Phoenix Rising: Grand Ascension VI Finals Night Results

"You understand the reasoning here." Firehawk's the first to speak, though it's not yet clear who he's speaking to. "I need two partners for a match with the SFG. The reigning tag team champions. Now, there are plenty of possibilities. But so many are already wrapped up in their own business..."

"If I'm being honest, I'm not sure why you didn't just come straight to us in the first place." Kellaron Sentarl comes into view, arching a brow at his father. "But you know as well as anyone that I'm willing to come along any time you ask. We weren't the inaugural Phoenix Rising tag champs for nothing. We've got history."

"But so do you and I." Victor Kintelas now steps up, glancing sidelong at Kellaron with a nod. "Proving Ground tag champs for a good few months, won the titles in the most dramatic moment Proving Ground's ever gonna see, toppled some of the biggest and baddest around... taking on the SFG seems like the logical next step. You realize, though, what you're asking... sir."

"I do know." Firehawk turns his attention to Victor... folds his arms, looks the young man over. "Teaming with Kellaron... of course. If you told me a few years ago that I'd come to a member of the Kintelas family for help, though, I'd call it crazy. But here you are. You earned Kellaron's trust, and now... I'd say you've got mine."

"Means a lot to hear that. But that's not so much the point of what I'm asking." Victor steps forward. "You're asking me to step into the ring with the SFG, and I know damn well what that means. It means stepping into the ring on the opposite side of my own sister. And honestly... as dysfunctional as my family tends to be, things are different when it comes to Lae and me. Now... don't misunderstand me here. I don't care for the idea of facing her out there. But at the same time... she's got something I want for myself. She's a part of the reigning Tag Team Champions. And you'd better damn well believe that the two of us want those titles for our own."

"So we're not gonna hesitate. We'll work with you out there, dad. We'll make this happen. If we pull this thing off and get a shot at those titles... hell, you better believe we're gonna hang around Showdown going forward." Kellaron holds a hand out. "So... Monday night, we show 'em. We're gonna tear the house down."

Victor and Firehawk both hold their hands out along with Kellaron... the trio sharing a look, before the younger men nod and take their leave. Firehawk's left alone in the room after a few moments.

"No matter how this goes down... maybe it's about time a few things were settled once and for all."

Eri Sentarl appears to have come alone... meeting Shiana after the show, with Kaelara seemingly already having taken her leave, or perhaps still checking in with the medical team. Regardless, Shiana's the first to speak between the two.

"I wasn't entirely sure you had what it took. But I should've known better from the beginning. Both of you have always risen to that sort of challenge... fighting far above your station." Shiana goes quiet... glancing across to Eri, who has yet to say a word, though her eyes haven't left her mother from the moment she arrived. Finally, the Little Phoenix shifts her weight and speaks.

"You wanted us to 'impress' you. Show that we were somehow 'worthy'. You expected us to roll over and die for your handpicked guards, and instead we went out there and proved that Kae and I are closer to the top of the tag team division than they are. So I'm going to ask one more time. What happened? What's come over you? No more dodging around it, no more half-assed excuses, I'm getting my answers right here, right now."

"It all comes down to one very simple thing." Shiana lightly pushes herself off the wall. "First... that I am nowhere near ready to allow someone to take my place, or tell me that I'm no longer capable. Not you, not Kaelara, not anyone... no one is ready, and no one is -worthy- of it."

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it." Eri snaps, stepping forward with fire in her eyes. "If that was the only problem, you wouldn't have snapped like this. Worrying about who's able to take your place? Even clinging to your spot? That doesn't explain it. You're -threatened-. And it's never been about me or Kae, it's never been about a Sentarl at all. I know what's bothering you, and you just refuse to admit it. The one person in the best position to not just surpass you, but Dragon, and everyone else here."

"You should be very, very careful what you say next..." Shiana's voice quickly changes to a much colder, threatening tone.

"Or what? My own mother's going to lay me out? Try and explain that one down the line. This isn't about me, it's about Laenara Kintelas and it always has been, from the moment you two met in the Grand Ascension. That night... everything -changed-, suddenly you didn't have the backing you were used to, suddenly someone ELSE was more popular than you! It's jealousy, it's desperation... if it'd been anyone else in her spot, maybe things wouldn't be this way, but here we are. Am I close to the mark?"

"You have no idea what's going on." Shiana practically hisses out her words by this point. "She's -not- ready, she's -not- going to be the next in line... she is far from being worthy of the World Championship!"

"But when it all comes down to it... Over the past six months, both of you have faced Dragon one-on-one... And only one of you actually beat her. I know what the future holds, mom. I know what's going to happen before this year's over. So..." Eri lets out a deep breath, and that fire seems to fade out, the young woman going quiet. "I want two things. First... I'm gonna make a bet with you. My bet is that before this year's over, Laenara Kintelas is gonna hold that World Championship. She's gonna get her shot, one-on-one, and she's gonna do what she did at the Grand Ascension, and beat Dragon. Or, dad, I guess, if he manages to pull this thing off." Shiana glances over, arching a brow... Eri's gotten her attention. "Second... Before this year's over... I want you back to normal. I want this... this whole -mess- to stop. This jealousy, this... cruelty. You threw your own daughters against a team you were convinced would break us. But I'm still standing here, refusing to back down."

"I'll take your bet, Eri... but things aren't going to change. It's not that simple."

"The hell it's not. If I have to, I'll step into the ring against you again, and again, until I get it to sink in. I'm not gonna quit until things get back to the way they're supposed to be. And you know I'll win in the end, because you know me as well as anyone: I don't give up. I don't stop for anything. Once I've got something in mind... I don't quit until I've made it reality.

Think about it all. Just... think. That's all I've got. You can listen, or don't... I've done the best I can. Just don't be surprised if I finally turn my back in the end." Eri turns to leave... and Shiana watches her go, staring the young woman down until she slips out of sight.

Hikari Ueno def. Kiana Yamazaki
Luci and Chasity (eMo) def. The Yoshida Twins
HAYATO def. Sanya Markov
Kylie Anderson def. Kaede Takeda
Candace Monroe def. Leona Sterling in a shoot-match
Gabriela and Rafael Gallego (The Mexican Jaguars) def. Arthur and Amber Wright
Tomiko Takeda def. Andrea "Fire" Hawke
Tomas def. Concrete Pete

and non-canon but relevant anyway: Chris Jericho def. Todd Colton

First thing we noticed tonight: Evergreen graciously allowed the show to use their ring for the night. Kevin Royce called a fair few of the matches himself, as a result. Second thing we noticed: Kiana, being a dead ringer for her counterpart Mercy Devine, is surreal to watch inside of an Evergreen ring with her surprisingly technical ability. But it wasn't her story tonight: it was the debuting Hikari Ueno, who dazzled the fans with her own skills, locking in quick submissions, landing a vicious Package Piledriver at one point, and ultimately stealing the victory with a flash roll-up out of nowhere. We may be seeing more of Ueno in the future.


It was the debut of Chasity in the Evergreen ring, a face we'll surely be seeing more of soon enough. The Yoshida Twins, fresh off of defending their tag team titles over the weekend, put up a tough fight against the eMo duo, but Shiori fell victim to Luci's grasp, and the twins took a rare defeat.


Another pair of debuts here, as Sanya Markov stepped into the ring with HAYATO... no guesses for who HAYATO's related to. Sanya was dominant through the first part of this match, even busting HAYATO open relatively early and making it tough for the young man to fight back... but fight back he did, in familiar fashion, roaring back into the match and eventually forcing Sanya to tap out to the familiar Nagata Lock III.


Kylie Anderson shares a lot in common with her counterpart Kyle, but that can only mean good things for her, evoking such a powerhouse of Proving Ground. Kaede, normally one of the tougher women around, just couldn't keep up with the brute force that Kylie brought to the table, and a pair of brutal German suplexes took her out of the match for good.


Three rounds... that was all these two were allotted. And they had to use nearly all of that time. Candace and Leona are no strangers to fighting each other... Leona being the woman who put an early end to Candace's MMA career (at least before she took up shoot-style again in UCSS), but Candace has been looking for revenge ever since. She finally got the chance, and she didn't squander it... after two full rounds of trading submissions and looking for the finishing stroke, Candace finally got her moment late in the third and final round... trapping Leona in a brutal kneebreaker, and forcing the Scot to tap out on the spot, finally avenging that loss from so long ago.


The two biggest stories out of this match: Amber Wright has a brother, and the Gallego Twins are a seriously dynamic pair, bringing some brilliant lucha tactics to the ring. As good as Arthur looked in this match, the Gallegos (who the crowd would eventually dub the Mexican Jaguars thanks to their attires) were just that much better... and after Rafael hit the Three Amigos and a standing moonsault, that was all she wrote.


Don't assume that Tomiko Takeda is on the same level as Telan Kintelas... she may be at a much, much higher point. Tomiko was a monster in this match, and not even Hawke grabbing a chair in the hopes of evening the odds helped her get back into the match, eventually getting put down by Judgment and giving Tomiko one of the most impressive victories of the night.


This was perhaps one of the most violent, brutal, and brief confrontations ever seen in an Evergreen ring. Within the first three minutes, light tubes had been shattered, Pete had been thrown into the explosives on the outside, and both men were bloodied... and after getting thrown out of the ring a second time, Pete simply couldn't keep things going after Tomas planted him with a huge slam. This was short, but it was nasty... and hardly a disappointment to cap off the night.





OK, OK, technically it didn't cap off the night, this did, but seriously, this is totally not canon and was run just as a fun thing to tie into a conversation from the other night, and Todd's Best In The World declaration. Good match, though. Fun stuff. Complete with the full AEW setup.

you will probably never see another real-world edit on the stream again tbh

Candace Monroe def. Titania
Kellaron Sentarl def. Avery Adonis Alexander
Allison Avery def. SATOMI
The Golden Ambush def. Adrenaline Rush
La Relampaga def. La Corsaria
Hugo Dirksen def. Nick MacLeod
Sung Moon def. Christina Wagner
Amber Wright def. Fresh Suzuki and Nicole Blade to become the NEW Inspire Champion
Gary Gear def. Sanya Markov in a bonus match

The night kicked off with a stunning upset. Candace Monroe was on a mission tonight, and she didn't let up on Titania for a second, enduring the powerful offense thrown her way and landing a pair of Gotch-style piledrivers to pick up a stunning victory. If Candace keeps up this momentum, we could see her challenging for the Inspire Championship before long.


Likely one of the most purely competitive matches of the night, AAA was determined to knock out an early favorite in the first round... but it wasn't to be. Kellaron just wouldn't let up, going for the crossface whenever he had the opportunity, and finally got AAA to tap out and advance to the semifinal.


Allison Avery was in no mood for competition tonight. While SATOMI started to get herself into the match, Allison was quick to shut her down with no less than THREE Little Rock Bottoms back-to-back... and that would take the fight out of anyone, even the star that is SATOMI.


Once again, the tag champions look completely insurmountable... wiping out yet another team during their reign at the top. Adrenaline Rush just couldn't keep up, though it wasn't for lack of trying: Nic Nitro was at the top of his game, but Golden Tiger just wasn't going to let things end unless it was in the favor of the Ambush.


This match did not disappoint from the expected dynamic, high-octane action. Relampaga was absolutely relentless, but Corsaria delivered a lot of offense for her own part... multiple Shining Axe Kicks delivered to Relampaga. But the Lightning Luchadora just would not stop... and a Superstar Elbow in the center of the ring would prove the final blow.


This was Nick's power against Hugo's technique... and Hugo proved the better here, constantly locking in the Cattle Mutilation, and weathering the brutal backbreakers that Nick threw out. But it was a quick counter roll-up that scored the victory for the Dutchman... and now, he moves to face Kellaron Sentarl in the next round.


Another major upset, in some eyes... Sung Moon was definitely coming in with a size disadvantage, and a major gap in strength. But she would not quit... no matter what Christina threw at her, even interrupting the Spinaroonie (much to the disgust of the crowd. Or maybe just me.) Finally, she managed to set up the Hangover leg drop, and Sung Moon eliminates the other major powerhouse of the tournament.


Amber Wright has fought her way to the top. She fought this match as well as anyone could in a 3-way contest... when she had an opportunity to pin Nicole Blade, she knocked Fresh to the mat before taking it, eliminating the champion and ensuring that she wouldn't retain. And then, she went to work on Suzuki... cranking the young Japanese rookie into her brutal Triangle Scorpion, and claiming the Inspire Championship, a first step on her path towards living up to the legacy that Winifred Wright has left her.


With the show having gone so quickly, an extra match was quickly thrown together: with Sanya Markov already set to join Proving Ground in the near future anyway, he got a chance to debut here, against Gary Gear... and Gear didn't seem to take kindly to the Russian newcomer, absolutely blowing through him in typical Gear fashion.

Layla Al-Amin def. Listalva Anne Heyward
Todd Colton def. Markos Andreas
Rachel White def. Selisha
The Wild West def. Pure Gold
Natasha Clover def. Sophia Moretti and Michelle Rochefort
Anari Lynn Heyward def. Minoru Hoshino to become the NEW Pacific Northwest Champion
The SFG def. The Sentarl Sisters to retain the Phoenix Rising Tag Team Championships
The Black Dragon def. Firehawk Sentarl to retain the Phoenix Rising World Championship

Queen Anne's slump continues, with the Cairo Cyclone absolutely outpacing her from the opening bell. Layla was on fire here, never letting up for a second, and Listalva continues to struggle finding any momentum... and can't even fall back on her usual plans, with both of her usual tag partners otherwise preoccupied.


By all rights, Markos Andreas should've had this match in the bag early on. He was coming out well ahead of Todd, pounding him into the mat every chance he got... and Todd just kept getting back up. Finally, Markos's temper seemed to erupt, and rather than going for a finish, he kept pounding away at him on the mat... only for Todd to come back with his signature Binding Suplex to pick up a stunning victory, a huge comeback without a doubt.


Once again, Rachel White pulls herself out of a nosedive, and scores a huge upset victory. This time, Selisha would be the victim... Rachel perhaps knowing exactly how dangerous she is, and didn't let her get off any of her most dangerous moves, culminating in landing a huge Moonstomp from the top rope and standing tall for the first time in a good while.


Much to Shiana Sentarl's chagrin, once again Pure Gold struggled to take down their opponents... and it cost them dearly in the end, with Lance Marshall isolating Mallory Spaulding in the Wild West's corner, landing a crushing lariat, and picking up an impressive victory. No doubt Mallory and Kanjirin will be getting an earful...


Natasha Clover clearly still sees the Pacific Northwest Championship as her title... and she wants it back. Sophia Moretti managed to take out Michelle Rochefort with Eternal Night, forcing a submission, but Natasha came roaring at her almost immediately with her usual strikes, and eventually laid out the Italian with a sharp combo to pick up the win and the Pacific Northwest Championship match next Showdown.


As for who Natasha will be facing? Much to the shock of the crowd, it'll be Anari Lynn Heyward, who despite having a difficult time keeping up with Hoshino's speed and agility, managed to bring her strength to bear and finally landed a crushing powerbomb to pick up the victory, and her first championship gold. But how long can Anari hang on to that title with Natasha on the horizon?


The plan was sound, the execution moreso... but it was one single mistake that cost the Sentarl sisters this match and the titles. Much like their match with Pure Gold, Eri and Kaelara were fighting from behind for most of this one, with Eri looking like an absolutely unstoppable force... but it was Kaelara that made the fatal mistake of trying to go up top, in a rare display of bravado, and missed her dive onto Laenara, allowing Lae to hit a moonsault immediately after and defending the tag titles once again.


It all came down to this one. Another challenger stepped up to face the Black Dragon, and another challenger fell in defeat. Firehawk once again fails to capture the World Championship, and the Dragon's reign continues at 532 days... and counting. Who on earth can stop her in a Phoenix Rising ring? It's starting to feel like nobody can stop her when the title is at stake...

"Nothing else needs to be said. Another challenger stood up to test themselves. And another challenger went down in flames. Firehawk, you knew from the very beginning that you weren't up to this... there is no one, and I do mean NO ONE, part of our generation that can claim to be better than I am. Twenty-five years of absolute dominance... and nobody can claim anything more. I'm taking next Showdown off... you can all fight over who gets to be next in line, but you know damn well what the outcome will be. Just look at the trail of destruction left in my wake.

Before you think you've got what it takes... look back at them, and ask yourself one more time."