Noah vs Liam

 

[Alright, degenerates, this is another "prequel" match.  It occurred before Marshall's  Revenge.  Enjoy.]

Noah vs Liam

By

Mangler

As Liam was sitting in the dressing room getting ready for his next bout, his opponent, Noah, was across the way, also getting ready.  Noah looked a little nervous as he was relatively new to the league, and Liam was only his third bout and, by far, the biggest name he had faced.  If Noah could read Liam’s mind, he would be much more nervous.

Last night, while out drinking with some of his non-wrestling friends, Liam had been approached by Gus, who worked backstage at UWA, with some disturbing news.  It seems that during the Marshall vs. Midnight match, Noah had seen the Heel Faction interfering at the end of the match but had not only declined to get involved but also informed other wrestlers that there was nothing illicit going on the match, precluding those other wrestlers from possible assisting.  Reluctant to believe it initially, another employee confirmed Gus's observations.

Liam debated telling the other faces but decided against it.  Instead, he would give Noah a lesson in the ring that he wouldn't forget.  Liam was usually not as aggressive against newbies, but that wouldn't be the case tonight.

“Good luck out there,” Liam told Noah as he walked out of the locker room to await his announcement to enter the ring.

"Thanks, man," Noah stuttered as he exited.

After Noah exited, he gathered the faces and informed them what would transpire and why.  Needless to say, there were many angry wrestlers, but Liam managed to calm them down.  He would teach Noah a lesson, and then they could go from there.

"And for our next bout, we are going to have a very technical battle between a newbie still trying to make his mark and an experienced grappler.  First up, we have our rookie wrestler, Noooaaah."

The curtain parted, and a 6'2 160 pound individual walked through the curtains.  He was dressed in a pair of red wrestling trunks, white knee pads, and red wrestling boots.  He was on the thin side but was obviously athletic and in shape.  There were cheers but also some laughter at the lighter wrestler.

“And reffing this match, with probably very little to do, we have Byron.”

The curtain opened and the ref walked out dressed in his reffing gear.  He ignored the crowd as he walked down to the ring where Noah was already waiting.

“Go to that corner,” Byron said as he crawled into the ring and pointed to the other side. “And stay there until I tell you otherwise.”

“And finally, Noah’s opponent for tonight is that Irish lucky charm himself, Liiiaaamm.”

The curtain opened for the final time, and Liam, from Cork, Ireland, sauntered out.   He was a "fireplug" of a wrestler at 5'10" and 210 pounds.  He was wearing his green trunks with the shamrock on the ass cheeks.  His knee pads were also green, and his wrestling boots were white.  He was greeted with a tremendous uproar of approval as he was one of the fan favorites.   He charged down to the ring, slid under the bottom rope, and hopped to his feet, raising his arms in a victory pose as he turned around, letting the fans cheer.

Byron called both wrestlers to the middle of the ring, where he did a foreign body check and reviewed the rules.  He had the two wrestlers fist bump and sent them back to their corners.  He then signaled for the bell to start the match.

As soon as the bell sounded, Noah stepped out of his corner, only to be met with a flying knee from Liam.  Liam had stopped and turned halfway back to his corner so that he could strike hard and fast when the bell was ready.  Noah stumbled back into the corner, where he was met by Liam’s shoulder slamming into his abs.  Liam did this four times before turning and snapmaring Noah to the mat.

Byron barely had time to admonish Liam for the corner work before Noah was flat on his back.  Liam stepped over, stomped the abs twice, and then dropped an elbow into the abs.  He pulled Noah to his feet and lifted him as if for a body slam but converted it into an over-the-knee backbreaker.  Once he had Noah on his knee, Liam pushed down on the chin and thighs to increase the stretch.  Occasionally, he would release the thigh and slam a punch into the stretched-out abs. 

Ready to move on, he released the chin and thigh, joined his hands together, and delivered an axe handle into the abs before rolling Noah to the mat.  As Noah landed on his chest, Liam was back to his feet and delivered some stomps followed by a knee to the lower back.  Noah was pulled to his feet and placed into an inverted bear hug.  Liam backed into a corner and then charged into the middle of the ring, where he leaped and drove Noah onto the canvas back first.  He could feel the air gushing out of Noah’s lungs past his thighs.

Liam stood up and posed for the crowd while laughing at Noah.  The crowd cheered but knew this wasn’t typical Liam.  Something was different.  Liam returned to Noah, grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him up. 

When Noah was on his knees, he threw a punch into the lower abs of Liam.  While the punch was low, it was just legal.  The punch forced some air from Liam's lungs, and he eased up on the pull on the hair.  Noah looped his arms around Liam's calf and lunged forward, driving his head into Noah's abs.  This forced Noah to attempt to take a step backward, but Noah's arms trapped his legs, so he ended up slamming downward on the mat.  When they hit the mat, Noah's head slammed down into the balls of Liam accidentally.  This further took the wind from Liam, who winced and brought his hands down to cup his balls.

Noah slowly got up to his knees.  He was still winded, so he locked on an abs claw, more to gain time than to induce damage, but the hold still affected Liam.  Once he had recovered enough, Noah dropped the hold and grabbed Liam's head to sit him up.  He went behind Liam and prepared to apply a reverse chin lock.  However, Liam reached up, grabbed Noah by the head, and jerked him down, slamming his chin into the top of Liam’s head, causing Noah to jerk backward and land in the ropes.

Liam rolled to his side before standing back up.  Meanwhile, Noah was using the ropes to leverage himself to his feet.  Liam stared at Noah, and when he was in the correct position, Liam charged across the ring, slamming his head into Noah’s abs.  This made Noah bend over, and the continued momentum from Liam’s charge forced him between the ropes, where he fell off the apron and slammed onto the floor back first.  He managed to keep his head flexed so that the impact on the back of his head was minimal, but he still felt the landing.

Liam dropped flat onto the ring mat and rolled under the ropes to the floor despite Byron’s attempt to stop him.

“Keep the action in the ring,” Byron demanded.

Ignoring him, Liam pulled Noah to his feet, where Noah unexpectedly slammed a forearm into Liam’s chest, forcing him backward.  Liam responded by charging into Noah, forcing his lower back into the ring edge.  Noah screamed with the impact.  Keeping his advantage, Liam wrapped his arms around Noah, twisted to the right, and slammed both of them to the arena floor, winding both of them, but Noah suffered the worst of it.

By this point, Byron had reached 7 in his countout.  Liam managed to stumble to his feet and roll under the ropes to break the count.  He started to roll back out of the ring, but Bryon stepped between him and the ropes, stopping his progress.  Instead, Liam stood and stepped back from the ropes.

Noah struggled to get to his feet but finally managed to stand up. He reached up and grabbed the middle rope, pulling himself to his knees on the apron.  As soon as he attained the ring apron, Liam charged toward him, planning to knock him back to the floor.  Noah was prepared, however, and, using the middle rope, propelled himself through the ropes, slamming into Liam, forcing him backward, where he lost his balance and fell to the mat.

Noah continued into the ring and regained his feet but did not approach Liam.  Instead, he stepped back into the corner, resting his arms along the top rope.  He needed time to regain his breath.  Liam regained his feet and motioned for Noah to come out of the corner.  Noah nodded.

The two wrestlers slowly began to circle each other before locking up in a collar and elbow, where they pushed and pulled.  Liam saw a slight misstep by Noah and was able to convert the collar and elbow into a headlock against his rib cage.  Noah responded by attempting to throw Liam into the ropes, but he tightened the lock so Noah’s head could not slip out.  Liam ran across the ring and dropped to his ass, pulling Noah down to the mat but maintaining the headlock and began grinding it against his chest.

Tiring of this, he released the headlock, pulled Noah to his feet, and ran him chest-first into the turnbuckle.  He stood back and pulled Noah into an across-the-shoulder backbreaker, pulling down hard on the chin and thigh.  He was almost tempted to deliver a ball grab but knew that wasn't really his style, even when trying to teach Noah a lesson.  As he walked around the ring, he would bounce, increasing the pressure on the back.

He released the chin, took his left hand under Noah's back, and into Noah's right armpit.  He relaxed the pressure on the thighs and pulled his right hand and arm at the same time, sliding Noah forward across his shoulder.  He had converted the hold into a single shoulder backbreaker.

“Oh fuck, shit, no, no,” Noah yelled as his back was bent even further.

“Do you wish to submit?” Byron asked.

“No, ahhh, no.”

Liam flipped Noah over his shoulder and propelled him to the mat chest first.  Noah had to turn his head to avoid breaking his nose.  Liam gave him no time to recover before pulling him up, standing behind him, wrapping each of Liam's arms around Noah's biceps but keeping them in the back of Noah.  He then jerked Noah upward, lifting him off the mat before slamming him chest first onto the ring floor, knocking the wind out of Noah.  Liam regained his feet, pulled Noah up, and locked on a bear hug with his fisted hands in the lower back, making sure to hold Noah up off the mat.

“Do you submit,” Byron asked.

“No, no, ahhh, no.”  Noah refused to submit, although he felt like he was being cut in two at the lower back.

Liam tightened the hold and swung back and forth every time Noah tried to push away from him.  Sensing that Noah was getting close to submitting and not quite ready to let that happen, Liam flipped around and slammed both wrestlers to the mat, with Liam landing on top of Noah.  Noah just groaned.  He was getting tired of this maneuver because it took so much out of him.

Liam rotated Noah to his back, sat across him, reached down, and cupped the chin after draping the arms across his thighs.  When in position, Liam wrenched backward, trapping Noah in a camel clutch.  He would occasionally lift his ass and then slam it back down to increase the pain. 

Liam released the hold, dropping Noah to the mat before grabbing the top rope for stability as he delivered a series of stomps into the lower back.  Byron ignored Liam holding the rope, which wasn't causing any actual damage.  Liam finished by dropping both knees across the back.  He grabbed a double handful of hair and stood chest to chest before locking Noah's head under his armpit, holding the trunks before executing a suplex.  He did this twice more before Byron forced him away from Noah.

Knowing that he needed time for some recovery, Noah had the sense to roll under the ropes, although he did drop somewhat hard onto the floor.  Unfortunately for Noah, Liam wasn't having any of this.  He exited the ring, round the corner, and pulled Noah upright.  He lifted him in a cross-body hold and ran Noah's back into the nearest ring post three times before dropping him down across his knee in an abs buster.  Many of the fans were confused as this wasn't typically Liam's style.  But he was still cheered.

“Get back in the fucking ring, dammit,” Byron yelled as his count reached 7.

Thinking that the time had come to end this match, Liam lifted Noah up and rolled him back into the ring, following immediately after.  He pulled Noah to his feet, tossed him into the ropes, and as he rebounded Liam delivered a knee into the abs, flipping Noah to the mat.  Liam grabbed both ankles, rolled Noah to his chest, and applied a Boston crab, making sure to sit high on the back and pull hard, applying as much pressure to the back as possible.  Noah knew that he was in trouble if he didn’t get out of this hold quickly, so he put as much of his strength as he could in trying to flip Liam out of the hold.  Byron knew that Noah was at the end of his strength and was making a futile last-minute attempt to escape the hold.  Every muscle in Noah’s body seemed to be straining and quivering, and his face turned red from the effort.  

Suddenly, from the other side of the ring, screaming and yelling could be heard, and, as it was getting closer, the ref turned and noted The Terror jumping up onto the ring apron, attempting to get in the ring.  Byron quickly charged over to him to prevent that from happening and to prevent him from interfering.  Liam also turned his head to keep an eye on what was happening, and he did not see Gordon approaching from the other side of the ring.  Gordon got up on the ring apron, put his chest and upper body between the first and second rope, reached out, and, with both hands, grabbed two handfuls of Liam's hair.

Gordon jerked the head so that Liam was looking directly at him.

“Clobbering time,” he said.  As he spoke, he pulled back between the ropes, pulling Liam forward, causing him to release Noah’s ankles and drop to his knees.  Gordon continued pulling until Liam’s head and upper chest were through the ropes.  He twisted around, locked a headlock on Liam, and dropped to the floor, pulling Noah completely through the ropes.  Gordon continued falling until Liam’s head impacted the thin mats surrounding the ring.  Liam was seeing stars.

Just as he was running out of steam and about to quit, Noah felt Liam dropping his legs and the weight lifting from his back.  Thank god he had managed to power out of the hold but was exhausted as he lay flat on the mat.

Gordon pulled Liam up and delivered a piledriver, dropping Liam to the floor.  Looking over and seeing that The Terror still had Byron’s attention, Gordon pulled a nearly unconscious Noah up in a cross-body hold and slammed the back into the ring post three times before body-slamming him to the arena floor.  He grabbed a handful of hair, pulled Liam's head up, and slammed it into the thin mats twice before crawling back under the ring.

Byron finally got The Terror off the ring apron and to step back at least to the aisle where he remained concentrating on the action in the ring.  The ref turned and noted Liam was now outside the ring, slowly regaining his feet while holding his back.  Byron was impressed that Noah had found the strength to flip him out of the hold.  He would have bet against that happening.  

Slowly regaining his feet, an exhausted Noah realized that he now had Liam at a disadvantage. Although he thought Liam looked more beat up than he should have from a simple flip, he did not take time to question.  Knowing that he had to take advantage, Noah walked toward Liam as he put his hand on the bottom rope to pull himself back into the ring.   Byron intercepted him and pushed him back into the ring to give Liam time to get back into the ring.

Byron and Noah heard a loud scream. Liam looked over, and both saw him drop to his knees with his hands falling to his crotch.  Neither had seen the pump handle that Gordon had delivered from under the ring as Liam was stretched out, trying to get back in the ring.

Byron walked over and noted Liam holding his nuts as he kneeled on the floor.  Looking around and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he had no other choice but to begin the ten count.  Fearing that Liam might not make it back into the ring, Noah walked over and broke the count.  Byron pushed him back from the ropes so Liam could climb back into the ring.

As Liam pulled himself back to his feet and approached the ring, Gordon, aware that the two in the ring were walking to the other side of the ring, reached out, locked his arms around Liam’s calves, and jerked forward, pulling Liam toward the ring.  When Liam slammed into the ring, he fell backward as Gordon continued to pull the legs under the ring.  Liam slammed down into the thin mats, plowing the back of his head down hard.   Gordon pushed the legs back out from under the ring. 

Byron walked over and noted that Liam was now flat on his back.  He looked around, confused, but didn’t see anything to explain this, even as the fans tried to explain what was happening.  The noise level in the arena was too loud to hear a clear voice.  Byron started his count again as Liam slowly pulled himself to a standing position and onto the ring apron.  Liam’s other arm was slowly rubbing his lower back.

Noah’s back was also killing him, and realizing how close to a submission he was, Noah decided to follow Liam’s playbook and concentrate on the back.  Noah charged over, grabbed Liam's head, and snapmared him back into the ring.  Immediately after Liam hit the ring mat, Noah rolled Liam to his back and delivered a series of knees and stomps to Liam’s lower back.  This pulled Liam back to more awareness, but he was still groggy.  Noah pulled Liam to his feet and lifted him as if he were going for a body slam but delivered a backbreaker across his knee instead.  He then lifted him and repeated the move, but this time left Liam over his knee, pushing down on the head and the thighs to further torment the back. 

He rolled Liam to the mat before picking him up and, returning Liam’s earlier hold, locked on a bear hug, with his fists placed low in the back.  He squeezed as hard as he could and shook Liam back and forth.  Losing some of his stamina and knowing he couldn't maintain the hold, Noah turned and charged into the nearest turnbuckle, concentrating the pain in the lower back by releasing the bear hug just as the lower back impacted the top turnbuckle.  Liam’s feet dropped to the mat.  Noah pulled Liam out of the corner before placing his shoulder into the abs and then charging Liam backward into the corner turnbuckle, slamming the back once again, but this time into the middle turnbuckle. 

Noah repeated the maneuver before he snapmared Liam out of the corner and onto the mat. Next, Noah took another page from Liam's handbook and locked on a Boston crab, applying as much pressure to the back as possible.  Liam refused to submit to the hold, but the crowd could tell that he was really hurting.  Noah dropped the crab, rotated 180 degrees, and applied a camel clutch.

“Come on, old man, give it up,” Noah taunted.

“No, you cheating bastard,” Liam whispered just loud enough for the ref and Noah to hear. Byron had no idea what Liam was referring to when he said “cheating.”  And neither did Noah.

“You’re just pissed off because this rookie came back to beat the veteran and humiliate him,” Noah laughed. 

Tiring of the clutch, Noah released the hold and went for a finisher – the sugar hold.  After releasing the clutch, Noah lay along the length of Liam’s back and laced his hands under the armpits and then behind the neck, interlacing his fingers, essentially placing Liam in a supine full nelson.  Noah slid his legs along the back until he kneeled on Liam’s lower back.  As Noah did this, he had to raise his upper body, which also raised Liam’s upper body.  With Liam’s head off the mat, this allowed Noah to push down on the head, burying Liam’s chin into his chest.  Liam’s back was now in horrendous pain, and his breathing was also compromised.  (Think of it as a camel clutch but with a full nelson instead of a chin lock.)

Liam weakly tried to power out, but knowing he did not have the strength to do so, Liam began signaling his submission.  As he couldn’t actually tap the mat and his speech was impeded, it took several seconds for Byron to realize that he was probably trying to submit. 

“Do you wish to give up,” Byron asked.  Liam waved his arms as best he could and grunted.

“You are saying you submit,” Byron repeated, wanting to make absolutely sure.  Liam waved a little more frantically and grunted louder. 

Byron rose to his feet, turned to the announcer, and signaled for the bell.  He turned back to the wrestlers and ordered Noah to release the hold, who was going to maintain it until he was forced to release it.  Noah released the hold, rolled to the side, and sat in the middle of the ring with his legs spread out, huffing and puffing while Byron raised his hand. 

“And our surprising winner, the newbie Noah, over the veteran Liam, or is that Lame?” came the announcement.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Noah screamed as he took deep breaths.  He had managed to beat the veteran, and he was amazed but happy that he had managed to turn around a match that he should have lost.  Noah was even more surprised by the boos and shouts of cheater from the crowd as he had beaten Liam fair and square – with a lot of luck.  Byron dropped the hand and went over to check on Liam, who was moaning on the mat. 

“Outside interference,” Liam said to the ref.  He was not trying to get up yet.

“No, I stopped the outside interference, and there was nothing else going on,” Byron said.  Liam just shook his head and let it go for now.  He knew that nothing he said would make any difference, and even if it did, nothing would be done about it.  Noah walked over to Byron and Liam.

The ref leaped to his feet and put his hands out to stop Noah.  “Back off, Noah,” Byron threatened.

“What?  Do you think I'm like the Heel Faction?  I don't have any evil intentions.  It was a good, hard-fought match, and I am just helping my friend.” 

As Noah said this, he slid out of the ring, reached under the ropes, and pulled Liam to the ring edge, where he rolled him out of the ring and helped him to his feet.  He draped Liam's arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around Liam’s waist, holding most of the weight as he walked Liam back to the dressing room.

"What a piece of shit.  Abandoning your friends and cheating to get a win," Liam said as he walked with Noah's assistance.

Liam wasn’t making any sense to Noah.  “Cut the sour grapes; I beat you fair and square, asshole,” Noah replied as they continued to the dressing room.

As Byron watched the two wrestlers head back to the dressing room, he noted that The Terror had retreated to the curtains by the exit.  The Terror suddenly charged down the aisle toward the two wrestlers coming from the ring and surprised them as he executed a double clothesline, dropping both wrestlers to the floor. He turned, kicked Liam in the side, and exited to a loud chorus of boos.  The entire thing was over before Byron could register what was happening and to provide any help.  Besides, The Terror had already exited the arena.

As Byron began to exit the ring, he noted, in his peripheral vision, Gordon slid out from under the ring and retreated up the opposite aisle. Byron made no conscious movement to show that he had seen anything, but he did get a mild smirk on his face as he realized that something nefarious must have occurred.

“Very well done,” he thought as he walked towards the back.  He stopped and helped Noah and Liam back to their feet and escorted them back to the dressing room, where he dropped them off.

Once back in the dressing room, Liam continued to bitch about interference, and Noah was still confused about why Liam was saying he cheated and he felt he was getting the cold shoulder from the other wrestlers.  He was starting to get royally pissed. 

“I did not fucking cheat,” he screamed.  Finally, one of the managers, who had been watching the match and seen what had occurred, came back to the lockers and explained what had happened.  As this was a match between two faces, no one thought The Heel Faction would care or get involved.

“What the fuck?  Seriously,” Noah exclaimed.  His genuine surprise was etched on his face.

He turned to face the locker room and said, “I truly had no fucking idea.  I thought I got lucky and flipped you outta the ring.  I mean, you looked worse than I thought you should have, but instinct kicked in, and I saw an opportunity and took it; after all, you were beating the shit out of me."

"Yeah, that was for your deliberately telling the guys that Marshall's match was going fine when you knew it wasn't," Liam snarled.  “I get it. You’re a newbie and didn’t want to get involved.  All of us could understand that, but you could have easily alerted the other guys, but you robbed them of a chance to help, so you deserved a good beating.”

“Oh, that,”  Noah mumbled as he had the decency to look embarrassed.  “Yeah, okay, I probably deserved that. That day, I realized I was out of my league, panicked, and took the easy route.   And I am very, very sorry about that, but I DID NOT cheat today,” he exclaimed.

There was a general wave of mumbling and disagreement among the wrestlers there.  Noah knew he was on very thin ice here.  All the wrestlers just stood looking at Noah until he started to get really nervous.

Finally, Liam stood up, placed his arm around Noah, and said, “Yeah, maybe, but we both learned a lesson today.   You – don’t abandon your friends and allies, and the rest of us learned that The Heel Faction is getting out of control, and Marshall and Wiley need to do something about it soon,” Liam said. “With our assistance, of course.” 

The other wrestlers nodded in agreement.  While there was still some initial distrust, Liam played peacemaker and managed to get Noah and the other wrestlers to put their differences aside and try to figure out how to help neutralize The Heel Faction.   Noah was still monitored closely, but given the actions of the opposition, most attention turned to The Heel Faction.  Eventually, the rift healed completely.

“Hey, did you notice Byron’s actions today??” Nick asked as he took a swallow of his beer. “He was a little slow in calling the submission, and I swear that he saw Gordon slip out from under the ring and up the aisle, and he got a little smirk on his face when he did.”

“Interesting,” replied The Executioner, the leader of the Heel Faction.  “Can’t say that I noticed, but it is something to keep in mind.”

At that point, Gordon and The Terror walked up to the table and joined the group.  As he tipped the top of his beer in their direction, The Executioner said, “Nice fucking job, Gordon, Terror.  They didn’t know what the hell hit them and what was happening.  That should send a message to those idiots that we control ALL matches in the UWA, not just the ones we are in.  By the way, Terror, you’ve been a big help recently.  Looks like you are getting closer proving you belong in The Faction.  You just need to show us what you can do against some opponent in the near future.  Buying another round might help as well,”  The Executioner said as he sat his empty beer on the table they occupied at Rawhide, one of the rougher bars in the area.

“You’ll see.  I’m going to take him apart, whoever he is, ” The Terror said as he headed toward the bar to get another round of drinks.

“Ain’t going to do him any damned good,” The Executioner told the rest of the faction.  “There is no way that loser is getting into the faction, but as long as he is willing to be used like a stooge to help with the goody two shoes, who am I to say no," The Executioner smirked.

The remaining members of the Heel Faction let out a loud and prolonged laugh, causing the Terror to look back and try to figure out what they were laughing about.  “Oh well, doesn’t matter as I’m close to getting into that faction and having some real fun.”