Week 116 - As if nothing has happened

We kick off the show this week with a brief recap of last week's main event. CM Punk feigned a knee injury during his match against the Shield, leaving IFW champion Kurt Angle alone in the ring to take the Shield's patented triple powerbomb.

Tenay: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of IFW Surrounded! I'm Mike Tenay, alongside Byron Saxton."
Saxton: "Thank you Mike. Controversy last week, as CM Punk threw Kurt Angle to the wolves!"
Tenay: "Unfortunately Kurt won't be with us tonight as a result of that attack."

The introduction is cut short by John Cena, who looks to be in semi-serious mode. He still shares a little joke with Stu the cameraman and sprints to the ring.

Cena: "We got a lively bunch here tonight! Man, that's why I love being here in IFW week after week, all of you guys. Yes, even that stubborn group who have been booing me unmercifully for the last ten years, when it comes time for John Cena to hang up the boots I'll miss you guys as much as my fans. We're all wrestling fans at heart, and that's what makes what happened last week so disgusting. I came here to make IFW the best promotion it can be, but it appears there are some people here who are only out for themselves. Last week CM Punk showed his true colours, faking a knee injury to avoid helping Kurt Angle out in their match against the Shield. Now I always had my suspicions about Punk, some of the things he said and did led me to believe he may be the one behind the Shield. But until last week, they were only suspicions. Now I'm sure of it. He went one step too far and showed his hand, and because of that...he quit. He didn't show up here tonight, he didn't even hand in his notice. He's not returning calls and he's gone dark on social media. And you know what? That's fine with me."

Dun-dun. Dun-dun. Dun-dun. Dun. Dun. Dun-dun. The Shield's music hits, bringing Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to the ring through the audience. They join Cena in the ring.

Cena: "Wait wait wait. One...two...aren't we missing something here? What's wrong with this picture? Oh, oh right! Wasn't there another one of you guys? Where's the big guy, the one with the arms?"
Ambrose: "Yeah, funny. Spare us the shtick, John."
Rollins: "Never you mind where Roman Reigns is right now. That's not important."
Ambrose: "Maybe he's with CM Punk."
Rollins: "Yeah, maybe. Maybe they went to a hockey game."
Ambrose: "Probably. Point is, you won't be seeing either of them around here for a little while."
Cena: "Is that so? Well then this is a great day! My workload just got a lot lighter."
Ambrose: "That may be, but the way I see it, there's still two of us and only one of you."

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Tenay: "What?! He's here?!"

Yep! A hooded figure appears in a spotlight on the stage, flipping his hood up as the music kicks in. AJ Styles has come to IFW! He heads down to the ring and soaks in the fans' reaction. He remains expressionless, not showing any hint of his intentions. The tension is broken by Cena, who offers his hand.

Cena: "AJ Styles. I don't believe we've met. I'm John Cena."

Styles blanks Cena, focusing only on the Shield.

Styles: "You put Kurt on the shelf?"
Rollins: "Yeah. That was us."
Styles: "How bad?"
Ambrose: "How bad? Do you see him out here?"
Styles: "When will he be back?"
Rollins: "Do I look like a doctor?"
Styles: "Do you only answer questions with more questions?"
Ambrose: "Do you?"
Cena: "Hey! You want a straight answer, you got one. Kurt is out for a couple of weeks, but he'll be back."
Styles: "Good. Then I guess I should be thanking you."
Cena: "No problem."
Styles: "Not you."

Cena's guard raises as Styles appears to align himself with the Shield.

Styles: "IFW came to me last week with an offer I couldn't refuse. With Punk walking out, they needed someone to take the title shot at Unbroken. They called it a signing bonus. So any damage you do to Kurt, it works in my favour. I just ask two things."
Rollins: "Who are you to ask favours from us?"
Styles: "Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm not asking favours, I'm warning you. One, you don't put Angle out for so long that he can't compete at Unbroken. Two - and this goes for you too, John - you stay out of my way."
Ambrose: "I appreciate the heads up, AJ, but we don't work that way. If you have a problem with what we do, get in line."
Cena: "I believe that's my cue. AJ, welcome to IFW, but the pleasantries end there. You want to get involved, fine. I suggest you take a seat at ringside later tonight when I take on both of these guys in a handicap match."

Tenay: "What? Is he insane?"
Saxton: "He must be!"

Styles sneers at the suggestion and leaves the ring without looking back. Rollins and Ambrose find the match suggestion hilarious.

Tenay: "Well, I guess we have our main event confirmed! John Cena goes one on two against Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins! The Shield are a man down but will be looking to prove they haven't missed a step, and who better to do that against than John Cena?"
Saxton: "Can Cena overcome these odds?"

Backstage in the divas dressing room, Gail Kim is on the phone to someone.

Gail: "Really? That's great. No, I'm fine. It's just...don't worry about it, it'll be ok. Really, you just worry about yourself for now. Uh, hang on just a second."

Gail looks up as Layla and Naomi are standing over her.

Gail: "Can I help you?"
Naomi: "I don't know, girl. Can you?"
Gail: "What is this about?"
Layla: "Gail, this is serious. Brie's gone too, we're all that's left!"
Gail: "You think I don't know that?"
Naomi: "Y'alls better start acting like you know it!"

Gail stands up and gets into Naomi's face.

Gail: "Who are you? Oh, that's right, you're the one who slammed the steps on Beth's knee. You're the one who got us into this mess."
Naomi: "I apologised for that! I'm trying to make it right, are you?"

Gail takes a second to compose herself.

Gail: "Look. I'm not staying here to listen to you two bitching, but I am on your side. You can either get behind me or you can do it yourself."

Gail pushes past her last remaining allies, leaving the room.

Back to the arena now, where Justin Gabriel is waiting in the ring. MVP's music hits and the debuting Mr 305 himself comes out through his inflatable tunnel. He takes his time getting to the ring, doing all his posing.

Match 1 - MVP v Justin Gabriel
Good paced match with a little token offence from Gabriel, but MVP gets the knees up to block the 450 and puts Gabriel away with the ballin' elbow followed up by the drive-by boot.
Winner: MVP

MVP has his arm raised for his debut victory. Look out, midcard!

We're shown a recap video of Brian Kendrick with Ezekiel Jackson as his "advisor." Jackson defeated Paul London for the IFW silver championship, and Kendrick suggested to Jackson that true friends would give each other title matches. Jackson granted the request, but felt as though their friendship was being abused for Kendrick's personal gain. Meanwhile, the mysterious pairing of David Otunga and Jinder Mahal had been scouting Jackson on behalf of "him," a leader revealed to be Heath Slater. Slater wanted to create a supergroup featuring allies from his time with the Nexus (Otunga), the Corre (Jackson) and 3MB (Mahal). In an interview last week, Jackson told the world he realises that friendship is weakness and that he doesn't need anybody. Kendrick maintains that they're still friends, as are Kendrick and Slater's boys.

Silver champion Ezekiel Jackson heads down to the ring, where he holds his belt up and then does his trademark flex 'n' yell into the hard camera. He's set to defend his title against Brian Kendrick, but instead of Kendrick, Heath Slater comes out. He's flanked by David Otunga and Jinder Mahal.

Slater: "Zeke! Looking good buddy! You been working out? Ha! Stupid question, right? When do you ever not work out? Ahaha."

Slater steps between the ropes, gesturing for Otunga and Mahal to stay at ringside.

Slater: "Hey, don't look like that. I know that look. There's no need to get all in a bad mood, brother! Look, I know you rejected my offer last time, but that's ok! I get it. You want to do your own thing, that's admirable. But Zeke, we're your buddies! We're your pals! You don't have to do the lone wolf thing, we've got your back!"

Jackson holds his hand out, so Slater hands him the mic.

Jackson: "No."

He slams the mic into Slater's chest, then turns to hand the belt to the referee. Slater takes offence, and attacks Jackson when his back is turned. Otunga and Mahal start to slide into the ring to join in the attack, but Jackson swats Slater away and lays in a few shots before they can reach him. Otunga and Mahal back off as Slater takes a military press slam over the ropes and into his lackeys. Suddenly, Brian Kendrick appears and rolls Jackson up with a schoolboy.

Match 2 - Ezekiel Jackson v Brian Kendrick
Silver championship
Jackson kicks out at two. Kendrick backs off trying to make out it was a joke, but Jackson isn't buying it. Kendrick lures Jackson in with his cowardice and tries a small package for another two. Kendrick tries to keep his distance and use his speed advantage to find openings, but the undefeated Guyanese Goliath is too much for him and eventually puts Kendrick away with the uranage slam.
Winner: Ezekiel Jackson, to retain the silver championship

Jackson is handed his title belt and he gives us another big flex.

We head backstage now, to where the beautiful Renee Young is in Jeremy Borash's interview position.

Renee: "Ladies and gentlemen, my guest at this time is IFW divas champion AJ Lee."

Pan over to AJ wearing her belt, with the Nexettes; Aksana, Kaitlyn, Taeler Hendrix and Ivelisse Velez, behind her.

Renee: "AJ, you came to IFW only a few months ago with the goal of taking over the womens division. You and the Nexettes have injured or scared off all but three original IFW divas. When will this end?"
AJ: "Isn't that obvious, Renee? It will end when the last three are gone. Or, if she wants to prove that she's the leader she claims to be, it can end when Gail Kim surrenders. I told them all that resistance is futile, but they didn't believe me. Now Gail, Layla and that traitor Naomi, they will find out the hard way."
Renee: "You have a match with Gail Kim scheduled for Unbroken for the womens championship. Will this end the same way all the others have ended, with the Nexettes shattering Gail's knee with the ring steps?"
AJ: "That's for you to find out. I sense nervousness in you, Renee. Don't you think it's a little coincidental that they would debut you, a female interviewer, in an interview with me? I've lost count of all the divas we've put on the shelf. You're scared that maybe you'll be next."
Renee: "It had crossed my mind, but I'm no threat to you or your title."
AJ: "That's right. You're not. But maybe you're right about something else too. You don't like what we do, do you?"
Renee: "It's not my job to have an opinion. I just ask the questions."
AJ: "So professional. I can see why they like you. I like you too, Renee. So I'll do this for you, as a favour. I won't drag this out until Unbroken, I won't take out Layla and Naomi before the title match. I'll make this challenge to Gail right here and right now. Gail, why wait? Why don't we put an end to all of this next week? You, me and this title belt."
Renee: "And the Nexettes?"
AJ: "Of course! I'm not just a great champion, I'm also a great teacher. It's only right that these girls should be at ringside to learn a thing or two. Right, Renee?"

AJ happily skips away before Renee can answer. The Nexettes give Renee menacing glares before following their leader.

Back in the arena, Paul London is in the ring and does a backflip off the middle turnbuckle as we join his entrance a little late. He's soon joined by the undefeated Big E Langston, who walks through a cloud of chalk dusts as he beats his hands together.

Match 3 - Big E Langston v Paul London
London puts up a good fight against Langston, but just like all the others he falls victim to the big ending.
Winner: Big E Langston

Langston's arm is raised in victory and he leaves silently, emotionless.

Another quick recap video here, this time of the dominant World's Greatest Tag Team, who have defended their IFW tag team title belts a record 16 times over a span of 32 weeks. Clips are shown of them beating the Hart Dynasty to win the belts, and selected wins over the Outsiders, Legacy, Mexicools, Usos, new Age Outlaws, Kurt Angle & Randy Orton and, six weeks ago, Team 3D. Sound bites are played of JR yelling things like "Who can beat the World's Greatest Tag Team?!"

We cut back to the ring, where Shelton Benjamin is standing wearing street clothes with one tag belt over his shoulder and holding the other in his hand.

Benjamin: "As some of you may have heard, my partner and friend Charlie Haas has retired from professional wrestling. Yeah. I know. He has a family now and wants to get off the road to look after them, I respect that. But just like Haas is doing Haas, I gotta do me. So I talked with him last night and told him we gotta do this the right way. We can't just leave this hanging. Either we do the honours on the way out, or we go out on top and the single greatest tag team in professional wrestling history. And you know what he said?"

Shelton is cut off by a red pyro shooting from the lighting rig to the omniviewer, exploding into some more pyro blasts. Team 3D slowly walk out onto the stage.

Bully: "Am I hearing you right? Devon, did I hear him right?"

Devon looks confused.

Bully: "You? You are the greatest tag team in professional wrestling history? Do you know who we are?"
Benjamin: "Sure, I remember you. Aren't you the guys I beat last month?"
Bully: "Hey, I can admit we lost. You don't become 24 time tag team champions without losing a few matches. Being undefeated isn't what makes a team the greatest."
Benjamin: "Oh, I don't know about that. I think the record myself and Charlie Haas have racked up speaks for itself."
Bully: "You're right, it's very impressive. But you're not the greatest tag team in history as long as we have something to say about it."
Benjamin: "What do you have to say about it, Bubba? Because all I'm hearing is the same old lines. Yeah, your 24 titles are impressive, and no doubt you guys are one of the best of all time. But the IFW tag team titles are the most prestigious, important tag titles in the world, and you aren't the guys holding them."
Bully: "Yet. We're not holding them yet. Now, I'm gonna go ahead and assume Haas agreed to your one final match. So why don't you do the right thing and lay down that challenge to the real greatest tag team of all time?"
Benjamin: "You know, we talked about it and we came up with two options. If we're going to wrestle our last match as a tag team, me and Haas wanted to wrestle one of two legendary teams. Unfortunately Road Warrior Hawk can't be here next week, so it'll have to be Team 3D. You're on!"
Bully: "You just made the best - and worst - decision of your life."
Devon: "Oh my brotha! Testifaaaay!"

The deal is done! Charlie Haas will be back for one final appearance next week as the World's Greatest Tag Team will put their titles and their undefeated streak on the line against arguably the greatest tag team in history.

One final recap video for the night, this one highlighting the debut and the destruction of the Shield. One week 105, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins appeared at the end of a Kurt Angle title defence against Randy Orton, laying the champion out with a triple powerbomb. Over the next few months, the Shield have laid waste to anyone and everyone in their way, despite resistance from the IFW roster. Angle has led the charge, with John Cena, John Morrison and Randy Orton as his primary allies, while CM Punk was more focused on beating Angle for the IFW championship than defending his company from the outside threat. Who is behind these attacks? Cena is convinced it was Punk's way of weakening the champion, but with Punk gone what's next for the Shield?

We're back in the arena for the last time tonight. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose head back out to the ring through the fans. Next out is the newcomer, AJ Styles, who slowly heads down to ringside and takes a seat next to the announce table. The Shield watch AJ every step of the way, ensuring he doesn't do anything he shouldn't be doing. John Cena's irritating theme song blares next, and he sprints down to the ring without his usual comedy routine. He starts throwing right hands at Rollins but the numbers game is too much and he ends up on the defensive. John Morrison sprints out to make the save, fighting Ambrose off while Cena makes his own comeback on Rollins. They dump the Shield to the outside and Morrison demands to be added to the match.

Match 4 - John Cena & John Morrison v Shield
Cena starts off strongly against Rollins and even against the fresh Ambrose when he tags in, but he tags out to Morrison to stay fresh. The Johns are in control for the early part of the match with a few back and forths, until Morrison is dumped to the outside thanks to a low bridge by the illegal Ambrose. Styles stands up as if to defend himself, which catches Cena's attention and he heads over to Styles to tell him to back off. Styles acts innocent, backing away, but the stare down just leaves Morrison alone in the ring for the Shield to attack two on one and lay out with the dirty deeds. Rollins scores the pinfall from Ambrose's move before Cena can slide in to break it up.
Winners: Shield

As soon as the match is done, Rollins and Ambrose are out of the ring and half way up the ramp. Cena checks on Morrison, apologising for not being there. Styles stands up, catching Cena's attention, but simply walks around the ring and to the back. The show goes off air with Styles not looking back on his way out, with Cena unsure about this new twist.