WrestleMayhem - Part 2

WrestleMayhem - Part 2

Public interest in the spectacle of Blue Behemoth meeting Mondo Style in the ring ended up far surpassing everyone's expectations. It was a given it would get coverage in the usual magazines, such as The Sleuth Gazette and Wrestling Prevue. But who could have anticipated stories from important newspapers like The Major City Courier, The Major City Meteor-News, and The El Oceano Endeavor? DeKalb promoting it was no surprise, but their primary competitors MBS and UBC got in on the party, too. Even the Worldwide Press International (WPI) wire service assigned a special correspondent. It was the most attention professional wrestling had received in decades, and Huey Bartek loved every minute of it.

There was a capacity crowd in the New Moon Garden at bell time for WrestleMayhem. A number of famous faces were among the spectators, and the GWO made a point of showing them on-screen for their closed-circuit TV customers watching at home. The Invincible Alliance was there to cheer on their teammate, though they attended in civilian clothes (not that this mattered much for Elektroid). A nonplussed Whitney DeKalb was seated with several other DeKalb Network executives, and tried her best to look interested. Playboy Dick Major and his wife Fanny couldn't even manage that - they were just there for the photo op. Avant-garde actor Alan Norby, on the other hand, could barely contain his enthusiasm. He suggested to a ringside interviewer he might challenge the winner of the feature bout. Thankfully for the scrawny Norby, he thought better of this damn fool notion.

WrestleMayhem's undercard definitely lived up to the promotional hype. There were seven matches in all prior to the main event, and several were colorful enough to have toplined any arena in the world. Highlights included a continuation of the feud between "Gorgeous" Glen Starr and Man Mountain Muldoon and a tag team title showdown between champions "Wild" Bill Jackson and "Hotshot" Johnny Flash and the mysterious masked Lasers. Perhaps the most thrilling and controversial bout was GWO Women's Champion Winnie Reilly losing her belt to an unheralded challenger from Hawaii named Leah Kalani.

After the preliminaries were completed, it was time for the feature attraction of the evening. Both Blue Behemoth and Mondo Style made their way to the ring amid much pomp and fanfare. The Deacon, looking smart in his white mask and striped referee's shirt, gave instructions to the two adversaries after introductions and asked them to shake hands. They declined in a pointed display of mutual (feigned) disdain. The bell rang and it was time to lock up!

It only took a couple of minutes for Mondo to realize he had a serious problem. Though BB was both a fan and very cooperative, he had never worked an actual match before. Mondo could usually carry an inexperienced opponent, but Blue Behemoth was no ordinary foe. The size differential between them was huge, yet BB's offense looked weak and unconvincing as he pulled his punches so as not to stiff his human rival. Make no mistake, Mondo appreciated his cohort not killing him. It was just that their match was going to die quickly at this rate.

In the dressing room, the rest of the boys (and girls) watched the monitors and could sense something was wrong. This was likely their biggest payday ever, and if the main tanked, well...no one wanted to think about the consequences. Only Huey Bartek, of all people, was calm, cool, and collected as the match played out. His confidence would have been reassuring had it not seemed so disconnected from reality.

Mondo Style knew it was his responsibility as the veteran and the one calling the match to jazz things up. Besides, if he was as good a worker as he thought, surely he could salvage the situation. He whispered to Blue Behemoth to follow his lead and then unleashed a flurry of punches that sent his opponent "reeling." Since BB was worried about hurting him, he would dominate the action as much as he could and let the superhero react accordingly. Possibly getting booed for being so "vicious" to a beloved do-gooder was a small price to pay if it brought the people to their feet.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the crowd as a man raced down and jumped onto the ring apron. Mondo was busy holding BB in a headlock, and they could not break fast enough as H.O. Godfrey climbed through the ropes and trasmuted into his bootleg powersuit. The villainous Devil Dynamite then threw both wrestler and hero out of the ring. This was blatant outside interference, which would have been a fine addition to the show...except it was a total surprise to everyone and not part of the plan.


TO BE CONTINUED