#4.21.13

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Hawks vs. Pacers Game 1: Paul George highlights - 23 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists (4.21.13)

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“Swagger…a few questions?”

The camera showed Jack Swagger in the middle of push-ups backstage. He continued for a few seconds before stopping the movements completely.  His 6’6 height made him instantly tower over Striker once he was on his feet. “Yeah?” 

“Firstly, welcome back. We got to see you in action on Thursday for the first time under this management. How are you adapting to the change here?” With his arms crossed Swagger shrugged, seeming to be thinking over the question. He let out a short laugh and answered, “How am I adapting to the change? The change couldn’t be any better. Besides Alberto being the ‘boss,’ there’s not much to adapt to. Better competition. Better in general.” 

“Is there bad history between-”

Swagger looked away from Striker as someone else approached. He smiled, putting his hand out to shake the man’s hand. Striker waited as the shorter man said something to Swagger, a private conversation ensuing between the two as he turned his back to the camera. The interviewer cleared his throat and moved closer, trying to get back the wrestler’s attention.  Swagger nodded after something was said, then looked back at Striker. Momentarily thrown off of his train of thought, he started to ask another question that he had planned. 

“You’ve kept a fairly similar wrestling style but came back with a different entrance. Is there a reason behind your new theme?”

“There’s a reason behind everything, Matt. The music that I have couldn’t be any more American.  That song is a better fit than any other song that I’ve had.” 

The audience in attendance at Devil’s Snare was all a buzz as the next match was scheduled to take place that night: Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk - in a steel cage, of course, given the pay-per-view stipulation.

Cody was the first participant out of the curtain and he was sporting his black leather coat, the material trailing behind him as he walked purposefully to the ring. “Smoke and Mirrors” blasted throughout the arena as Cody climbed into the cage, visibly pumped for his match against the returning straight edge superstar who had been out on leave for his knee injury. Both wrestlers had agreed that a fair win over one another was in order, given the last time they were in the squared circle Dean Ambrose had made his presence known. The younger male stripped of his ring jacket and handed it to the referee outside the metal-rimmed door and slowly backed into the cage, keeping his eyes focused on the entrance ramp at all times.

The Marietta native’s music faded out and there was a silence for a moment before a heavy guitar riff cut through the quietness, the audience realizing that Punk had changed his theme music. The beginning verse of Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” started to play as CM Punk walked out to the middle of the entrance ramp, sporting a very different look from the last time he had been in the ring. He had appeared on Thursday Night RAW here and there but only as the manager of The Pride - he was now debuting new gear. Punk was sporting his grey  Gracie hoodie with a Britani Knight t-shirt underneath, hood up and basketball shorts nowhere in sight. He now donned black and red wrestling trunks, the covers of his boots matching with white and red stars up the front to represent his hometown. Punk kept his eyes on Cody as he walked down the ramp and he stopped momentarily at the door to flip off his hood, revealing an almost bald scalp. He peeled off his hoodie and tossed it on the ground near the steps, the camera panning to his Knight shirt momentarily before he too tugged it over his head and threw it into the crowd. 

He stepped into the cage and turned to slam the door shut, the referee on the outside reaching for the lock to close it on the two superstars. Never once did Cody nor Punk take their eyes off of each other. They both knew that this match would be all about them. No interference, no outside help - just the two of them. 

The referee inside with them called for the bell and the match began, the two rivals sizing each other up before Punk swung around his left leg to smack Cody’s thigh with a kick. And another. And another. He wanted to let Cody know that his knee was back in shape. Rhodes gave a tiny nod, a silent gesture to let Punk know that he knew he meant business… but so did he. The two wrestlers finally locked up in the center of the ring but Cody quickly broke the tie, catching Punk off guard by stepping back and charging him into the turn buckle. 

The older man smirked and rubbed at the top of his head, nodding back to Cody to let him know that he realized he was keeping him on his toes. It was more than obvious that even though the two wrestlers couldn’t stand one another, they did bring out a lot of good wrestling ability in each other.

It was known from Punk’s Ring of Honor days that he could work the mat - chain wrestling as it was sometimes called - and the two wrestlers grappled for a good five minutes with each other after setting back up in the middle of the ring. Rhodes made it known that he could dish out and take whatever Punk threw at him. Cody reversed almost everything that Punk threw his way - a long series of reversals and Punk tossed out a hip toss, a hammerlock, and a modified Irish whip that he turned into a clothesline before getting Cody down onto the mat before applying a head scissors. However, it was visible on Punk’s face that he was a little worn down from that battle and it seemed as though his knee was giving him a little bit of trouble. Cody countered Punk’s head scissors by flipping him over on his stomach and Punk went to stand up again only for his knee to wobble a bit. 

Cody took advantage of that split second of pain on Punk’s end and kicked his knee hard, sending Punk back down to the mat again. The younger male reached for Punk’s knees to place him in a figure four leg lock which elicited ‘woo!’s from the crowd and Punk’s face contorted in pain, Cody smirking as the ref made sure that Punk didn’t want to tap out. Finally Punk was able to turn Cody over and get out of the leg lock but he was hurting and it was obvious now. Cody took advantage of this again and sprinted for the side of the cage, climbing up a decent ways before Punk sprung up and reached for his leg to pull him back down. Cody landed hard on his back and Punk reached in for a pin.

“One—” 

Cody kicked out vehemently. Punk immediately went for the Anaconda vice, wrapping his arms around and behind Cody’s neck from the previous pin attempt. Cody tried to arch his back against Punk’s downward hold on his neck but it didn’t seem to be working. The referee made sure that Cody didn’t want to tap. He maneuvered the two of them to the side away from the referee so that Punk’s back was to him and he raked his fingers across Punk’s eyes, unbeknownst to the official. Punk let go quickly and Cody crawled over to the other side of the mat, quickly standing up and delivering a massive drop kick after Punk had stood up again. This caused Punk to stumble backward into the cage and Cody took advantage, reaching for Punk’s arm to Irish whip him again into the chains, sending the straight edge superstar onto his knees. He landed awkwardly on his bad knee and Cody once again tried to escape but Punk somehow managed to try and pull him down again.

A series of near falls occurred and Punk set up for his Macho Man elbow drop, hitting it and going for a pin but Cody once again kicked out. Punk made it to the top of the cage two times before Cody tried applying the figure four again but Punk again wormed his way out of it. It was more than obvious that Cody had compromised Punk’s knee again, though. Rhodes again took advantage of Punk’s visible struggling and leaped for the ropes to try and climb out of the cage, the older male scrambling to try and pull him back down once more but this time Punk was not successful. Cody balanced himself onto the cage’s frame and hit a perfectly executed Beautiful Disaster onto the side of Punk’s shaven head, going for the pin once again. 

The crowd stood in shock and a rumble emitted from the excitement from Cody’s kick as the ref counted—

“One, two, three!” 

The bell rang and Cody’s theme once again blared throughout the arena, a satisfied smirk of winning on his own merit on the younger man’s face as he looked down at Punk before the ref held up his arm in victory.

The cameras switch to the backstage area where Alicia Fox is seen talking with one of the seamstresses while holding a piece of gold colored fabric. Cheers are heard through the arena as the redhead looks up with a smile. “Oh this is really, really nice. This could potentially be part of some new gear, yea?” As she wraps the fabric loosely around her hips, Matt Striker steps into view with a microphone.

“Good evening, Alicia, and welcome back. Got time for a question or two?”

“Sure! But first..” She does a 360 spin and points to the fabric still around her waist. “Do you think this color would be good for a skirt, or..?”

“…I’m not much of a fashion guy.” He replies, shaking his head confused. “But anyw-“

“Well I didn’t ask if you were a fashion guy. I mean obviously you aren’t or else you wouldn’t be wearing that tie-and by the way, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?” She steps into Matt’s personal space to get a closer look of his tie. Her face is scrunched in disgust, the more she observes it. “Your shirt is purple. Your tie is red and it has stars on it…stars! What is wrong with you-…you know what? You’re in a fashion timeout or something. Gimme your mic and go..to timeout. I’m so serious.”