IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a place where misadventure could begin, you can’t go past Mbargo. The nightclub’s streetfront is painted a purple so bright you’ll see it in your dreams. Strings of giant sequins shimmer in the breeze. Its phonically inventive name is spelt in silver letters that climb its three-storey terrace facade. Inside are strips of burning neon, a few booths, floorboards so marinated in drink that they have an ingredients list. Bristol is a student city on England’s south coast crowded with music and nightlife and street art. This is Banksy’s home town, and the tourism board suggests in rather strong terms that ‘you would be a fool not to see his amazing work firsthand’. The same organisation describes Mbargo as ‘intimate’, which is fair for a place where you can catch an STI standing up. Students cram into its modest dimensions while people with names like DJ Klaud battle for billing with £1.50 drink deals over seven sloppy nights a week. To get a sense of the story about to come, consider that it’s the kind of place open until two o’clock on a Monday morning, and that at two o’clock on a Monday morning, Ben Stokes still thought it had closed too early.
The Ashes of 2017–18 had disciplinary bookends. It was after that series that Australia’s two leaders went off the rails in South Africa. It was a few weeks before that Ashes tour that England’s biggest star windmilled his way into his own disaster.
In the early hours of 25 September 2017, Stokes and teammate Alex Hales were barred from re-entering Mbargo after a night out on the piss. A Sunday thrashing of an abject West Indies in an ignored series at the fag-end of the season apparently required ample celebration. After arguing with the bouncer and hanging about at the door for a while, they wandered off to find a casino in the hope of more drinking. They’d barely made it around the corner before getting in the middle of a conflict between four locals. As is said on the internet, it escalated quickly.
The 26 September reporting was bloodless. Withholding names, police stated that a man ‘was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm’ while another went to hospital with facial injuries. England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss separately confirmed that Stokes was the arrestee, adding that he had been released without charge and that Hales had gamely offered to ‘help police with their enquiries’. Administrators had a good chance of hiding behind that investigation, and the next day Stokes was named in the upcoming Ashes squad as expected. But that night the video emerged.
Bristol student Max Wilson had shot it on his phone, then offered it to The Sun. What he thought was playing hardball was actually lowball: his opening price of £3000 was snapped up by a tabloid that would have paid ten times that. The Sun went on to make a mint by syndicating the rights worldwide. From a window above the fray, the vision showed six men on the street below performing the muddled choreography of a melee. One was right at the centre of it. One was waving a bottle, one dipped in and out, one tried to calm it. Two others floated around the edges. The central figure was unmistakable: red hair burning even in the streetlight as he launched into a series of blows against two of the men, falling to grapple with them on the ground, then following both across the street, swinging punches the whole way. Hales trailed behind, repeatedly and impotently shouting ‘Stokes! Stop! Stokes! Enough!’ The ECB could fudge issues that existed only in thickets of legalese, but not those captured in moving colour. Stokes was stood down from the next West Indies match, then suspended indefinitely. It emerged that he had broken his hand during the fight, something he’d done twice before while punching objects in dressing rooms.
The response in Australia was fierce: Stokes was a thug, a lowlife, a selection that would disgrace England. It was not entirely coincidental that a ban for England’s best player would be handy for the Aussie team, but there was also a cultural split. In England, plenty of people still minimise pub fights as lads letting off steam. In Australia, heavy media coverage as a succession of young men were killed had inverted that tolerance. The discourse now saw any punch as potentially deadly and accordingly reckless. This was more poignant in a cricket context given that David Hookes, the dashing Test batsman and state coach, was killed in 2004 by a pub bouncer’s fist.
The PR situation was bad for Stokes as details emerged of the injuries to the men he’d hit, and that one was a young war veteran and father. Stokes wasn’t officially removed from the Ashes squad through October but stayed behind when his teammates left, hoping for police to dismiss the matter in time for a late dash to Australia. His annual contract was renewed on the due date in case that came to pass. Then 29 October brought a twist in the tale.
‘Ben Stokes praised by gay couple after defending them from homophobic thugs,’ ran the headline. Kai Barry and Billy O’Connell had emerged. Not entirely out of nowhere: while Stokes had made no public comment, this story in his defence had initially been leaked to TV host Piers Morgan after the fight, as soon as the video appeared. Police body-camera footage played in court would later show that Stokes had given the same story to the arresting officer on the night. But no-one knew the identities of the fifth and sixth men in the video, and police appeals had turned up nothing.
It was The Sun again with the breakthrough. Kai and Billy were perfect for a readership not keen on nuance. ‘We couldn’t believe it when we found out they were famous cricketers. I just thought Ben and Alex were quite hot, fit guys,’ said Kai, who was memorably described as a ‘former House of Fraser sales assistant’. The paper had the pair do a full photo shoot: layering the fake tan, showing off chest waxes, mixing Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton into a range of outfits. Their best shot had them standing back to back, heads turned to the camera, in a mirror-image Zoolander moment.
Suddenly The Sun was the England team’s best friend. ‘Their claims could lead to the all-rounder being cleared over the punch-up and freed to play in the First Test in Australia next month,’ it gushed, then gave a tasting platter of quotes: ‘We were so grateful to Ben for stepping in to help. He was a real hero.’ ‘If Ben hadn’t intervened it could have been a lot worse for us.’ ‘We could’ve been in real trouble. Ben was a real gentleman.’ Would it be known forever as Kai and Billy’s Ashes? No. While the Bristol boys provided spin for Stokes’ reputation they didn’t influence the police. With charges still pending there was little choice – not given Strauss had previously sacked Kevin Pietersen for being annoying. Stokes remained suspended through the Ashes and a one-day series in Australia, and lost the vice-captaincy. It was January 2018 before the Crown Prosecution Service laid a charge.
That charge surprisingly came in as affray, a crime that can carry prison time but is classified as ‘a breach of the peace as a result of disorderly conduct’. The men he had punched, Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, faced the same count, charged as equal participants in a fight rather than Stokes being charged with assaulting them. Alex Hales was not charged, despite being seen in the video to aim several kicks when Ryan Ali was lying on the ground. Given the underwhelming standing of the offence, Stokes was cleared by the ECB to tour New Zealand, and kept playing until his trial in August 2018, which he missed a Test to attend. None of the three defendants would be convicted.
The reasoning behind the charges was never released and was attributed vaguely to ‘CPS lawyers’. The service gave the case to Alison Morgan, a prosecutor of a class known as Treasury Counsel who usually handle serious criminal matters. Morgan had a scheduling clash and never ended up court for the case, but in 2018 and 2019 she would go on to win damages and admissions of libel from The Daily Mail, The Times and The Daily Telegraph variously for incorrectly reporting that she had been responsible for the inadequate and inconsistent charging decisions.
Morgan’s successor on the case was Nicholas Corsellis QC, who on the first day of trial was permitted by the CPS to request two assault charges be added against Stokes. ‘Upon further review,’ claimed a CPS statement, ‘we considered that additional assault charges would also be appropriate.’ This was patent nonsense from the service that eight months earlier had chosen the lesser charge. Any lawyer knows that no judge will allow new charges once a trial has begun, because the defence hasn’t had time to prepare. But such a request could deflect criticism of the prosecution service by technically making the judge the one who disallows the charge.
Working through the story from the trial and the tape is complicated. You had a Ryan and a Ryan, a Hale and a Hales, a Billy and a Barry and a Ben. You had several versions of events as to who knew whom, who was drinking with whom, who had insulted whom and who had merely engaged in ‘banter’, a word that in modern Britain has to do an unconscionable amount of lifting. The reporting had constantly mixed up the Ryans as to who had which injury, who was in hospital, who had played which part in the fight, and whose mum had which stern words to say about it.
Let’s agree that from now Ryan Ali is Ryan One, the firefighter who ended up with a fractured eye socket and a cracked tooth. Ryan Two can be Ryan Hale, the soldier who scored concussion and facial lacerations. Mr Barry and Mr O’Connell are best known per The Sun as Kai and Billy. In scorecard parlance we’ll leave the cricketers as Stokes and Hales.
Amid the confusion, Stokes and his lawyers built his case in a straightforward way. The UK legal definition of affray is ‘if a person threatens or uses unlawful violence or force towards another person, which causes another person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for their safety’. That means it doesn’t account for violence that harms a target, but violence that might frighten a theoretical bystander. The wiggle room for Stokes was with ‘unlawful’, because the charge excuses violence in defending oneself or others.
This interpretation hinged on the beginning of the video, where Ryan One waves a beer bottle about and takes a swing at Kai. The version from Stokes was that he was minding his own business walking down the street when he heard homophobic abuse. He intervened verbally and was threatened verbally by Ryan One – something that Ryan One denied but that couldn’t be proved or disproved. In fear for his safety Stokes had to nullify that threat by bashing Ryan One before it went the other way. He registered Ryan Two in his peripheral vision as another possible threat, and again had only one recourse.
Stokes also had to convince the jury to disregard testimony from Mbargo’s bouncer that he had been looking for a fight. A solid lump of a man, Andrew Cunningham had not enjoyed his patron’s attempts to get back into the club after the bouncer declined an offer of a bribe. ‘He got a bit verbally abusive towards myself. He mentioned my gold teeth and he said I looked like a cunt and I replied, “Thank you very much.” He just looked at me and told me my tattoos were shit and to look at my job.’ Cunningham described these words as coming in ‘a spiteful tone, quite an angry tone’, and said that Stokes still seemed angry as he walked away.
These were details the doorman had nothing to gain by inventing, but each of them Stokes denied. By his own accounting he had drunk a beer at the game and three pints at his hotel, then ‘potentially had some Jägerbombs’ along with half a dozen vodkas at the club. He insisted that after all of this he was not drunk.
If I may take a moment here to call upon the wisdom of experience – a person who cannot definitively say whether they have had any Jägerbombs has definitely had some Jägerbombs. A Jägerbomb is an experience that does not pass one by. Further to that, a person who says they have ‘potentially’ done something has definitely done that thing and doesn’t want to admit it. A person who has had between 15 and 24 standard drinks in one evening is shitfaced. A person who tries to bribe a bouncer £300 – three hundred quid! – to get into Mbargo – Mbargo! – is beyond shitfaced.
If Stokes admitted that he was drunk then the prosecution could say he was out of control. He claimed clear recall of assessing a threat, feeling fear and deciding to protect himself with force. He confidently denied details from the bouncer’s testimony, like using the word ‘cunt’ or mentioning gold teeth. Yet on other details he claimed a ‘significant memory blackout’. He didn’t remember the punch that saw Ryan One taken away by ambulance. He didn’t remember what the Ryans had said to Kai and Billy, only that those words were homophobic. With no head injury, as one of the few people who hadn’t been hit, he had supposedly suffered this memory loss despite being sober.
The version from Kai and Billy was compatible but vague: they had been walking along, they ‘heard … shouts’ of abuse from an unspecified source, then Stokes ‘stepped in’ and thus they avoided possible harm. They claimed to have been bought a drink by Stokes at Mbargo, although CCTV showed them meeting outside. The overall implication from both accounts was that the cricketers had been pals with Kai and Billy, while the Ryans as per The Sun’s headline were a roving band of thugs.
The reality though is that the Ryans were the ones hanging out with Kai and Billy at Mbargo. Police discussed CCTV from inside the club in questioning and at trial. On that footage the four Bristolians bought drinks for one another, danced together, and Kai was noted to have variously touched Ryan Two’s crotch and Ryan One’s buttock. Ryan One told police that all of this was taken lightheartedly and wasn’t a problem. Indeed, when the Ryans called it a night the other two left with them.
This much is clear from footage out the front of Mbargo, which shows Kai and Billy exit the club and start talking with a subdued Hales and a demonstrative Stokes, who are stuck outside. The vision was played in court to determine whether Stokes was antagonistic towards Kai and Billy, as he appears to impersonate them and to throw a lit cigarette their way. More interesting is that after a few minutes the Ryans emerge, and all six actors in the fight video briefly form a prequel in the one frame.
Ryan Two pats Billy on the chest in friendly fashion with his right hand before clapping him on the back with his left. He moves past and does the same to Kai before leaving the shot. Ryan One stops to speak to Kai. They lean in for a moment, talking, then Kai turns and they walk out of frame together. Billy hangs around for a few seconds at the door and then looks after them and races to catch up. Stokes and Hales remain outside the club to remonstrate further with the bouncers. Whatever discord develops around the corner is between four men who left amicably together minutes earlier.
There’s no way to know what caused that friction. If Ryan One did use homophobic slurs, he might have been drunkenly obnoxious for no reason. He might have had an insecure macho response to some extra flirtation. He might have thought unkindness was funny – ‘banter’ once again. Or he might have said something that was misunderstood, as both Ryans insisted in court that they had not used nor had the impulse to use any abusive language.
What clearly didn’t happen was an attack by bigots on random passers-by. This kind of crime is regular enough that an audience understands the horror of it, and this is what was evoked by the public accounts of Stokes, Billy and Kai. All we know is that there was some verbal dispute among the Bristol locals, and that Stokes came along behind them and put himself in the middle of it. Ryan One responded to the interference aggressively and away they went. There are plenty of reasons to look sideways at the idea that Stokes was a saviour. Foremost, neither Kai nor Billy was called upon as witnesses in court. You’d think it would be ideal to have Stokes’ story backed up by those who benefited from his selflessness. But his defence team had developed the impression that the pair had shown a changeable recall of events amid a hard-partying lifestyle, and would be dismantled by the prosecution on the stand.
That raises the question of whether The Sun coached their quotes for the 2017 interview. Despite missing court, Kai and Billy clearly enjoyed the attention. In 2018 after the trial they did a follow-up spread in the same paper about how poor Ben had been mistreated. They got a television spot on Good Morning Britain and glowed about his heroism. In 2019 The Sun wheeled them out once more to say that Stokes should get a knighthood. In 2017 they had ‘never watched cricket’ but by 2019 were supposedly volunteering sentences like, ‘He saved us, now he’s saved the Ashes.’ Whether they were paid for these appearances is not known, but the chance to be famous for a day can be lure enough.
If you find this cynical, consider that on the night in question, the Bristol boys were so deeply moved and thankful for Ben’s intervention that they left him to be arrested and never attempted to find out who he was. Seconds after the video ended, an off-duty policeman reached the scene. You might think that someone grateful to a saviour would speak on his behalf. Instead, said Kai, ‘it all got a bit scary so we walked off. It was too much for me and we went to Quigley’s takeaway for chicken burgers and cheesy chips.’ They didn’t give their hero a thought for over a month while police issued multiple appeals for witnesses.
As for Stokes, he told his arresting officer that ‘his friends’ had been attacked. After three minutes of chat outside a nightclub, these friends were so dear to him that he has never contacted them again: not after the newspaper piece, not after the verdict. He didn’t want to see how they were or thank them for their support. He didn’t mention them by name in his solicitor’s statement after the trial.
The Stokes defence rested on Ryan One’s bottle, which he had carried out of Mbargo to finish a beer, not to use in a Sharks versus Jets amateur production. But once he turned it over to hold it by the neck it became a weapon. Intent and interpretation can change the material nature of things. Part of Stokes’ justification in court was that the bottle implied that the two Ryans might have ‘other weapons’ hidden away. You can understand how a jury could decide that created doubt.
Not being convicted, though, doesn’t give the contents of the video a big green tick. It does not, as his lawyer claimed, vindicate Stokes. Looking in detail, Ryan One is belligerent but his movements telegraph a bluff. Hales is the person he’s gesturing at, but they’re several metres apart when Ryan One cocks his arm ostentatiously, showing off the bottle rather than bracing to swing. He skips forward but Hales skips back and Ryan One doesn’t follow. Kai stretches out an arm to impede Ryan One, who has a drunken stumble, nearly eats pavement, then staggers towards Kai and hits him in the back. That hand is still holding the bottle, but his strike is a side-arm cuff on a soft part of the body. It’s all pretty tame.
This is where Stokes gets involved. Having moved across to protect Hales, he now takes three large steps to run around Kai and booms his first punch at Ryan One. They fall to the ground and the bottle clinks away. Stokes gets to his feet to punch down at the fallen man, while Hales arrives to kick him ineffectively then runs off across the street for some unknown reason. Ice-cream van? Stokes is soon back in the grapple having his shirt pulled up to show off his Durham tan. Ryan Two steps in for the first time to pull Stokes away, prompting a couple more random punches at this new target, then Stokes trips backwards over Ryan One and sprawls in the street. Hales chooses this moment to return and aim some solid kicks at the head of the man on the ground. Nothing so far is a triumph of moral philosophy or the pugilistic arts. But if it all stopped here, perhaps you could say it was somewhere approaching fair. Ryan One has behaved like a turnip and it’s not an entirely unjust world that would give him a whack across the chops. The antagonists have disentangled, Stokes has some distance, it’s time to dust off and go home. Ryan Two steps forward for this purpose with his palm raised in conciliatory style and says, ‘Settle down, stop.’
So Stokes punches him.
It’s roughly his fifth punch overall, and he really winds up into this one. He misses so hard that he stumbles away into the shadows of the shop awnings along the road.
Hales starts shouting for him to stop. Ryan Two backs into the street, still holding his palm up. Stokes closes on him from about five metres away, six large steps, to where Ryan Two is standing on his own. Stokes pushes him a couple of times, as Ryan Two keeps trying to placate him and saying ‘Stop.’ Stokes throws his sixth punch, largely missing as his target ducks.
Ryan Two keeps pulling away and reversing, into the middle of the street now. Stokes follows him, grabbing his sleeve to drag him back. By this point Ryan One has found his feet and walked around behind his friend. Both of them are in the same line of sight for Stokes, and both are backing away. Stokes aims his seventh and his eighth punches, which Ryan Two tries to deflect, as Hales walks up behind Stokes to grab him.
Stokes yanks away from his friend and switches to Ryan One instead, taking seven paces to grab him before throwing his ninth punch of the night. He grabs again; Ryan One blocks that arm and pushes himself back away from Stokes. Ryan Two again intercedes, putting himself between the two with his palms up and his arm extended.
Stokes throws his tenth punch, a right-hander at the face of Ryan Two, then shoves him backwards. Ryan Two backs away once more, four paces. Stokes follows, steadies, lines up, then launches his strongest punch yet, his eleventh, a proper right hook from a solid base, one that cracks across the man’s head and gives him concussion. Ryan Two ends up flat on his back in the middle of the street, his hands still outstretched for a moment in useless protest until they twitch and drop to the blacktop.
Stokes isn’t done. He once more shoves away the restraining Hales and follows Ryan One, who keeps backing away saying, ‘Alright, alright, alright.’ Five more paces from Stokes before another blow at the man’s head. Kai and Billy are now standing over the poleaxed Ryan Two. The video ends, but seconds later Stokes will punch Ryan One hard enough to knock him out too, before off-duty cop Andrew Spure arrives on the scene to bring down the curtain. When the body-camera footage kicks in some minutes later, Stokes is in handcuffs but Ryan One is still laid out in the street. Ryan Two has regained consciousness, folded his shirt under his friend’s head and is asking police for an ambulance.
‘At this point, I felt vulnerable and frightened. I was concerned for myself and others.’ This was how Stokes described that sequence to the court. An elite athlete with years of gym work and training to snap a bat through the line of a ball with astounding power and precision, swinging fists as hard as he can at men with none of those advantages. Punching so hard that he breaks his hand, and repeatedly shoving away a friend so he can punch some more. Frightened and threatened by two targets shouting ‘Get back!’ and ‘Stop!’
The off-duty officer testified that Stokes ‘seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to’ Ryan One, who was ‘trying to back away or get away from the situation’. The student who filmed the video can be heard on the tape at one stage exclaiming ‘Fuck!’ and testified that it was because ‘I felt a little bit sorry about the lad that had been punched and it looked like he had his hands up’. That tallied with the prosecutor’s depiction of ‘a sustained episode of significant violence that left onlookers shocked at what was taking place’.
The defendant stuck to his strategy. ‘No, my sole focus was to protect myself.’ All up, in the 33 seconds of footage after he falls over, Stokes takes 35 steps forward to keep hitting two men who keep trying to get away. Not once is he hit back.
After the verdict, Stokes’ solicitor positioned him as the victim. It had been ‘an eleven-month ordeal for Ben … The jury’s decision fairly reflects the truth of what happened that night … He was minding his own business … It was only when others came under threat that Ben became physically engaged. The steps that he took were solely aimed at ensuring the safety of himself and the others present …’ The statement was impossibly self-righteous and self-absorbed.
If there was anyone to feel sorry for it was Ryan Hale, the second of our two Ryans. He’s the one who emerged from the club with a friendly arm around the shoulder for Kai and Billy. He’s the one who interposed himself to end the fight, then kept putting himself back in the firing line, trying to calm an intimidating stranger while dodging blows. For his show of restraint he got laid out regardless, concussed in the street, then was issued a criminal charge equal to that of the man who hit him, and described in national media as a violent bigot in an untested story to support that man’s defence.
Lawyers for Ryan Two made a more convincing post-trial statement, noting that Kai and Billy, ‘neither of whom were relied upon by the prosecution or the defence team for Mr Stokes, have taken the opportunity to speak with various media outlets about the alleged homophobic abuse that they received in the early hours of September 25. Mr Hale has passionately denied this allegation throughout the course of this case,’ it continued.
‘It is upsetting to Mr Hale that although he was acquitted, the accusation that he was the author of such abuse remains. Both Mr Hale and Mr Ali were knocked unconscious by Mr Stokes, and although Mr Stokes has been acquitted of an affray, Mr Hale struggles with the reasons why the Crown Prosecution Service did not treat him as a victim of an unlawful assault.’Good question. Avon and Somerset police were the investigating force, and they were frustrated by the decision. Ryan Two was filmed clearly not hurting anyone, but police were instructed by the CPS to proceed with a charge. Hales (the cricketer) was filmed fighting but ‘a decision was made at a senior level of the CPS’ not to proceed. Police expected Stokes to be charged with assault but the CPS declined. It doesn’t take a wild cynic to think that placing the same lukewarm charge on three men for vastly divergent behaviour might ensure that none would be convicted, even as the trial would maintain the pretence that a defendant of influential standing had not been given a free pass.
A couple of years down the line, the original interview with Kai and Billy has disappeared. All traces have been scrubbed from The Sun website, its social media history, and even from the Wayback Machine internet archive. Given its headline of ‘homophobic thugs’ and text that names Ryan Two but not Ryan One, the libel liability isn’t hard to spot. Later interviews with Kai and Billy take the passive voice – they ‘suffered homophobic slurs outside a Bristol nightclub’.
The article that was once claimed to exonerate brave Ben Stokes now links only to a missing content page, with a picture of a dropped ice-cream cone and the phrase ‘legal removal’ inserted into the web URL. In terms of consequences, Stokes missed one tour. When he resumed his career in January 2018, the Australians hadn’t yet ruined theirs. Their year-long bans looked much more stringent. But the Stokes case dragged on in other ways. With no criminal liability, the Australians confessed promptly enough for the sporting world to give them the full length of the lash. Their situation was ugly but there was closure. Stokes got stuck in legal stasis, unable to be fully backed or condemned. Instead his issue was always present, a browser full of open tabs that the ECB swore they would read any day now.
Through 2018 Stokes was back but he wasn’t back, in the sunglasses and finger-guns sense. In his return one-day series he nearly cost England a match with 39 from 73 balls in Wellington. His first Test hit was a duck as England got rolled in Auckland for 58. At Trent Bridge while Stokes was injured, England posted a world record 481 against Australia. With Stokes three weeks later at the same ground they made 268. He crawled to 50 from 103, the second-slowest any Englishman had reached that milestone in 20 years. That span covered Alastair Cook’s whole career. It was apologetic batting, acting out responsibility via the scorecard. Stokes was creeping back into the team like he’d been kicked out in a blazing row and was hoping to tip-toe to the sofa.
It was December 2018 before the ECB disciplinary committee ruled on him and Hales. In a ‘remarkable coincidence’, wrote Simon Heffer in The Telegraph, ‘the punishment both players faced in terms of bans from playing at international level was covered by the amount of games they had already missed when dropped by England’s selectors, in the furore that followed the incident’. The verdict compounded the omissions around the case by not addressing the violence at its heart. Nor did Stokes, apologising only ‘to my team-mates, coaches and support staff’, and then ‘to England supporters and to the public for bringing the game into disrepute’.
The implicit next step was to rebuild that reputation. It might have been easier had his court defence not meant that he wasn’t game to admit any fault at all. It might have been easier if he or his advisers had been willing to change tack once the trial was done. Imagine a world where Stokes had stood outside court and apologised for overreacting, for the injuries he’d caused, and for the time and energy he had sucked out of other people’s lives. That would have been a show of responsibility beyond a scorecard. When the time came around to assess forgiveness, it might have meant forgiveness was deserved.

The results are in for Match 10. The winner is…
Ananas “Agnes” Bayley, with a score of 72 to Guy Manuel-Mota’s 69!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	BADD GUYS	18-12
Quality	Suburban Regalia	22-23	Reasoning
JoJolity	Suburban Regalia	22-24	Reasoning
Conduct	Tie	10-10

Amidst the sea of concrete snow that the stage had become, egged on by Agnes’ unusual encore request that Metra had agreed to, the killing intent of the self-styled villain and master mixologist had won out against the comparable brutality of the affable mercenary who had tried to take his life with just as much brutality.
The crowd, though annoyed by being utterly doused in carbonated everything, literally tossed around, literally watching their fellow partygoers exsanguinated and turned into meat puppets, did not allow it to ruin their fun, cheering on for Metra and her eclectic song choices. Agnes hopped off the makeshift surfboard he’d constructed, his opponent cut to pieces and speared and speared to hell, and it a testament to the sheer resilience of Guy-Manuel Mota that, even in such a gored, pulverized state, his opponent wondered if he was actually dead.
Regardless, he wasn’t getting back up, or reassembling, or pulling any more surprises or attempts to play possum. Realizing that it was over, Agnes was shaking. Breathing heavily. Hints of tears started to form in his eyes… but before he had a chance to cry, he arched back, laughing into a sea of concrete snow.
He’d won again.
“There you go, Metra, your show is saved or whatever,” he said with a mocking flippancy as she left the crowd to meet him backstage, “and I didn’t even kill any of these guys who paid to see you… They’ll just have to deal with sticky-wet clothes and some broken limbs.”
“Can’t believe this happened again… And I just had no choice but to keep singing and dancing.” Metra rubbed her hands on her arms, shaking her head. “I’m sick of this shit… I thought it was all almost over, but it’s just going to be forever in this city, huh?”
“Probably,” Agnes said, still half-laughing through a strained face, “just a constant, encroaching wave of ‘despair’ every waking moment… Way I see it, either you ride that shit as far as you can, or you let yourself drown. Doesn’t make a difference to me which you do.”
He glanced up at the ceiling then, cupping his hands. “Hey, fuckers! I won now! I beat the guy you sent! Get on the biggering or I’ll burn your casino down again!”
The game had, in fact, been won, and Agnes and Metra were the first to start to be free of its grasp, along with the spiked and bloodied separated bits of Guy, still pulsating ambiguously.
“He’s out for blood.” Tigran declared, warning the others Entertainment District highrollers observing, as he produced a deck of cards. “My Stand can’t hold him at that size much longer… But this whole place is about to be flooded with people, too. Duck into somewhere, and get away in the confusion.”
He spoke authoritatively, and even his sole superior, Fox, complied with his wishes after an urgent glance. “I… I’ll come for you! I promise I will!”
Tigran didn’t hear much more of that, then, beyond the sounds of Pork Soda’s Stand cry amplified by sonic boosts courtesy of Metra Doria. He fought impressively with little more than a deck of cards, but even then, could only buy his friends the seconds they needed to get away, live to gamble another day.
Tigran “Golden” Sins, User of ‘The Grid
Retired!
Face broken in nearly a dozen places by Agnes and TD/MD, the 48 year-old owner of Heartache Casino would be very quickly interned at Red Clay penitentiary, Metra insisting that her ally not kill him.
As thousands of confused concertgoers suddenly grew to full size and began to flood the halls of the Alexander Dickinson Amphitheater, the rest of his accomplices were able to escape the authorities yet again. Despite his extremely infamous protectiveness towards his face, he almost seemed to wear the damage with pride, knowing that this time, it represented having allowed the only man he considered greater than himself to run free yet again.
Red Clay Penitentiary - Industrial District
“Well, well, well, isn’t this a small world now? Tigran Sins, now in my care… Certainly less of a looker than I’d heard.” A dark-wavy-haired twenty-something sat snickering in the warden’s big swivel-chair, clad in a sleeveless velvet minidress, what of her flesh was exposed covered in flickering tattoos resembling closed eyes, flanked by uncanny-looking guards. “You don’t know me, but I’ve certainly heard of you… Of how you treated someone I hold dear very cruelly. Don’t you understand we’re all Stand Users trying to live our best life, Mr. Golden? I’m not the one who hurt you and threw you in here, and you’re not the one who said that I needed to be kept half-starved at all times so I couldn’t create anything.”
“Wh… Wait. Who the hell’re you?”
“Did my sweetheart never mention me, or do you just not pay attention to anyone but you and yours?” She leaned forward, bridging her fingers together. “I’m Palmer. I was a drama teacher at a small-town high school, but they kept overfunding football, one thing led to another, and now… I’ve got some serious vision.”
Tigran would be the last inmate admitted to Red Clay before a coup months in the making finally came to fruition.
Hey, yeah, Palmer! Remember that fun NPC? She was dating Mr. Jones and killed four people for him! Anyway, yeah, adjacent to him, an all-out meanspirited brawl in a sewer is taking place, feat. two chaotic clowns and two very frustrated young women.
What rotten luck this had been.
That leak, now of all days, when Being So Normal, Cairo Satori’s pet project that they had been slaving away at ever since setting foot in this series, had the deals with the devil that it had been built upon from the very beginning exposed for the world to see, and the city, which had loved every second of it before, had now been divided sharply between the loyal fans remaining and those protesting the entire thing, demanding the resignation of their producer, the cancellation of a show which had been picked up by so many streaming platforms, had already begun to make so much for the people who had made a livelihood of it all.
With the connection to Andrew Tiffany’s demise, even the oh-so-loyal Purple Flying Man resigned with only a short argument, and even the damage control removal of Caroline Jeffords, responsible for the worst of it, did little to contain the fact that Cairo knew about this, and Cairo allowed this to proceed nonetheless.
What, were they going to just throw it all away at the last minute? Ruin lives, tank companies, get how many people laid off? All over the failures of those close to them? Of course not.
“Cairo, dear,” the voice of that ever-troublesome producer, Million Dollars, muttered into a cell phone for them, “I’m going to need to go under the radar for awhile… People are beginning to look into my own affairs as well. But know that, as always, no matter what, you have my support. This show isn’t just a cash cow, Cairo… It’s an example. An example for the world to look to, and something for Stand Users to aspire to be better. I know you’re probably mad at us as well, but… You know that, don’t you?”
“Dollars… You’ve got a lot of nerve, trying to plead with me right now,” Cairo answered, tense in what had been their green room, sitting in the mall their producer had owned, “we definitely need to talk about our future… But we need to have one, too. Of course the show must go on… Nothing’s gonna jeopardize that!”
Free Viper Strip Mall, Suburban District
In recent times, the atmosphere at Free Viper was… somewhat dire. In fact, it had been on a rapid decline since that fateful day a couple months ago when Bert hijacked a ritual meant to challenge fate and did so, while murdering tens of thousands of people and injuring far more than that at the same time. Actually, Black Knight Penitentiary Album’s death and the realization that Remix was a serial killer came before that and weren’t very uplifting either, but what Bert did was somewhat hard to top.
Either way, the realization that he found one of the most morally bankrupt groups of people to team up with in Los Fortuna was one that Arthur Lifeson had reached not too long ago, and though it was somewhat of a painful thing to come to terms with, he had no choice but to do so and simply carry on. Bert had died, and the least Arthur could do from here on out would be to do his best to assist the city of Los Fortuna and bring justice to those who deserved it. The city certainly needed it, given all that was occurring right now.
For all the time Arthur spent in the city, he hadn’t gotten enough of note done yet… but that was soon to change. He had a plan in mind, one that would help keep the city and the world of stand users as a whole from devolving into further chaos. Before he could put it in place, however, he’d have to get some help.
Los Fortuna Shopping District, Sweet FA Mall - The Next Day
Nix Ripa had been in this city for months now, and in that time, all he had done was tear down walls, break buildings, break people who had dared to step all over the safety of others, of those too weak to bend fate to their whims.
It was despicable to him, and the icy Stand User was seething with hot rage. Those without the power to change the world themselves were pitiable, in their ways, yet at once, he knew they were not above help… That they needed to be driven higher, reach for the stars rather than wave to the heroes they saw in them!
When Arthur Lifeson discovered and contacted him, he did not hesitate to make his way to the megamall in which this was all set to culminate. Rather than in the comfortable solitude of the Black Hill Estate, where he could train without disruption, he’d even spent the night in an alley nearby, wanting to be able to spring out first thing in the morning!
When he did, then, as if on schedule, the older bearded man who had requested his help stood at the foot of Sweet FA, looking himself quite regal with that increasingly modified Medieval Times getup.
“Sir Ripa… It is an honor to meet in person, with yet another warrior of great acclaim.”
“Heh… I’ve seen you around,” Nix answered, stretching off the sleeping-on-a-dumpster aches and forcing out his hand, which Arthur, in turn, grabbed firmly, the pair locking fingers tightly and staring one another down intensely. “Did a damn fine number on those guys at this very mall awhile back… And it takes some guts to drive out into the Middle Finger for any reason! The mountains are where I do my most intense training of all!”
“Aye, I regrettably was fooled into following the glorious allure of Being So Normal… I lack even your good reason, of how you and your fallen brother-in-arms, Sir Rains, apprehended a true villain in the process of this fight, and even a black knight who would have put a past companion of mine to shame with her depravity.” He looked towards the space and shuddered. “The show, it refused to show the truth, but the wounds from that grueling battle, the burns… They were excruciating. That witch Jeffords, nothing she’s touched can be trusted as a truth to show the world.”
“So we’re in agreement then!” Nix said, finally letting the handshake go as Arthur’s hand began to grow numb, rolling his arms around and turning to face Sweet FA. “I looked into this place, their mission statement, their show, their producer… Set a good example my ass! They just want the whole damn world to think there’s nothing better than being a Stand User! That the ground we walk on should be kissed just for what we’ve got! Well… I’m no goddamn celebrity!”
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” Arthur agreed, “and this mockery… It will not do good for the world to learn of us this way. A knight’s honor is not something we seek for glory, for congratulation, but because there is no greater purpose than to slay evil, to protect those who cannot for themselves!”
“Heh… I like you. After this, we’re sparring ‘til one of us can’t move!”
Nix led the way in there, then, Arthur feeling pause for a moment at the sheer intensity of his companion. This was not of fear, however, or of a sudden feeling of inadequacy at someone so much younger, yet so much more driven than him.
Nay, he had been filled with more righteous determination than ever, and with a battle cry that led to a family with two kids in a stroller staring his way, he ran in after him!
…
…
As soon as they reached the main foyer of the mall, both of them realized, in tandem, and Nix spoke first, “…this place is huge as hell! Where do we even go to smash shit up?”
“I… That. That is a good point! Perhaps we should conduct a map kiosk, one which says ‘you are here!’ Ugh, those are always a pain to read…”
“I’ll help you.”
Both turned, then, to see a very fashionable teenager, clad in a purple aviator cap and goggles, slim and bearing a dour expression on his face. All who had hung around Cairo would recognize the Purple Flying Man from someplace or another, as well as all the extremely online and influencer-following of Los Fortuna.
“This show… They’ve done so much to capitalize on my uncle’s death. They’ve actively stopped the truth of whatever might have happened to him from being investigated with their frameup… And this conflict, I have lost two of my brothers to it all over again.”
He paused, then, and the two men seemed to trust him.
“You won’t be able to erase the show completely… It’s already had a limited run in this city. But masters, extra footage, content they were going to actually send out… There’s a storage space nearby… Most of the show’s data is backed up, of course, but that’s where everything is being saved. If your wish is to sabotage Being So Normal, to ruin its international release before it can cause any more harm to the outside world, that is where you go.”
“So you’ve had a change of heart yourself… I am thankful to hear that, Purple One…” Arthur snapped his fingers, then, as if remembering his name. “Right, now I remember! ‘Afton,’ wasn’t it?”
Purple’s face faulted. “Erm… N-no, eheh. It, uh… It wasn’t that. I haven’t been anything but ‘Purple’ for a very long time.”
“No matter what you’re called, an enemy of this show’s from within is just what we need to make this a little less of a pain in the ass!” Nix declared. “Lead the way!”
A Series of Backstage Halls Deep Within Sweet FA
Acrobatic and stealthy as he was, after leading the way in for those who had sought out this quest to begin with, Purple hurried along deeper inward, well aware that it was likely this place would not be unguarded, and meaning to scout ahead, maybe even fight a bit if he absolutely needed to.
He really, really did not want to, and so far, it wasn’t reassuring to him that nobody had interrupted them. No show staff, no Stand Users, not even some rent-a-cop had yet gotten into the way of this.
As he made his way to a security room, quietly bemoaning the fact that he would never live down infiltrating a security room with that damned nickname Bad Apples had given him, his worst fears were confirmed.
His friend, his confidante, Cairo Satori was sitting in a swivel chair, watching screens displaying the entire mall and idly leaning their head into a metal baseball bat.
“Purp…” They spoke up without even turning to face him. “Wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon! I mean, with everywhere you’ve blocked me, privated your accounts… I was under the impression you needed some time away from the show.”
Purple hopped down, then, walking closer towards the chair, clearing his throat and pondering his words clearly.
“The show needs time away from the show, Cairo… You know damn well why I brought myself back. Come on. You know this isn’t right… It doesn’t have to be this, and even just delaying could save-”
“Delay, huh?” They stood, twirling that bat they’d always carried around. It didn’t worry Purple. He’d never seen them actually using it. “C’mon… You know it’s not that simple, buddy. I’m just trying to make sure everyone has a good time… Already, I’m cutting toxic people out of the show! Even when they’ll make it harder to make anything going forward, Caroline is gone! I’ll keep that producer on a really short leash! I am doing everything in my power to make sure that this goes well… C’mon, can’t you look on the bright side?”
“You… You already know my answer to that. You’ve betrayed my trust, Cairo. The trust of my uncle, of everyone you’ve worked with… Of this whole city!” He shifted in place, then, becoming a much more avian humanoid figure with its pose. “I am its lavender courage, and I am your friend! And as both, I cannot abide by-”
Cairo swang their bat, and as they did, the arms of a Stand emerged from their own hand and struck it as well, multiple times in quick succession.
By the time the bat impacted Purple, it was with enough force for the deeply resilient eternally-young ghost to be sent hurtling towards a wall, literally impacting it hard enough to leave an impression in its form, embedded and unconscious in a single swing. He was alive, and would walk this off, but he wouldn’t be getting back up today.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” they said, standing with the bat over their shoulder, ‘Peach Pit’ manifesting more fully by their side (drawn by the artist Boy George, as usual), “but I can tell we don’t have time to chat… I’ll send you a gift basket from the launch party, yeah?”
Then, their attention turned towards the others on the security room screens, addressing their Stand in the meantime, “uh, hey, Peach…”
“I’m on it,” the Stand answered, “Arthur Lifeson and Nix Ripa… I’m excited for this, honestly.”
“And you don’t need to know that I am to, honestly…” Cairo moved to press the intercom button.
“I heard violence!” Nix called out, balling his fists. “Purple found someone!” He began to rush forward, then, Arthur preparing to make a blade, only to be stopped by the crackling of an intercom button.
“Hello again! Wow, it really isn’t all that often that Being So Normal has repeat appearances, but that’s, what, twice in this promotional cycle alone?” Cairo’s voice rang through, then, and they continued, “I figured we’d see some trouble here, so I gave most of staff the day off… I knew it’d be types like you two who showed up, and honestly, I gotta say, despite the circumstances, I’m a bit psyched!”
“Cairo Satori!” Arthur spoke up then, waving his hands. “Put this madness to a close, before I have to put you to my blade! You need not fall victim to this any longer… To fight us is a waste of time!”
“Well, I’ve got time to kill, and nobody to talk to, now that my friend’s taking a bit of a nap. And besides, you think I’m gonna just let you destroy everything we’ve been working to build up because you don’t like a couple of the crew members? C’mon, have a reality check here! No way I’m gonna allow that… Especially not right now! Look, why not come talk to me after I’ve completely closed this Netflix deal?”
There was silence, then, and then they spoke up again.
“Oh, who am I kidding? We both know that this is only gonna end one way! If you wanna stop me from sending this show out for the whole world to know and love, and not just be another little piece of Los Fortuna’s super storied, super amazing history, then STOP me! I’m already sending Peach your way, and there’s no way the two of us will just get walked all over!”
Arthur shut his eyes in frustration, but Nix shook his shoulder. “We knew from the start it’d come to this. C’mon… Any more talking this through will be a waste of all our breaths.”
“Yeah! This pre-battle stuff goes on way too long, I swear! So much to cut down in post without missing the meat of it… But enough talking shop, yeah? Let’s get to what we’re here for… You wanna say it with me? …no? Okay, suit yourself!”
“OPEN THE GAME!”
Location:
A hallway to several storage rooms in Sweet FA Mall. The area here is 40 by 80 meters with each tile being 2.5 by 2.5 meters. The white tiles are completely out of bounds for this match. The light magenta tiles are the main hallway, the purple tiles are side hallways, and the red tiles are the rooms. Each room has a number associated with it for convenience, as shown by the purple numbers. The ceiling is 8 meters tall. The doorways are denoted by the dotted lines between the rooms and hallways.
The players start at the left end of the hallway and Cairo starts in the security room (room 5) to the right of the bottom center. Cairo’s Stand starts in the middle of the main hallway.
The grey X marked circles are security cameras on the ceiling that connect to the monitors that are represented by the yellow notched rectangles in room 5. The light blue rectangles in the main hallway are 4 meter tall metal shelves that house stage set up equipment such as stepladders, light fixtures, microphones, extension cables, construction tools, and anything else needed to set up or tear down a stage. All shelves are bolted to the ground.
The yellow stars are disks, tapes, harddrives and other recordings of the footage shot by Cairo’s show.
The walls are drywall while the floor is ceramic tiled.
Now onto the different rooms:

• Room 1: Contains racks and cardboard bins of merchandise. The brown rectangles are cardboard bins of plushies and hats. The red circles are racks of clothing merchandise.
  
• Room 2: Contains a mountain of chairs and other furniture within a 5 meter tall metal storage fence as represented by the light blue rectangle and the junk inside it. Each side of the fence has a chain locked door.
  
• Room 3: Contains various cooking appliances and peripherals. The white rectangles are 4 meter tall metal storage shelves and the magenta rectangles are 5 meter tall metal storage containers. Basically any appliance that doesn’t fit on a shelf is put into one of the three containers.
  
• Room 4: Contains two long tables as represented by the grey L-shaped rectangles. On these tables are neatly laid out items that were used in Round 2 Match 4, this means Riot Shields, Fireworks Cannons, Magnetic Ray Guns, Grappling Hook Guns, smoke bombs, Tar filled paintball guns, mannequins, body armor, skateboards, net launchers, fire extinguishers, step ladders, marbles, bowling balls, trampolines, shovels, steel chairs, and blankets. Only the crystal ball is missing. The blue circle is a barrel of fencing foils and the yellow rectangle is a banged up motorcycle that while not completely totaled is in pretty bad shape.
  
• Room 5: The security room. It is rather bare, only housing the monitors set-ups to the security cameras and three swivel chairs to go with them.
  

Goal: RETIRE your opponents!
Additional Information:
As a reminder, White Tile areas are out-of-bounds for this match. If you willingly traverse through them you will be retired by a pair of mall cops.
Here is a shortened version of Cairo’s character sheet with all relevant information, the full sheet is linked below
Name: Cairo Satori
Age: 21
Gender: None, whose business is that anyways?
Species: Human
Occupation: Beloved Media Icon
Equipment: The newest smartphone, two sets of wireless earbuds for communicating directly with [Peach Pit] quietly, a bag of weed mints, and a baseball bat.
User Stats:
Strength: 3 (Too much effort to get properly strong- Cairo can throw as much effort into a hit as they need to in order to finish someone off after being brought to near-retirement by [Peach Pit], and that’s about the maximum they need.)
Agility: 2 (Never had to run after or from anything.)
Endurance: 2 (Not one to hold up under sustained pressure for very long, hoping to duck back from any conflicts except where absolutely necessary.)
Conduction: 2 (Able to personally carry their Stand’s damaging energy through them, and has a general knowledge of how to apply it.)
Vibing: 3 (It's for vibe checks- the necessity of finishing an opponent off personally, in a fast and hard strike. The full force of their strength, loaded into one moment rather than a series of fests. Also, they do have good vibes.)
Stand Name: [Peach Pit]
Stand Appearance: On the bulkier side of stand builds, Peach Pit has some resemblance to a knight in plate armor- big, dark metallic pauldrons, a chestplate, an assortment of straps and buckles, etc. The surface of the stand looks very much like a sunset with its colors flipped around. Its face is smooth except for a simple minimalist icon of the sun, and the rest of the head is mostly covered by a knight's helmet as well. A gradient of sorts goes from the head of the stand down to its armored feet, starting with an orange-red and ending in black with white specks like stars in the night sky.
About/Oddities: The stand is dangerous, outright. The manifestation of an incredible will for a very specific life gave it incredibly high offensive might, and although Cairo has depleted its very low ‘potential,’ nothing else has decreased in the slightest.
Additionally, [Peach Pit] is sentient, and thinks of itself as a close friend and bodyguard to Cairo. Despite being able to dish out high damage, it is very much a friendly, calm and collected individual, having respect even for those it has to fight. As such, [Peach Pit] leaves RETIRING opponents up to its user completely. An enemy can be beaten down, but will still be able to pull together and carry on albeit impeded until Cairo personally finishes them off. This isn't simply a choice- if instructed to keep pressure on an opponent who's down but not out, its strikes can indefinitely inflict serious pain and yet never be quite enough to injure a foe to the point where they're considered RETIRED.
Due to the bold weakness in this, for how combat inefficient and easily hurt its user is, Peach doesn't have full damage transference. Instead, it can be destroyed repeatedly- Cairo takes one instance of C power damage upon its destruction, and it can be resummoned from Cairo's position after ten seconds.
Peach's presenting identity has been influenced by Cairo's insistence against defining things that way, to the point of being comfortably seen subjectively as anything. Peach will respond to any pronouns without questioning it.
Stand Stats:
Power: A(The stand can exert a great amount of power in its attacks)
Speed: A (Its movements are very fast and its attacks can travel just as quickly)
Range: B (50 meters)
Durability: E (Subpar durability, however when destroyed the user takes C power damage and the stand can be summoned back to Cairo’s side after 10 seconds.)
Precision: C (Generally decent in its movements, but its projectile attacks only move in a straight line once fired and can only be stored within conductive materials. In non-conductive materials it would keep traveling)
Ability: Peach Pit lacks a complex ability, as far as one would expect. Rather than intricate effects, its hits themselves can simply be conducted through material similarly the way that electricity does, with distinct variation based on the conductivity of the material. Within conductive material, damage is stored up much like a battery - the moment someone touches the "battery", the damage transfers directly to it on the point of contact. This means that if Peach were to punch a metal rod and someone were to touch it, they would feel the full brunt of Peach's attack the moment they do so. A battery remains charged for up to fifteen seconds, and at any point if it hasn’t been touched and discharged already, Cairo can pick any direction from where the battery is in contact with non-conductive materials to activate the next type of attack.
Within non-conductive material, either deployed through battery or direct strike, damage "travels", moving forwards in a straight line at A speed in the same direction it came from. This wave of damage can be seen as it travels, with slight shimmers of light and a crackling sound emanating from where it's currently positioned.
Damage cannot travel further than B range from Cairo.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
Black Hill Regalia	Arthur Lifeson and Nix Ripa	“The thing in Hayato's hand was definitely a handy cam. It doesn't seem to be in this room right now...” This show is a sweet-sounding idea, but it’s so corrupt to its core that you can’t allow it to spread any further than it has. Destroy as many physical backings of the recordings Cairo has made for their show as you can over the course of your strat!
Being So Normal	Cairo Satori	“I even took a video of the cat-like plant you've got in the attic!” This show… You know it’s been an unsavory road, one you wish you could have managed differently, but the good it can do, the way the world might finally begin to understand the ugly and wonderful truths of Stand Users and appreciate them more as a part of their lives… You will celebrate that. Take creative inspiration from actions that took place in matches related officially to ‘Being So Normal!’ That is to say, these 5 matches, R1M5,R1M23,R1M29,R2M4, and R3M8!

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Hey all, Here is a rundown of the details of each gang, ranging from sphere of influence, crimes, uniforms, where they reside and how they make money in Night City. If you keep up to date with the lore, most of this information will not be new to you, so don't expect anything fancy. This is mainly for those who want some basic information on each of the gangs, and don't invest a lot of time into the lore. Hence, this information is kept very basic and straight forward.
If you want a video format of this information, here is a link, but I highly suggesting reading it, as well as other material too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI13y1xF63o
Most of this information can be found directly on the Cyberpunk Wiki: https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Gangs
The Maelstrom Gang
The Maelstrom Gang is the most dangerous of Night City's gangs. With 1300 members, they reside within the Watson district, and spawned from the remains of a previous gang called the Metal Warriors. When this gang was almost fully wiped out, the Maelstrom gang replaced it, and grew exponentially in size. They took shelter in Watson, within a pig slaughterhouse called the All Food Plant. This is where the brains of their organisation stays.
The Maelstrom specialise with illegal medicines and drugs, being their primary form of income. Before selling these, they usually acquire such illicit objects from organised raids and hit jobs on whoever they deem needs to be taken out. They do not discriminate - they will kill anyone and anything to get to the top, and to get what they want. Think of them a lot like the Mafia - very organised and structural, where you need to do your part for the organisation, otherwise it's game over for you.
Like many of the gangs in Night City, they own a club, called the Totentanz Club. It is said to be the most popular of all clubs in Night City that are owned by a gang. They also have their own uniform, containing clothes of leather and chrome, alongside their array of high-tech cyberware. Their kind of gang structure has a particular name for it - a Boostergang. These are gangs with members who often enhance themselves with cybernetics. In fact, many Maelstrom members are Cyberpsychos - a mental illness of identity loss due to an excessive amount of cyberware on one's body. They lose a sense of what and who they are. But they know one thing - they serve the Maelstrom, and they kill for the Maelstrom Gang.
The Maelstrom are lead by Simon Randall, a.k.a Royce. V will have the opportunity to eliminate Royce in the quest 'Going Pro', where you must find a Flathead spiderbot through infultrating the Maelstrom headquarters.
The Maelstrom, being the most dangerous gang in Night City, have an Extreme Threat Level in Night City. Look out for them, because they will look out for you.
​
The Scavengers
The Scavengers are a nasty gang that inhabit all of Night City, with a particular presense in Pacifica and Heywood. Similar to the Maelstrom Gang, they are ruthless, and will attack anyone or anything. But they have their own method. Instead of organised crime, any of their members simply attack weak and innocent people.
They have ties to the Soviet Union, with many of their members being fluent in Russian, as well as very involved within the culture. Their uniform consists of tracksuits, cyberware and tattoos.
The name of the game for the Scavengers is as the name suggests - scavenging. This gang kidnaps people and forcibly harvests everything they can from their victims. Organ harvesting proves profitable for them. But most importantly, they will take the cyberware from their victims. As such, they are filthy rich from distributing their looted cyberware off to other gangs, ripperdocs, and a range of other criminals.
If the Scavengers aren't scavenging, they're committing other crimes such as common assault, mutilation and dismemberment of whomever they please.
When you roam in Night City, look for Russian graffitti to sniff out the presence of the Scavengers, otherwise, they might find you first.
Within Night City, they have a Medium Threat level.
​
Voodoo Boys
The Voodoo Boys take their name to heart, with very tribalistic and cult-like activities in Night City, primarily in the District of Pacifica. They came to birth after Haiti and Dominica were devasted by natural disasters in the 2060s. Upon migrating into Night City, they started their own community of criminals. They like to keep their blood strong, maintaining members to only be of Haitian and Dominican descent alike. The Voodoo Boys are classified as a terrorist or nihilist gang - a gang that commits abnormal atrocities, and don't have any meaning in life other than to cause harm to others.
They have several hundreds of members, and are the best in the business when it comes to non-synthetic drugs.
But there is one thing that they are even better at. The Voodoo Boys are the kings of the Net. Many of their members are Netrunners, who love to freeze neural networks, and plant viruses on the Net to take down many of their targets. In fact, their primary source of income is through hacking databases and accounts, stealing both important data and of course, money. Their main targets are big corporations.
Their other goal with the Net is to breach the Blackwall - a virtual wall to protect against free A.Is causing chaos, of which the Voodoo Boys believe Free A.Is would be beneficial. This means the gang is at odds with the organisation that protects the Blackwall - namely, Netwatch.
Cosmetics and uniforms for the Voodoo Boys consist of tattoos, piercings, implants, cybernetics, dreadlocks, and charms made of bones. They are scary, both physically, and virtually throughout the Net.
The Voodoo Boys are led by Brigitte, a deadly Netrunner whom V will certainly encounter in Cyberpunk 2077, as well as her second-in-command, Placide.
Their threat level throughout Night City is quite low, however they are by far the most dangerous gang on the Net - it's their territory.
​
Animals
The main rival for the Voodoo Boys in the physical world is a gang that is just as crazy - the Animals. The Animals likewise reside within Pacifica, leading the two gangs to often go head-to-head. They're an aggressive street-fighting gang who love enhancing their bodies with cyberware, supplements, and their special drug called 'the Juice'. This drug increases speed and strength, making members of the Animals gang particularly deadly in a one-on-one fight out in the street.
The Animals are just as deadly as the Maelstrom out and about in the city, performing deadly attacks on residents and other gangs. With over 2500 members, they have hundreds of small packs, or groups, that carry out these attacks by the day and night.
You will often find Animals members as bouncers or hired muscle, as well as in the fighting minigames, as their raw strength and ferocity proves useful in these scenarios. If you do see one, they'll typically be seen with cybernetics, implanted muscles, plastic surgery and skin modifications to ramp up their ferocious and bestial physiques. These attributes has led to the gang being classified as a Combat Gang, a.k.a a gang that centers around a Warrior Code.
The Animals are possibly the most well versed and profitable in the world of illicit and black-market drug dealing. This is their main method of income creation, on top of other crimes like racketeering.
The gang is led by their ad-hoc leader, Sasquatch, who is incredibly strong through her use of steroids, and has a sledgehammer as her weapon of choice. The 2019 Deep Dive revealed a quest where you can infiltrate their base and have the option to kill Sasquatch. The consequences are yet to be revealed, if you kill her, or leave her to live. The decision is yours.
The Animals are a High Level Threat within Night City.
​
6th Street
The 6th Street came to be after the 4th Corporate War, where Veterans of the war decided to make their own gang as the NCPD was incompetent in protecting them against the local gangs. With 2300 strong, these American patriots believe solely in bringing justice to the city.
Their primary activities consist of robbery, extortion and gun smuggling within their home districts, Santo Domingo and Heywood. These activities may also spill over to the Badlands, where they have extensive connections to many of the Nomads in that area. Another way they make money is through protecting local businesses upon the provision that they pay tribute to the gang for such protection.
Their other speciality is to do with vehicles. Not only do they run taxi services around Night City, but they steal and modify cars using Techies, and then sell them afterwards.
The 6th Street gang is often not on the friendly side of other gangs as they wish to rid of many of the other gangs. The NCPD hence tolerates the 6th Street gang, as they assist the police in dealing with plenty of criminals in the streets.
The 6th Street gang has a Medium Threat Level within Night City.
​
Valentinos
The Valentinos are a traditionalist-style gang located within the district of Heywood. It is one of the largest gangs, housing 6000 members, all mostly of Latino descent. This is understandly why our main man Jackie Wells used to be a member within the gang.
The gang is motivated by a different cause than most others. To seduce women. The more prestigious and unobtainable the woman is, the better the target for seduction by the members of the gang.
In true traditionalist fashion, they hold some old-school values high, like justice, honour and brotherhood, and will defend these values to the death. They are also quite religious, but no concrete details of their religious activities have been revealed just yet.
Unlike most other gangs, they are open to who joins the gang, and they are extremely territorial. Also different to other gangs, they head up a lot of legitimate businesses in Night City. You'll find many Valentinos managing restaurants, nightclubs, car workshops, construction companies and more.
But don't be fooled. They still love your run-of-the-mill criminal activities. The Valentinos are particularly fond of gun smuggling, theft, trafficking, burglaries, hit jobs, and almost every other crime you can think of.
Like the 6th Street gang, they receive payments to protect members of the neighbourhood and their businesses. This often puts the Valentinos and the 6th Street gang at odds with each other within Heywood. Be very careful who you mess with in Heywood, as you might find one of these gangs coming after you soon after.
Valentino clothing is very bright, colourful and shiny, with jewellery, tattoos and colourful clothes being worn often. It will be hard to miss a Valentino in the streets.
The gang has a Medium to High Threat Level in Night City.
​
Tyger Claws
The Tyger Claws are a large Japanese gang found in Night Cit, centered primarily within the districts of Westbrook and Watson. They came to fruitition when the Asian community within Night City was under poor protection around the year 2045. After teaming up with the mega corporation Arasaka, they were able to grow into a strong combat gang, just like the Animals, but with a much stronger focus on defense. This means that they are quite controlling of their own territory, and will defend it at any cost.
The gang consists of around 5500 members, most of which are very old-school in their methods of combat. Their weapons of choice don't involve cyberware like all the other gangs. The Tyger Claws much prefer to use martial arts, strong reflexes and traditional Japanese weapons like the Katana. This doesn't stop them from being a very potent threat within Night City - they know combat all too well.
The Tyger Claws own the most legiitimate businesses out of all the other gangs. Bars, resturants, braindance outlets, brothels and casinos. You name it, they own it. Many of them can be found in Japantown, a beautiful sub-district of Westbrook. The crown jewel of their assets and their operations, the Clouds Nightclub can be found here. Behind the scenes, these businesses can also act as tools for illicit activities like money laundering and manufacturing drugs. But this doesn't name all of their income earners. The Tyger Claws also love human trafficking and prostitution. Their poor treatment of women in the sex industry led to the creation of their rival gang, who we will discuss after this.
Crimes for the Tyger Claws are like any other. Assault, torture, abduction, hit jobs, murder and street fighting. They commit these crimes in their signature uniforms and visual identifiers - katanas, fast street bikes, luminated tattoos and tantos, which are like small knives.
The Tyget Claws gang poses a Medium to High Level Threat to Night City.
​
Moxes
The Moxes are the newest edition to the gangs of Night City. They formed just eleven years before the events of Cyberpunk 2077,. The gang rose in power after their leader, Elizabeth Lizzie Borden was murdered by the Tyger Claws. She was murdered after killing 3 members of the Tyger Claws, who raped a prostitute who worked for Lizzie. This bar, is of course Lizzie's Bar, where we can find the braindance technician Judy Alvarez, who is also a member of the Moxes Gang. They own a few other brothels as well around the city, where they can extend their work in the sex industry.
The Moxes gang's HQ is in Lizzie's Bar, which is located in the Watson District, in the sub-district called Kabuki. Here, the Moxes gang makes most of their income from the sex work that occurs in this braindance club.
The gang is therefore primarily composed of around 250 sex workers, punks, anarchists and sexual minorities, who value the protection of the working class against violence and abuse.
As to be expected, they are not at all fond of the Tyger Claws gang for their actions against Lizzie. However, they will only attack if they are provoked. The Moxies are usually quite a passive gang. Unlike the other gangs as well, they don't tend to involve themselves in much criminal activity. The only speciality of theirs that is somewhat illegal is their extensive work in prostitution, of which many of their members take part.
If you see a Moxie, you can expect them to dress in a Punk style, or in cheap fashion that prostitutes may often wear. They are also quite fond of using Realskinn, a plastic covering used to disguise cyberware and cyberlimbs, to which the Moxies endulge in too.
The Moxies are a Low Threat Level within Night City.
​
Wraiths
The Wraiths are the first of two large gangs within the Badlands. Gangs in the Badlands are made up of hundreds of rogue Nomads, who travel around quite a lot. The Badlands is a dog-eat-dog world, and so the Wraiths are gruesome and ruthless - they atttack their prey during the night, and will raid or murder their victims. These raids will be conducted through their custom cars made to travel through the Badlands - they call these vehicles the Reaver. A customised version of the Type 66 Quadra, made especially for driving on rough terrain.
This leads us to their primary source of income, and that is raiding. Many transport convoys or lone vehicles are great targets in the open Badlands to be attacked and robbed from. They also will raid lots of small villages around the Badlands, taking anything from drugs, boosters, cars, car parts, and cyberware, where they can enjoy the spoils of their work.
Many companies in Night City also give them transportation contracts to protect valuable transport. However, the Wraiths may take it upon themselves to ransom or raid the vehicles that they were contracted to protect. They don't care of the consequences.
You will find plenty of Wraiths outside of Night City, where it's estimated that there are anywhere from 300 to 1200 members. If these members aren't raiding anyone, then they're probably fighting tooth and nail against their rival gang, the Aldecaldos, who we'll discuss soon.
The gang is led by a human-skin wearing man named Dogkiller, who we will hopefully be able to encounter in Cyberpunk 2077. However, if we do, they won't be nice to start out with.
The Wraiths are a High Level Threat in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, namely in the Badlands.
​
Aldecaldos
The gang was formed by its leader, Juan Aldecaldo who fled California to go to Mexico City back in the 1980s. In 2015, the gang returned to the US, and brought a certain someone with them. A great man named Johnny Silverhand, who was in hiding for several years.
The gang emigrated to Night City, where they inhabitated the Badlands, running farms and transporting stolen goods to get by day-to-day. They still do this in 2077, led by Santiago Aldecaldo, the new leader of the gang. He is a good friend of Johnny Silverhand. This will mean the Aldecaldos will be far easier to get on the good side of then their famous rivals, the Wraiths.
The gang consists of over 10000 members, making it one of the largest gangs in Night City. Several hundreds of these members actually reside inside the walls of Night City, extending their influence out further.
Not much else is known just yet about their day-to-day activities, so we'll have to discover this on December 10th.
The gang is most likely of a Medium Threat Level in Night City and the Badlands.
Let me know what gang(s) you'll side with, and what one(s) you'll seek to destroy. I love how the Maelstrom look but I think they're too dangerous to be alive. I may side with the more chill gangs like the Tyger Claws and the Aldecaldos.

Good morning everyone, get ahead of the week, follow your rules, let’s all make some money
Of note for Semiconductors (SOX), Japan is aiming to invite Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) or other global chipmakers to build an advanced chip manufacturing plant jointly with domestic chip equipment suppliers.
Of note for Automakers (F, GM, FCAU, TSLA), Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) CEO Diess reportedly told the Executive Board that the Co. is expecting to return to pre-COVID sales/profit at the commencement of 2023.
This week’s Barron’s articles argues that chains like Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) are focused on value, and as a result, they are a growth story when other retailers are not, noting that when economic conditions become more difficult for consumers, the dollar stores get going. A separate article notes that SoftBank (SFTBY) considering an IPO of its Arm Holdings makes sense, and it’s an important signal for investors about the future of the chip business. Chipotle (CMG) should “crush its earnings” this week, and Barron’s notes one sell-side analyst stating investors should buy the August USD 1,150 call option to cover the July 22nd earnings report. On banks (XLF, BKX), It might be time to embrace the uncertainty around bank names and consider Wells Fargo (WFC), the worst-performing of the big banks this year, noting that Wells has something the other banks don’t have: problems to fix. Goldman Sachs (GS) is a rare big financial company with an improving business and earnings outlook, Barron’s said, and it has a stock that looks reasonably priced at little more than 10x forward earnings. Barron’s argues that while shares of index providers MSCI (MSCI) and S&P Global (SPGI) aren’t cheap, both stocks could keep rising as new products and services translate into higher sales and profits

DOW JONES

Boeing Company (BA) is running out of space to stash newly-built 787 Dreamliner’s, with dozens of the planes sitting on the company’s premises, sources said; one BA watcher puts the number at 50, more than double the number of jets typically awaiting customers along Boeing’s flight lines. Elsewhere, Boeing and Etihad broaden its sustainability alliance by testing innovations on ecoDemonstrator 787, which flies on sustainable fuel made from vegetable oil, and waste animal fat. Meanwhile, NASA administrators are very confident in the SLS flying during 2021.
Chevron Corp. (CVX) is to acquire Noble Energy (NBL) for USD 5bln in an all-stock transaction, or USD 10.38/shr, with a total enterprise value, including debt, of USD 13bln; the deal marks a 7% premium for Noble, which trades at 50% below its 52-week high.
Goldman Sachs Group (GS) Senior Executives flew into Malaysia for talks with the government on the recovery of 1MDB assets; Malaysian prosecutors have charged GS and 17 current and former directors of its units for allegedly misleading investors over bond sales totalling USD 6.5 billion that the US bank helped raise for sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) signed an agreement with the UK to secure 90mln doses of two possible COVID-19 vaccines from the company and French Group Valneva. Note, the two Cos also announced early positive update from German Ph1/2 study; generated strong t-cell data; supports and expands upon early results from the corresponding US trial reported earlier in July.

NASDAQ 100

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) had its PT raised to a street high of USD 3800 at Goldman Sachs and Jefferies. Goldman Sachs maintains a conviction buy rating on the shares, rising the PT to the street high from USD 3,000. Analyst Heath Terry updated his estimates ahead of earnings to reflect the accelerating e-commerce growth. Revenue estimates are increased by 3% per year on average, while EBTIDA is left unchanged due to COVID expenditure and for an increase in infrastructure spending due to faster growth in retail and AWS.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) NBCUniversal is reportedly planning broad-based layoffs to offset losses from the pandemic.
eBay Inc. (EBAY) Classifieds business auction has been awarded to Norway’s Adevinta for close to USD 9bln, where eBay will keep a minority stake in the unit, according to a source. Earlier reports noted it would be USD 8bln or above. Elsewhere, eBay (EBAY) is to begin expanding its management of payments globally; expected to deliver USD 2bln in revenue and USD 500mln in operating income in 2022.
Facebook, Inc. (FB) has had its advertising expenditure by Disney (DIS) dramatically cut, according to sources. Disney was Facebook’s top US advertiser for the first six months of 2020, research firm Pathmatics estimates. Meanwhile, The FTC is considering taking sworn testimony from Facebook (FB) CEO and COO as part of its investigation into whether the social-media giant has violated US antitrust laws, sources said; top Facebook officials are preparing for potential depositions and some are worried about the possibility.
Tesla (TSLA) is being probed by South Korean Fair Trade Commission, who launched an internal review of its advertising that described its autopilot as self-driving technology, according to Korea Herald citing sources. Meanwhile, it has also pulled another “demand lever” for it Model Y and has begun offering a lease agreement to customers for the vehicle.

S & P 500

Celanese (CE) announced it has raised its share repurchase authorisation by USD 500mln to USD 1.563bln.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) told its pilots that furloughs could be avoided if they agree to a cut in guaranteed minimum pay, according to CNBC.
Ford Motor (F) and MobilEye have expanded its relationship to offer better camera-based collision avoidance in vehicles.
Halliburton Co. (HAL) Q2 20 (USD): Adj EPS 0.05 (exp. -0.12), Revenue 3.2bln (exp. 3.34bln). It recognised USD 2.1bln of pre-tax impairments and other charges in the quarter. North America revenue -57% Q/Q to USD 1bln.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has been awarded a USD 15bln contract for C-130J development.
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) received the FDA’s green light for pooled testing, using the same COVID-19 molecular diagnostic first authorised by the agency in mid-March.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) – Almost a quarter of pilots accepted either early retirement or voluntary leave offers, according to CNBC.
Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is expanding capacity for those developing new and existing therapies for COVID; now supporting more than 200 projects globally.
Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) announced the hackers on last week’s attack did more than cryptocurrency fraud, but they also walked away with some users personal data, according to WSJ. The report notes that data was taken from eight users.

OTHER

Alibaba (BABA) Ant Group is to plan simultaneous IPOs in Shanghai and Hong Kong, according to reports.
AstraZeneca (AZN LN, AZN) to publish eagerly anticipated COVID-19 trial results today. The FDA authorised its first COVID-19 diagnostic test for pools of samples, to let laboratories conserve resources by evaluating several people at once
Eldorado Resorts (ERI) USD 17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment (CZR) received approval from The New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the last regulatory approval needed before the deal can close; the deal will result in the formation of the largest gaming company in the US.
Nikola (NKLA) chairman filed a new stock offering of up to 53.4mln shares related to warrants, but later noted it was just part of the process, adding “it’s difficult going ipo and after this, we’ll be full steam ahead”. Deutsche Bank note that the S-1 filing became effective, meaning 24mln warrants are now exercisable, which provides holders the right to buy shares for USD 11.50 and the 53.4mln shares owned by PIPE investors, enables them to be traded on the market. The analyst believes the potential for a portion of these 77mln shares to hit the market could create large technical selling pressure.
PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) and Royalty Pharma (RPTX) announced an agreement to acquire a portion of PTC’s royalty interest in risdiplan for USD 650mln in a one-time payment.
Samsung (SSNLF) is reportedly struggling to improve 5nm process yield, according to Digi Times citing sources. The article notes “It remains to be seen whether unsatisfactory yield rates at Samsung Electronics’ 5nm EUV process may affect the launch of Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship 5G mobile chip series.
Uber (UBER) and Alphabet Google (GOOG, GOOGL) announced a four-year agreement with Alphabet’s unit to use the Google Maps Platform Rides and Deliveries Services; Financial terms were not disclosed.
Yum China (YUMC) named official retail food services sponsor of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, also becomes an official sponsor of the Chinese Olympic Committee through 2024-end.

Edit 10:00AM

Additional US equity stories

Walmart (WMT) is restarting talks of a potential sale of its UK supermarket unit, Asda - potentially of note for Tesco (TSCO LN), Sainsbury's (SBRY LN), Morrison's (MRW LN), Marks & Spencer's (MKS LN)
Sorento Therapeutics (SRNE) FDA has cleared the co.’s Abivertinib for Phase Two safety and efficacy study in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe coronavirus.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) announce early positive update from German Ph1/2 study; generated strong t-cell data; supports and expands upon early results from the corresponding US trial
Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI) - Elliott Management calls upon CCI to outline a five-year plan for its fiber segment on its July 30th earnings call.
Halliburton Co. (HAL) CEO says international business is continuing to be a more meaningful contributor to the company going forward; believes North America production will remain structurally lower in the future. The CEO Expects to see a more disciplined market with stronger operators and

Jon Moxley has now surpassed a year as AEW World Champion and what a 365 days. Last time we started with him and Fénix doing battle after an intense build, seeing Kurt Angle get involved at one point. They had a great bout that ended in the death of Death Triangle, after Pentagon Jr. turned on his brother out of a cocktail of feelings: hate, jealously, anger, spite and more. This led us into Full Gear, where Pac also got involved and ended the 4 month saga between Jon Moxley and Death Triangle with a huge Four-way main event between everyone, seeing Jon retain his title.
We then learned more about Moxley’s year in NJPW - how he lost his IWGP United States Championship to Will Ospreay early in the year and then went on hiatus to pursue glory in AEW. Hiromu Takahashi would soon become the first non-Gaijin to win the title and go into Power Struggle with the title. After a successful defence against Juice Robinson, Jon Moxley would challenge Hiromu to a Winner Takes All Match with both their titles on the line at Wrestle Kingdom 15. This match would happen, with Moxley winning and entering his third reign with the title.
Lastly was Revolution where the third instalment of the Omega/Moxley series took place - and this time it was a 30-minute Iron Man Match. Kenny had become an ultra mega dick heel after Full Gear; refusing to speak anything but Japanese, having a geeky translator by his side at all times, having burned every bridge he crossed and lambasting in it. But there was an air of trade by about it - Kenny no longer had any friends. This was made present have he snapped on Jon when they tagged together. Jon exposes that Riho, Nakazawa, Page, The Bucks - not even Ibushi were his friends anymore. They fought to a 2-2 draw, with Jon only barely scratching out the win. This is the set up for where we begin now...
Book Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship Reign - Part 3: Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern
Revolution is in the rear view mirror but Kenny Omega will not rest until this injustice is righted. Jon barely won at a Revolution - only winning by a draw and having to scrape that out anyways. Omega is back to talking in English because he doesn’t like his translator anymore - and hits the One Winged Angel on him. Kenny wants to beat Moxley fair and square. Jon tells him next week he won’t be getting a singles match for the title, so what’s he gonna get? A tag match? Not like he has any friends who will want to help him out. Omega interrupts him on that. “Funny you say, Jon. I think you’re forgetting I’m the EVP around here, and I can make stuff happen. I can make myself some new friends. Would you like to meet them?” That’s when Kip Sabian and Miro run down to the ring and assault Jon.
A Blood and Guts Match is confirmed for the March 31 edition of Dynamite, between Team Moxley and Team Omega. It will be four-on-four, both guys need to fill out their squads for then. With two weeks left of Dynamites to go before the big fight, Miro and Moxley fight. Jon scrapes out a win after Darby Allin skates down to his rescue to prevent Kip Sabian from interfering. Will Hobbs soon joins the fray to take down Miro. It’s now three men on either side, and the go home week we will discover both teams fourth men. Kenny hyped up his fourth man as “The New Muscle”. He tells Jon he may not know him right now, but reeeaaal soon he will. Mox retorts that his fourth man is someone Kenny knows very well. In the main event both teams will have a contract signing and reveal their fourth men.
Moxley’s is Adam Page, who comes out and assaults Omega with words. Omega’s man does an assault too, but is more a psychical one. “Meet Schaff, ladies and gentlemen!” Kenny declares before a giant man sprints down the ring and wrecks SHIT UP. SCHAFF HAS ARRIVED TO AEW! So it’s set: Team Moxley (Adam Page, Darby Allin, Jon Moxley and Will Hobbs) vs. Team Omega (Kenny Omega, Kip Sabian, Miro and Schaff) - Blood and Guts Match. Last year saw Omega and Page compete, but they had a rough time of it. This year starts off as Omega/Moxley, and soon Schaff joins the fray. Darby Allin comes to the rescue though. Then Kip, then Hangman. Lastly are the two big guys: Will Hobbs and Miro. This is where we enter The Match Beyond. Chaos ensues; including a spot of Darby doing a Coffin Drop off the roof into everyone. In the end Omega hits a Super One Winged Angel on Moxley, but hurts himself in the process and can’t cover. Instead Kip Sabian does it, and gets the win for his team.
Kip Sabian is now in line for an AEW World Championship match, but says he doesn’t want it - he just cares about his TNT Championship. This leaves the AEW World Champion #1 Contender a mystery, but it will be solved with a Casino Ladder Match on Dynamite. April 14 is when it’s announced, and we immediately get people confirmed. Schaff and Miro will take part due to both being on the winning team, as well as some guys high up on the rankings in Pentagon Jr, MJF and Brian Cage. Shawn Spears will represent The Four Horseman, Brodie Lee representing The Dark Order and Kenny Omega for nearly getting the pin. The ninth man is of course a mystery. The week before the match on April 28, Moxley runs down every competitor and all their flaws. The ninth man is the returning Fénix! Coming back from injury after having his arm broken for a second time by Pentagon Jr.
MJF wins the match with some help from Wardlow, and heads into May as the #1 Contender. There’s four weeks of Dynamite let until Double or Nothing, and I would keep a lot of the actual MJF/Moxley build the same. You can’t do the whole presidential campaign shtick since there would be no election in May 2021, but you can still do MJF petitioning that he the rightful man to lead the charge of AEW for the next 25 years - not a scrub like Jon. Jon takes offence to this, and calls out MJF as a man who doesn’t know a thing about getting extreme, because all he knows is being privileged and being protected by a gush of wind. May 19 episode of Dynamite then is where we see MJF commit a brutal assault on Jon, busting him open and flogging him with a belt. This leaves Jon’s back blistered and bruised. The go home week is the same contract signing, but they agree to a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match - a match especially designed by Jon to be the most violent match AEW has ever seen. MJF agrees to compete in it. “We didn’t even need to break the table” says Jon.
Double or Nothing 2021:
Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman - Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match for the AEW World Championship
Double or Nothing has been an incredible show so far, with the Dallas crowd have been loving it all night. We’ve reached our main event, and Maxwell Jacob Friedman walks out first as the challenger. He comes out with his private lawyer, Mark Sterling, as well as his family. We see his millionaire parents in the front row, with them isolated from the fans as they don’t want to be near lesser people. Moxley meanwhile walks out, but when he reaches the guardrail he sits down beside MJF’s parents to get a picture. Mox then says he’s got his own buddy - AND OUT COMES NICK GAGE!! He was meant to be in the All Out Casino Battle Royale, but was injured. I’d love him in AEW but the TNT executives would probably run for their lives at the sight of him with an open mic, so here he is supporting his buddy. Gage takes MJF’s parents seats, who walk away and prefer to stand than sit beside him.
MJF and Moxley both step inside through the door, and it is then locked shut, with chains wrapped around to prevent no escape. As well as that, barbed wire is wrapped around the top of the cage walls. The bell is rung but neither attack each other straight away. They take a moment to embrace where they are. No escape, in a cage of death. On the floor beside them is a barbed wire board, and in each corner is a pane of glass. Another barbed wire board is leaning against the ropes, and on the opposite side is a board of mouse traps. A bag of thumbtacks is on the floor, a chainlink of chairs is against the wall, and various light tubes are stuck to the walls. They both walk around and look at everything, taking in what they’ve signed up for. MJF looks scared, but for the first time we’ve ever seen - so does Jon Moxley.
They start off with a collar and elbow, which MJF gets into a headlock. He Irish whips Moxley out to the ropes, who rebounds but is caught with a shoulder block. MJF then drops and gets him in another headlock, which he gets into a head scissors. Moxley escapes and they’re back to their feet, which is then put into a another collar and elbow. This time Jon slips behind into a waistlock, and slams him down! Then Mox gets in his first headlock. Eventually he’s had enough and lifts MJF UP INTO A MOXICITY ONTO THE BARBED WIRE BOARD. He walks over to the cameraman outside the door and tells him “it’s time for some fucking garbage wrestling.” He then grabs a light tube off the wall and advances towards a writhing Friedman.
He pulls the light tube up and goes to smash it down, but FRIEDMAN WITH A LOW BLOW!! HE SPITS IN JONS FACE!! Jon is blinded and stumbles backwards. He doesn’t seem the LIGHT TUBE BEING SMASHED OVER HIS HEAD!! Jon then falls to the floor as MJF is now on top. JR slowly realises “we’ve only ever seen Maxwell as the arrogant, cocky and brash douchehead- but we have never seen him go to such extreme places. He has this dark place in his mind that he goes to, and when there’s no escape in this cage there’s no escape from that place in his mind.” Mox falls back to a glass window but doesn’t fall through. Jon runs forward at MJF, and they start to trade trying to snatch the light tube remains. Eventually MJF gets hold and SMASHES IT OVER MOX’S BACK, AND THEN SMASHES THE TWO LEFTOVER REMAINS INTO HIS HEAD!! Jon falls in a heap.
MJF GOES FOR A FRIEDMAN ARMBAR SPECIAL BUT MOX ROLLS OUT INTO HIS OWN!! They lay in the pile of glass as Mox wrenches the hold. MJF escapes and scurries for the ropes. MOX THEN HITS HIM WITH A DROPKICK INTO THE CHAINLINK CHAIRS!! He tries MJF’s arms up in the ropes to hold him still, and STARTS TO SWING THE LINK OF CHAIRS AGAINST MJF. He keeps going and going, making MJF feel how he did during that flogging. He eventually lets go after 10, and MJF falls to the floor with a bloody face. Moxley seems happy with his work and wipes some of MJF’s blood onto his own face. Nick Gage passes him some spikes through the cage gaps, and shoves a baseball bat in too. Wardlow runs out to fight with Gage, WHO HITS HIM WITH A PILEDRIVER ONTO THE OUTSIDE!! Meanwhile inside the ring, MJF sets up both barbed wire boards on top of each other. MJF THEN HITS MOX WITH A DOUBLE CROSS ONTO THE BARBED WIRE PILE!!!! 1...............2...........KICK OUT!!!
MJF grabs a spike and the bat and shouts at Nick Gage, telling him to try and save his friend. He places the spike on Mox’s forehead, and TAPS THE SPIKE WITH HIS BAT!! Mox’s is now gushing and his face is painted with a crimson mask. MJF THEN SEES NICK GAGE CLIMBING UP THE SIDE OF THE CAGE!! He climbs up and the two try and knock each other off, but can’t get past the barbed wire mesh. The distraction is enough that Moxley can set up the board of mouse traps below them. He climbs up and starts to bang his fist against MJF’s back. MJF KNOCKS MOXLEY OFF, AND GOES FOR A SWANTON BOMB!! HE DIVES - BUT MOXLEY MOVES OUT THE WAY!!! MJF CRASHES DOWN ONTO THE BOARD OF MOUSE TRAPS!! MOXLEY COVERS!! 1.............2.........KICK OUT!!!!
Mox grabs the chainlink chairs and snips two off, and folds them upright. He places a glass sheet across the seats of them, and then another on top of that across the handles. He brings MJF over to try and HIT A SUPER PARADIGM SHIFT THROUGH THE GLASS TOWER! MJF STOPS HIM, AND GOES FOR A BACK BODY DROP!! MOXLEY STOPS, AND STARTS TO CLIMB UP THE CAGE WALL! MJF CLIMBS AFTER HIM!! SUPER SOUTH HAMPTONS PLUNGE FROM THE CAGE WALL THROUGH THE STACK OF WINDOWS!!!! HE THEN CLIMBS UP FOR A SWANTON BOMB TO FINISH IT!! With blood and glass everywhere, MJF is going to become the AEW World Champion. BUT THEN MOXLEY GETS UP!! MJF TRIES TO KICK HIM IN THE HEAD TO KNOCK HIM OFF! MOXLEY CROTCHES MJF!! Moxley meanwhile grabs the remaining two glass sheets, and all the light tubes. He stacks them on top to make a glass catastrophe. MJF KICKS MOXLEY IN THE HEAD AGAIN AND STARTS TO CLIMB THE SIDE OF THE CAGE WALL!! MOXLEY FOLLOWS AFTER HIM!!! AIR RAID CRASH BY MOX THROUGH THE PILE OF GLASS DEATH!!! 1..................2...................3!!!!!!!!!
Jon Moxley defeats Maxwell Jacob Friedman (25:56)
The match at Double or Nothing is in the rear view mirror and it sure grabbed people’s attention. Moxley and MJF killed each other so much that they take weeks off after Double or Nothing to heal. It was a proper CZW style deathmatch, between two former CZW World Heavyweight Champions. Fyter Fest is the next show in line and that is where we will see AEW make their Japanese debut. In collaboration with DDT Pro Wrestling, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling - AEW will host a Supershow. Moxley returns on June 10th, where he confirms that he’s been told that him and Kota Ibushi will face off in a non-title match at Fyter Fest in the main event. This receives a pop.
Jon says he’s excited for the match as he wanted this at Wrestle Kingdom 15, but his commitments in AEW got in the way again. He did lose his IWGP United States Championship to Jay White however at Wrestling Hinokuni however. Ibushi last year said in an interview with Sports Illustrated about a match with Jon Moxley in the G1 Finals: “I have never had a match against him, so I do want to have such an opportunity. The first time that I have that chance is in the G1 fighting at the final.” Ibushi says once again in a NJPW interview that “I still want that match with Jon Moxley, but I don’t feel nervous. He is not credible enough because of his lack of ability to keep hold of the United States Championship. That is my opinion on Moxley-san.” Jon feels the sting of that.
At Fyter Fest, they main the show in a 30-minute epic. Moxley has done several of these thus far against guys like Pac and Kenny Omega, and Ibushi wrestles a similar fast paced style. But the thing both these guys have in common is THEY ARE LUNATICS. Ibushi hits a Phoenix Splash to the outside at one point, and also takes a Gotch-style Piledriver from the top rope. Moxley meanwhile takes a Canadian Destoryer off the apron through a table. Ibushi is the only NJPW representative wrestling on the show. He fights for his company, wanting to prove he is worth the IWGP Heavyweight Championship he lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi earlier in the year. The finishing sequence sees Moxley slide under a leapfrog and go for a waist lock, WITH IBUSHI FLIPPING OVER AND HITTING A KAMIGOYE FOR THE WIN!!! After this Jon takes to the mic and says he wants to face the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tetsuya Naito. Champion vs. Champion, for Naito’s belt. He gets this match as it’s confirmed for the upcoming G1 Special in USA before the thirty-first G1 Climax begins.
G1 Special in Dallas:
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Jon Moxley - IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Naito has had quite the year thus far. He started off as the Intercontinental Champion, having successfully defended against Will Ospreay on Night One of Wrestle Kingdom as part of the second ever Double Gold Dash, but lost in the main event of Night Two to Kota Ibushi for both belts. He then went on to lose the New Japan Cup Finals to Tomohiro Ishii after a gruelling bout. He would get his redemption though as at Dominion he defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the gold. Now he heads into the G1 Climax as part of Block A, but first him and Jon Moxley will have a non-title Champion vs. Champion Match here tonight. Jon comes out with Shooter who holds his belts for him, while Jon takes in the Dallas crowd reaction. This is the second time these two men have faced off, last time being two years ago on Night 10 of the 29th G1 Climax – when Moxley first arrived to the company, and won.
Tetsuya Naito is very slow in his entrance, very much taking his time with his arrival. He raises a fist to the Ingobernables in particular, one junior in the crowd gets special treatment - #LIJIsForTheChildren. Jon tries for a collar and elbow to begin but Naito falls to the ground and lays in the corner. He just has a stroll around ringside – every 20 seconds rolling back in, just to roll back out. He has a nap on the floor while Moxley gets restless. Naito offers his hand for a collar and elbow, but just turns it into a fist to the sky. JON THEN GRABS HIM AND GOES FOR A LARIAT! NAITO DUCKS AND LANDS AN ARM DRAG! MOX IS THROWN INTO THE ROPES AND LOOKS TO BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF A CHOP…but El Ingobernable relaxes and pats Jon on the chest, and throws his hands up in surrender. He then lies down as the One True Tranquillo.
Moxley has had enough and lifts Naito up for an Irish whip. He predicts Naito stopping before Jon connects his move, and so hits a SNAP DDT! JON IRISH WHIPS HIM TO THE CORNER AND HITS A FOREARM SMASH!! HE FOLLOWS WITH A RUNNING BULLDOG!! MOXLEY THEN GOES FOR A RUNNING CROSSBODY!! NAITO CATCHES WITH A KICK TO THE MIDSECTION! HE THEN LIFTS MOXLEY UP FOR A DRAGON SUPLEX! JON ROLLS TO THE CORNER WHERES HES HIT BY A BASEMENT FOLLOWED BY SLINGSHOT DROPKICK COMBO!! Naito then rolls back and places the LIJ fist to Moxley’s prone head. He rolls outside and grabs his most coveted item – his LIJ cap, and places it on. He lies in the ropes and waits for Jon to get up. When he does reach his feet, MOXLEY PULLS TETSUYA OUT AND HITS A TORNADO DDT!! HE THEN HITS NAITO WITH A FRONT DROPKICK WHILE HES IN THE ROPES, TAKING HIM OUTSIDE!!
They now are on the floor. Moxley sweeps both legs and starts to unload a flurry of punches. He then lifts Naito up for a DEATH RIDER, BUT NAITO ROLLS FORWARD AND HITS A GERMAN SUPLEX!! He then grabs Moxley by the back of the head and brings him to the timekeepers’ area. They fight on the top of his desk. They start trading elbows on there, AND THEN NAITO HITS A SUPER HURRICANERANA THROUGH THE COMMENTARY TABLE!! MOXLEY FLIES OVER THE HEAD OF JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER AND CRASHES THROUGH THE TABLE!! His legs hit off the guardrail so its like he’s folded in a heap of broken wood. Once they’re back up, Moxley refuses to be thrown in by Naito, instead kicking him in the gut and throwing him in instead. Jon then hits a Rolling Release Suplex! 1……2….KICK OUT!! MOXLEY THEN LANDS THE RUNNING CROSSBODY FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF PUNCHES TO THE DOME!!
MOXLEY GOES FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT, BUT NAITO FLOATS OVER AND HITS A GLORIA!!! HE FOLLOWS BY RUNNING THE ROPES AND HITTING A SOMMERSAULT SENTON!!! 1…...2….KICK OUT!!! Naito then realises he needs to try the Destino. MOXLEY PREDICTS IT AND HITS A BIG ELBOW STRIKE!! He headbutts Naito into the ropes, and then runs up for a FRONT DROPKICK!! NAITO GETS OUT THE WAY AND MOXLEY GOES TO THE APRON!! NAITO THEN HITS A VALENTIA ONTO THE APRON!! They both fall to the floor like a ton of bricks. The IWGP Heavyweight Champion is first up and rolls back in, where he takes a nap. Jon meanwhile waits for his neck to turn back from being dust. He gets back in and flies in with a DIVING ELBOW DROP!!
Moxley now takes Naito out and its his turn to deliver the pain. HE GOES FOR A PILEDRIVER ONTO THE APRON!! NAITO GETS OUT, BUT EATS SHIT WITH AN APRON DEATH VALLEY DRIVER!! Moxley then takes him out to the crowd for a public beating. He throws him to the floor and bangs down punches while the fans count each one. He then gives rest to soak in their response. He sees Tetsuya getting up, WHO THEN HITS A FLYING FOREARM SMASH!! HE THEN IRISH WHIPS HIM INTO THE GUARDRAIL!! Moxley falls over, and IS THEN HIT BY A FLYING CROSSBODY FROM NAITO!! NAITO THROWS HIM INSIDE AND HITS A EVOLUCION!! 1……….2……KICK OUT!!!! JON THEN GETS UP AND BLINDLY SWINGS, NAITO TURNS INTO POLVO DE ESTRELLA!! HE RUNS THE ROPES – AND IS CAUGHT BY A KNEE TO THE GUT!! DEATH RIDER BY MOXLEY!!! 1………2…….KICK OUT!!!!!!! THE DEATH RIDER IS KICKED OUT OF BY THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!!!
JON MOXLEY THEN HITS A HIGH-ANGLE GERMAN SUPLEX!! NAITO GETS UP AND HITS A ROLLING WHEEL KICK!! SOMMERSAULT SENTON!! HE CLIMBS THE TOP ROPES, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. COULD IT BE? THE STARDUST PRESS?!?!? MOXLEY CLIMBS AFTER HIM AND GOES FOR AN AIR RAID CRASH, BUT NAITO GETS OUT AND HITS A LANZA TO THE BACK OF MOX!!! HE HITS A BIG BOOT AND RUNS THE ROPES – BUT IS CAUGHT BY A BIG BOOT!! HE STUMBLES, AND THEN THEY BOTH RUN THE ROPES FOR STEREO CLOTHESLINES! Instead of the expected double down, NAITO RUNS UNDER AND GOES FOR A DESTINO!! MOXLEY CATCHES IN THE REAR NAKED CHOKE!!! THIS ENDED THE MATCH LAST TIME!! TETSUYA NAITO IS ABOUT TO FADE! UNTIL HE ESCAPES AND HITS A DESTINO!!!!!! 1……….2………….3!!!!!!!!!!! Tetsuya Naito defeats Jon Moxley (27:29)
Jon Moxley then goes on to enter the G1 Climax. He competes in the A Block, which looks like this:

• Kazuchika Okada
• Tetsuya Naito
• Jay White
• Jon Moxley
• Tomohiro Ishii
• EVIL
• SANADA
• Juice Robinson
• Toru Yano
• Zack Sabre Jr.

While Block B looks like:

• Hiroshi Tanahashi
• KENTA
• Kota Ibushi
• Kenny Omega
• Hirooki Goto
• Will Ospreay
• Juice Robinson
• Taichi
• Shingo Takagi
• El Phantasmo
• Hiromu Takahashi

Yes, Kenny Omega makes his return to NJPW as part of the G1 Climax and is one of the most controversial names in modern NJPW - after The Elite exodus was a bit messy. Moxley or Omega don’t show up on Dynamite for the whole of the G1, which causes some uproar in the company. The TNT Title becomes the main championship while a Yugi-Oh style Duelist Kingdom tournament takes place. People compete over poker chips on Dynamite, and then all those who have chips fight in a tournament to determine the winner - who then is allowed to enable an “anytime, anywhere” match for the AEW World Championship. I think it’s a cool idea and it takes concepts from anime and Lucha Underground - I’m sold.
Adam Page works his ass off to earn chips, jumping over hurdle after hurdle to reach the top. Meanwhile Brodie Lee wins a chip off of Marko Stunt, and then has his cronies win chips for him that are then handed over to them. This punches his ticket straight to the finals - which earns the ire of Hangman. They face off in early August. Then when Jon Moxley returns, he comes back as a villain amongst the roster. Adam Page specifically who has been building as the new ace of AEW in Omega and Moxley’s absence is especially annoyed. He calls out Jon for being a bad champion. While he respects him for surpassing 500 days as AEW World Champion, he doesn’t just get to slack off to Japan while the rest of the roster go to war with each other for a CHANCE at his title, meanwhile he’s off losing that tournament in Japan.
Jon then tries to retort, but for the first time ever he’s booed. The fans are annoyed he’s left for a month for his other commitments. Moxley then says “well I don’t care if you like me or not because guess what - I’ve been champion for over 500 days and have defended it successfully 9 goddamn times.” They boo him louder. Jon looks like he regrets saying that. Page then tells him “well if you don’t care then there’s a viable replacement who does - me. I’ll can knock you out of your trance because I have this anytime, anywhere match clause. And you know what Jon? I’m enabling it. I will wish you the best in your future endeavours - at All Out.” The crowd pop. “Fine.” Jon says and storms off. Page leads a cowboy shit chant to close the segment.
So the match is made, and Jon doesn’t know what to do. He was a man of the people, but one tour in Japan later and he’s now an ego obsessed douche. But Jon refuses to believe he is this - no, the FANS are the ego obsessed douches. Jon explains this in an interview. Tony then tells him “well, look around you kid. Will Hobbs doesn’t want to associate with you anymore. Darby Allin don’t got your back anymore. Sting isn’t proud anymore. Adam Page is completely against you. Is it that everyone around you are just against you in a big conspiracy?” Jon dissects that, and feels it sink in the truth. “You called out Kenny Omega for burning every bridge when he became inflated with his own self. I’m seeing that in you.” Jon stays silent. “Heck, you even said the fans were the real champions 18 months ago when you won the title. Now they’re the enemy?” Jon simply says “guess so.” and walks off.
All Out 2021:
Jon Moxley vs. Adam Page - AEW World Championship
This is set to be Moxley’s tenth defence of his AEW World Championship, and tonight marks his 547th day as AEW World Champion. Adam Page comes out on a horse, with Excalibur noting “may Hunter Horse Helmsley rest in peace.” The fans lead him in a “Cowboy Shit” chant, all raising their alcoholic beverage glasses to the air at him. He is most certainly the fan favourite in this scenario. Jon Moxley usually walks out through the crowd because he always belived them to be safer to be a part of than the locker room – but this time it’s through the curtain and down the ramp. He’s booed at his arrival, and doesn’t know how to react to not being who he thought he was – or not knowing who he thought THEY were. Adam Page goes for a handshake before the match which earns applause. Moxley looks angry at them cheering him for such a small act, and spitefully accepts the offer. PAGE THEN BEGINS THE MATCH STRAIGHT AWAY WITH A MOONSAULT FALLAWAY SLAM!!! 1……...2…….KICK OUT!!!!!
WOW! What a start. Jon gets up, shocked by the sudden attack. Page shrugs at him and heads to his corner again. Mox gets really annoyed at what Hangman just tried. Page runs for him but IS CAUGHT BY A KNEE TO THE GUT!! MOXLEY THEN HITS A CROSSBODY TO THE FLOOR AND STARTS TO UNLOAD PUNCHES TO PAGE!! He lets go when the ref threatens to ring the bell. HE LIFTS PAGE UP FOR A SUPLEX! PAGE GETS OUT AND HITS A SUPERKICK!! HE GOES FOR A POWERBOMB BUT MOXLEY PUSHES HIM DOWNWARDS AND STARTS TO ELBOW THE SCALP OF HANGMAN! PAGE SLIDES UNDER HIM AND HITS A DISCUS FOREARM SMASH WHEN JON TURNS AROUND!! GERMAN SUPLEX!!! 1……..2…..KICK OUT!! MOXLEY THEN HEADBUTTS PAGE AND HITS HIM WITH A DROPKICK INTO THE ROPES!! Page falls outside and Moxley follows him out there.
HE FOLLOWS OUT WITH A SUICIDE DIVE I MEAN! Page falls up the ramp where Moxley entered from. MOXLEY GOES FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT THROUGH THE RAMP!! PAGE GETS OUT AND RUNS FOR THE RING; ASAI MOONSAULT TO MOXLEY!!! PAGE THEN HITS A FALLAWAY SLAM ONTO THE RAMP!! They both lay there in hurt from all the moves they just hit each other with. Hangman and Jon both shuffle back in under the ropes. Jon pulls himself up by the turnbuckles, and waits for Hangman. HE THEN RUNS UP FOR A TORNADO DDT OFF THE ROPES!! 1……KICK OUT!! The crowd applaud loudly and Mox is ballistic. “HOW DARE YOU!” he says before going for a forearm smash. HANGMAN SLIPS UNDER WITH A SUPERKICK TO THE CHIN! HE THEN RUNS UP THE RAMP AND BACK DOWN FOR A BUCKSHOT LARIAT!! MOXLEY CATCHES HIM WITH A MOXICITY!! PAGE REVERSES INTO A CUTTER!! Now they’re both down.
Hangman sits down at the bottom turnbuckle while he waits for Jon to get up. Jon gets up in the opposite corner. They then rise up at the same time. PAGE GOES FOR A CLOTHESLINE BUT MOXLEY WITH A HANGING SOCCER KICK!! Page stumbles back but rebounds with a forearm smash. MOXLEY THEN HITS HIM WITH A PENDELUM LARIAT!! Jon soaks it in for a moment, befor falling to cover. PAGE WITH A BOOT TO THE HEAD! HE GETS UP AND IRISH WHIPS JON INTO A CORNER DROPKICK!! HE TRIES FOR A RITE OF PASSAGE!! MOXLEY REVERSES AND APPLIES A REAR NAKED CHOKE!!! PAGE ESCAPES AND RUNS TO THE CORNER – BUT SO DOES MOXLEY WHO HITS HIM WITH A FOREARM SMASH! HE FOLLOWS WITH A RUNNING BULLDOG!!! 1………..2……….KICK OUT!!!!!!!!
Page rolls outside to recover and Moxley lays on the apron. He walks around ringside for a moment and takes in the crowd reaction to him. He looks at a chair set up nearby, and starts to advance. HANGMAN THEN HITS HIM WITH A FRONT DROPKICK TO THE BACK, KNOCKING HIM INTO THE CHAIR!! Moxley topples over and now Page waits on the apron. HE DIVES OFF WITH A SHOOTING STAR PRESS!! HE THEN THROWS JON INSIDE AND GOES FOR A BUCKSHOT LARIAT!! CONNECTS!! 1……….2……..KICK OUT!!!! JON THEN GETS UP AND STARTS TO SLAP THE SHIT OUT OF PAGE!! He slaps him over and over while shouting. “YOU. WILL. NEVER. TAKE. MY. CROWN” he says in tandem with every slap. After the one said alongside “crown.” PAGE ONCE AGAIN SLIDES UNDER FOR A SUPERKICK!! HE HITS THE CRACKER BARREL!! He can’t get the cover however.
Page pulls himself up and looks to end it. He gets cocky and tries to hit Moxley with the Paradigm Shift – BUT MOXLEY SLIPS OUT AND HITS THE REAL PARADIGM SHIFT!!! 1…...….2……..KICK OUT!!!!! HANGMAN IS RESILENT TO THE PARADIGM SHIFT!!! MOXLEY THEN LIFTS HIM UP FOR A PILEDRIVER, BUT PAGE ROLLS BACK AND HITS A CRACKER BARRELL AGAIN!! He then starts to climb the ropes with Moxley, and reach the top turnbuckle. HE’S LOOKING FOR AN AVALANCHE SWINING NECKBREAKER TO END IT!! MOXLEY JUMPS DOWN!! PAGE TRIES FOR A SHOOTING STAR PRESS, BUT JON SCURRIES UP THE TURNBUCKLES AND HITS A SUPER PARADIGM SHIFT!!! 1……….2………..3!!! MOXLEY HAS DEFENDED HIS AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESFULLY FOR THE TENTH TIME, AND PINNED HANGMAN ADAM PAGE TO RETAIN!! THE ERA OF MOXLEY HAS NOT COME TO A CLOSE JUST YET!!! Jon Moxley defeats Adam Page (22:02)
All Out is done, and Moxley has defended his belt successfully for a tenth time. But at what cost? He originally stated the real champions were the fans - but look at him. He’s calling them ego obsessed douches. JR says that he never knew what being hated felt like and went into defence mode - he didn’t know what else to do and the jealously of Adam Page fuelled the fire. But with Page dealt with, that’s in the rear view mirror. There are 12 weeks left until the next PPV in Full Gear, so exactly 3 months. Before we get into what transpires over those 3 months, let’s go back to our antagonist we haven’t touched upon fully since March - Kenny Omega.
At Double or Nothing Kenny Omega would face off against Kip Sabian at Double or Nothing in a losing effort. This would send Kenny on a spiral of redemption, as he fill into pit of his own ego over the summer. A trip back to a Japan and a match with Kota Ibushi later and Omega was back on track. He returned to the States no longer the bad guy he was. He apologised to everyone and especially the fans when he came back, and said he wants to lead them into the next era of AEW. This is what triggers Moxley. The week after All Out, Kenny Omega is seen with Adam Page backstage comforting him on the loss. They seem to be buddies again. Moxley walks past and sees this, and then walks off angry. Next week then is when Moxley snaps on, who runs off on Omega. “You accept him but not me? Why because he’s now a soft?” Jon asks.
He then feels Omega’s soft touch the week after - in the form of the barbed wire broom. After some hardcore cleaning Omega explains why he has got redemption. “Because I am not insecure, Jon. I accept failures, I can overcome being pushed away. You can’t, Jon. You aren’t able to function without the support of the fans. They’re the crutch of your title - and without them it’s falling apart.” We build towards October 6: AEW Homecoming, where we will see Kenny Omega and Adam Page team up to take on Jon Moxley and a mystery partner. That mystery partner is spoken about by Moxley. “Me and him used to be close, but like everyone he left me. He’s the only guy who will give me a second chance, and for that I’m grateful.” Is it perhaps Will Hobbs? Is it the debut of Nick Gage? Someone we haven’t met?
Well it’s none of the above - it’s Darby Allin. Allin has forgiven Moxley and is back to help him. The match main events and runs 20 minutes with limit ad breaks, and the finish sees Page and Omega double pin Jon after a Buckshot Lariat + V-Trigger combo. This means they both are earned a title match in the future. The week after Moxley has his promo where he says he is looking for forgiveness - but not asking, he doesn’t deserve to request. A man can dream though. The match is then made by Jon himself. “Kenny - our saga has three singles matches so far. The score is currently 2-1-0, but sanctioned as 1-1-0. At Full Gear we will settle it - in our last ever bout. A Last Chance Match. If Kenny wins he will never challenge for the title again. There will be No Time Limits to prevent another draw. And most specially, it will be a Three Degrees of Pain Match.
This is elaborated upon as being essentially a Three Stages of Hell Match. Moxley will choose one stipulation, Omega will choose another, and then The Khan Family will choose the third. Omega says his stipulation will be a standard Singles Match. Moxley’s will be a Barbed Wire Massacre. Then Nik Sobic speaks on behalf of Shad and Tony Khan to announce the third stipulation will be...a Three-way Match with “Hangman” Adam Page. If Hangman wins his fall, he will be added to the rest of them. If not, whoever wins between Moxley and Omega earns the point. In case of a 3 way tie, it goes to sudden death. Everyone agrees to this in the contract signing beforehand. Two years on from when it begun - Omega and Moxley put their war to an end.
Full Gear 2021:
Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega - Last Chance No Time Limit Three Degrees of Pain Match for the AEW World Championship
Moxley gets the first, Omega gets the second, Omega then wins. The reign ends at 623 days.

December 31, 2019
"The Golden Grin Casino will now fund a moon landing for the new year. We'll be celebrating it by sending 3 brave astronauts, one of which is our current CEO, Mr.James Hoxworth."
Now I wasn't sure what was so wonderful about landing on the moon, but considering I've been playing poker, partying on beaches, and running the biggest casino in Vegas, it was a nice way to get away from the grind and relax. My assistant manager, Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, tells me that there's a secret society of moon people, and that the moon isn't what it seems.
"Ah you wanker, first you tell me there's bloody fucking humanoid rabbits on the moon. Second, you tell me there's fucking people calling themselves bloody "Lunarians." Third, you tell me there's a massive metropolis on the dark side of the Moon. What's bloody next, I'm opening a Lunar casino and getting trillions from them?"
"Mr.Hoxworth... with all due respect, I don't allow myself to lie. It is against my values. The things I've said about the moon is true."
"Mr.Mikoto, please... just take this shift off and get a good night's sleep, you won't have to make it up. You've been working overtime for the last few weeks and I'm worried. Get a good night's rest, would you sunshine?"
Well, it was just me running this casino alone now for the next few days. Until GenSec escorts me to launch on a rocket and show people what we're seeing. Bloody moon people? Fucking rabbits? A goddamn metropolis on the moon? Mr.Mikoto never lied or attempted to cheat me before he brought things up related to the moon landing. I wonder if he was telling the truth, but it didn't matter, I have a casino to run, some people to scam, and some sleep to catch.
After seeing that things were running smoothly, I left for my penthouse on top of the Golden Grin itself. Taking the stairs I've hid behind the wall, I locked up the manager's room, pressed a button, and went up a few flights of stairs. I refuse to use an elevator, not after what happened at that damn No Mercy job.
Going to my penthouse, I scanned a keycard and went in. I've managed to bargain a really nice deal with GenSec, as I've embarrassed them by breaking their "impenetrable" vault, slaughtering their SWAT units, not to mention my crew's numerous robberies on places "secured" by them. I've managed to get their "Premium deal" for $8999 a month, up to the next 5 years, rather than the full $9999 they charge per month.
Getting in bed and sleeping in, I had a dream.
​
In James "Hoxton" Hoxworth's dream...
"There's the house, and somewhere... the rat."
Bain... I've been waiting for this day for over 2 years, the Judas bastard who ratted me, the motherfucker who let me rot in prison. I saw that Clover, shit-for-brains, and Dallas were with me. As much as I wanted to beat the Hell out of him for stealing my name, the rat can take the hits, for now...
Feeling for my shank, I was going to drink this rat's blood, and spit it out on his corpse. We all got past the outer fence, whoever this rat was, that bastard at least had a good place to die. Bain told us about a security system, I was struggling to find it, but Clover managed to find it and we checked for any guards that might of caught us.
I lockpicked the window and we quickly disabled the alarm, after wandering around for keycards and not getting caught, I saw the FBI boss. I was going to kill this guy, but Dallas told me that he might be useful alive and that our code doesn't involve killing civilians. Alas, he was unfortunately correct when we found a vault and placed the keycards in them. Bain saw a retinal scanner and told us to take the boss there.
I opted to stay there, sitting on a bed and lying on my stomach, listening to the voice of the man who betrayed me, after Dallas bound and gagged the boss, we forced him to scan his eye on the retinal scanner and I was taunting him about how he could try putting me in prison, but he couldn't keep me. The boss couldn't talk, but he probably knew I was right.
The other 3 left to find evidence and other things, but I stayed behind to see that panic room open, when I saw that door start opening, I grabbed my shank, and raised my arms up to destroy the brain of this now brainless rat. However, the world around me started to shift and I was back in my prison uniform, being escorted by rabbit girls with guns and a purple-haired chick with a yellow ribbon holding a sword to my neck.
The next thing I noticed was that I was restrained exactly like the time before my crew broke me out. After walking forward for a bit, I could hear faint drilling sounds and saw a dollar being thrown out, knowing that this was my breakout, I went for it and got kicked square in the stomach by a light purple-haired rabbit girl with a suit.
Coughing up some blood and recovering, the girl who pointed a sword at me told me to stop fucking around and get up. I knew this was breakout time, so I yelled, "It's PAYDAY fellas!"
When there was no response, I yelled, "I SAID IT'S FUCKING PAYDAY motherfuc-"
The wall besides me blew up and the sword went through my thigh, I was expecting the crew to save me, but they ended up getting restrained by a blonde haired girl with a fan.
"Hoxton... we're so sorry for leaving you behind. Please forgive us."
Those were the last words uttered by Dallas, Chains, Wolf, and my replacement before it seemed like they turned to dust and disappeared into thing air.
"Sister... we did it, we took down the filth that the Earthlings couldn't ever take down. It was easier than I calculated it to be... I honestly expected to have to fight to the last hair."
"Ahh, everything is so easy for you when you can borrow the powers of gods, isn't it Yorihime? And you've always desired a challenge from the Earthlings, they've sent their best criminals and nothing of challenge occured. Anyways, weren't you interested with this one we took prisoner?"
"Yes... a James Hoxworth, known by his alias "Hoxton," a sharpshooter known for his abilities to hunt heads and the infamous thief that went on that crime spree. I've taken a liking to him, more so that Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto has committed a massive sin against us. Hoori is still saddened by the loss, but accepts it now. It's just like when Kaguya drank that forbidden elixir. We still miss them inside, but accept that they had to die on the filthy earth."
Wait a minute... I known a Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, if it wasn't in this fucked up timeline, he would of eventually be my assistant manager after acquiring the Golden Grin. Was he correct, that there were moon people and rabbits. And if so, there must be some sort of civilization on it.
Seeing that there was no way out of here, if I was going to rot in prison, I was going to at least have my questions answered.
I asked them, "Are you Lunarians, and if so, are we on the moon? Also, is this real or a scare tactic?"
The purple haired girl answered me, "Yes, we are Lunarians. And yes, we are on the moon. Allow me to show you our world."
Getting escorted, I saw that we were indeed not on Earth, but the fucking moon of all places. There was a massive metropolis, it was on a scale larger than that time I went to Japan for a failed business deal.
"What a fuck-tastic place... it's so beautiful. How the hell did you even build this?"
"The Lunatic Kingdom... it's been over millions of years since we first established this place. Exploiting quantum physics, enhancing our magical capabilities, having gods on our side. We've estimated humanity wouldn't be able to catch up to our current capabilities until at least tens of thousands of years."
I was taken back where the rabbits and blonde girl was. I had my restraints removed, but still had a gun pointed towards my head. A figure, with a crescent moon for a crown with some armor with moon symbols, I noticed that the 2 girls bowed down.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lord Tsukuyomi, the God of the Moon. These are my 2 nieces, Toyohime and Yorihime. Quite the charm, are they not."
"Yes they are."
"We will now go somewhere more desirable for me to tell my prophecies that directly involve you."
Seeing that we were in a more serene area, with something I would of seen off an ancient Japanese painting worth hundreds of millions, we sat down on a tatami mat, comfortable things, for sure.
Here are his prophecies,

1. You will marry one of my nieces.
2. You will attain a legendary power that I wish I could have.
3. You will bear witness to an unexpected event.
4. You will live here.
5. We will meet under more desirable circumstances.
6. You will be pure.

"But for now, I promise you, James Hoxworth. This is simply a dream, but it serves as my place to tell prophecies without having to directly intervene. Remember my words, and your reward will be greater than your casino. Goodbye."
I was sent to a room that looked awfully similar to my penthouse, then I received a kiss on the cheek from Yorihime, and then I was sent on my way...
​
Back in reality, January 1, 2020.
Holy shite! I woke up with a note next to my hand, with that dude's prophecies written in what, Japanese or something? Along with a sword that seemed like the ones that girl had. Whatever just happened, I was going to see if this was a scare tactic or reality.
Going to my casino, I knew now would be the least profitable time, as everyone has a New Year's resolution that they always fail. I saw Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto, it looked like he knew something was up.
"Mr.Hoxworth, how was your dream last night?"
Seeing the devilish smile and his unusual amount of calmness, I knew this guy wasn't joking. He wouldn't have a reason to put his highly prestigious career on the line for the largest casino in America.
"It was... um, weird."
"Weird, huh? Fufufu, did you see a moon god, 2 beautiful girls, and some rabbit girls?"
"Um... yes, yes I did."
"Let me fill you in on something, those girls were my mother and ex-wife, 2 "Lunar Princesses." Unfortunately I've done something to get banished from the Moon. My punishment is to rot on Earth. With nobody in to fill in that void, and the political disaster that I've left behind, only the best are allowed to marry her."
"So why the Hell would a moon god choose my sorry ass? I mean I'm pretty sure he can find better."
"Simple, I've been observing your magical energy, and it seemed that it's more than what some gods can dream of containing. You've also have a unique power that only few can hope to replicate, much less acquire. I am not allowed to tell you exactly what it is, but you'll learn with time, Mr.Hoxworth."
I reached for that note I was given from those "Lunarians," I asked Ugayafukiaezu to read them for me, since if anyone could reach those um... symbols, it was going to be him.
"Dear me, Mr.Hoxworth, it looks like you've really ascended from being an Earthling to a Lunarian. Is this the cost of my sin? Being employed by the one who will take my place, well... I deserve it."
"Anyways... I sincerely hope you had a good night's rest. Maybe tell your deity buddies to fill me in next time instead of leaving me confused and thinking their saying a bunch of crap."
Days have passed, I only had dreams of those "Lunarians" but got more details about them in more desirable circumstances. I remember seeing Bain and Tsukuyomi discuss what I used to be, and how that gave me status to their secret society stuff, or that one time where Locke wrecked all of us in golf and managed to hit a boat for once, and especially that one where Dallas told Yorihime everything about me. It was going to be one more day before I was getting launched into space, hopefully I have everything figured out.
January 11, 2020
I took whatever objects I could to get into space, they prepared food, water, and some other essentials. Even 3 Mossberg 500s were packed with us as there's been reports of astronauts being attacked, I wonder if those were the "Lunarians" that I've been seeing in my dreams.
GenSec took me on a plane to the Kennedy Space Center, as part of my sponsership with NASA, the Golden Grin will fund their projects and provide for their employees in return of giving me the pleasure of being on the moon.
Going through some boring checks and being shoved in a fucking spacesuit, making me look like a glorified Bulldozer from my first crime spree?file=Bulldozer.jpg), I was in a rocket with my other comrades. I was going to be flown off to the moon and had to do all sorts of things, but overall, if the Lunarians are real and Tsukuyomi wasn't bluffing, I was going to hopefully live somewhere better. If it was just a really massive coincidence, I was going to be the first and possibly only Golden Grin member with the privilege of saying, "I was on the moon."
And we have liftoff.
Flying in a massive hunk of steel and computers, we viewed everything, for the next 3 days, we were doing nothing productive, but I've noticed a few things. My body felt like it contained a load of magic and that I was going to be something greater. But I just played it off as over-excitement and we finally landed on the moon.
"OK... so we'll take pictures, replace the flag, and broadcast this to the whole world. It is time that we forward our knowledge of the cosmos. We have to investigate the dark side of the moon."
Doing what command wanted us to do, we were going there to forward the cause of science. I felt an uneasiness and heard an intentional static.
"Hey wankers... do you get the feeling that we're being watched by something out of this world? Like we're the ones being studied instead of studying?"
"No... why?"
"I just feel like something is off here, but let's tread on."
As my team went further to investigate the darkness, we reached a point where we noticed a sea of all things. Fucking Hell, it looks like my dreams were slowly becoming reality, we took notes until we were ambushed by a bunch of rabbit girls.
"HALT! You impure beings, you will now be detained, put your hands over your heads and stay silent. Do not attempt to move, or speak, otherwise you will be eliminated."
Son of a bitch... we had guns pointed towards our heads and I saw who looked like Yorihime there. Was this an elaborate thing set up by the FBI and GenSec to get me back in jail? Was this a well-done nightmare? Will the ZEAL SWATs going swarm me any second now? My body was starting radiate what feels like magic and my soul felt like it was starting a process to ascend, whatever this was, it wasn't going to be pretty for any of us.
Maybe I've ascended to a new realm or something... whatever this is. I'm going to do what the girl says, that's one sharp sword and I rather not see that as the last thing before my death and get beheaded.