet pulls Melton back in and levels him with a short arm clothesline! Beast holds on and pulls Melton back to his feet and hoists him high into the air, before dropping Melton down HARD with a brainbuster suplex!

DM: And Beast's still favoring that leg!

Beast gets to his feet and pulls Melton up after him, and whips him to the ropes. Melton rebounds...

DT: BIG sidewalk slam from the Champion! And Beast's definitely back in control now! There's a pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

The crowd groans as Melton kicks out!

DM: That was close!

Beast pulls Melton back up to his feet, and hoists him onto his shoulders, yet wobbles a moment, compensating for the knee, yet Melton manages to fall behind Beast and hold on, hooking him into a reverse DDT!

MN: Big counter from Melton!

Melton and Beast both hit the canvas, and Melton takes a moment to shake out the cobwebs while Beast tries to forget about his knee. Both men make it up to their feet, and Melton goes right back for the leg, chopping down Beast once again!

DT: And Melton goes right back to the leg! He's found an opening on Beast, and he's not going to give up on it! That's 15 years of professional wrestling to help you get the job done!

Melton picks Beast up off the canvas and fires Beast stumbling across the ring into the corner, and follows it in with a big running clothesline! Melton then hoists Beast up to a sitting position on the top rope, and climbs to the second rope himself. He hooks Beast's arm....

MN: SOOOOOOOOPERPLEX from the Unifier!

DT: Melton sends the Champion down to the canvas with a nasty second rope superplex! And he hangs on for the pin!

1...

DM: Uh oh...

DT: Lindsay Troy put Beast's foot on the rope!

MN: Exsqueeze me?

Melton turns and sees Lindsay backing away from the ring, hands raised in the air as if she did nothing, yet she has a wicked smile on her face.

MN: Holy crap! What's Troy doing helping Beast?

DT: Is she helping Beast, or playing with Melton? Who knows?

Melton gets to his feet and pulls Beast away from the ropes by the feet, then leaps in the air and drives a knee into Beast's own knee! Beast shoots into a sitting position yelling out in pain! Melton drops a couple more knees, then hooks the injured leg and makes pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

Melton picks up Beast one more time, and nails a wicked back breaker on the Champion! He makes another pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

DM: Beast just keeps kicking out!

DT: Beast's resiliency and heart have been at the cornerstone of his success here in EPW, Dean! It's extremely hard to put this man down!

Melton grabs Beast by the feet, and slingshots the Champion into the corner! Beast's head snaps back and he stumbles back out of the corner, and Melton catches him with a german suplex!

DT: Melton's trying a different avenue here, guys! He makes another pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

MN: Damn big loafy!

DT: And Beast just won't give up! How is Melton going to put him away! What do you have to do to beat this man!

The crowd pops, and a "BEAST! BEAST!" chant fills the arena, as the crowd gets behind the Champion and try to get him back in the match! Melton pulls Beast to his feet and whips him to the ropes, but Beast manages to reverse and send the challenger to the ropes, and Melton rebounds into a boot to the guts, and Beast hits a wicked whirling sitout powerbomb!

DT: The Champion just about put Joey Melton through the canvas!

Both men are down, but Beast soon rolls over and makes a pin!

1...

2..

Kickout!

Beast pulls Melton up, but Melton takes a swing at Beast! Beast ducks and boots Melton in the guts again, and hits a big stunner! Melton bounces off the mat and lands draped on the ropes!

DT: And look! Again, Dan Ryan is telling Beast to take advantage of what's presented to him! He wants Beast to choke Melton with the rope!

DM: But Beast is having nothing of it! He's yelling back at Ryan that he won't do it!

MN: And Ryan's pissed! Would you look at that face? If only looks could kill, we'd have a new World Champ!

Beast pulls Melton back into the ring off the ropes much to Ryan's dislike, and pulls Melton to his feet, where he nails the challenger with a full nelson slam!

DT: High impact move from the Champion!

Beast follows up with a couple of elbow drops to Melton's sternum, then pulls him to his feet, before going back to the basics and smashing Melton in the face with a solid right hand! Melton staggers away, and complains to the official about the use of the closed fist!

DM: What the...?

Melton argues with the official, and Beast approaches Melton from the rear, and Melton manages to drive a big mule kick up into Beast's nether regions and the Champion crumples to the canvas!

MN: Absolutely brilliant! Melton had the ref occupied, and he never saw a thing!

DT: And there's a pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

DT: And Beast stil kicks out!

Melton gets to his feet, and sees Ryan on the outside, and the two men stop and stare a very unfriendly stare for a moment, before Melton turns to pull Beast back to his feet, and he hits a jaw breaker! But Beast doesn't go down, and Melton races over and nails Beast with a clothesline!

MN: TIMBERRRRR!

DM: THAT time he went down!

Melton pulls Beast to his feet, and whips him to the ropes. Beast rebounds, and Melton drives a knee into Beast's midsection! Beast flips over and hits the mat!

DT: Melton's attacking from all angles here, looking for any way to put the Champion down!

MN: There's another pin from Melton!

1...

2...

Kickout!

D: Another kickout!

Melton slaps the mat, unable to find a way to keep Beast down. He pulls Beast to his feet, and whips him to the ropes, and Beast rebounds. As he does, Melton goes for a Thesz Press, yet Beast catches him in midair and turns Melton over into a monster spinebuster! Melton sits up for a moment, clutching his ribs and yelling out in pain before collapsing back to the canvas! Beast makes a pin!

1...

2...

Kickout!

The crowd groans as Melton kicks out!

MN: And now it's the Unifier's turn to kick out!

Beast gets to his feet and heads to a corner, where he crouches and waits for Melton to rise. Melton does in a few moments, and Beast explodes across the ring....

DT: GORE!! GORE!!

DM: NO! Melton got the boot up into Beast's face! He caught him coming in!

The crowd groans as Beast hits the canvas! Melton goes for a quick pin!

1...

2...

Thr... KICKOUT!

MN: Stay down already!

The crowd cheers as Beast kicks out! Melton grabs him and whips him to the ropes, yet Beast reverses and sends Melton to the ropes. Beast drops his head for a backdrop, yet Melton catches him with a boot to the face, followed by a double leg takedown!

DT: And there's the figure four from Melton! He's got his trademark maneuver locked in!

Beast yells out in pain, and the crowd gasps!

MN: It's all over! We're going to have a new World Champion! Big Loafy's met his end right here!

The crowd starts a "BEAST!" chant as he fights and yells in the figure four! Pat Jones checks on Beast and sees if he wants to submit, but Beast yells out no!

DT: This is the test, guys! How much has Beast got left? What's he got left in the tank? How much punishment has that knee taken all match long, and how much more can he take?

Beast yells out, suffering under the hold by Melton! He reaches out for the ropes, but he's just a bit too far away! Beast sits up, but Melton leans back as much as he can, putting as much pressure on that injured leg as he can! Beast collapses back to the canvas, and Jones leaps into position for the count!

1...

2...

No! Beast sits up!

DT: Beast's only hope is to turn Melton over and reverse the pressure!

Beast rolls to the right and left, trying to shake loose or turn Melton over, and he manages to get Melton half way over! The crowd starts roaring!

MN: Shut up! It's deafening in here!

DT: Can he do it? Can Beast turn it over and escape the... YES, HE'S DONE IT!! Beast's turned Melton over, and this crowd is going absolutely nuts! Melton is howling in pain!

Now the official starts checking on Melton, seeing if the challenger wants to submit! Melton yells out no!

Beast pushes up all the way, trying to get as much pressure working in *his* favor now! But, right in front of Dan Ryan....

DT: And Ryan is pushing the rope in towards Beast! He wants Beast to grab it and lift himself up to apply more pressure to that hold! But Beast refuses again!

DM: You can hear Ryan screaming "Do what it takes! Do what it takes!"

MN:: OHHH! Beast just spit in Dan Ryan's face! Fire him!

Finally, Melton is able to untangle his legs, and the figure four is broken! Both men get to their feet, but Beast is obviously favoring the leg after being in that figure four for so long! Melton charges Beast, but Beast manages to boot Melton in the guts, and stumbles, before hooking Melton into a pumphandle...

DT: Beast swings Melton up! OHHHH! Beast just inadvertently struck the official with Melton! He kicked the official right in the face!

Jones goes down, and the crowd cheers as Beast plants Melton into the mat!

DT: Beast just nailed Melton with the Absolution 2K4!

MN: NOOO!!!

DM: But I don't think he caught Melton with all of that one, guys! Hitting the ref caused some balance problems, and it wasn't as fluid as I bet Beast would like! And look! Melton's down, but so is Beast! He's holding his knee!

DT: I dunno, guys, Melton's not moving! Beast is slowly trying to get to his feet! Yes, he's up!

MN: And so is Ryan!

DM: What?

MN: So is Ryan! He's on the apron! And he's yelling at Beast to take Melton out! By ANY means possible!

DT: You mean he wants him to cheat!

Beast is up on his feet, and he sees Ryan on the apron! He heads over to confront him, and Ryan tells Beast again to do what it takes! Beast yells back at Ryan to stay out of things, and Ryan jumps off the apron and to the floor, pounding his hands on the mat as he does! Beast climbs through the ropes to the floor, and he and Ryan get in each other's faces!

DT: What the hell is going on here?!? Ryan is telling Beast to cheat to get the win, but Beast is adamantly refusing! He won't do it!

The crowd boos as Ryan and Beast continue to argue, and it gets very heated! Pat Jones gets back to his feet

DT: Beast and Ryan are arguing tooth and nail here! This has got to be a professional wrestling first! I don't think I've ever seen someone so determined to make one of his employees cheat! Dan Ryan is trying to force Beast's hand and make him into something he's not! Beast is an extremely talented athlete with a large amount of pride and morals, and he'd never stoop to such a low!

Finally, things get to a point where Beast has had enough...

MN: HOLY F(FCC)K!!

DT: Beast just gave EPW Owner Dan Ryan a double fisted shot to the chest! MY WORD!

Dan is knocked back just a step, and he looks at his chest as if it was cardinal sin that anyone ever touch him, and he looks up at Beast and raises an eyebrow in amazement. He then turns to Pat Jones, and yells at him to ring the bell! Jones asks if he's sure, and Ryan screams at him to ring the bell!

[ SFX: Ring bell. ]

DT: What in the name of...?

TF: Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of this match. Your winner, as a result of a disqualification... JOEY MELTON!!

DM: WHOA!

MN: Ryan disqualified Beast? That's awesome!

TF: However, the EPW World Heavyweight Championship cannot change hands on a disqualification without special stipulation, so STILL your EPW World Heavweight Champion... BEAST!


An intense round of loud boos emanates from the crowd, engulfing the arena!

DT: This is a first!

Ryan then turns to back away, walking up the ramp while still looking at Beast, who pounds the ring apron! Beast then grabs the top half of the ring steps and throws them across the arena floor!

DM: Beast is pissed! He's furious!

Ryan stares a hole through Beast as he walks up the ramp. Beast heads over to the timekeeper's table to grab his EPW World Heavyweight Championship Title, but not before he tears the top off of the announce table and he grabs a monitor and rips it from the table and smashes it on the floor!

DT: The Champ's incensed!

Back in the ring Joey Melton can't believe what he's seeing, and he and Lindsay Troy lock eyes, and the two share a disgusted look. The camera cuts back to Dan Ryan, who is standing at the top of the ramp. We get one last shot of him glaring at Beast, before the camera cuts back to Beast, holding his title amongst the ruins of the announce table.

DT: Folks, we're out of time! We've got to go, but we'll see you at Russian Roulette! For Dean Matthews and Mike Neely, I'm Dave Thomas, saying goodnight!


FIN