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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
...
Jericho walked slowly down the long steel ramp. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't acknowledge the boos or the cheers. His eyes were locked entirely on The Rock, who was standing in the center of the ring, watching the slow approach with a mixture of amusement and readiness.
Jericho climbed the steel steps, stepping deliberately through the ropes. He didn't take off the hat or the jacket. A ringside crew member quickly handed him a microphone. Jericho took it, standing a few feet away from The Great One.
The two Attitude Era legends stared each other down. The history between them was immense, spanning over a decade of brutal matches and legendary promo battles. But the dynamic had entirely shifted.
Jericho slowly raised the microphone to his lips. He didn't scream. He spoke in that low, raspy, dangerous whisper that had defined his new persona.
"You talk too much, Rock," Jericho hissed, the greasepaint around his mouth cracking as he spoke.
The Rock raised an eyebrow, completely unbothered.
"You stand out here, running your mouth, playing your greatest hits," Jericho continued, slowly pacing back and forth, never breaking eye contact. "You talk about coming 'home.' You talk about saving the people. You talk about winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Sandro Zhang at WrestleMania."
Jericho stopped, pointing a taped finger directly at The Rock's chest.
"You are living in a fantasy world you created yourself," Jericho snarled. "You think because you went away and made a few movies, that you can just waltz back into this company and demand a title match? You think you can just cut the line?"
Jericho took a step closer, the intensity rolling off him in waves.
"I have shed blood for this," Jericho said, his voice rising slightly in volume. "I sacrificed my career, my pride, and my body to the Undisputed System. Sandro Zhang tried to end my livelihood. My thirst for vengeance is deeper, darker, and more real than any of your little Hollywood catchphrases or movies. It is my turn, Rock. I am going to take Sandro Zhang one on one. And if you think you're going to stand in my way and steal my spotlight..."
Jericho tilted his head, a sadistic smirk crossing his painted face.
"...Then I will gladly take that baseball bat, and I will permanently retire 'The People's Champ' before you could even make it to the Royal Rumble."
The crowd "Ooooh'd" loudly at the direct, violent threat.
The Rock didn't flinch. He didn't step back. He simply stared at Jericho, his expression slowly morphing from serious consideration back to that familiar, mocking, million dollar smile.
The Rock raised his microphone.
"The Rock hears you, Chris," The Rock said smoothly, his voice echoing through the arena. "The Rock hears all that anger, all that angst, all that... 'pain' you're supposedly making. And The Rock is looking at you right now. He's looking at the black hat. He's looking at the leather jacket. He's looking at the Fingerpaint you stole from a kindergartener."
The crowd immediately burst into laughter. Jericho's eye twitched angrily.
"And The Rock is thinking to himself," The Rock continued, pacing around Jericho in a circle, sizing him up. "Did Chris Jericho really just threaten The Rock? Threaten the People's Champ? Did a guy who looks like he got lost on his way to a My Chemical Romance concert really just tell The Rock to step aside and back down?"
"Listen to me, you arrogant piece of—" Jericho started, raising his mic.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!" The Rock roared, hitting the legendary line with absolute perfection, cutting Jericho off instantly and sending the Harrisburg crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Jericho's face flushed with fury beneath the greasepaint.
"You want to talk about cutting the line, Chris?" The Rock asked, getting right back in Jericho's face, the humor vanishing entirely. "You want to talk about vengeance? The Rock understands vengeance. But let's be perfectly honest with the great people of Harrisburg here tonight, and let's be perfectly honest with yourself. You had your shot at Sandro Zhang. You had your shot at the Undisputed System. And what happened?"
The Rock leaned in close.
"You got your candy ass handed to you on a silver platter," The Rock stated bluntly, twisting the knife. "You got beaten, you got broken, and you got kicked to the curb by a bunch of jabronis. And now you're out here, dressed like a sad, mid life crisis magician, crying because The Rock came back to actually get the job done?"
"I took Sandro to the absolute limit at TLC!" Jericho yelled defensively, his voice cracking with rage. "I survived a Fatal Six Way! You haven't wrestled a match in seven years! You don't have what it takes anymore, Rock! You're soft! You're a corporate sellout! I am the best in the world at what I do, and right now, what I do is inflict pain!"
"Oh, you're the best in the world at what you do?" The Rock mocked, raising his eyebrow to legendary heights. "Well, let The Rock tell you what he does. The Rock takes guys who walk around calling themselves the 'best in the world,' he shines them up real nice, he turns them sideways, and he sticks them straight up their candy asses!"
The crowd was eating out of the palm of The Rock's hand. It was a masterclass in promo work, a surreal, incredible flashback to the Monday Night Wars era. Two of the absolute greatest talkers in the history of the business, standing toe to toe, trading vicious, deeply personal verbal barbs.
"You want to step up to The Rock? The Rock suggests you take your little baseball bat, take your little vengeance tour, throw it out of the ring, and come step up to the People's Champ! IF YOU SMELLLLLLLLLLL..."
The crowd screamed the words so loudly the audio peaked.
"...WHAT THE ROCK... IS... COOKING!"
The Rock challenged, throwing his microphone down onto the canvas. It hit the mat with a heavy thud.
The Rock ripped off his expensive silk shirt, tossing it into the crowd, revealing his massive, heavily tattooed physique. He bounced on his toes, raising his fists, looking absolutely ready to brawl.
Jericho didn't back down. The Painmaker slowly unbuttoned his heavy leather jacket, letting it drop to the floor. He tossed his fedora aside, his black-painted eyes wide with homicidal intent.
"This is it!" Cole screamed into his headset, the excitement practically causing him to vibrate. "The Great One and The Painmaker! Two legends are about to tear each other apart right here on Monday Night RAW!"
"Let them fight!" Lawler cheered. "This building is going to explode!"
Jericho lunged forward, throwing a wild, looping right hand. The Rock ducked it with veteran instincts, immediately firing back with a blistering combination of right hands that backed Jericho into the corner to the absolute cheer of the fans.
But before the legendary brawl could truly escalate into a full blown match, the deafening, screeching noise of "SHOCK THE SYSTEM" ripped through the PA system.
The arena lights immediately flooded the entrance stage with that harsh, oppressive gold.
The crowd's cheers instantly turned to visceral, panicked boos.
Sandro Zhang had finally answered the call. But he wasn't alone, and he wasn't interested in a fair fight.
"Oh no!" Cole yelled in despair. "It's a trap! The Undisputed System is here!"
Charging down the long steel ramp with terrifying, unified speed were the enforcers of the empire. Big E, Ryback, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, and Xavier Woods sprinted toward the ring like a pack of starving wolves.
"Look at this!" JBL cackled with sadistic glee. "The God King doesn't just answer challenges, Michael! He eradicates the challengers! He let these two relics tire themselves out, and now he is sending the execution squad!"
Standing safely at the top of the entrance stage, watching the chaos unfold with a cold, aristocratic smirk, was Sandro Zhang. The Triple Crown Champion was dressed impeccably in a tailored suit, his three golden championships resting casually over his shoulders.
Flanking him as always were his Speaker, Paul Heyman, who was laughing maniacally, and the Queens of the faction, AJ Lee, Nikki Bella, and Alexa Bliss, who looked on with expressions of bored superiority.
Inside the ring, The Rock and Chris Jericho stopped fighting each other immediately. The sheer volume of incoming threats forced an instant, unspoken truce. The two Attitude Era legends stood back to back in the center of the ring, raising their fists, prepared to fight for their lives against impossible odds.
The first wave hit the ring. Dolph Ziggler and Xavier Woods slid under the bottom rope, charging The Rock. The Great One met them head on, delivering a massive spinebuster to Woods and a blistering clothesline that nearly took Ziggler's head off.
On the other side, Jericho engaged Wade Barrett and Kofi Kingston, utilizing his technical prowess to lock Barrett in the Walls of Jericho, while simultaneously kicking Kingston on the guts to push him away.
For a fleeting, incredible ten seconds, it looked as though the two legends might actually be able to hold off the golden army. The Harrisburg crowd was screaming, desperately willing The Rock and Jericho to survive.
But the numbers game was simply too overwhelming. The heavy artillery had arrived.
Big E and Ryback entered the ring. The two massive powerhouses didn't bother with technical wrestling. Big E charged The Rock, driving his massive shoulder into The Great One's ribs, crushing him against the turnbuckle. Ryback simultaneously hit Jericho with a devastating Meat Hook clothesline that nearly turned the Painmaker inside out.
"The numbers are just too much!" Lawler groaned as the ring filled with the Undisputed System. "It's a seven on two mugging!"
With The Rock and Jericho grounded, the systematic dismantling began. Drew McIntyre picked The Rock up by his hair, holding him in place while Wade Barrett delivered a sickening Bull Hammer elbow directly to The Great One's jaw.
On the other side of the ring, Big E hoisted Jericho onto his massive shoulders, executing the Big Ending, driving the Painmaker face first into the canvas.
"This is sickening to watch!" Cole yelled, his voice laced with genuine disgust. "They are trying to permanently injure two of the biggest stars in the history of the business!"
"They are clearing the brush, Michael!" JBL defended, watching the carnage with absolute joy. "The God King is making sure his path to WrestleMania is entirely unobstructed! He is eliminating the variables!"
Sandro Zhang watched from the top of the stage, his expression unchanging. He didn't need to get his hands dirty. He had built an empire to do his bidding.
The assault inside the ring escalated. Ziggler dragged The Rock to the center of the ring, holding him up while Ryback backed into the corner, winding up for another Meat Hook clothesline.
But before Ryback could charge, the sheer arrogance of the Undisputed System finally caught up to them. Ziggler had loosened his grip, laughing and taunting the crowd, entirely too satisfied with their dominance.
That was all the opening The Great One needed.
With a sudden, desperate surge of adrenaline, The Rock broke free from Ziggler's hold and sidestepped just as Ryback came rushing in. Ryback couldn't stop his momentum, unleashing a catastrophic Meat Hook clothesline that nearly took his own teammate, Dolph Ziggler, out of his boots!
The Harrisburg crowd instantly erupted into a massive, deafening pop.
The mistake sent a shockwave through the enforcers, and The Rock immediately capitalized. He spun around, catching a stunned Xavier Woods with a blistering right hand, followed by a brutal DDT to Wade Barrett.
Feeding off the sudden shift in energy, the Painmaker found his second wind. As Big E reached down to grab him by the throat, Jericho explosively sprang upwards, catching the powerhouse flush on the jaw with a devastating, out of nowhere Codebreaker! Big E staggered backward, his eyes rolling into the back of his head before collapsing to the mat.
"They're fighting back!" Cole screamed, finding a shred of hope. "The pride of these two legends simply won't let them die! They are fighting on pure instinct!"
For a fleeting, incredible moment, the Attitude Era shined through the darkness. The Rock caught a charging Drew McIntyre, planting the Scotsman into the canvas with a thunderous Spinebuster. The arena came unglued as The Rock stood over McIntyre, whipping off his elbow and showing it into the frenzied crowd.
"He's going for it!" Lawler cheered wildly. "The People's Elbow!"
The Rock hit the near ropes, bounded off, and sprinted toward the far ropes. But the math of a seven on two mugging was simply too cruel.
As The Rock rebounded off the opposite side, a recovered Ryback was waiting. The massive powerhouse stepped right into The Rock's path, turning The Great One entirely inside out with a sickening, full force Meat Hook clothesline.
The brief window of hope violently slammed shut.
Jericho, scrambling to his feet to help, was immediately blindsided. Kofi Kingston sprang off the top rope, catching the Painmaker flush on the temple with a blistering Trouble in Paradise. Jericho spun like a top before Wade Barrett stepped in, delivering a final, sickening Bull Hammer elbow directly to the back of Jericho's head.
"No!" Cole groaned, his voice laced with absolute despair. "It was just a mirage! The numbers are just too much!"
The Undisputed System swarmed like locusts once again to finish the job. Drew McIntyre stalked a lifeless Jericho from the corner, exploding forward to deliver a catastrophic Claymore Kick. Right beside him, Xavier Woods scaled the turnbuckle and flattened The Rock with a beautiful, crushing Limit Break diving elbow drop.
The ring was an absolute graveyard. The Rock and Chris Jericho, two of the most popular and charismatic superstars in the history of the business, were lying broken, unconscious, and completely decimated in the center of the squared circle.
The Undisputed System boys stood tall over the wreckage, their chests heaving, a terrifying visual of absolute, unchecked power.
On the entrance stage, Sandro Zhang finally smiled. It was a cold, arrogant, psychopathic smirk. He nodded in approval at his enforcers.
"Look at the carnage," Cole whispered, his voice trembling as Monday Night RAW prepared to go off the air. "The God King didn't even have to lift a finger. He just orchestrated the destruction of three absolute best in the world."
"This is the reality of the Triple Crown Era, Michael," JBL concluded with a huge smile. "You either bow to the God King, or you get broken by the Undisputed System. There is no middle ground. The Road to WrestleMania runs directly through Sandro Zhang, and it looks like a happy end for the God King." The Royal Rumble was just weeks away, but the message was terrifyingly clear, the God King was truly untouchable.
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Name: Alessandro Zhang
Age: 21 (2011)
Birthplace: Orlando, Florida, USA
Brand: WWE - RAW
Wrestling Style: Mixed Of All Styles
Faction: The Undisputed System
Championships History: 1x FCW Tag Team Champions, 1x FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion, 1x TNA World Heavyweight Champion, 1x TNA X Division Champion, 1x WWE United States Champion, 1x WWE Champion, & 1x World Heavyweight Champion
Other Achievements: 1x Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale Winner, 1x Mr. Money In The Bank, Youngest WWE Champion, PWI Top 500 (No.1) - 2010, & 1x KOTR (2010)
Wrestlemania Record: 1 - 0