Old Line Wrestling

[Rob]

The clasped hands of Alex Markham pressed against his face as the repeated thuds of Troy Matthews' feet hitting a heavy striking bag filled the mangy gym with sound. Over a table with a few pieces of paper, the solemn, stark face of the man known all over the world as the Sentinel grimaced before turning to his young partner.

"Troy," he called, "Ryan and I are having a meeting, you should join us." Alex's signature style, using sarcasm to declare something of a serious nature, was something that Matthews had picked up over the years, and as such, stripped to the waist with his numerous tattoos in view, he stepped over to the table, where both Alex and the strategic expert RYAN had convened. "Alright," the Burning Star began, as Troy took his seat, noting that Stone Sour's "Inhale" was just about to start playing on the jukebox. "We're a few days away from this match with Minority Uprising and NGN. NGN's been totally incognito for the past month or so, but that doesn't mean we can ignore them."

"Right," the Sentinel replied, "two of them are the best mat wrestlers I've ever seen, and the other is just a mound of meat. He'd have his way with us if we weren't careful. We'll have to keep them guessing if we're going to deal with them with any efficiency."

The Jersey Devil grinned. "Well, why do you think I've been wailing on that bag for so long? You know what I do; keep them hurt, and keep them guessing."

"From what I've seen, Renae LaRoux was nursing an injured shoulder in her last match. I'll focus on that, and try to direct the impact of my suplexes onto the shoulder. Not only will it hurt her and make a submission easier to accomplish, but it's less likely now that she'll be able to counter-attack my Tiger Suplex. When Keaton is in the ring, Troy and I can use our speed to keep him off balance."

"But aren't you worried about your knee, RYAN? That's really bothered you in the past."

"Sometimes, Alex. But when you come back from retirement with a chip on your shoulder like I did, you start to think much less rationally. I'll hit my leg with a hammer if it means making sure you two don't fall by the wayside."

Indeed, RYAN's zeal, along with his propensity to take risks even when there's no practical reason to, was something that has fueled him as of late. No longer the revolutionary high-flyer he was in 1998, RYAN still managed to give a fast-paced feel to a trios match with his natural agility and technical skill. He was a good mix with Troy Matthews, who was the bridge between the finesse-laden, fast-paced style of the former Ryan Andromeda and the slow, methodical, beastly approach of the Sentinel. In Troy's mind, he had a little score to settle with Billy Killjoy, just to show him how REAL Irish boys get down and dirty.

"Well, that's a generous offer, Ryan," Troy calmly said as he chuckled. "However, I don't think you'll really need to do that. We're fully capable of defending ourselves. And besides, by the time we're done with NGN and Minority Uprising, WE'LL be the ones doing the Society of Doom thing."

That was sarcasm, by the way.

The Society of Doom, for those of you keeping score, were a group in the Big West Wrestling Alliance; already formed in previous promotions, the unit entered BWWa together and tried to take on the infamous SeX stable. The end result, in conjunction with the mediocre talent of the SoD wrestlers as well as the foolhardy pushing that Vincent Pagliano provided for them, was a stable war between no less than five alliances; the solo Andromeda was left out of matters, and eventually grew bitter and apathetic towards the industry. It wasn't until Ryan saw the attack on Saori Kazama orchestrated by the Unforgiven II on an OLW tape that he felt the desire to return to the sport. Here he was, a few months removed from his explosive return, en route to his first championship reign in over five years. And yet, for whatever reason, the Burning Star was quite lucid.

"And what about Saori?" Troy asked.

"She knows what to do." The reply was Alex's. Having been adamant about Saori's removal from the Stone and Steel Syndicate lineup, he had since lightened up in his stance on having her in the team, and if Ryan hadn't chomped at the bit so soon, he would have let the girl back in. As she is, though, she was very useful in situations involving outside interference, especially with the aerial techniques her father taught her.

"She'll be useful against Minority Uprising. It won't be the captain's fall match from Line One, but it will be violent, I can tell."

"Lariat, lariat, lariat. None of them will be able to survive one."

"True," Ryan inferred. "But we need to outclass them, too, prove that it's US who deserve those belts."

"And that's why they'll be ours. Manifest Destiny. If it means I kick the daylights out of them, you keep them going crazy, Ryan, and you just keep swinging arms, Alex, it's all a part of what we were planned to receive anyway. We'll breathe the air of champions and nothing will stop us. And both of you know it."

Ryan's brow furrowed in glee, while Alex cracked his knuckles. Troy stretched his hand out over the center of the table and his partners followed. Their hands were over the table, as a short chant followed.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Stone..."

"...and Steel!"

With a mighty press of hands, the mission was made fully clear. To win those belts at all costs, and to make sure that their grip on the trios tag division of OLW was tight and sturdy. Line Two would become the Moment of Truth for the Stone and Steel Syndicate, and the grins on each of their faces made it clear that they were aware of this.
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The explanation to all the drama.

Evan: Perhaps, but I am about to go to the gyn