Beachbash Live Broadcast
A heavy drumbeat matched by the sounds of a distorted guitar echoes through the stadium.
Boos overpower the song before Grady Chandler even shows his face.
Slowly, he stalks out onto the stage with a sickening smile and Harper Valentine by his side.
They walk down to the ring, trash-talking fans who line the ramp.
“EWE Champion, ‘The Lunatic’ Grady Chandler, making his way to the ring. He successfully defeated Colin Ryker two weeks ago at Monday Night Rage, which was two weeks after their cage match with Wolf Bennett at Paradise City.”
“I wouldn’t call it successful,” Scott Harrington scoffs.
“He cheated and won the title with the help of Harper Valentine. She distracted the referee, allowing Grady to knock Ryker out with hidden brass knuckles. And now Colin Ryker gets injured three days before he was supposed to have his rematch. Seems a little suspicious if you ask me.”
The EWE Champion stands in the center of the ring with the belt on his shoulder and a mic in hand.
He and Harper share a laugh with the woman next to him, lifting his hand to his ear as the crowd audience continues to express their disappointment.
“I can’t hear you,” he says into the microphone and smirks when their volume increases.
“You all think—” He smiles when they interrupt him again.
“I don’t think the fans are ready to hear what he has to say,” Jude Paul says.
“I don’t think they care,” Scott says, with an amused scoff.
“Look, I get it! You’re mad. I proved you all wrong, but that doesn’t mean we have to hate each other,” Grady shouts this time into the microphone.
“I’m not here to fight with you guys. Tonight at Beachbash in Boston, Massachusetts, I come in peace.
I want to make amends with you. Maybe we can even be friends. ”
A deep laugh echoes through the speakers as the General Manager of Monday Night Rage, Theo Rafferty, walks out to the stage.
He rubs the scruff on his chin, shaking his head.
“You know something, Grady. I don’t think these people want to be friends with you.
I think they want to see you defend that belt hanging around your waist.”
The crowd roars to life at the suggestion, but the champion rolls his eyes.
“Now listen, Grady. You have refused to play by the rules, stating you’re not going to defend your title tonight.”
“Well, Ryker is out—”
“And it’s a little odd, don’t you think? The former champion, who enacted his rematch clause, gets attacked a mere three days before he’s supposed to face you here, tonight. The same match that Harper Valentine was banned from ringside.”
“Only if you believe in coincidences…which I don’t.”
“Well, I do,” Theo says, as a smirk stretches across his face. “And isn’t it a coincidence that I found the perfect opponent for you to face tonight?”
“What are you—” Grady’s words get cut off when a song rises from the speakers like a battle cry. He looks confused by the sound, glancing over his shoulder at Harper. “What is he doing here?”
“Wolf Bennett?” Scott Harrington practically jumps out of his seat at the commentator’s table. “What is he doing here?”
“How is he going to face Grady Chandler? He just had Achilles repair surgery. There’s no way!
I thought he was still injured,” Jude Paul says as “The Gladiator” Wolf Bennett walks out to a deafening roar.
The crowd’s excitement dwindles when they realize he is still on crutches, left leg encased in a walking boot.
Grady laughs, pointing at his former rival. “This is who you picked to face me, Theo? You know what, I take it back, you’re not as thickheaded as you look.”
Wolf shares a look with Theo as he leans on his crutches. “You know, there’s nothing more that I’d like to do than walk down that ramp and kick your ass—”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try.”
“I’m not here to fight you, Grady,” Wolf says, unable to contain a smile when the crowd cries out in disappointment.
“But here’s the thing, I’ve been watching everything while I’ve been gone, and I heard what you said on Monday Night Rage a few weeks ago.
You want to tell these people that I’ve turned my back on them, that I’ve abandoned them, when in reality you’re the one who did that two years ago. ”
“You pushed me out, Bennett!”
“You have no one to blame but yourself. The truth is, you couldn’t handle the pressure. They were going to make you a fucking star, and you folded, and instead of getting back up and dusting yourself off, you tucked tail and ran.”
“Come down here and say that to my face, you useless bastard,” Grady yells into the microphone. He leans over the ropes like a caged animal trying to get to its prey. “I’ll break your other ankle!”
Wolf laughs, running his tongue across his top teeth, before he shares another look with Theo. The crowd goes still with anticipation, and slowly, Wolf turns to look Grady in the eye as his face shifts into something far more menacing. “You know something…I think I will.”
In the blink of an eye, Wolf Bennett drops the crutches from under his arms, letting them fall to the ground, and stands straight up. He rips the straps from the front of the walking boot and steps out of it. Pulling his shirt over his head, he tosses it to the side.
“Oh. My. God,” Jude Paul says as Wolf Bennett runs down the ramp. The building’s foundation quakes from the sound of the crowd.
Wolf slides beneath the bottom rope, popping up on his feet, but Grady attacks him, throwing punches.
“Wolf Bennett and Grady Chandler going at it, but the bell hasn’t rung! We don’t have an official start to the match yet.”
“We need a referee,” Scott says, standing from his seat. “Someone get an official out here!”
Grady lifts his rival onto his shoulders, preparing to toss him outside, but Wolf elbows him in the head. Three more strikes, and Wolf lands back on his feet. Grady rips the belt off his waist, holding it in his hands, and thrusts the metal center plate straight into Wolf’s face when he charges.
Theo Rafferty shoves a referee out from backstage and down the ramp. “Go!”
Wolf staggers to his feet, clutching the space above his eyebrow that’s been split open. He pulls his fingers away to see a splash of red, and it makes him smile. Glancing over his shoulder, he locates his target in the opposite corner of the ring. Grady is poised and ready to charge.
The referee slides into the ring and signals for the bell to ring, marking the official start to the match.
Grady charges, but he misses when Wolf sidesteps and sails through the ropes, straight into the metal post. The impact stuns him, leaving him dangling between the ropes.
“Come on, baby!” Harper encourages him from the ground below.
Finally, Grady pushes himself out of the corner, favoring his right shoulder, and staggers toward the center, straight into the heavy boot of Wolf Bennett. He collapses to the mat like a rag doll.
Wolf Bennett grins. Arms spread wide, he turns in the center of the ring.
His smile slips briefly when he looks out at the crowd, but just as fast, it returns.
He reaches down and forces Grady up and snakes his arm around Grady’s neck.
With his opponent bent backward, suspended over his right thigh, Wolf briefly hovers, staring out over the crowd with a proud smirk.
They cheer with anticipation, knowing what comes next.
Wolf pivots, falling backward to drive Grady’s face straight into the mat.
Honor Bound.