Next Time

by **krzy** Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:08 pm

Look away.

Such atrocities can scar for life.

And that's not hyperbole. This is a haunting image that will be seared into the brains of those who so much as glance at the titantron.

There he is lying on the ground.

Blood still pouring from a still-fresh, gaping wound in his forehead. His shirt is torn, bits and pieces of it scattered around his body that only moves with the shuddering breaths he instinctively forces into and out of his lungs. A particularly lengthy piece of fabric rests just underneath his neck.

A cruel game was played here. A wicked race to see what induced consciousness first, the blood loss or the choking.

The removal of the shirt also provides a window to the ugly wounds on his back. Big, black ugly splotches where blunt impacts will leave bruises along with long ragged lines of split flesh where cuts will leave scars.

The camera pans down to show how this man was rendered so helpless. There is a plastic tie around his wrist, like a police officer might use when handcuffs aren't available.

But there was no justice done here.

The plastic tie is on so right that his skin beneath the wrists have turned pale through the lack of blood flow, and those wrists have small trails of blood trickling down them, the plastic biting into his skin the more he tried to fight for his freedom.

For his life.

One of his shoes are off, his ankle twisted at an awkward angle, the sole of his foot impaled with some kind of metal object.

There was no running from this.

The camera pans away from the unconscious body and observes the surrounding of this hallway. Plaster pooled on the ground where a hole was put into the wall. Overturned tables, broken glass, blood spatter even on the ceiling.

This wasn't a random backstage altercation.

This was calculated.

This was premeditated.

This was ruthless.

We can only piece together what happened, but one thing is indisputably clear: Andrew Briggs will not be receiving his title rematch tonight.

The camera jerks as a boot suddenly stomps down on the small of Briggs' back.

The person holding it spins it around, the revelation of his face sends waves of audible gasps throughout the live audience.

Ryan Kent sets the camera down in just the right spot so that we get the perfect view of what comes next. He peels Briggs' disturbingly limp body off the ground then plants him onto the concrete with the Kent Clash.

Kent gets onto a knee, taking a second to admire his handiwork.

"You gotta try harder next time," he says maliciously.

Kent takes the camera and puts it right on the ground in front of Briggs' bloodied and battered face, letting that image completely fill the screen, before it all fades to black.