Shimbashi Sends Shockwaves
COLLEGE STATION, TX - As expected, one competitor held both championships in Lions Pride Sports after a hotly-contested match before a raucous, capacity crowd at Cruel Summer. But that wrestler, ZANE VALERO, didn’t hold one title for long.
There were multiple stages to SHIMBASHI leaving College Station as Lions Den Champion. The first was the opening contest, when he fortuitously drew the last entry in the six-person gauntlet match. He won with a little help from girlfriend MJ SANTANA, who had been eliminated by the other gauntlet finalist, MIA FRIDAY. The match’s prize was a contract for a future shot at the gold only trainees at The Lions Den in Bryan can win. Per the contract, that shot could come at any time.
Later in the night, Valero’s Lions Pride Sports Championship and CHAVY CHULO’S Lions Den Championship were both on the line in their one-on-one match. Zane was able to kick out of Chulo’s bulldog, a move that won Chavy the title and has helped him keep it often. Valero followed up with his Next Gen stunner, picking up the win and becoming just the second person to hold The Pride’s two titles simultaneously.
His celebration was short-lived. As Chulo was departing the ringside area after a show of respect between the two combatants, he was attacked by Santana. The other half of the self-proclaimed power couple would low-blow Valero from behind, execute the contract he won in the opener. One move after the bell was all it took given the damage already inflicted on Zane, and Shimbashi got the pin, the win and the Lions Den Championship to the surprise of everyone at Smitty K’s.
Cruel Summer’s other shocking development came in the No Disqualifications Match between HASTUR and MATHAYUS. At our previous events, Mathayus’s manager, DEVON DEVILLE, had seemingly become hypnotized by Hastur’s mysterious mask, even to the point that Hastur convinced DeVille to leave the venue during his previous match with Mathayus. As expected, the collision in College Station was hard-hitting, but things took a turn for the bizarre when DeVille reemerged for the first time since his walk-out.
Clad in a yellow scarf and with the symbol of Hastur’s yellow sign on his forehead, DeVille sauntered to ringside, eventually slipping a chair to Hastur. Ultimately, the troubled powerhouse would decide not to use the steel, declaring he himself was the weapon. DeVille would then use the discarded chair on Hastur, causing plenty of confusion. Mathayus would be given the chair by DeVille, take repeated shots at Hastur with the chair, hit his spear and come away with the win.
Did DeVille break free of the spell of the mask, or was he ever under it? If it was a ruse, was Mathayus in on it? We await the answers to those questions, along with what’s next for each man?
In other action at Cruel Summer:
The only three men who are multi-time Lions Pride Sports Champions were victorious in six-man tag team action, as MIKE DELL, DRAKE DURDEN and NOBE BRYANT topped Onslaught’s HOSTAGE HIRSCH and TRENT MERCER, along with their partner LUIS “SPARTAN” RAMIREZ.
As THE MOUNTAIN was giving out free swag to the crowd, he was interrupted by a frustrated Santana off her elimination in the gauntlet match. She blamed a Lions Den trainee who has been serving as security at our events and has become known as The Security Guy. The two have had previous issues, but on this night, he had stopped her ringside attack in the gauntlet match, then helped replace a turnbuckle pad which Santana had removed during the bout. Santana challenged Security Guy to a match, which he enthusiastically accepted. The excitement wouldn’t last long, though, as Santana made him pass out to her Hysteria submission.