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"So I'll be the one to end it. Since the Undertaker doesn't care of a washed up HBK, I'll do what he couldn't done last year. I'll put down what's left of HBK for good. I'll end the myth. The obsession. The pain. I'll take him out, not for me, but for everyone else who's had to watch him decay year after year. I'll do it because nobody else will." The crowd raged, half booing, half watching in awe.
The crowd raged, half booing, half watching in awe.
"And if he wants to respond?"
Sandro took off his sunglasses, eyes laser focused on the hard camera.
"I'll be right here."
"Now that… THAT right there, is what I'm talking about!" Cole, leaning forward at the announce table like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard and with that smug heel energy, couldn't help but pour gasoline on the fire.
"This man, this man Sandro, just looked into the camera, stared down the legend, the so called 'Heartbreak Kid,' and said what no one else had the guts to say! He's calling out Shawn Michaels to his face, and I love it! You know, King, I thought my all time favorite was The Miz… but I think Sandro just might be climbing up that ladder real quick. Maybe, just maybe, we're looking at my new favorite wrestler of all time."
Lawler turned toward Cole with that incredulous, head shaking smirk he always wore when Cole said something ridiculous.
"Are you kidding me, Cole? You really know how to pick 'em. You're gonna jump on this guy's bandwagon just like that? You think Sandro's brave? He's poking a bear that's already been starved for a year! That's just plain stupidity! Sandro is playing with fire. You have seen what Shawn did last Saturday, you've seen that look in his eyes, he's already burning with fire and spite after what Sandro pulled on him. Now this? This isn't bravery, Cole, this is a man begging to get his head taken off."
Cole didn't flinch, didn't back down. If anything, Lawler's skepticism made him more stubborn.
"You call it stupidity, King, I call it guts. Shawn Michaels is Shawn Michaels, sure, but if he doesn't come out here after that challenge, if he stays in the back hiding, then Sandro's right. He's not the 'Showstopper' anymore. He's not Mr. WrestleMania. He's a washed up, broken down relic hanging onto a reputation he doesn't deserve. The real HBK would march right down here—"
Cole didn't get to finish.
The arena exploded.
That familiar music riff hit the speakers, Shawn Michaels' entrance music blasting through the sound system as the titantron lit up with his name and highlight reels. The fans roared in a nuclear cheer, the kind of pop that rattled the building. Cole's jaw dropped. Lawler's face lit up.
"Here he comes! Here comes HBK!" Lawler shouted over the noise, almost bouncing in his seat.
Shawn Michaels stepped out onto the stage, not dancing, not showboating, no theatrics. This wasn't the flashy HBK the fans were used to. This was a man with murder in his eyes. In his right hand, a microphone.
In his left hand… a kendo stick. The crowd's cheers somehow grew louder at the sight of it, knowing immediately this was going to get ugly.
In the ring, Sandro turned toward the stage, his head slightly tilted, lips curling into that arrogant smirk. He adjusted his jacket, clearly enjoying the scene. Shawn, however, didn't play to the fans. He stared dead ahead at Sandro, his expression stone cold.
The music was cut off mid-note as Shawn raised the mic, his voice low but laced with venom.
"You can say whatever you want about me, Sandro." Shawn began, pacing slowly near the top of the ramp. "I don't care. Washed up? Not the real HBK? Maybe you're right. You want the truth? The real HBK lost his soul to The Undertaker at WrestleMania last year."
The crowd erupted into chants, "HBK! HBK! HBK!" but Shawn didn't acknowledge them. He didn't smile, didn't wink. He just kept talking.
"But there's one thing… one thing you got right. I was obsessed. Obsessed with getting my rematch with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. The Royal Rumble was my only chance to make that happen. And in a moment of weakness… I didn't see the manipulation you were trying to pull on me. And that… that cost me my shot."
The crowd booed loudly at Sandro, who now looked less amused and more focused, his arms crossed.
Shawn's grip on the kendo stick tightened as he took a step closer down the ramp.
"So, if I can't get that match the legitimate way…" Shawn's voice rose, his anger bubbling to the surface, "then maybe I'll remind The Undertaker why I deserve it. Maybe I'll show him I am still the same HBK. And I'll do it by beating the hell out of you right here and now."
The crowd went insane. Shawn dropped the mic, the thud echoing as he broke into a sprint down the ramp.
Inside the ring, Sandro's smirk returned. He tossed his own mic to the mat, yanked off his suit jacket, and rolled up his sleeves. The energy in the arena hit a fever pitch as Cole and Lawler shouted over each other.
"He's not gonna back down, King!" Cole yelled.
"This is insane, Cole! Somebody's gonna get hurt here!"
Shawn slid into the ring at full speed, and went berserk. No posing, no warm up, just pure fury. The kendo stick cracked across Sandro's midsection, the sound sharp and brutal.
Sandro staggered back, but Shawn didn't let up, raining down shot after shot, each one echoing through the arena. The fans screamed with every strike, the sound a mix of bloodlust and disbelief.
Sandro ducked under one swing, shoving Shawn back, and lunged forward with a right hand. The punch landed flush, and now it was on, both men trading wild punches in the center of the ring, bodies twisting, fists flying.
The fight spilled to the outside, Shawn dragging Sandro by the collar before smashing him chest first into the barricade. Sandro countered with a hard elbow to the ribs, then whipped Shawn into the steel steps with a sickening crash.
"This isn't a brawl anymore, this is a street fight!" Lawler yelled.
"Good! Let Sandro show him he's not intimidated!" Cole shot back.
The brawl didn't slow. At ringside, Shawn grabbed the kendo stick again and brought it down across Sandro's back, splintering it slightly. Sandro roared in pain but refused to go down, tackling Shawn into the announce table. Monitors flew, the crowd on its feet as the chaos unfolded.
Security finally rushed out, swarming the ringside area, but it wasn't enough. Shawn broke free from one guard and leveled Sandro with a huge right hand, busting his lip open. Blood smeared across Sandro's mouth, but instead of retreating, he grinned through it, motioning for Shawn to come at him again.
The fans exploded into a "THIS IS AWESOME!" chant, clapping their hand in unison.
Cole's tone shifted to disgust, almost yelling into his headset.
"This is disgusting! Shawn Michaels is proving Sandro's point right here! The real HBK wouldn't have gone this far, he wouldn't have crossed these lines. This isn't the man the fans claim to love, this is a bitter has been who can't handle being called out!"
"That's not what's happening at all, Cole," Lawler shot back immediately. "This is the real HBK, the man who doesn't back down, who fights with everything he's got. This is what The Undertaker wants to see if there's gonna be a rematch, fire, heart, and the guts to stand toe to toe with someone like Sandro!"
Security struggled to separate them, the fight spilling toward the ramp. Sandro shoved two guards away and lunged at Shawn again, both men nearly toppling over the barricade into the crowd.
Finally, several wrestlers from the locker room rushed out, midcarders, veterans, even a few main eventers, throwing themselves into the fray. It took half a dozen men to drag Shawn one way and Sandro the other, both still shouting threats at each other as the fans chanted and roared.
Shawn pointed at Sandro from across the sea of bodies restraining him, his voice ragged but loud enough to catch on camera. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED MY DREAM!"
Sandro, lip bloodied and suit shirt hanging half torn, yelled right back, "I'LL FINISH THE JOB NEXT TIME!"
The crowd's noise was deafening.
Cole, still riled up, barked into his headset. "Mark my words, King. If Shawn keeps this up, he's gonna end up embarrassed again. Sandro's not like the guys he's used to fighting, he's smarter, meaner, and hungrier!"
Lawler scoffed. "Smarter? Hungrier? He's about to get his head kicked off if they ever end up in the ring officially."
The wrestlers and security finally forced both men up the ramp in opposite directions, the chaos slowly subsiding, though the tension was still thick in the air. Fans were buzzing, some still chanting "HBK!" while others actually cheered Sandro for standing his ground.
The camera cut back to Cole and Lawler, both visibly hyped from the chaos.
"King, I don't care what you say, that was the opening to a show you'll never forget," Cole said with a grin.
"Oh, I agree, Cole. But you know what? Something tells me this is just the beginning."
And with that, the broadcast moved on… but everyone watching knew this war was far from over.
Meanwhile at backstage, the tension from the earlier brawl have already died down and the tension slowly dissipate from the air. In one of the medical rooms, Sandro, his lips split from the melee just minutes earlier, a thin line of dried crimson tracing down his chin.
The other table belonged to Shawn Michaels, who sat shirtless, his chest rising and falling with the aftershocks of the fight. His skin glistened with sweat under the fluorescent lights, bruises already blooming along his ribs.
Sandro sat casually, one hand resting on his knee while a medic dabbed at his lip with a gauze pad. Every so often, the medic would wince in sympathy as she pressed the antiseptic soaked cloth to the wound. But Sandro? He didn't even flinch. If anything, his expression was more amused than pained.
On the other side, Shawn chuckled, low, almost to himself, as another medic ran gloved hands along his ribs, checking for fractures. The laughter caught Sandro's attention.
"What's so funny, Shawn?" Sandro asked with a smirk, his voice a bit rough from the shouting earlier.
Shawn looked over, a grin forming despite the ice pack pressed to his shoulder.
"I'm laughing because… damn, kid, that was one hell of a promo you cut out there." He shook his head. "Got my blood boiling. Got me out there with that fire I haven't felt in a while with many new wrestlers."
Sandro chuckled. "That was the point. Glad it worked."
Shawn leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing with playful suspicion.
"Y'know, it was a damn good choice I didn't let you tell me what you were gonna say before the show. I wanted that raw, unfiltered reaction. And man… you got it. That was as natural as it gets."
Sandro tilted his head, flashing an easy smile. "Well, I'm just grateful you don't feel offended by it at all. I know I pushed it. I meant every word as part of the story, but I've got the utmost respect for you, Shawn. You're the reason I'm even here."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, not feeling offended? That's a big ol' lie. You got under my skin," Shawn admitted without hesitation, his grin widening. "But that's the beauty of it. You can take the shots if you can back 'em up, and that's what makes it good. I appreciate the promo more than any offense. You helped me get even more momentum with the fans, and more importantly, a deeper connection to my storyline with Taker."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "After tonight, I've got the perfect reason to say I'm still the same HBK from last year, the one who went toe to toe with The Undertaker at WrestleMania."
Sandro smiled, but inside he was buzzing. To have Shawn Michaels, the Shawn Michaels, not only take the verbal shots in stride but praise him for them was beyond what he'd hoped for.
And to get his first WWE rivalry right after debuting… with HBK himself? Unprecedented. If this feud truly caught fire with the WWE Universe, he'd fulfill his end of a deal he'd made with Vince McMahon before debuting. Something special. Something he'd been holding close to the vest. That was why he was going all out.
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Name: Alessandro Zhang
Age: 20 (2010)
Birthplace: Orlando, Florida, USA
Brand: WWE - RAW
Wrestling Style: Mixed Of All Styles
Faction: The Undisputed System
Championship History: 1x FCW Tag Team Champions, 1x FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion, 1x TNA World Heavyweight Champion, & 1x TNA X Division Champion