Extreme Reminiscence

Grainy footage of a scared but determined looking young Alex Kross, wearing simply black tights with a large golden cross on the right leg as he approached the ring, appeared on screen. It ran for a few moments while a Japanese commentator spoke (to those who understood the langauge) about the young man's promising career. He was 6 and 2 since his debut, but this was considered by many to be his first real test, taking on the legendary Akuji in the old hand's favorite match; the Death Match. This was to be a match with no rules, and many hazards. The ring ropes had barbed wire wrapped around them, and a large plate of glass stood in each corner, with weapons and more glass still littered around the ring.

Akuji didn't wait for Lex to reach the ring, instead leaping over the top rope and plunging down onto the younger competitor, who was just beginning to ascend the stairs. The two men crashed down together, breaking the flimsy wooden steps. Akuji sprung up, spreading his arms as the crowd booed him, while Lex rolled on the ground in obvious pain, eventually pulling a thick nail from the stairs out of his own arm. The referee asked Alex if he wished to continue, but the young man was not daunted.

Akuji spun on him, spitting black mist into Lex's face, temporarily blinding him before delivering a brutal series of strikes culminating in a thumb being driven into the younger man's throat. Again, Lex went down, rolling around and clutching his throat. As he gasped for breath, Akuji grabbed his hair from behind, pulling his face off the mat and delivering a series of short-legged kicks to Alex's face. This time, the veteran wasn't about to let up. He drug Alex Kross to his feet and rolled him into the ring. On his way in, the barbed wire from the bottom rope snagged on Alex's flesh, and he pulled the horrible metal with him into the ring.

Akuji paraded around the outside of the ring, leering at the crowd. Eventually, slowly, the bleeding rookie forced his way to his feet, stumbling back into a corner, still trying to catch his breath. Akuji seemed surprised that his opponent was standing, and rolled into the ring, charging toward the youth to deliver his patented corner splash, a move that would have almost certainly ended the match for Alex Kross as his body was driven into, and through, a plate of glass, but Alex wasn't finished just yet. He moved at the last moment, and Akuji crashed into the glass, shattering it spectacularly and sending shards all over the outside of the ring and on the mat. Lex rolled out of the ring, blinking in pain as he stumbled blindly, searching for help in the crowd, but there was none to be had. The crowd was behind the young man, but none would help him.

As Akuji pulled a chunk of glass from his chest, Lex fell to his knees outside, searching through the odd pile of weapons... and then a smile, now familiar to Lex's fans around the world, spread across his face as he pulled from the heap a weapon...

Lex held the weapon up triumphantly. Here was something he was familiar with. A tool. A chance. He spun the chain expertly and leapt in a single movement to the the apron, then clambered onto the ringpost, wrapping the chain around his right hand. Down he leapt, driving the chain-ensconced fist into Akuji's head, dropping the veteran like a ton of bricks. Lex let out an excited whoop, then unraveled the chain slowly before delivering a pair of brutal strikes to Akuji's midsection. The older fighter rolled onto his stomach, but Alex didn't stop the assault, slamming the chain down again and again across his back.

Akuji rose to his knees, and Lex dropped the chain before rocketing backward, bouncing himself off the ropes and returning to deliver a brutal shining wizard. With Akuji down, Lex took to the top ropes once more, delivering his signature split-legged springboard kneedrop to the throat. He immediately went for a pin, and was rewarded with a two-count before the living legend of Japanese hardcore wrestling popped it, delivering a vicious thumb to the eye in the process. Akuji leapt to his feet and delivered a spin kick to Alex's head, dropping the young man into unconsciousness, but Akuji wasn't finished yet. He pointed to the barbed wire that had separated from the ring rope, and the Japanese crowd erupted with boos, but Akuji was not swayed. He grabbed the wire and wrapped it around Kross's throat, pulling it tight and choking the youth. Lex was already unconscious, but Akuji didn't stop until the bell had rung several times, and several other wrestlers entered the ring to chase him away.

The grainy footage ended, and the scarred back and neck of Alex Kross today were panned over, before moving to his face. I know what you're thinking. "But Lex" you're saying. "You lost that match." Yes, I did. But look what it took to stop me. That was my 9th professional match, and my first Death Match. I fought a living legend of our sport, and look at the lengths he had to go to, to stop me. I was never even pinned. I never tapped out. I was knocked unconscious before I quit.

So to all the people who are saying "Lex Kross can't win the Extreme Title. He's a technical guy," let me just say this. You're wrong. You're dead wrong. I don't care what the stipulations are. Alex Kross doesn't give up. This is it. This is Barbed Consequences. This is my first shot at gold in the AWO. Talk is cheap. I'll see you boys in the ring.