The arena is reverberating after Maya vs. Evelyn ended in chaos. Even during commercials, the crowd buzzed with excitement and confusion. There was a lot of discussion about the chair shots, as well as the brutality of the match, especially regarding the way Maya was treated by the fans. Everything about the arena was buzzing with excitement and electricity.
Then, the lights went out.
The sound of a guitar rang through the arena.
Fans went crazy when the music hit for the Apex Predators nearly two weeks after All In.
As the lights came up, the first thing to be seen were Axel Hunt and Jett Riker. They were not wearing their usual black-and-red ring gear, but bright red sleeveless jackets that shimmered under the lights and tight red leather pants with yellow lightning stripes down the sides. Both men were also wearing sunglasses indoors, and the crowd went wild.
The way they walked... it wasn't their usual swagger. They walked with a huge amount of confidence, almost as if they were making fun of the crowd or being cocky.
Tony couldn't contain his laughter, exclaiming, "What the heck is this walk?!"
Luke responded, shaking his head still laughing a little, stating, "I think they're trying too hard."
The commentators, Noah and Irvin, echoed the confusion.
Noah: "What is this? Are they trying to swagger?"
Irvin: "Noah, they're champions. The way champions walk is different."
Vince sat in the back, with a smug demeanor, leaning back in his chair, looking happy.
All of the money that was put into the 'gimmick' - costume, walk and attitude - was starting to pay off immediately and the fans were going crazy.
As Apex Predators hit the ring, they both pulled their sunglasses off at the same time and raised their tag titles high. The reaction from the crowd was incredible, between cheers, laughter to pure excitement.
After grabbing their microphones, the boasting began again:
Jett lifted his chest and yelled out, "Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at your very FIRST EVER IRW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!"
The crowds were wild with applause.
Once that faded out, Axel leaned into his microphone with a huge smirk on his face.
Axel: "The funniest part about all of this? Everyone thought Flashpoint Brothers would walk out of here with the belts two weeks ago."
Jett: "Or the big-time players the 'unbeatable' Steel Titans."
There was a mixture of laughter and boos as everyone knew that was a setup for the trash talk to come.
Luke crossed his arms, "Yep, it's gone straight to their heads."
Tony was smiling like crazy, "Why not? They deserve it!"
As Axel dramatically fanned himself with his belt, however, the crowd took on a more hostile tone.
Axel: "But hey, it's okay; not everyone can be on top. Some can only be... mid-card!"
Boos got much sharper.
Jett nodded solemnly, his lips pursed.
Jett: "It's probably an awful experience knowing that you're wanting something so badly like these belts and the lights, the dazzle and glamour…."
He indicated toward the title belt resting on his shoulder.
"Sorry boys but only 'Championship Level' will do for some and not others."
The crowd boo'd loudly but the Apex organization didn't care. They (Apex Team) fed off it. Vince (Apex Team Owner) stood quietly backstage with his arms folded getting exactly the type of reaction from the crowd he wanted. Emotional, invested and loud.
But before Jett could gloat any further — BOOOM!!!! — Steel Titans Theme blasted from the speakers. Then it hit everyone with a tremendous bang! the entire arena shook violently!
The camera quickly panned over to Jett and Axel as their reaction to the previous moment turned to shock. They didn't see this coming!
From the curtain, Brocke Steele and Gunnar Steele, the mountain-sized brothers, marched down the ramp with heavy steps that shook the stage. The crowd roared as the Titans stared down the ring like hunters locking onto prey.
As they made their entrance, the fans cheered loudly and the entire audience erupted into a complete frenzy. The crowd roared as the Titans stared down the ring like hunters locking onto prey.
Noah almost leapt from his commentator position. Noah: "Oh, this is gonna get GOOD!" Irvin: "Why are they interrupting? Let these champions celebrate!"
The ring was filled with Jett whispering to Axel, who was panicking behind his sunglasses. "They weren't supposed to come out! What are they doing?!"
Axel hissed back, "Stick to the plan—just stick to the script—"
But no one would have anticipated Brocke moving towards the centre of the ring and grabbing a microphone.
Brocke looked at the belts…and straight into their eyes. "I…I….want…that." The crowd erupted into laughter, cheers, and astonishment. The way Brocke used broken English and how angry he looked with how truly honest his tone has created an iconic moment.
Mark Rivera was backstage when he felt goosebumps all over his arms, "Holy…hell. That reaction…" Even Mark could not deny that IRW had never sounded so alive.
The Apex Predators were still trying to maintain their coolness when Gunnar stepped forward and raised a finger towards the championship belts, "You were lucky once, but look at us…look at you."
He smirked."There's only one team in this company strong enough to BE champions. And it's NOT you."
Crowd: "OOOOOOOOH!!!"
Jett's jaw dropped. Axel flinched.
Tony nearly fell out of his seat from excitement."YES!! TALK YOUR TALK, GUNNAR!!"
Luke cracked his knuckles. "I kinda want Titans to win now…"
Axel: "You want these belts? You? You think you're championship material?!"Jett tapped his own head. "You two aren't even smart enough to spell 'champions'!"
The crowd laughed, but Titans didn't.
The tension between the two competing teams developed into a physical standoff; even the officiating crew caught in between the two teams looked like they were about to get crushed from the immense pressure being exerted by the two teams.
Steel Titans and Apex Predators were nose to nose.
The crowd was anticipating a brawl, and began chanting:
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
As Gunnar and Brocke turned their heads sideways to scan the thunderous crowd, they could feel the energy building between them. Their massive chests rose and fell in unison, feeding off the crowds energy. The crowd wanted to see them succeed, they could see who they were fighting for...they could feel an intensity building up inside them.
Noah: "Look at how loud the crowd is getting! They want these two giant men to destroy Apex Predators!"
Irvin: "Don't ever turn your back on a champion, fellas-"
And he was right. Because in the very next second—
Apex Predators struck.
With an ambush, the duo attacked the Titans by lunging and delivering two punches to the back of the Titans. An attack that was quick, brutal, and disorienting for the crowd.
As the Titans fell to the ground, Gunnar tried to get up, but was slowly pushed farther and farther away by the sheer number of hits. Brocke fell to one knee as Jett continued to throw punches. For a split second it appeared as if the strategy the winners employed was effective.
However, Titans were called "Titans" for a reason.
With a furious growl, Gunnar exploded out of the barrage, grabbing Axel by the throat and shoving him clean off the ring with monstrous force. Axel flew through the ropes and crashed to the floor, clutching his back.
The arena ERUPTED.
Luke jumped out of his seat, shouting, "HOLY CRAP, DID YOU SEE THAT?!?"
Tony screamed, "Dude, he threw him like trash!"
Inside the ring, Jett found himself cornering Brocke, swinging wild, desperate shots—until Brocke rose, towering, unshaken, and wrapped both hands around Jett like he weighed nothing.
And then Brocke hurled Jett out of the ring.
The audience gave an almost animalistic reaction with a gigantic "OOOOHHHH!!" in response.
When the fans erupted with cheers of excitement, it filled the arena with intense adrenaline that was palpable. This reaction spurred Gunnar on even more, pumping him up.
As Gunnar stomped on the mat, it resonated throughout the stadium.
Meanwhile, Jett and Axel were outside the ring, completely dazed.
For just a split second, it appeared that Titans were going to reclaim the title at that time. Gunnar was walking towards the belts, intent on them with flared nostrils, eyes focused.
However, the Apex Predators were very cunning.
Having seen the Titans reaching for the belts, Axel quickly climbed back into the ring and grabbed them with a quick motion before rolling right back out of the ring with Jett scrambling along behind him.
The two men made their way up the ramp, both bent over, breathing hard, hair all out of place, and their sunglasses knocked off, but they continued to have a sly smile on their faces.
With the belts held high above his head, Jett shouted: "COME GET THEM! BRING IT!"
"Champions are always privileged!" Axel dismissed with a wave of his hand and yet the audience booed Axel hard. But Apex didn't care; while the bottom of their faces were slightly drooped there was still a mischievous look on their face.
As the Titans leaned over the rails and made noise by striking the top rails with their fists, Brocke pointed directly at the floor and yelled.
"Come here if you have GUTS!"
The floor shook beneath them.
Then suddenly… THE FLASHPOINT BROTHERS' THEME HIT!!!
The crowd went wild.
Cal and Marcus came rushing out of the entrance ramp completely furious and not trying to hide it. As soon as the Titans saw Cal and Marcus they immediately jumped out of the ring and looked to hunt the Predators.
The Apex Predator looked to the stage and then at the ramp and when they saw Cal and Marcus, they froze.
As they walked towards them, Cal and Marcus were running full speed ahead, with the Titans directly behind.
The Apex Predator was directly between them.
Jett whispered, "Nope. Not dying today."
Axel agreed, "Time to disappear."
Then, almost instinctually, they both turned 90 degrees to the left and jumped over the barricade into the audience.
The audience went WILD as the champions raced through the audience, dodging chairs and fans who couldn't believe their eyes, all while protecting their championship titles as though they were something they had stolen.
As the champions and the audience crossed paths, some cheered, some booed, and some stood in shock.
Noah: "THEY'RE RACING THROUGH THE AUDIENCE!? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"
Irvin: "Now, THIS is brilliant! A champion will use ANY route to escape!"
Flashpoint and Titans were too far behind the barricade when they saw the champions run away from the arena and screamed at the champions who were disappearing into the arena.
Cal: "PLEASE COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE MEN!"
Marcus slammed his fists against the barricade and yelled, "WE'RE NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!"
Gunnar roared something primal.
But the Apex Predators were quickly slipping through the arena's exit, waving their prizes behind them as they disappeared into the back of the arena.
Adrenaline in the arena was at its highest level yet.
The fans were not merely entertained; they were shaken, thrilled, and overwhelmed with something they had never seen before, with wrestlers running through the crowd! A wild chase! Championship titleholders fleeing like crooks!
In its current form, IRW was not what it once was.
Trying to regroup, Flashpoint soon found that while Marcus was distracted reorganizing himself, Gunnar attacked Marcus from behind.
Fans went wild at this turn of events.
This surprise caused Marcus to fall onto mats just outside of the ring. Cal realized that something was wrong and yelled for Marcus; however, Cal was met with an instantly destructive action by Brocke, who hit Cal with the same shoulder block that had been used against Marcus earlier and sent him crashing into the barricade with enough force to rattle it.
It was mayhem at this point!
Flashpoint vs. Titans.
Referees rushed out in a flurry from both teams to prevent any further damage on both sides, as they struggled to contain the brawl. The cameras were visibly shaken from the ferocity of the riot.
Cal was hurled again.
Marcus tried to take Gunnar down.
Brocke pushed aside two senior officials on his way to make contact with Marcus.
The audience in attendance were on their feet screaming in excitement!
Noah stated the obvious, "What we have witnessed this evening is an All Out Melee between FLASHPOINT and STEEL TITANS! They are at each other's throats!"
Irvin exclaimed, "Absolutely twisted! Beautiful chaos!"
Eventually, the referees, two from each team, managed to separate all four wrestlers, taking them to their respective corners.
Cal held himself up against the barricade while resting his back on it.
Marcus had to have been hurt; there was no way he could have been that angry if he wasn't.
Gunnar and Brocke dared Marcus and Cal to make a move by taunting/gesturing angrily towards them.
The crowd chanted "LET THEM FIGHT! LET THEM FIGHT!"
But the screen suddenly faded to black as the broadcast cut to commercial.