Gauntlet I Marshall vs Ash

 

The Gauntlet I:

Marshall vs Ash

By

The Mangler

 

After his treatment by The Executioner, Marshall was adamant that he wanted a match to exact some revenge.  The Executioner knew of his desperation, turned that to his advantage, and agreed to a fight only if Marshall could win a gauntlet series.  That meant Marshall had to fight three matches on the same night.  Between each match would be a 30-minute time-limit match between other wrestlers.  After some negotiations, these terms had finally been agreed to.  In addition, if The Executioner won the match, Marshall agreed to participate in a match of The Executioner’s choosing as long as it was not a handicapped match.  

After much back and forth, the series of matches was set.  This would allow Marshall to settle three scores in the same night.  The first match was Marshall versus Ash, who had refed Marshall's doomed reunion match with his brother.  At the time of Marshall’s tag match beatdown, Ash was not a wrestler in the UWA but did wrestle in another league where he was very loose with following the rules.  He had been brought in specifically so an unbiased ref could oversee the match.  That hadn’t worked so well for Marshall.  Although Ash could plausibly deny any involvement in the shenanigans during the match, not honestly, but plausibly, there was no denying that afterward, Ash had used Marshall’s abs for boxing practice on many occasions at The Executioner’s invitation. Hence, Marshall definitely had a score to settle. 

The second match was to be Marshall versus Byron, a UWA ref who had acted as a manager for The Executioner and Adam’s team and had actively joined in on the beatdown of Marshall.  He continued to ref for the league usually, but not always, favoring the heels.  The crowds weren’t sure what to think about him.  In actuality, Byron did what was good for Byron and fuck the rest of the world.  He loved being unpredictable. 

The final match would be the big one: Marshall versus The Executioner.

The show had been a sellout, with some tickets going for thousands on the secondary market. Management was pleased with the outcome no matter what happened with the matches.

The opening match for the card had just concluded, and the time for Marshall’s first fight was approaching.  He was standing outside the curtain, waiting to be introduced.  Wiley stood beside him, there to ensure no interference before the match.  Marshall and Wiley had come to a “truce” between themselves after their last match, where Marshall had exacted his revenge on Wiley for his actions.  They were slowly trying to rebuild trust but were not entirely there yet.

“And his challenger, now entering the arena, Marshall Gooouuuullldddd!”

Marshall parted the curtain and began strolling down to the ring, accompanied by a large cheer from the crowd. He stood 5’11” tall, weighed 200 pounds, had 4% body fat, and was shredded so that you could almost see every muscle fiber. His abs were an eight-pack and rock-hard. Tonight, he wore a pair of blood-red square-cut trunks with matching knee pads and boots.

Wrestling was his chosen profession, and he excelled at it until he came to the UWA. Then, his fortunes changed thanks to The Executioner and the Heel Faction. They had been involved in some way or form in all of his matches with one goal in mind—not letting him win a single match. And so far, they had been successful.  

As he headed toward the ring, he made sure to keep an eye on his opponent, who was standing mid-ring talking with the ref. They had tried to bring in a “neutral ref” from a different league, but Marshall had vetoed that idea, considering that was the reason for tonight’s match. They had settled on a relatively new UWA ref, who was fair, impartial, and, most importantly, known to Marshall.

Ash stood in the middle of the ring wearing a snug-fitting white singlet with a low scooped front.  His knee pads and boots were contrasting black.  He stood at 5’8 and 170 pounds and was in good shape but not overly muscled.  He had a tribal tattoo on one arm and a tat that said believe on the other.  He was a referee in another league but was transitioning more into full-time wrestling, mainly as a heel.  He had wrestled several matches at a private wrestling gym and was gaining quite a reputation.

Marshall hopped onto the ring apron and ensured the ref was between him and Ash.  As he parted the first and middle ropes and placed one leg into the ring, Ash charged directly across the ring, still keeping the ref between him and Marshall until the last minute.  He ducked around the ref and kicked the middle rope, forcing it upward into Marshall’s crotch, compressing the nuts between it and the pelvic bone.

As Marshall grunted and remained bent over, half in the ring and half out, Ash jogged back to the other side of the ring, turned, and charged across the ring. At the last second, Ash jumped slamming his knee into the side of Marshall’s head, knocking him off the apron and onto the arena floor. One foot trailed through the ropes, so he landed awkwardly.  He could not maintain an upright position and fell to his back on the thin mats around the ring.

Ash grabbed the top rope and heaved himself up and over, slamming down into Marshall’s abs with both feet, causing Marshall to jackknife upward and spray spittle all over the place.  Ash responded by stepping off the abs, turning, and dropping a knee into them.  He pulled Marshall to his feet, picked him up in a cross-body hold, walked over to one of the barriers separating the crowd from the ring space, and thrust Marshall up and out, releasing him so he landed abs first across the rigid metal barrier.  More spittle was forced out as the remaining air in his lungs was expelled.  Marshall hung over the barrier.

Ash could hear the ref counting, so he turned towards him and shouted, “Count all day, asshole.  The match hasn’t started, so you can’t disqualify me.”  He pulled Marshall up and into an abdominal stretch, making sure Marshall was facing the audience.  He then encouraged a hefty construction worker to unload a few punches into the abs.  Being a good friend of Ash’s, he was more than willing to comply.

The ref signaled for the bell as soon as Ash yelled at him.  However, the bell ringer was very slow to comply, allowing several more punches to land.  Finally, the bell rang, and the ref began his count.  As the count neared 8, the construction worker stopped punching, turned, and disappeared into the crowd just as security arrived.  They were able to track him down and escort him out of the arena, but he just smirked as he knew one of the ushers would let him back in.

At the count of 8, Ash released the abdominal stretch, dropping Marshall to the floor.  He rolled under the ring ropes to break the count but immediately rolled back out of the ring.  He picked Marshall up in a cross-body hold and charged the ring corner, slamming Marshall’s back into the ring post.  He repeated this maneuver before depositing him on the ring apron.  Ash slid under the rope back into the ring just before the ref hit 10 in his count.  He regained his feet, reached down, and pulled Marshall to the middle of the ring before releasing him and stepping back.  The ref was in his face reading him the riot act.

Ash smirked, sidestepped the ref, and began a series of stomps into the abs.  Marshall received several stomps before he reached down and grabbed Ash’s ankle.  Ash jerked his foot free, straddled Marshall’s chest, and dropped butt first with his full weight down onto the chest, again forcing air from the lungs.  He bent slightly forward, formed both his hands into a claw, and cinched them down onto the taut 8-pack before him.  Due to the recent gut work, he could get some purchase, but the abs were still strong.

Marshall struggled to catch his breath and felt the fingers digging into his abs. Once he had regained a sense of where he was and what was happening, he brought his right hand up, placed it on his chest palm up, and was able to slip the hand underneath Ash’s ass until he felt his balls.  He quickly isolated the right ball and clamped down as hard as possible.

“My nuts, my nuts,” Ash screamed.  “Get him off my nuts, ref.”

The ref looked over, but with Ash sitting and bent over, he couldn’t see anything well enough to say that there was an illegal hold on the balls.

“If you’ve got his balls, let go,” he weakly said to Marshall, who simply squeezed harder.

Ash finally released the ab claw and rolled to his right off Marshall’s chest.  Unfortunately, that allowed Marshall to retain the ball squeeze.  Ash ended up on his back, and Marshall was able to force himself to sit up despite the spasms of his abs.

“Break the ball claw, break it now,” the ref screamed as he saw the illegal hold. He immediately began counting, and Marshall released the hold at 4. When freed from the hold, Ash rolled over to his stomach, and his hands went to clutch his balls.

Marshall rolled to his knees, placed one hand on Ash’s upper back and one on his ass, lifted himself into the air, and then drove a series of three knee drops into the lower back.   After the third drop, he bent Ash’s lower legs, sat on his lower back, locked the ankles under his armpits, and sat back and pulled up, locking Ash in a Boston Crab.

“Aahh, shit,” Ash screamed.  He reached out and grabbed the ref by the ankle and tried to use him for leverage, but the ref stepped back and yanked his ankle free.  Ash reached out for the ropes but was slightly short.  He hooked his fingers as best he could and pulled himself along the mat until he could grab the lower rope.

“I’ve got the rope. Make him break, make his break,” Ash whined.

“He is on the ropes, so break,”  the ref admonished Marshall.

“Fuck off,” was the reply.

The ref then began his count, and Marshall dropped the legs at the count of 4. He quickly stood up, grabbed both ankles, and pulled Ash away from the ropes, lifting him parallel to the mat. Ash held on as long as he could, but his hands finally slipped, and he crashed chest-first down to the mat and was pulled to the center of the ring.

Marshall dropped his ankles, straddled his lower back, hooked Ash’s arms over his knees, wrapped his hand under his chin, and pulled Ash backward into a Camel Clutch. The pain in his lower back exploded as Marshall tried to bend him double.

Ash ignored the ref’s repeated attempts to get him to submit. Finally, tiring of the hold, Marshall released the chin, placed his hand on the back of Ash’s head, and slammed it down onto the mat. Ash's grunt could be heard in the back row.

Marshall stood to his feet, slammed two stomps into the lower back then grabbed Ash by the hair to pull him to his feet.  Once he was on his knees, Ash suddenly thrust forward, driving the top of his head into Marshall’s abs, forcing him to release the hair and step backward.  Ash followed through by thrusting forward again, slamming into Marshall’s abs and forcing him back into the ropes.  Ash stood, grabbed an arm, and slung Marshall across the ring, where he rebounded from the ropes back toward the center of the ring.  Ash met him with a knee lift into the abs, doubling Marshall over.  Ash reached over, locked his hand around Marshall’s throat, lifted him to a standing position, and drove him back into the ropes.

The ref screamed at Ash to release the choke, which he did when Marshall hit the ropes.  Ash grabbed Marshall by each bicep and threw his arms along the top of the rope.  He pulled the second rope up, trapping Marshall’s arms between the two ropes.  Ash quickly dropped to his knees and forced each of the opponent's feet over the bottom rope, essentially trapping Marshall in the ropes.

He resumed his feet and immediately began slamming fists into Marshall's exposed and stretched-out abs.  Ash was familiar with these abs from his using them as a punching bag during Marshall’s time with The Executioner and knew where to concentrate his blows.   He would occasionally throw in a kick as well.

The ref was screaming at Ash to step back and stop working over Marshall. Ash simply ignored him until the ref began counting. When the count reached four, Ash stood back while the ref got into his face.

“When I say stop or break, I mean NOW,”  he screamed.

Ash simply mumbled, “My bad,” before sidestepping the ref and resuming his assault on the abs. Once again, the ref began berating Ash but didn’t immediately begin his count. He tried to force himself between Ash and Marshall, but Ash simply moved around him. Finally, he began his count again. On reaching 4, Ash stepped back.

“Stay back,” the ref admonished as he turned and began to release Marshall from the ropes.  But, again, Ash thwarted his attempts by resuming his speed bag practice on Marshall’s abs.  This routine continued for several more rounds before the ref realized what he needed to do.

Pushing Ash back, he said, “If you touch him again before he is free, you are disqualified.”

“Spoilsport,” Ash grinned at the ref.

The ref turned and began trying to untangle the ropes to free Marshall.  Just as he was able to free the arms, Ash charged across the ring and slammed back first into the ropes near Marshall but, following the ref’s demands, did not make contact with him.  The force drove the ropes backward, and then they rebounded.  When they did, the force threw Marshall forward.  However, as his ankles were trapped behind the bottom rope, he could not step forward and instead slammed down onto the mat.

Ash immediately dropped a leg across the back of the neck/upper shoulder before he dragged Marshall into the center ring.  He immediately pulled Marshall's legs up at the knee as he sat on his back, locking in a Boston Crab.  Whenever the ref was out of position, Ash abused Marshall’s balls in some fashion.  The ref figured out what was happening but could not catch Ash in the act until the ref faked turning toward Marshall’s head but immediately turned back in time to see Ash slam a closed fist into the balls.

“Break the hold, break the hold,”  the ref screamed.

Ash started to inquire why, but the ref immediately began the five-count and was counting faster than usual. Ash barely released the hold before the five-count.

“What the hell was that?” Ash screamed into the ref’s face as he stood up.

“That was a five count,” the ref replied.

“Yeah, but at warp speed,”  Ash complained.

“I didn’t see anything wrong with it,” the ref said as Marshall staggered to his feet and leaned onto the top rope.  Ash moved behind him and locked his arms around Marshall’s waist, planning on a suplex.  Marshall countered by holding on to the ropes.  Marshall waited until Ash tried again before slamming his leg backward and driving his foot between Ash’s thighs and into his balls.

Ash dropped the hold and staggered backward while the ref said nothing.  Marshall spun around and delivered a clothesline across the upper chest, dropping him to the mat.  Still in pain from the abs and ball work, Marshall limped across the mat before dropping his ass down to the mat at Ash’s head.  He pulled Ash to a sitting position, locked his legs around his waist, and applied a headlock, squeezing down as hard as he could.

The ref asked Ash if he wanted to give, to which he said no.  Someone in the audience yelled some obscenities at the ref, who turned to look at him.  Seizing on the ref’s distraction, Marshall took the right shoulder strap of Ash’s singlet, looped it over his head, and then used his right hand to grasp the front and back strap and pull it tight as he reapplied the headlock.  The strap appeared in the correct position and there was no overt indication it was wrapped around Ash’s throat.

When the ref turned back to the wrestlers, Ash struggled to breathe and clawed at Marshall’s arm. At first, the ref didn’t see anything unusual, but as Ash’s color started to deepen, he became suspicious and checked for a choke. The strap was easy to feel.

“Stop the choke and break the hold,” the ref demanded.

Marshall ignored him until he started his count. At the count of 4, he released the headlock and singlet strap, dropped to his back, arched upwards, and applied as much pressure to Ash’s sides as he could until the ref forced him to break that hold as well.  Marshall rolled to the side and got to his feet while Ash remained sitting, drawing in deep gulps of breath. 

Marshall continued to press his advantage by grabbing Ash's head and pulling him to his feet.  Marshall attempted to pick Ash up for a body slam, but Ash began wildly waving his arms about, seemingly throwing punches randomly. One of those “random” punches landed on Marshall’s jaw, causing Marshall to step back as he shook his head.

Seizing his momentum, Ash quickly scooped Marshall up and dropped him into a backbreaker across his extended knee. He lifted him up and repeated the maneuver. This time, he applied pressure to the thighs and upper chest, trying to bend Marshall into a U-shape while Marshall grunted and cried out in pain.

Ash again lifted Marshall in the air, but this time, he deposited him upside down in the corner in a tree of woe. His feet were hooked to keep him in place. Ash jumped up to the second rope, placed his right foot into Marshall’s groin, and stood with all his weight on one foot. Marshall screamed as Ash bounced up and down.

When the ref reached 4 in his count, Ash leaped backward to the mat but brought his elbow down into the exposed crotch.  Ignoring the referee, he delivered a series of knees, punches, and elbows into the weakening abs.  After one such blow, Marshall moved and wiggled so much that he disentangled his foot and dropped to a heap on the mat while the ref got in front of Ash and physically pushed him out of the way.

“Keep your fucking hands to yourself,” Ash screamed at the ref.

The ref moved in so that he was standing almost nose-to-nose with Ash.  “Follow my damned instructions, and I will.  Keep ignoring them, and I’m going to disqualify our ass.  Understood?”  With the last word, the ref poked his finger into Ash’s chest.

Ash looked down at the finger, up at the ref, and back down to the finger. He looked ready to explode but held back, knowing there would be consequences for his actions. While he didn’t care much about the consequences, he didn’t want to blow this match or the ensuing gauntlet.

During the exchange between Ash and the ref, Marshall managed to roll out of the ring, where he kneeled on the floor, clutching his abs and his crotch.   He wasn’t sure which hurt more, his abs or his back.  Of course, his balls were number one on the pain scale.

He remained kneeling near the edge of the ring with his head hanging down.  Ash walked away from the ref and exited onto the ring edge between the first and second ropes, where he stood looking down at Marshall with an evil smirk on his face.

Suddenly, Marshall sprang to his feet, ignoring all the pains shooting through his body, grabbed Ash around the thighs, lifted him upward off the ring edge, turned to the right, and took one step before leaping and dropping Ash on his back and head, landing on top.  Ash immediately saw stars and went fuzzy. 

Marshall used Ash’s hair and head to pull him to his very unsteady feet.  He locked him in a bear hug and squeezed for all his was worth.  Keeping one eye on the ref, just before his count hit 7, he charged forward slamming Ash spine first into the ring post. Just before he hit the post, he released his hands so they were not between Ash and the post.  Ash hit the post and then slumped forward.  Marshall re-locked his hands, lifted Ash, and twisted, suplexing Ash to the arena floor.

Marshall rolled under the bottom rope just long enough to break the count and then rolled back out. He struggled to pull rag-doll Ash to his feet before forcing him back under the bottom rope. He slid under the bottom rope, pulled Ash to the center of the ring, and rolled him onto his stomach.

He delivered a series of knee drops to the lower back before locking him in a Boston Crab, taking care to bend Ash as hard as possible. Imitating Ash’s earlier actions, he took every opportunity to torture Ash’s balls. He dropped the hold, twisted 180 degrees, and applied a Camel clutch. He used his fingers to fishhook the mouth until the ref forced a break.

Not giving Ash a moment to recover, he stood up, locked Ash’s ankles around his hips, grabbed his arms, and lifted him onto a standing surfboard. He swung Ash as hard as he could while bending him as much as possible.

When he thought Ash might be getting ready to submit, he released the hold and dropped him to the mat.  He pulled Ash to his feet and lifted him in a one-shoulder backbreaker with Ash’s head hanging down his front.  He walked around the ring, squatting up and down to increase the pressure.  He ignored his own pain.  He finally released the shoulder backbreaker and dropped Ash down onto the knee in an over-the-knee backbreaker.  Tiring of this hold, he rolled him to the mat.  He bent Ash’s legs up at the hips, placed them over his shoulder, and powered Ash up until he sat on Marshall’s shoulder. He backed up to the ropes and took several steps into the ring before slamming Ash down in a powerbomb.  He rolled Ash up onto his shoulders and when the ref dropped down to start his count, Marshall grabbed a handful of singlet to hold Ash to the mat.

At the count of three, the crowd went crazy with pleasure.  Marshall released the hold and stood up, where he staggered backward.  He was suddenly overcome with tiredness as well as body pains.  As the ref raised his left hand, he dropped his right to cup his nuts.  The ref led him around the ring, and eventually, Marshall raised both hands in a victory stance.

Marshall ended up with his back turned to Ash, so he failed to see him climb to his knees and scoot over till he was directly behind Marshall, where he released a pump handle, slamming his arm bones as hard as he could into Marshall’s balls, eliciting an enormous scream.  Marshall bent forward, and his knees buckled as Ash got to his feet, locked his hand around the back of Marshall's neck, and then flung him between the middle and bottom rope.  Marshall sailed through the ropes and slammed down back first onto the surrounding mats.  While basking in his win, he forgot the most crucial rule when wrestling a heel – never let your guard down. 

The ref grabbed Ash while shouting at him that the match was over.  Ash responded by whipping around and sending a forearm smash across his chest, sending the ref reeling backward and down onto the mat.  Wasting no further time, Ash leaped over the top rope, slamming down with both feet into Marshall’s abs.  He then pulled him into a cross-body check and repeatedly slammed the lower back into the ring post.  He rotated Marshall into a front hold before dropping him balls first onto his outstretched knee.  He lifted him up and repeated the move.  Finally, he lifted him up and dropped him abs first across the ring barrier. 

Ash ignored the crowd's shouts. However, he could not ignore Wiley’s forearm smashing into the back of his head. Wiley followed up by running Ash’s forehead into the ring post twice before the ref, who had finally recovered, got between the two of them.

Ash staggered away from the ring but had a big smirk on his face despite his loss.  His path carried him past a still-downed Marshall, and the ref was separating him and Wiley.  Ash took advantage of the situation to deliver a football kick up into Marshall’s balls further softening him up for Byron during the next match.  Seeing the kick, Wiley pushed the ref to the side and charged Ash, who was already making his way up the aisle and out of the arena. 

As Ash pushed through the curtain, he was met by The Executioner and Byron, who both gave him back slaps and congratulations on an excellent job of softening Marshall up, even if he did lose the match.

“But don’t worry.  We’ll make sure you get another ‘fairer’ chance to do some damage,” The Executioner smirked, causing Byron to laugh.  “And sooner than you think,” The Executioner said as he winked at Ash.  The three walked back toward the heel locker room.

Back at ringside, Wiley helped a hurting Marshall to his feet and assisted him back to the locker room.  Wiley refused the ref’s offer of help.   Marshall needed Wiley’s physical support to exit the arena.  Marshall was unaware that the ring announcer was in the ring beginning the introduction to the next match before he exited the arena through the curtains.

Once in the locker room, Marshall elected to take a hot shower between matches to help work out the kinks.  There was no doubt that he was entering his next match a little beat up.  25 minutes after his match concluded, he walked through the curtain towards the ring where Byron was waiting for him.